Didn’t those guys used to be the Philadelphia Eagles? The team that was once sitting at a league-best 10-1 has fallen, and I don’t think they’re going to be able to get up.
In selecting players for your postseason competition, it usually involves making some broad adjustments. One of mine is that the once-great Birds are not going to be able to flip the switch, re-joining the group of actual Super Bowl contenders. I consider them to be a factor.
On offense, they’ve got a quarterback with a dislocated finger on his throwing hand hoping to have two talented-but-injured receivers. If A.J. Brown (knee) and DeVonta Smith (ankle) play, it will be at less than full strength. (And this is not to imply that these guys were clicking even when healthy.)
In a general sense, I don’t consider Hurts to be up there as a postseason quarterback prospect with the likes of Dak Prescott, Lamar Jackson, Brock Purdy and Josh Allen.
And defensively, the Eagles have simply fallen apart. The pass defense has been leaky all along. Only one team has allowed more passing touchdowns, and only four have allowed more passing yards. It has me thinking hard about Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin as Wildcard Weekend possibilities.
And now the run defense has cratered. This is more surprising in that earlier in the year, the Eagles appeared to have about the best run defense in the league. In their first nine games, they allowed an average of only 66 rushing yards, and with only 3 TDs. That works out to 8.6 standard fantasy points per week – 2 points better than every other defense.
| RUSHING PRODUCTION ALLOWED (first 9 G) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | Pts/G |
| Philadelphia | 160 | 597 | 3.7 | 3 | 8.6 |
| Chicago | 220 | 717 | 3.3 | 4 | 10.6 |
| San Francisco | 186 | 748 | 4.0 | 4 | 11.0 |
| Baltimore | 208 | 827 | 4.0 | 3 | 11.2 |
| Tampa Bay | 211 | 785 | 3.7 | 4 | 11.4 |
| Atlanta | 250 | 962 | 3.8 | 2 | 12.0 |
| Detroit | 192 | 712 | 3.7 | 7 | 12.6 |
| Jacksonville | 206 | 778 | 3.8 | 6 | 12.6 |
| Kansas City | 222 | 1,010 | 4.5 | 3 | 13.2 |
| New Orleans | 231 | 1,011 | 4.4 | 4 | 13.9 |
| Tennessee | 255 | 995 | 3.9 | 5 | 14.4 |
| Minnesota | 251 | 923 | 3.7 | 7 | 14.9 |
| Cleveland | 216 | 824 | 3.8 | 9 | 15.2 |
| New England | 261 | 907 | 3.5 | 8 | 15.4 |
| Buffalo | 212 | 1,030 | 4.9 | 6 | 15.4 |
| Dallas | 241 | 982 | 4.1 | 7 | 15.6 |
| Washington | 242 | 1,046 | 4.3 | 6 | 15.6 |
| Pittsburgh | 261 | 1,181 | 4.5 | 5 | 16.5 |
| Miami | 245 | 956 | 3.9 | 9 | 16.6 |
| Houston | 239 | 842 | 3.5 | 11 | 16.7 |
| NY Jets | 290 | 1,246 | 4.3 | 5 | 17.2 |
| LA Chargers | 224 | 918 | 4.1 | 11 | 17.5 |
| Seattle | 245 | 1,044 | 4.3 | 10 | 18.3 |
| LA Rams | 262 | 1,105 | 4.2 | 10 | 18.9 |
| Green Bay | 286 | 1,197 | 4.2 | 9 | 19.3 |
| Cincinnati | 243 | 1,226 | 5.0 | 9 | 19.6 |
| Las Vegas | 275 | 1,248 | 4.5 | 10 | 20.5 |
| Arizona | 278 | 1,158 | 4.2 | 12 | 20.9 |
| NY Giants | 248 | 1,144 | 4.6 | 13 | 21.4 |
| Denver | 256 | 1,425 | 5.6 | 10 | 22.5 |
| Indianapolis | 282 | 1,130 | 4.0 | 15 | 22.6 |
| Carolina | 275 | 1,187 | 4.3 | 15 | 23.2 |
But teams are gouging them on the ground now. With the NFC East theirs for the taking (all they had to do was beat the Cardinals and Giants), they let Arizona come in and run for 221 yards.
In Philadelphia’s last eight games, they’ve allowed an average of 145 rushing yards, and with 10 TDs. That’s 22 fantasy points per week, 3rd-worst in the league.
That makes Rachaad White a player to think about this week. Granted, White isn’t up in the elite class of runners, but this is a struggling defense he’ll face. (And White is both a pass catcher and a runner.)
| RUSHING PRODUCTION ALLOWED (last 8 G) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | Pts/G |
| LA Rams | 171 | 711 | 4.2 | 4 | 11.9 |
| Chicago | 168 | 751 | 4.5 | 4 | 12.4 |
| Pittsburgh | 193 | 775 | 4.0 | 4 | 12.7 |
| New England | 219 | 677 | 3.1 | 6 | 13.0 |
| Miami | 188 | 694 | 3.7 | 6 | 13.2 |
| Las Vegas | 204 | 767 | 3.8 | 5 | 13.3 |
| Tennessee | 225 | 836 | 3.7 | 5 | 14.2 |
| San Francisco | 183 | 777 | 4.2 | 6 | 14.2 |
| Minnesota | 195 | 755 | 3.9 | 7 | 14.7 |
| Denver | 213 | 906 | 4.3 | 5 | 15.1 |
| Baltimore | 207 | 1,033 | 5.0 | 3 | 15.2 |
| Tampa Bay | 211 | 835 | 4.0 | 7 | 15.7 |
| Detroit | 216 | 797 | 3.7 | 8 | 16.0 |
| Houston | 229 | 801 | 3.5 | 8 | 16.0 |
| Cleveland | 204 | 969 | 4.8 | 6 | 16.6 |
| Buffalo | 197 | 850 | 4.3 | 8 | 16.6 |
| Kansas City | 210 | 915 | 4.4 | 7 | 16.7 |
| Green Bay | 207 | 984 | 4.8 | 6 | 16.8 |
| Dallas | 218 | 928 | 4.3 | 7 | 16.9 |
| New Orleans | 231 | 1,027 | 4.4 | 6 | 17.3 |
| Indianapolis | 236 | 975 | 4.1 | 7 | 17.4 |
| Cincinnati | 213 | 919 | 4.3 | 8 | 17.5 |
| NY Jets | 227 | 862 | 3.8 | 9 | 17.5 |
| LA Chargers | 243 | 1,006 | 4.1 | 7 | 17.8 |
| Carolina | 233 | 894 | 3.8 | 10 | 18.7 |
| Jacksonville | 215 | 974 | 4.5 | 9 | 18.9 |
| Atlanta | 249 | 1,047 | 4.2 | 9 | 19.8 |
| Washington | 238 | 1,109 | 4.7 | 9 | 20.6 |
| Arizona | 243 | 1,276 | 5.3 | 7 | 21.2 |
| Philadelphia | 250 | 1,161 | 4.6 | 10 | 22.0 |
| NY Giants | 227 | 1,107 | 4.9 | 11 | 22.1 |
| Seattle | 270 | 1,308 | 4.8 | 14 | 26.9 |
Philadelphia is favored by 2.5 points in its game, but I’m not sure why. I see this Bucs-Eagles game as being a lot more competitive than I would have thought a few weeks back. Folks, I think, are still getting used to the idea of the Eagles not being elite anymore.
—Ian Allan