Flux is the word of the week for the Eagles. Flux Capacitor? Back to the Future? It almost feels like Training Camp and preseason games were meaningless at this point. We are still churning roster, especially on offense, like we’re back in May or June.
Top of the charts is the debut of a wounded warrior, Carson Wentz, at QB#1. He’s going to start against the Frank Reich-rejuvenated Colts this Sunday. Coach Pederson knows this is going to be a tough assignment for Wentz going up against a new-look Colts defense:
“I think there’s going to be maybe an issue or two. It’s going to take some time to get back into the rhythm and the flow of the game,” Pederson said. “The speed of the game is different than the speed of practice. We do everything we can to try to simulate that during the week and try to prepare him that way. And listen, he’s a guy that will be totally prepared. He comes in early, studies the tape as do all the quarterbacks, stays obviously late in the day, asks a lot of questions, and has a lot of ideas. He’s going to be prepared mentally. Now it’s just a matter of the physical part taking over.”
Problem is, the physical part may be asked to do stuff that Wentz’ brain wants to do, but the flesh may not be willing.
The other half of the Flux equation is Wentz’ offensive components are in disarray.
Say goodbye (for now) to WR DeAndre Carter. He was waived to make room for RB Josh Adams to come up from the PS10. That means Jay Ajayi is highly questionable to play on Sunday. It also means Darren Sproles is still gimpy with a hamstring.
With the release of Carter, the Eagles are down to three healthy receivers — Nelson Agholor, Kamar Aiken, and Shelton Gibson.
That’s grotesque depth at WR. Obviously the Eagles will bring someone in to FLUX the situation—right now it looks like former Eagle and still best friend of Wentz (Jordan Matthews) will get the nod. But to what advantage for the Eagles offense? Matthews is not a player who can stretch the field, which is what the Eagles’ offense needs at the moment, with the loss of Mike Wallace (fractured fibula). “In theory, Gibson can play that role, though the Eagles have been slow to give him snaps, and opposing defenses aren’t going to respect him as a deep threat until he actually beats someone deep.”—Jimmy Kempski.
[Oh, as a sidenote, we just lost LB Joe Walker to the Cardinals, who got poached off the practice squad by Arizona yesterday.]Compounding the difficulty of the current flux in the Eagles offense is the emerging efficiency of the Indy Colts defense.
Forget Andrew Luck at QB for just a moment— the Colts are definitely better on defense, as rookie linebacker Darius Leonard has been terrific. Indianapolis used to have severe problems at linebacker, but Leonard has seemingly changed that.
The Colts beat the Redskins last week with their swarming defense, 21-9.
Their defense showed up against the Redskins. They’ll look for more of that this week against the Eagles. I’m sure they view Carson Wentz as a wiener on a stick ripe for the plucking (with mustard).
They made the Redskins running game disappear. With the question marks currently surrounding the Eagles’ running game, especially with left tackle Jason Peters’ uncertain status, we could be in for a long day on the ground…and Wentz will really need some major ground game grinding to give him even a sliver of an edge in his comeback.
The Redskins were stymied by the Colts’ front seven. Adrian Peterson had three carries for one yard at halftime and finished with 11 carries for 20 yards. Chris Thompson had four carries for one yard.
The ‘Skins downfield passing game failed miserably against the Colts’ secondary and pass rush. Alex Smith was reduced to dumping the ball on short outlet routes for basically the entire game.
Meanwhile, the Colts’ defense sacked Smith three times. Indianapolis rookie linebacker Darius Leonard was a one-man wrecking crew, with 18 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.
The Redskins couldn’t crack the end zone. Trailing 21-9 with 5 minutes remaining, Jordan Reed lost a fumble in Indianapolis territory to all but ice the game.
BriSuksEgg Standings
EAST | |||||
TEAM | W | L | T | PCT | GB |
The Amish Mafia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — |
BAD JEWS BEARS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — |
Monkey Nuts | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 2 |
Bri’s Fantasy Boys | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 2 |
Bri Suks More Than Just Eggs | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 2 |
WEST | |||||
TEAM | W | L | T | PCT | GB |
PRIME BEEF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — |
NFC East Mr. Jinks | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — |
The Bri Slapper | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 1 |
Chocolate Bri | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 1 |
Squid’s Sleeves | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 2 |
This past week, ATV’s team (NFC East Mr. Jinks) handled “Harry” Rodney’s guys (Bri Suks More Than Just Eggs), 120- 87;
T-Bone’s Prime Beef roasted TGJB99’s Bri Slappers, 155-113;
Hopper’s Chocolate Bri spilled all over Don Pardo’s Squid’s Sleeves, 118- 85;
Dutch’s Amish Mafia pounded Spiffo’s Monkey Nuts, 164-120;
and Benny Gold’s Bad Jews Bears upset the favored Bri’s Fantasy Boys of ~BROZ, 126-107.
Speaking of ~BROZ, here is his latest Drafttek snapshot of the Eagles heading into the Colts game this Sunday:
27 | Philadelphia |
Greg Little Ole Miss OT Reach/Value: -4 |
Height: 6’6″ Weight: 325 |
|
“Ryan Fitzpatrick is a lot like Sam Bradford (assuming he mowed his beard, stared at people like a serial killer (allegedly), and wore long sleeve shirts at the beach). They both play a couple of good games every three or four years, both have made absurd and unwarranted amounts of money over the course of unsuccessful yet oddly long careers…and both of them, if you catch them on one of their rare “ON games” will shred you. The Eagles simply walked into a buzz-saw Sunday. So the message to Bucs’ fans is this: enjoy it for the next few weeks, but resist getting any lower back “Fitzmagic” tats in a drunken fit of euphoric post-win bliss, because Fitzmagic will return to his natural state (Fitzstupid) by October. The message to Eagles’ fans: we caught the wrong team at the wrong time. Move on.
“The good news for the Eagles is that Carson Wentz has been cleared for contact and named the starting QB for Week 3. The bad news is that Eagles are dealing with significant injury issues: Jason Peters can’t stay on the field (more on that later), Mike Wallace broke his leg, Alshon Jeffery is still out, and Sproles and Ajayi are both hurting. Nelson Agholor (16 REC, 121 YDS in two games) is the only real WR threat at the moment, however rumors are swirling regarding a possible trade. WR may be moving slowly up the Eagles’ 2019 Draft Needs list; however, I will continue to beat this drum: we need a legit replacement for Jason Peters THIS offseason.” – ~BROZ, Eagles Analyst
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!