NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
The Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Commanders will face off in Week 3 in the first NFC East divisional game for both teams. The Eagles are coming in 2-0 after a solid victory against the Minnesota Vikings Monday night. The Commanders will enter the game 1-1 after falling to the Detroit Lions last Sunday. Can Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense keep their hot start going or will the Commanders defense finally step up?
Here are 3 keys to victory for the Philadelphia Eagles against the Washington Commanders.
Philadelphia Eagles Must Blitz Carson Wentz
Offense sells tickets but defense wins championships. This is the motto the Eagles must buy into this season. And it begins with the game against the Commanders. Attack the QB. Against the Vikings, the Eagles blitzed Kirk Cousins 5 times in 4 quarters. Cousins threw 3 INTs but the defense sacked him just twice. For a team coming off just 30 sacks last season, Jonathan Gannon must begin to trust his players more and his instincts.
The Eagles’ defense will go against an old teammate in Carson Wentz. To rattle Wentz, you must take him out of his comfort zone. And to do that, he must be hit and hit often. That means that Gannon will have to draw up as many blitz packages as he can and just attack. If they can get to Wentz the same way they did Cousins, this game could get out of hand quickly.
Correct The Offensive Line issues
This was a huge issue in the game against the Minnesota Vikings. Even with the Eagles pulling out the victory, not everything was top form. Throughout the game, the offensive line was called for penalties that hurt drives. While the offensive holding is 50/50 depending on your point of view, it was the three “illegal man downfield” calls that the Eagles must fix. To have the offense moving and see a yellow flag at the end of the play due to an excited lineman was a punch in the gut for the Birds Monday night. But this can be fixed.
The Philadelphia Eagles and their RPO are dangerous, but at times it does leave the linemen on an island. While at least one of the calls was questionable, Shane Steichen and the offensive coaches must drill into the player’s head to pay better attention. But those are the mistakes you can sort of live with when you’re winning.
Let Jalen Hurts Air it Out
If it’s one thing the Philadelphia Eagles must improve on, it’s getting the ball downfield. In their first two games, Hurts has passed for 576 yards but only 1 TD through the air. The Eagles longest pass through the air was to Quez Hopkins for 53 yards and Hurts only TD pass of the season. If they stand a chance against the Commanders, the offense will need to air it out against a defense ranked 21st in Passing Yards allowed and 26th in Passing TDs allowed.
While the Birds are ground-heavy, it’s time to open up the playbook and let DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown loose. Watkins has proven that he has the speed on the outside but so does Smith. In their two games, the Commanders have given up a total of 494 yards through the air but those were against QBs not equipped with the type of weapons Hurts has at his disposal.
