Preview:
The Philadelphia Eagles are 6-1 and coming off a big Monday Night win at home. A team once picked to finish third in their division is in charge of their own destiny while approaching the midpoint of the NFL season.
The biggest improvements have been on the offensive side of the ball which has also helped the defensive side of the ball. Controlling time of possession and creating longer drives has kept their defense fresh and has improved their overall play as a team.
The emergence of Carson Wentz, Zach Ertz and Nelson Agholor and the additions of Torrey Smith, Legarrette Blount and Alshon Jeffery have propelled this team into the best record in the NFL.
The Offense:
Well let’s just start off by saying in the last three weeks Wentz has thrown more touchdown passes (11) than 19 teams have all season. His Quarterback Rating is sitting at a lofty 104.0 and he is showing no sign of slowing down week after week. His passer rating sits well over the league average.
The difference in last year versus this year has been Wentz’ weapons. Last season only three of his targets had more than 36 receptions. Jordan Matthews led all wide receivers with 73 catches for 804 yards. At this point in the season Alshon Jeffery and Nelson Agholor are both on pace to break that mark.
Wendall Smallwood is now thrust into Darren Sproles’ role and has capitalized on it. He is averaging 7.8 yards per reception out of the backfield and has given electricity to the screen game that Darren Sproles has left behind.
Legarrette Blount had added a tough runner mentality and is on pace for just under 900 yards. He adds the ability to get short distances with tough running that they lacked last season.
The Eagles also rank in the top nine in total, passing and rushing yards. They also rank fifth in total points and first in third down conversions. They have put together one of the strongest offenses in the league so far through seven weeks and they look to improve it even more moving forward.
Zach Ertz and Nelson Agholor:
The two leading receivers on the Eagles offense have elevated their games from last season. Ertz and Algholor are both on their way to 50+ catch, 800+ yard seasons. They have both caught five touchdowns through the first seven games this season.
They have combined for 59 percent of the passing touchdowns that Wentz has tossed and they are the primary targets coming into the red zone. Ertz is averaging 71 yards a game which is 13 yards better than all of last season. He has one more touchdown this season already than he did all of last season.
Agholor has had the better improvement however. He already has one more yard then he had all season last year. He also has three more touchdowns than he did all of last year. Agholor was the Eagles wide receiver of the future and this season has been a jumping off point for the things to come.
Defense:
The Defense as a whole has been playing a bend but don’t break mentality. They rank first in rushing yards allowed at 67 per game and rank third in third downs defended at 32.9 percent. The Eagles have also made it very difficult on opposing quarterbacks.
The Eagles are tenth in the NFL in sacks after recording three Monday night. They bump their total to 17 on the season.
With Marcus Peters going down for what looked to be an extremely serious injury the offensive line could be in question moving forward. However, the Eagles have been virtually unstoppable on offense this season. The defense is stopping the deep plays and they are getting timely plays from their big pass catchers.
As of right now this team goes with Carson Wentz and he hasn’t disappointed yet.
Featured Image from Foxnews.com.
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