The Philadelphia Eagles have a mountain in front of them on Sunday when they go down to New Orleans to visit the Saints. To be fair, it seems like every single team in the NFL would have a bad time against the Saints' weirdly and wildly dominant offense, but this week just so happens to be the Birds' turn to give them a go.
It doesn’t look great for the Eagles either. Through two weeks the defensive line has been nothing short of a disappointment, and that’s the nice way to say it. Hope’s not dead though. There are still seven other players on that side of the ball, but they’ll have to make up for what the big guys can’t do.
Not every matchup is a one-on-one, but they’re winnable for the Eagles
The matchups in the trenches are shaping up to be a ‘Mike Tyson v. Stephen Hawking’ type of fight, where each team’s offensive line is the guy with the face tattoo. The Eagles' offensive line looks almost as good as it ever has been, and the defensive line looks as abysmal as you could imagine… but there are still some pretty big fights elsewhere on the field.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson v. The City of New Orleans
C.J.G.J. was drafted by the Saints in the fourth round of the 2019 draft and he was with them until 2021. On August 30, 2022, they traded him to the Eagles. We know firsthand that when C.J. leaves a team he takes it personally and makes a little bit of a scene.
When he left the Eagles he did it in free agency and he was hot about it. The Saints didn’t just let him walk, they traded him. Knowing what we know about C.J., that’s a John Wick-able offense.
Unfortunately, C.J. popped up on Thursday’s injury report with a foot thing, so there’s a chance we get robbed of a great revenge game. It already happened in Week 2 when Russell Wilson was inactive when the Steelers played the Broncos.
The Football Gods can be petty and unfair. If you’ve done something to wrong them, make sure you repent before Sunday so that at least there’s a little excitement when the Eagles’ defense is on the field.
Quiyon Mitchell and Slay v. Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave
This is going to be the secondary’s hardest test of the year so far. In Week 1, they had to cover the Packers’ talented receivers, but Jordan Love had a terrible game. In Week 2, the Falcons’ decent receivers were held in check for all but a handful of really bad plays. In Week 3, it’s a whole different game.
Rashid Shaheed is super fast and smart. He’ll just as soon burn you down the field as he will sit in soft spots between zones or snag a short pass and rack up yards after the catch. He’s dangerous and slippery.
He’ll line up both inside and outside, but he’s done far more damage when he lines up outside. Per Next Gen Stats, on the 20 routes he’s run from being lined up outside, he’s been targeted four times and racked up 138 yards and two touchdowns. From the slot, he’s run 11 routes, and been targeted five times for only 31 yards.
Chris Olave is different. In the 2022 draft, he was the Saints’ 11th pick and it shows. He’s quietly put up over 1,000 receiving yards in his first two seasons with a terrible and boring offense. The Saints’ offense this year is neither terrible nor boring.
He’s a great route runner and when he gets cushion, he makes you pay for it. If he doesn't get cushion, he makes you pay for it. He’s just a really really good receiver and if/when the Saints finally get into close games his talent will finally show. It feels like 2024 will be his breakout year.
Now, the Eagles have good corners. Quinyon’s been showing that he should’ve been drafted sooner and Slay has been showing that he still has it together. When it’s still this early in the season, those are very good signs.
They’re going to need to keep that up against a pair of receivers that are thriving in an offense that has exploded out of nowhere. It’s going to be tough if Shaheed makes either of them look like a buffoon.
We saw how close Q was to getting an interception in Week 2. If he can lock down and rip one in this game, it’ll go a long way in a potential Defensive Rookie of the Year campaign.
Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean v. Derek Carr
One of the things that’s helping with the Saints’ dominant offense, is their usage of play-action. Derek Carr is using play-action on 50% of his dropbacks, which is a monstrous number. That’s moving the linebackers because they have no choice but to respect the Saints’ strong running game. Once they’re out of position and Carr can wheel and deal.
This is a matchup against linebackers and a quarterback because Derek Carr isn’t elite at selling a play-action fake. Some of his PA fakes look pretty low effort, but they work because of the circumstances.
Baun and Dean are going to need to be smart and have good vision to not get duped and look like dum-dums just because Carr turns his back and fakes a handoff to a running back who is legitimately a yard and a half away from him.
If they do their job and stay honest to what’s in front of them, they can let the Fangio defense do its thing, and make the coverage look completely different while Carr has his back turned. If there’s an edge for the Eagles’ defense, this matchup is where it starts.
Jeff Stoutland and Jalen Hurts legs v. The Saints’ run defense
Jalen’s legs are back. It felt like he had lost some power, speed, and shiftiness for the past year. It looked like he didn’t trust himself and he couldn’t cut the way he did in 2022.
In Week 1, he put everyone on notice. In Week 2, he put the issue to rest. He can run, he will run, and he will make the people in his way crumple like their bones are made of soggy graham crackers. It’s a great feeling to know he’s back, especially since this week he has a game against a defense that he has embarrassed in the past.
He made his first start in Week 14 of the 2020 season against the Saints. Going into that game, there was a common understanding that you didn’t try to run the ball against their defense. Jalen ran 18 times for 106 yards, and Miles Sanders ran 14 times for 115 yards and two touchdowns.
In Week 11 of the 2021 season, the Saints and their top-ranked run defense came up to Philly. Jalen ran 18 times for 69 yards and three touchdowns while Miles Sanders ran 16 times for 94 yards.
When Jalen sees the Saints, you know the ball is going to move super efficiently on the ground. When you pair that up with Jeff Stoutland’s run game, the offense turns into one of those snowplow trains.
The Eagles' game plan going into this should be centered around possession. Shorten the game, keep the ball, and tire out the defense. In 2024, running the ball works against NFL defenses, so don’t fight it. You have Jalen and Saquon, use them.
DeVonta Smith v. Whoever is lined up against him
The Saints use a very aggressive man coverage. They body up wide receivers and make it tough for them to separate. It would be great to have a player like A.J. Brown for games specifically like this, but he’s probably not going to play.
That means DeVonta is going to need to win fast by showcasing how good he is at route running and creating separation. If Marshon Lattimore is healthy, he’ll probably shadow DeVonta. That’s definitely winnable for DeVonta, but it’ll be tough.
If there is no Lattimore, the other corners are Paulson Adebo and rookie Kool-Aid McKinstry. Adebo is good and McKinstry is fine, but neither of those guys will be able to stick with DeVonta consistently.
Kellen Moore’s offense has been able to make completions to DeVonta look easy, and a short passing game that flows through him will pair perfectly with a heavy Eagles’ running game. It’s like milk and cookies, baby.