Well, it sure has been a long bye week waiting to watch the Philadelphia Eagles play some football. I sure hope they have an answer for their own wide receiver corps for this Sunday's game against the New England Patriots, or this game can end up being a massacre. The are some ways that Doug Pederson can make the best out of what he's got though.
This article is also with the assumption that Alshon Jeffery will be starting on the outside, even though he has not participated in practice this week due to an ankle injury. To think of him sitting out this game will give me nightmares, so let's take a look at the other two spots and how to be productive against a tough defense.
The Patriots have one of the best defenses in the NFL, and certainly the best part about their defense is their cornerbacks. The one thing that is a nightmare to watch this season for the Eagles is their wide receivers who have been the worst I've seen for some time now. Also, I will not be mentioning Mack Hollins or JJ Arcega-Whiteside in this article, just let them warm the bench because it seems that's all they are good for this season. So let's take a look at what we have to work with to make this offense have a better chance.
The team did recently add a familiar face in Jordan Matthews, which is music to Carson Wentz's ears because Matthews is one of his best friends and there's a lot of chemistry between the two. I like Matthews, he has been a serviceable slot wide receiver for the Birds each time he has donned the midnight green. However, when he is on the outside he gets lost in the background and is easily overmatched, so I think it is important he stays in the slot on Sunday to give this offense some momentum that it's definitely going to need.
That leaves me with Nelson Agholor, who has been inconsistent all season dropping many key catches. I'm a big fan of Agholor, so to write badly of him is hard, but whether he is on the outside or slot I just don't see him making a huge impact in this game. So I say remove him from the slot to let Matthews take that spot, and put him on the outside just to fill that remaining hole out there. Maybe he can make an impact doing some endarounds for Pederson's offensive gameplan or possibly even a reverse or double reverse to try and scramble the Patriots defense.
This game will be a tough one for the Eagles to come out on top in. I hope that Pederson has found some strategies in the bye week he feels will work to make this a battle to remember, and not a massacre we can't shake the memory of.
