This is a must-win for the Philadelphia Eagles, but don’t write the New York Jets off just yet. The Eagles have a weak spot, or should I say an empty hole in the field where even backup quarterback Luke Falk could find some game-changing plays.
Now if you’re like me I had never heard of this Falk guy before, so I went to my good friend Google. So far he's started in two games this year -- one which was against the Cleveland Browns, the other against the New England Patriots. The stats don’t look good. Over the two games he has a combined total of 296 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He does, however, have a quarterback rating of 76.2 but has been sacked seven times. I’m not saying he will blow us out of the water, but we have been here before.
Last year Ryan Fitzpatrick made a fool out of us by getting a 75-yard touchdown on the first play to our guy DeSean Jackson. We even made Dak Prescott look better than he really is by racking up 455-yards. We all know he is barley an average quarterback, and without Ezekiel Elliott, he would probably be sitting on the bench. Let’s take look at this cornerback situation we have been cursed with yet again. Ronald Darby, Jalen Mills, Cre'von Leblanc, Avonte Maddox all are ruled out for Sunday. Sidney Jones is listed as questionable although even healthy he has not been the most reliable.
So right now we have Rasul Douglas. I am a fan of Douglas and I certainly think he is starter material. He can be too physical with shoving wide receivers around though, so he gives up a lot of penalty yards off of pass interference calls. As we know that means a lot more chances for a team to score, which is hurting the defense as a whole.
Then there is Craig James who came off the practice squad to fill in last week. And although he did not get any stats from the game against the Green Bay Packers, he showed up when we needed him. Aaron Rodgers tried to force the football to Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a slant route from the 3-yard line with 28 seconds left, but James was right there tied up around him. He tipped the ball in the air and Nigel Bradham swooped in to take it away to save the game. He entered the game towards the end so let's see how he handles the pressure next time.
I know a lot of people were disappointed when the team re-signed Orlando Scandrick, but it is helpful band-aid for now, and beggars can't be choosers. He is a good veteran addition and will also give some experience on the field as well as adding depth in case anybody else goes down. I am not saying he will be our Patrick Robertson (man I miss that guy), but he should at least be serviceable.
Finally and the bottom of the barrel at the cornerback position the Eagles just promoted Ryan Lewis from the practice squad to active roster. There’s not a whole lot to say about this guy. He was with the Buffalo Bills in 2018 then the Indianapolis Colts for the beginning of 2019, where he was in four preseason games and three regular-season games and there is not a lot to report for stats, just three tackles. This is not an ideal situation and most likely he'll only see the field if one of the other three cornerbacks get hurt during the game.
Fortunately the team seems to have a lot of depth at the safety position, which will allow Malcolm Jenkins to move almost any position he wants (including slot cornerback). If (heaven forbid) Carson Wentz were to get hurt, I would even try Jenkins out as a quarterback, no hesitation the guy is a baller. Definitely knock on wood that Carson never gets hurt again though. Then there is Rodney McCloud who is playing like he was never even out last season. Andrew Sendejo would be the next man up is Jenkins were to move to cornerback, and he can still handle his own, he has proven that with some key plays like the deflection against the Packers that saved a touchdown. After trading Johnathan Cyprien, the fourth safety is Rudy Ford who only had three tackles in 2018. There is not a lot I can say about him but he gives us some depth and helps with special teams. The last thing I want to do is worry the fans. This ship is not sinking yet, and the duct tape may hold up for this game but it certainly isn't a long-term solution for the season. Howie Roseman has his hands full with this problem yet again. We need to be looking for secondary help if we want to make a deep run in the playoffs. I know everyone is waiting to hear if we sign Jalen Ramsey, he may be the best, but he comes at a big price for someone we won’t get a lot of use out of, plus it's sounding more and more like the Jaguars won't end up trading him.
This offseason the team will need to move on from some of the cornerbacks so they are not in this situation again for a third year in a row. Even when they are healthy, they have not proven to be reliable. For this game, we should make do but as an Eagles fan, I’m sick of trying to make do with what we have. It's time we make a deal. Believe it or not, this team is a Super Bowl team. We all know the Jets offense has been terrible, right now they sit at 0-3. Let's make sure our Eagles go to 3-2 and not 2-3 from the Jets. Just thinking about that boils my blood. Let’s not end up getting booted from the playoffs like last year for the same reason. Let's show the world it’s a no-fly zone in Philadelphia for a reason.
