Eagles v. Lions Week 3: 14 winners, losers, and I dunnos

Winners

Carson Wentz

I’d like to unequivocally put Carson Wentz as Winner No. 1. He had much the same game as he did last week against Atlanta, in that he seemed to miss some easy throws — especially outside the numbers — and made some heroic plays outside of the pocket and on the run. However, because there weren’t those bad interceptions — instead, bad fumbles — there was less early blame on him, and the end-game heroics were more easily recognizable. Wentz has played well — winning efforts — in all three games he’s played this year. That’s great news.

Rasul Douglas

Is Douglas going to suddenly become a consistently good corner? I doubt it, but it’d sure be nice. That said, he’s had strong games like this before, and we should highlight them when we get ‘em. Douglas played physical against Julio Jones in Atlanta and he’s back playing physical against Detroit, with multiple PBUs, especially a TD-saving one late in the third. Blocked FG return was nice as well.

Brandon Brooks

For the first time since he got here, Brooks might be playing the best ball of any of the Eagles’ offensive linemen. Peters and Lane didn’t have their best days, Seumalo is struggling, and Brooks — back from injury — is absolutely thriving. Impressed with the displacement he generated today.

Mack Hollins

Sod the OPIs, which generally felt undeserving — Hollins played a solid game in relief of Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson. Hollins is probably the best athlete the Eagles have playing at WR with DeSean out, and excels working parallel to the line of scrimmage with strong breaks and good explosiveness. He is the best target at WR the Eagles have for as long as the starters are out.

Zach Brown

Couple of great plays from Brown in this game, including a late tipped pass and a quality tackle at the line of scrimmage against wide zone flow. Nate Gerry has struggled mightily in Kamu Grugier-Hill’s absence and Nigel Bradham has been relatively quiet as the permanent middle ‘backer; it’s nice to see someone make plays.

Malcolm Jenkins

Nobody on the defense had a greater impact than Malcolm Jenkins, who had a quality PBU bailing out of a short zone, and obviously the blocked kick that should have spelled an incredible turnaround win for the Eagles. Jenkins has been the best player on the Eagles’ defense in the first three weeks of the season.

Cover 0

Because sometimes the blitz gets there and it breaks the play!

Losers

Cover 0

Because sometimes it doesn’t and you give up more touchdowns!

Nelson Agholor

Agholor is the only starting receiver currently active for the Eagles, and goodness if you didn’t tell anyone that, they’d think Agholor was the last guy on the depth chart. Agholor has committed multiple drive-ending and game-changing plays over the last two weeks, including a critical fumble to the end the first half. Agholor’s two receiving touchdowns came on shallow breaking routes that highlight his ideal usage as a gadget player, nothing more.

Ronald Darby

Unable to tag anyone in man coverage for the early Detroit drives, Darby never played in the second half, due to an announced hamstring injury. If he tweaked his hammy, it could help explain his issues in coverage, but I think there’s a more than good chance the Eagles just wanted to try out a new combo at corner. Regardless, Darby has yet to demonstrate that he has successfully returned from last year’s injury.

Eagles’ second-round draft picks

J.J. Arcega-Whiteside and Miles Sanders both had pretty bad games, though I think expectations are too high for both of them. Arcega-Whiteside needs to be a bigger part of this offense with the injuries at wide receiver, yet hardly garners any targets and obviously had a gut-wrenching drop on what should have been a heroic play. Sanders is being treated like a clear bellcow despite the fact that he consistently leaves yardage on the field and had two fumbles on the day. They’re young; they’ll get better — but the Eagles needed some bigger plays from both today.

Eagles pass-rush

I’m going to spend the next couple days trying to figure out, you know, why the Eagles haven’t really sacked anybody. Because that feels like a big problem.

I dunnos

Sidney Jones

I mean, guys, he’s probably not good. Key PBU late, but multiple completions allowed and an inability to stick with Marvin Jones on the touchdown. I’m not sure what’s left of Sid that we don’t know that more playing time will answer.

Dallas Goedert

Feels like Goedert — who barely saw snaps in the first half — wasn’t actually healthy. The Eagles can only make so many players inactive, and they used him just as they needed him, no more. On a day in which everyone had a drop, the only consequence from Goedert’s was the time lost to eventually punch the ball in and bring it within 3. So I dunno if he was really that bad, all things considered.

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