PHILADELPHIA (vs Washington):
Philadelphia’s offense has been a slight disappointment thus far. The running game hasn’t been as dominant, and they’ve fallen behind in back-to-back games. They’ve managed to score 34 and 30 points, going 2-0, but it doesn’t seem as effective as last year. Part of this can be attributed to defenses being more prepared for the challenges of facing this up-tempo spread scheme -- they know it’s coming now. And Washington fits this scheme. When these teams met in Week 1 a year ago, Washington had no idea what was coming, giving up 263 rushing yards and 33 points. When they met later in the year (at Philadelphia) the Eagles ran for only 126 yards and scored 9 fewer points. Washington’s defense has been solid thus far, giving up only one touchdown each to Houston and Jacksonville. Philadelphia, it seems, is more likely to score in the mid-20s rather than moving up into the 30-plus range. ... The running game isn’t working quite like last year. LeSean McCoy is averaging only 3.7 yards per carry. He’s been under 4.0 per carry in both games. Last year he ...
This report is taken from today's Week 3 edition of Fantasy Index Weekly. The newsletter includes our player rankings, camp reports, stat projections, and custom rankings for the games being played this weekend.
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averaged under 4.0 in only 5 of 16 games; he averaged 5.1 overall. Part of this can be attributed to offensive line issues, but the larger dynamic is probably simply defenses being better prepared. McCoy ran for 184 yards in Week 1 at Washington last year, when the defense simply wasn’t prepared. He went for 77 yards on 20 carries in the rematch later in the year, which is a far better indicator of what to expect this year. Philadelphia has run for 145 and 127 yards in its first two games, and it could have been under 100 yards in both of those games if not for a couple of big runs. Below-average matchup for the Philadelphia running game (though below-average for the Eagles is still a top-10 number). McCoy should get around 20 carries, but the Eagles will also work in Darren Sproles, and with his speed there will be many games this year where he busts loose for long gainers. Two games into the season, Sproles has a lot fewer touches than McCoy but better overall numbers. Sproles has scored on 19- and 49-yard touchdown runs, and he’s also caught 11 passes for 166 yards. ... As opponents get better against Philadelphia’s running game, that should benefit Nick Foles. He’s had to pass for 322 and 331 yards in the first two games. He had 300 yards in only two starts all of last year. A month or so ago, we thought Foles would average about 250 passing yards per game; now we’re thinking he’s more of a 280-yard guy. But Foles thus far hasn’t been quite as effective as last year. He’s completing under 59 percent, and he’s thrown only 3 TDs. Last year he completed 64 percent, with 24 TDs in his 10 starts. Definitely there will be weeks against good defenses where he’s off. Washington doesn’t necessarily have a great defense, but it does have a good pass rush; it sacked Chad Henne 10 times on Sunday. Foles passed for 298 yards against Washington last year, with no touchdowns but a touchdown run. We’re thinking about 290 yards and 1-2 TDs makes sense this time around. ... After two weeks, Jeremy Maclin looks a lot better than Riley Cooper. Maclin has caught 8 passes for 142 yards and 2 TDs. Cooper has caught only 5 passes for 37 yards, with no touchdowns. Cooper looks very much like an ancillary part. He lines up as an outside receiver, and the intention is to occasionally throw him a deep ball. He dropped a touchdown at Indianapolis, which would make him look more impressive, but right now he doesn’t really look much better than rookie Jordan Matthews, who’s playing about as much. And they’re working Zach Ertz into the offense more. Just two weeks in the season, Ertz already has 6 catches over 20 yards. Last year Jimmy Graham led all tight ends with 19 of those. For all of these pass catchers, it looks like an average-type situation. We’re slotting them about where they go in a typical week. ... We put a modest grade on Cody Parkey heading into the season because Philadelphia was so good last year at scoring touchdowns rather than field goals. Only the Broncos and Bengals were better at putting the ball in the end zone, so the Eagles ranked only 19th in kicking points. Plus Parkey wasn’t accurate enough at Auburn. But two weeks into the season, he’s kicked 5 field goals and scored 10 and 12 points. If the offense doesn’t get back to being more efficient in the red zone, he could be a top-5 kicker. ... We’re slotting the Eagles Defense as a middle-of-the-pack unit. Kirk Cousins played well off the bench last week, but he doesn’t have great mobility or arm strength. He was intercepted 7 times last year while attempting only 155 passes. To us, Philadelphia looks better than average in interception potential and below average in sacks. The Eagles tend to give up more yards and points than other teams because of their up-tempo offense, so that’s not included in our standard rankings.
