The Philadelphia Eagles have been nothing short of a disappointment this year, but their schedule isn’t necessarily helping them, either.
After getting torched by Russell Wilson and DK Metcalf during a 23-17 Monday-night loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Eagles have a Week 13 meeting in Green Bay against the Packers (4:25 p.m. ET) and another red-hot quarterback, wide-receiver battery.
The Eagles are meeting what very well could be the best version of Aaron Rodgers the football world has seen in years. In 11 games, he’s set the NFL ablaze with a 68.5% completion percentage, 3,100 yards, and a league-best 33 touchdowns compared to just four interceptions.
His quarterback rating of 117.6 this season leads the NFL as well, anchoring the Packers to an 8-3 start.
Davante Adams has been the main benefactor of Rodgers’ resurgence in 2020, putting together a season that will only be rivaled by his breakout 2018 campaign in which he posted 169 catches for 1,386 yards and 13 touchdowns.
In five fewer games this year, the 27-year-old has 74 catches for 908 yards and 11 scores.
What has supplemented the Packers’ offensive success this season is a rock-solid offensive line that has only allowed 12 sacks on the season while Green Bay’s rushing attack is a top-10 unit in the NFL.
It’s a stark contrast to the Eagles’ ragtag unit, which has given up a league-worst 46 sacks while sapping the confidence straight out of Carson Wentz’s game.
Sunday’s meeting in Green Bay, however, might feature the Eagles focusing on their ground game more than putting reliance on Wentz to pull off an upset.
The Packers’ largest shortcoming — which predates this season — is their run defense. Only seven teams in the NFL allow a higher average on yards per carry than their mark at 4.6. They’ve allowed 89 yards or more in eight of their 11 games this season, including three instances of yielding 140 or higher. All three of those games were their only losses of the season.
In Philadelphia’s win last season over the Packers, they ran the ball 33 times for 176 yards with Miles Sanders averaging 6.5 yards per carry. Granted, they had a healthy offensive line at the time that featured Brandon Brooks and Lane Johnson.
Regardless, expect the Penn State product to see plenty of the ball on Sunday after he had just six rushes for 15 yards against the Seahawks. That could lead to Wentz and the passing offense finding some momentum via play-action calls, which would be some semblance of positivity to enjoy within a passing offense that has been nothing short of a liability this season.
Wentz has thrown for less than 240 yards in five of his last six starts — a stretch that has also included six interceptions and 27 sacks.
It has only magnified the potential Jalen Hurts watch as the rookie second-rounder continues waiting in the wings for more playing time, especially when it comes to throwing the ball.
Head coach Doug Pederson has remained steadfast in going and staying with Wentz, but the Eagles no longer hold the top spot in the NFC East, and if the offense does nothing early on against the Packers, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities to see the Alabama product get some more reps.
