Going Deep
Wendell Smallwood wasn't the guy fans were expecting to make a momentous return to Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, that honor was reserved for Carson Wentz.
But playing without their lead running backs, Jay Ajayi and Darren Sproles, the Eagles enter Sunday's game against the Colts on a rain-soaked field in need of help in the backfield. Enter, Smallwood, a third-year player who was inactive for the final three months of 2017 and barely made the roster out of training camp.
Splitting snaps with Corey Clement and the recently promoted Josh Adams, Smallwood amassed 91 yards from scrimmage and scored the go-ahead touchdown in the Eagles 20-16 victory.
"Wendell has always impressed me," Doug Pederson admitted after the game. "He's worked extremely hard. He's really improved his craft and put himself in a position to help us. You got to have guys like that. Might be role players, but you know what, their role is pretty big in games like this, when your top two guys are down."
It has been a long journey for Smallwood who was sent to the inactive portion of the 53-man roster last season once the Eagles acquired Ajayi in a midseason trade from the Miami Dolphins. The former fifth-round pick fought for his employment for the summer before reemerging as a viable option in the offense on Sunday.
Smallwood ran tough between the tackles, dragging defenders for 8 yards on a first-half carry and performing a similar feat in the third quarter. The third-year back even contributed in the passing game, catching three passes, including a 34-yard throw up the seam from Wentz, which ended up as the longest play of the game. But it was a much shorter play that made the difference in Sunday's game. Smallwood's four-yard touchdown run, just his third score in his three-year career, punctuated a 17-play, 75-yard drive that drained 11:18 off the fourth quarter clock and gave the Eagles a 4-point lead.
“On the touchdown, I was not going to be denied," Smallwood said after the game. "I saw two safeties playing high and that means they were playing zone. I just had to be patient and wait for Kelce (center, Jason) and Wiz (left guard Stefen Wisniewski) to get their double-team in place and then I saw the hole and I got through it.”
Over the course of a 16-game season, the Eagles will need contributions from almost all of the players on their roster and Smallwood certainly earned his spot on Sunday.
Injury Report
Did not play: Alshon Jeffery (shoulder), Jay Ajayi (back), Darren Sproles (hamstring)
Rodney McLeod: The Eagles' safety left the game early in the second half after colliding with Jalen Mills during a tackle attempt. McLeod was replaced by Corey Graham and never returned. It will be interesting to see how Jim Schwartz deploys Malcolm Jenkins if McLeod misses time. The Eagles like to keep Jenkins in the box with McLeod as the single-high safety, but with Graham's limited range, the Birds may have to switch to more cover two looks until McLeod is healthy.
Measurables
40:20: The Eagles held the ball for over 40 minutes on Sunday in their win. It was just the second time since 1995 the Birds have accomplished the feat. The only other occurrence was in 2011 when Andy Reid's squad held possession for 42:09 against the Cowboys. LeSean McCoy rushed for over 180 yards on 30 carries and the Eagles won, 34-7.
45: Just 45 of the Eagles 255 receiving yards were recorded by wide receivers. It's no secret the Eagles have had issues on the outside, but Nelson Agholor and Jordan Matthews were the only two wide receivers to be targeted by Wentz on Sunday and the pair caught 6 of those 7 passes. If Jeffery is able to play next week, it could open things up for an offense that has been forced to go with two and three tight end sets due to a lack of healthy bodies.
8: On their go-ahead drive, the Eagles picked up 8 first downs, despite picking up just 65 net yards. What makes that math add up is the fact that the Eagles converted a second-and-26 with a five-yard defensive holding penalty. Still, a pretty crazy anomaly that has seemed to have only occurred once in the NFL since 1999.
Wentz Report
Since it was his first game back, we'll carve out some space to talk about how Wentz looked yesterday. The good news is he looked to be perfectly healthy. He scrambled for a first down and some of his moves to elude the Colts' pass rush were astonishing. If there were any doubts about his knee and the confidence he had in that leg, they were put to rest yesterday.
However, it was clear Wentz isn't the guy who should've won MVP a season ago. At least, not yet. The quarterback seemed to be a beat late on some of his throws and telegraphed his interception badly. It's silly to think a guy coming off a nine-month layoff wouldn't be a little bit rusty, but it was still a bit shocking to see Wentz make mistakes we haven't seen him make since his rookie year. Yesterday proved there will certainly be a readjustment period for the young quarterback, but with a healthy knee, there shouldn't be any long-term concerns about his health.
Up-Down Drill
Up: Wendell Smallwood
Smallwood put together his best performance as an Eagle on Sunday, finishing the day as the game's leading rusher and totaling 91 yards from scrimmage. Smallwood picked up some real tough yards and scored the game-winning touchdown to cap off a ridiculous 17-play drive. He also caught a 34-yard pass up the seam from Wentz, which was the Eagles' longest completion of the day. With Ajayi and Sproles sidelined, Smallwood took advantage of his increased touches and turned in a productive day.
Down: Nelson Agholor
Agholor was pretty quiet for most of the afternoon, but the Colts secondary focused much of their attention on the USC product with Jeffery and Mike Wallace out with injuries. Agholor did have a huge third-down conversion where he leapt over a defender and picked up a first down to keep the eventual game-winning drive alive. On a day where no one was obviously terrible, Agholor was the most disappointing.
Up: Derek Barnett
Barnett hasn't had his breakout party yet, but it is coming quick. The former first-round pick split a sack with Fletcher Cox in the first half and then saved the game with a fourth-down sack of Andrew Luck in the closing minutes of the game. Barnett consistently beat La'Raven Clark, but didn't get home until that final sack. The second-year man has stepped up his game this season and the Eagles have rewarded him with playing time. Coming into Sunday, Barnett was third on the defensive line in snaps played, behind Cox and Brandon Graham.
Down: Corey Clement
Clement wasn't terrible on offense, but he was miscast as a punt returner yesterday. The running back looked very uncomfortable fielding punts and muffed one that he was lucky to get back. If Sproles is going to be out next week, the Eagles need to find a new guy to line up back there because it was clear returning punts just isn't in Clement's skill set.
Three-Step Drop
1. One thing that has defined the Eagles defense under Schwartz is their success in the red zone. The Colts had 5 red zone possessions on Sunday and came away with just one touchdown. Also, the Eagles offense turned the ball over twice inside their own 20-yard-line, but Schwartz's squad stood strong, holding Indianapolis to a pair of field goals on those possessions. For some reason, there have been some negativity regarding the Eagles defensive performance yesterday, but given these circumstances, I'd say they played pretty damn well.
2. With so little production coming from the wide receivers, Wentz leaned heavily on his tight ends and both Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert came through with great performances. The tight ends each finished with 73 yards and Goedert caught the first touchdown of his young career. Honestly, if the duo weren't wearing numbers on Sunday, it would've been pretty hard to tell them apart. It will be exciting what the pair can do once a solid receiving corps can open up the middle of the field for them.
3. Through three weeks, it looks like the Eagles biggest competition for the NFC East will be the Washington Redskins. The Cowboys look uneven once again and the Giants don't look much improved from their 3-13 finish last year. The Redskins have a veteran quarterback and a solid coaching staff. The Eagles are still the better team, but if they falter, Washington could give them a run for their money.
Who's Next
The Eagles will head back out on the road next week when they travel to Nashville to face the Tennessee Titans. Marcus Mariota's squad made the postseason for the first time since 2008 last year, and after hiring new coach Mike Vrabel, the Titans are 2-1 in 2018. The Titans offense has struggled with Mariota dealing with an injury that saw him split snaps with Blaine Gabbert in yesterday's 9-6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
