Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Gameday – WC – PHI at TB

Posted January 15th, 2024 | Comments Off on Gameday – WC – PHI at TB

The regular season is in the books. The Eagles are hoping tonight’s playoff game will prove to be the reset that this team needed. As we’ve seen over the weekend, the regular season doesn’t mean a whole lot when it comes to January football.

Let’s jump right to the inactives.

No Reed Blankenship. That means Kevin Byard is the only healthy safety and Avonte Maddox will have to move back there tonight. Bradley Roby could be in the slot.

The Eagles need help at safety so they made these moves.

It isn’t ideal to go into a playoff game with four safeties like this. One has been with the team since October. Another is the team’s NB. One is a rookie CB who has played some safety this season. The other is a practice squad player with minimal experience.

That’s a huge drop from Hopkins-Waters, Dawkins-Mikell and Jenkins-McLeod.

The defense does get Darius Slay back. The front seven is healthy. Let’s not make it out to be “Woe is me”. They have enough talent and experience to win this game.

Jalen Hurts has his finger issue, but is healthy aside from that. We’ll have to see if that affects his throws or ability to grip the ball. RPO hand-offs are more complicated than a standard run because the QB has to read and either hand the ball or pull it back.

I think one of the keys for the Eagles is touches by RBs. They need at least 20 touches (runs and/or catches). Feed those guys and let them help you move the chains. Take some pressure off Hurts and the receivers. AJ Brown’s touches have to go somewhere. You want to be careful about expecting the other receivers to handle all of those.

Special teams has been a strength for the Eagles all year long. It would be great if that group could have a big showing since starters are missing on offense and defense.

I do think the Eagles will win this game, but I sure don’t say that with a lot of confidence. We’ll see if the coaches were able to come up with solutions to some of the problems that plagued the team down the stretch. I just think Hurts and the veteran players will do enough to win this game.

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