The Eagles’ secondary once again stumbled on Sunday as Kirk Cousins chewed up the Eagles’ pass defense en route to the win. With that win, Minnesota moves to 4-2 while the Eagles fall to 3-3. Here are my thoughts from this Week 6 matchup:
Zach Brown ate his words and lost his job
The Eagles seemingly got a bargain when they signed former All-Pro linebacker Zach Brown to a one-year, $3 million deal back in April. Brown was a teammate of Kirk Cousins in 2017 when the Redskins went 7-8-1 and missed the playoffs. Before Sunday’s game, he came out and criticized the Vikings’ quarterback by calling him the weakest part of the Vikings offense.
Cousins made Brown looked like a complete fool as he completed 22 of 29 passes for 333 passing yards and four touchdowns. Sunday’s performance was arguably Cousins’ best as a Minnesota Viking. After the game, Brown was not interested in fielding questions about Cousins.
To make matters even worse for Brown, he was released by the Eagles on Monday after just six games with the team. While his criticism of Cousins and hospitality towards the media may have been the final straw, Brown’s play is what ultimately cost him his job. Brown has accumulated zero pressures, quarterback hits, and sacks this year, and has just 16 solo tackles, a pace that would be his worst since 2015. Backups Nate Gerry and Kamu Grugier-Hill have played much better and will have more significant roles with Brown gone.
It’s time for Philly to move on from Sidney Jones
Except for the game against the Luke Falk-led Jets, the Eagles’ secondary has looked atrocious through the first six games of the season. Rasul Douglas, who has been the one consistent cornerback for Philly, got burned twice on long Stefon Diggs’s touchdowns. Ronald Darby, Jalen Mills, and Avonte Maddox are all banged up with injuries as well.
However, the truely disappointing member of the secondary is Sidney Jones. A third-year player out of Washington, Sidney Jones was projected to be a top-10 pick in 2017 before he tore his Achilles during his pro day. Jones fell into the hands of the Eagles in the second round and played just one game during his rookie year. After a solid 2018 season, Jones was expected to make a big leap in Year 3.
But he has looked terrible so far in every aspect of his game. He keeps getting burned on deep balls and is always missing time with hamstring issues. With other Eagles cornerbacks coming back from injury soon, it’s time for the Eagles to get rid of Jones and label him a bust.
The Eagles need better receiver play
Eagles receivers not named Alshon Jeffery have given Carson Wentz zero help over the last five weeks. Desean Jackson has been out since Week 1, and that has cost Wentz a deep-threat option.
Nelson Agholor, who has struggled with drops in his career before, has been terrible, catching just five of 11 targets the last three weeks for 62 yards. So much for that $9.7 million player option the Eagles gave him.
Even Zach Ertz, who has always been super dependable for the Eagles, has struggled. His fourth-quarter fumble necessitated any chance of a late Eagles comeback.
However, besides those two, the player that has been most disappointing is rookie J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. Arcega-Whiteside was drafted in the second round of the 2019 draft but has caught just two catches for 14 yards on 146 offensive snaps. A key drop by him cost the Eagles a win in week three against the Lions. Arcega-Whiteside was drafted to be a good deep-ball receiver who could go up and catch balls in traffic. He’s been extremely underwhelming. To make matters worse, he was drafted before receiver D.K. Metcalf and Terry McLaurin, who are both top receivers on their teams.
The Eagles have a crucial matchup against Dallas next week while the Vikings head to Detroit to take on the Lions.
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