PHILADELPHIA (at NYJ):
The Eagles have been the league’s biggest disappointment -- great in the preseason and terrible for most of the first two weeks. Pressure is mounting for them to get things flipped around, but it won’t be easy. The Jets have one of the league’s most talented defenses, are playing at home, and appear to match up unusually well against this system. So on our board, we’re putting down the Eagles for more underwhelming numbers. ... Sam Bradford, for one, isn’t getting it done. He’s completing 66 percent of his passes, but too many are of the dink-and-dunk variety. He’s not hitting anything downfield. He’s averaging only ...
This report is taken from today's Week 3 edition of Fantasy Index Weekly. The newsletter includes our player rankings and 18 pages of camp reports, plus stat projections and custom rankings for the games being played this weekend.
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... 9.5 yards per completion. His only good half was in the second half in Atlanta, where the Falcons were gassed and couldn’t put any heat on him. That won’t be the case here. The Jets are talented up front, and they gave Andrew Luck a beating on Monday night. Right now, Bradford appears to be the kind of quarterback who simply can’t function at all when put under duress. He’s had a lot of serious injuries, and he might not be comfortable hanging in the pocket with guys diving at his legs. He doesn’t want to hang onto the ball for that extra split second, maybe challenging single coverage with the long bomb over the top. He’s more likely to play hot potato, checking it down for 3 yards on third-and-nine. Best to use some other quarterback this week, we’re thinking. ... DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews, hard to believe, have carried 25 times for only 15 yards. They haven’t gotten Philadelphia’s vaunted running game going at all. Part of this can be attributed to the offensive line not playing as well as in past years, but it’s also possible that opposing defenses have kind of caught up to this style of play. A lot of teams have used some no-huddle and hurry-up in recent years, and defenses have had a chance to adjust to it now. And in this case, there’s also a key component missing. Chip Kelly would like to incorporate the read-option, but he doesn’t have Marcus Mariota or Tyrod Taylor playing quarterback, he has immobile Sam Bradford, who moves only slightly better than the Manning brothers. Defenses need not worry about Bradford getting outside for 20-yard runs, so that read-option action isn’t opening up the middle of the defense like it should. It’s all very ugly, and as luck would have it, the Jets have one of the best defensive lines in the league. Even without Sheldon Richardson, it might be a top-10 unit. Only plus is that they’re on a short work week, but tough for anyone to head into this game optimistic that the Eagles can get things cranked into track-meet mode, where they’re putting 150-170 rushing yards like they would have had this game been played two years ago. We’re putting modest grades on these guys. The only positive for Murray is that he’s being used a lot more in the passing game than we expected (he’s caught 9 passes in two weeks). Mathews is totally dependent on getting a short touchdown, and that looks unlikely this week. ... Jordan Matthews has been great this year, with 16 catches, but this looks like a poor week for him. He’s definitely emerged as Philadelphia’s No. 1 pass catcher, so the Jets almost certainly will cover him with Darrelle Revis. And Matthews looks like exactly the kind of receiver Revis can really smother -- a larger, slower guy. There’s some Alex Smith in Sam Bradford’s game (he doesn’t like to throw downfield or into tight windows) and he’ll likely be very hesitant to throw too often to Matthews. This should cause the passing offense to be re-wired this week, so others will have to be more involved. Nelson Agholor is the next wide receiver in the pecking order and caught 3 balls last week. He had a couple of really nice catches in the preseason. Agholor could have kind of a breakout-type game -- maybe his first 5-catch game. Darren Sproles should catch some dumpoff balls out of the backfield; Bradford likes those kind of balls anyway (Sproles has caught 11 passes the first two weeks). And Zach Ertz has some receiving ability; he’s caught 6 passes so far. When you get down to the other wide receivers -- Riley Cooper, Miles Austin, Josh Huff -- you’re really picking through the bottom of the barrel. ... Cody Parkey scored a rookie record 150 points last year, but with the way the offense is floundering, he looks like no better than an average kicker right now. Better options should be available on the waiver wire in most fantasy leagues. ... The Eagles Defense has decent personnel. When it gets leads, it can start harassing opponents into sacks and turnovers. But that won’t necessarily be the case this week. And with Ryan Fitzpatrick, he’s tough to sack simply because he tends to get rid of the ball. He’s been sacked only 119 times in his last 70 games (1.7 sacks per game, which is up there with guys like Manning, Brady and Brees). Fitzpatrick’s weakness is that he takes way too many chances with downfield throws (76 interceptions in those 70 games, which is about as bad as you’ll find). Numbers indicate a poor matchup for sacks but a great matchup for interceptions. Philadelphia also appears to be one of the top half dozen teams on kick returns, which is included in our grade.