The Eagles lineup in Miami this week will look a little more like Week One than it has in a while.
Most importantly, the team has Michael Vick, Jeremy Maclin, and DeSean Jackson all together for the first time in over a month. That’s welcome news for LeSean McCoy.
“A lot of teams have been focusing so much on me,” running back McCoy said via the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Now we’ve got the full team back, it’s a lot to watch out for.”
On the defensive side, rookie linebacker Casey Matthews will get significant snaps as a nickel defender. We essentially haven’t seen the rookie since Week Three, when Matthews was made a scapegoat for much of the Eagles’ defensive problems.
He was benched after struggling to start at middle linebacker and weakside linebacker.
While Philly’s rush defense has improved since, it’s not like removing Matthews solved Philly’s problems. They don’t rank in the top 20 defenses in points allowed, yards-per-pass allowed, or yards-per-rush allowed.
At 4-8, the Eagles’ playoff hopes are dead. But guys like Matthews and Jackson can try to secure a role with next year’s team, no matter who the coach is.
