The bye week is over – Eagles fans just celebrated one of their most successful Sundays of the season thus far. So, what do we need to hear from Doug Pederson this week, as the team reassembles for the second half of its season, starting with the upcoming game at the Giants?
Here are some random thoughts on that subject:
___-
That Miles Sanders and Lane Johnson are healthy, and that Dallas Goedert is ready to resume a substantive role in the passing game.
Sanders missed three of the first eight games, which is a pretty big deal since the Eagles keep insisting that he is a workhorse back and they don't need a big-time complement. With him, the run game has been inconsistent but has produced crucial big plays. Without him, the run game has struggled mightily; Carson Wentz is the team's second-leading rusher. The NFL Network has reported that Sanders (71 carries, 434 yards) is expected to practice this week.
Johnson, sidelined with knee and ankle injuries, is crucial to solving one of the team's biggest problems – offensive line inconsistency and lack of cohesion. Seven different starting groups in eight games.
But Jason Peters played very well in his return to left tackle vs. Dallas, and as far as we know, he did not suffer further injury. Jordan Mailata was not nearly as good vs. Dallas, filling in for Johnson, in Mailata's first start at right tackle. A healthy Peters (yeah, yeah, unlikely, but let's pretend) on the left side, a reasonably healthy Johnson on the right side, Jason Kelce in the middle, Nate Herbig at left guard – that's four-fifths of what should be a good O-line.
Right guard, where Matt Pryor has not exactly given injured Brandon Brooks a reason to fret over keeping his job, remains a concern. Maybe try Mailata there? He probably wouldn't be any worse than Pryor, and Mailata, playing regular-season snaps for the first time, probably can benefit from experience wherever he can find it. Continuing his development is crucial for a 3-4-1 team with a lot of aging parts.
Goedert's health is a very big deal, with fellow tight end Zach Ertz expected to be sidelined several more weeks. Goedert returned from his Week 3 ankle injury to play against Dallas, but as he had hinted going in, he wasn't fully functional, caught just one pass. The Eagles need to get a good look at the Goedert who they think can take over the position if this is Ertz's last season in green. And Wentz might not struggle so much if he has full access to his biggest target.
