The Eagles (2-0) are scheduled to face the Washington Commanders (1-1) in the NFC East in Week 3.
The main matchups to watch are:
Terry McLaughlin vs. Darius Slay
Slay put in an impressive performance against Justin Jefferson and earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. But it doesn’t get any easier in Week 3 of the season as he faces McLoughlin, who has hit over 1,000 yards in each of his last two seasons. McLoughlin is off to a strong start to his 2022 as well, in his first two games he gained 133 yards on six catches and scored one touchdown. He went 75-4 against the Lions in Week 2.
Sorey has been very appreciative of McLaughlin going back to their first matchup in 2019.
Here’s what Slay said about McLoughlin in 2020.
“I know what type of player he is and how talented he is at a young age,” Srey said. “Like I said, I think he’s a very talented guy. Look, that’s most of what I learned about him.”
The two have been battling it out over the past two years since Sorey joined the Eagles, but Sorey actually held back when McLoughlin followed him. Per PFF:
Week 1 2020: 3 targets, 2 catches, 28 yards
Week 17 2020: 1 target, 1 catch, 3 yards
Week 15, 2021: 3 targets, 2 catches, 51 yards
Week 17 2021: 2 targets, 2 catches, 20 yards
Of course, it’s not all in McLoughlin. Washington has a much better group of players in his skill set for this matchup, including Curtis Samuel and Jahan Dotson. So even if Sorey takes care of McLaughlin, the Eagles will also need James Bradbury and Abonte Maddox to play well.
Carson Wentz vs. Jonathan Gannon
Only two games into the season, the Commanders’ fan base has already gained a lot of experience with Carson Wentz. He makes some of the best and worst plays the quarterback position has to offer. In two games, Wentz had seven touchdowns and three interceptions. He can beat you, but defense also helps force him to make mistakes.
The version of the Eagles defense we saw against Kirk Cousins and the Vikings was really refreshing. They challenged Cousins by doing more coverage of the blitz and more men, and Cousins ended up seeing ghosts, Cousins intercepted three times he threw, but that number could be quite a lot. had.
In 2021, Ganon’s defense enjoyed a terrible quarterback and suffered from a great quarterback. They see a middle-of-the-pack QB in 2022 and should probably treat Wentz the same way they treat Cousins.
Commanders iOL vs. Eagles DL
The Commanders were eliminated with a knee injury suffered by starting center Chase Roulier (in IR) against the Lions. There are plans to move guard Wes Schweitzer to center, but Schweitzer has been dealing with a hamstring injury this week. A few days ago, the Commanders signed former Texans and Raiders center Nick Martin. If Schweitzer doesn’t hold up, he could be forced into action this week.Martin wasn’t signed until Tuesday, so it’s going to be a pretty quick turnaround.Martin has 62 in the NFL. , but there are still many questions about it.
And this comes on the heels of a pretty good game from inside the Eagles. Fletcher Cox had one of his better games in recent memory. Javon Hargrave put a lot of pressure on Kirk Cousins to force a big interception on Monday night. If Washington is struggling inside that line, the Eagles may be able to take advantage.
Eagles iOL vs. Commanders DL
If you’re looking at Washington’s defense, the first thing that really stands out is Alabama’s two defensive tackles, Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne. Remember, former No. 2 overall pick Chase Young is injured and will miss this game. But Allen is arguably the Commander’s best player and will have his best pro season in 2021. Allen had a career-high nine sacks and 30 QB hits last year, which is his all-time record. His best record of 8 and 15 was recorded in 2018.
Most of the time, Allen lines up in a good defensive tackle spot. That means he’s going up against Landon Dickerson from Alabama. They weren’t Bama’s teammates, but they did face off last season when the Eagles and Commanders faced him twice in his three weeks.
Eagles’ rushing attack vs. Commander’s run defense
In two games, the Commanders gave up 314 yards on the ground on just 42 carries. That 7.5 average is the worst in the NFL. Who do you think has the second-worst average?The Eagles gave up 6.2 yards on one attempt, but after being battered by the Lions in Week 1, the Vikings At least it looked really clean.
Meanwhile, Washington gave up 6.8 yards per carry in Week 1 and 8.0 yards per carry in Week 2. Remember, the Eagles rushed for his 356 yards in his two games against Washington last season.
FedExField and the inevitable passage of time
May the guardrails hold up this time.
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