Bleeding Green Nation
Key factors to Philadelphia’s postseason matchup against Washington.
THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME BETWEEN THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES AND WASHINGTON COMMANDERS IS NIGH.
Sorry for yelling at you in all caps but, hey, it’s kind of a big deal.
Let’s run through some of top things to watch out for in this high-stakes NFC East rivalry matchup.
Hurts suffered what appeared to be a painful left knee injury in the Eagles’ win over the Los Angeles Rams last weekend.
Here’s a look at his pre- and post-injury splits with him getting hurt at 3:51 left in the third quarter.
PASSING
12/17, 109 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 5 sacks for -43 yards
RUNNING
6 runs for 70 yards, 1 TD
PASSING
3/3, 19 yards, 2 sacks for -20 yards and a safety
RUNNING
Zero runs (except for one QB kneel to run out the clock)
Hurts was seen limping around after the win. He was listed as limited on the Eagles’ estimated Wednesday injury report before being upgraded to full go on Thursday and Friday. Hurts told reporters he will likely be wearing a brace on his knee for Sunday’s game.
For what it’s worth, Hurts’ coaches and teammates have had nothing but encouraging things to say about the quarterback’s outlook. There’s also a report that Hurts has looked “very mobile” and he’s been throwing the ball in practice “better than he has in weeks.”
Of course, we won’t know for sure if he’s significantly hampered or not until we see him in game action.
The expectation here is that the Eagles will not be scared to let Hurts run the ball. Neither Hurts nor the coaching staff want to entirely scrap that element from the offense. We previously saw how the Commanders were really able to key in on Saquon Barkley after they didn’t have to respect the QB run game with Kenny Pickett replacing an injured Hurts back in Week 16.
Some numbers on that point via NFL Pro:
Saquon Barkley started his Week 16 game with 109 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on his first 7 carries (99 yards before contact), but was limited to just 41 rushing yards on his final 22 carries (-4 yards before contact). The Commanders adjusted their defensive strategy after Jalen Hurts was injured and left the game, aligning with a single-high safety shell on 40 of the final 59 plays (67.8%) after doing so on just 3 of the first 12 plays (25.0%). Barkley recorded just 3 successful carries and 28 rushing yards on 18 carries against single-high safety shells, compared to 5 successful runs and 117 rushing yards against two-high shells.
At the same time, it’s not like the reasonable expectation is that this will be a career game for Hurts’ rushing numbers.
There’s been some thought that Hurts’ injury could actually work in his favor as a passer. If he’s unable to rely on his normal...
