December 27, 2020
The Philadelphia Eagles are limping toward the finish line of an awful season, as they are particularly banged up on their offensive line, as well as in their secondary. In Week 15, they'll face a Cowboys team that has arguably suffered even more devastating injuries this season.
Here are the Eagles' and Cowboys' inactives, with analysis.
• DE Derek Barnett: Barnett did not make the trip with a calf injury. He was a late addition to the injury report this week, and now the Eagles are thin at DE with Josh Sweat done for at least the rest of the regular season.
• LB Duke Riley: With Riley out, T.J. Edwards will be the No. 2 LB, and Shaun Bradley could see more action.
• TE Richard Rodgers: We haven't seen much of DickRod since Zach Ertz returned.
• WR John Hightower: Hightower is now a healthy scratch for the third straight week. Quez Watkins had a nice catch and run for a TD against the Cardinals, further solidifying his spot above Hightower in the WR hierarchy.
• WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside: Not great.
• RB Jason Huntley: Huntley has been a healthy scratch most weeks this season.
• QB Nate Sudfeld: QB3.
• RT Lane Johnson: Johnson's season is over, as his recurring ankle issues continue. We covered Johnson in more depth here.
• S Rodney McLeod (knee): After a down year in 2019, McLeod bounced back and played well in 2020, before he tore an ACL against the Saints. That is his second torn ACL in 3 seasons.
• OL Jason Peters: Peters' season is over. More on JP here, if you're interested. Jordan Mailata has been starting at LT in place of Peters, and has been better. Nate Herbig is starting at RG.
• CB Avonte Maddox: Maddox had a rough year, miscast as an outside corner. He has been unable to stay healthy throughout his young NFL career.
• DE Josh Sweat: Sweat had a good season, finishing with 38 tackles, 6 sacks, 9 tackles for loss, and 11 QB hits. He is a rare young player the Eagles can feel good about, but his season, barring some unlikely playoff run, is over.
• OT Jack Driscoll: Driscoll is done for the season with a knee sprain. He had trouble staying healthy as a rookie, but was effective enough when he played. More on Driscoll here.
• LB Nate Gerry: Alex Singleton has taken over Gerry's role as the Eagles' three-down linebacker, and has played better.
• DT Hassan Ridgeway: Ridgeway went on IR with a biceps injury. His season is over.
• LB Davion Taylor: As a rookie third-round pick, Taylor was no better than the fifth linebacker in the Eagles' rotation.
• CB Cre'Von LeBlanc: Fan fave, but, eh.
• CB Craig James: Out with a shoulder injury.
• OG Sua Opeta: "Notable" is maybe a stretch here, but he did start two games.
• LT Andre Dillard (season-ending IR): Dillard struggled as a rookie, and he came into camp as a clear player of interest, as he was poised to start at LT this season. He was up and down in camp, with the "down" moments being alarming. Dillard injured his biceps, and is done for the season.
• RG Brandon Brooks (PUP): Brooks was in the conversation for 'best RG in the NFL," so obviously, losing him for the year has hurt. The Eagles have had a revolving door at RG all season.
• WR Marquise Goodwin: Goodwin was a veteran wide receiver with speed that the Eagles took a flier on, as something of an possible in-game replacement for DeSean Jackson.
• LB Leighton Vander Esch: Vander Esch has talent, but he has struggled staying healthy. He had 60 tackles and a forced fumble in 10 games this season. Sean Lee will likely start in his place. Lee has been an Eagle killer over his career, but he is not anything close to the player he once was.
• S Xavier Woods: Starting safety, but not an impact one. 69 tackles, no INTs, no FFs, 1 pass breakup in 14 games.
• DT Antwaun Woods: Average run defender, which is more than can be said of the rest of the Cowboys' interior defensive linemen.
• CB Rashard Robinson: Journeyman backup corner.
• QB Ben DiNucci: No Nooch.
• DE Bradlee Anae: Rookie fifth-round pick.
• QB Dak Prescott: We could probably write 3000 words on the short-term and long-term impacts of Prescott's ugly ankle injury, but the short-short version is this:
• LT Tyron Smith: Smith has four All-Pro nods (two first-team, two second-team), and seven Pro Bowl appearances to his credit, and is widely regarded as one of the best offensive tackles in the NFL. He played in two games this season, but surgery on his neck ended his season.
• RT La'el Collins: Collins started the season on short-term IR with a hip injury, but when his hip didn't progress as the Cowboys had hoped, Collins had surgery, ending his season. He was replaced in the starting lineup by undrafted rookie free agent Terence Steele.
• RG Zack Martin: Six-time Pro Bowler, six-time All Pro (four first team nods, two second team nods). Martin was replaced by Connor McGovern.
• OT Cameron Erving: Erving replaced Smith, and when Erving went down as well, he was replaced by Brandon Knight.
• OT Mitch Hyatt: Another OT.
• TE Blake Jarwin: In 2019, Jarwin was held back from flourishing when the Cowboys decided to bring Jason Witten back out of retirement. In 2020, Jarwin was going to have his first chance to be the regular starter at TE, but he tore an ACL Week 1 against the Rams. Jarwin is a good player, and his loss has been overlooked a bit, in my view.
• DT Trysten Hill: Hill is probably best known for this dirty alligator roll against the Seahawks earlier this season. Hill was a second round pick of the Cowboys in 2019 who has 16 career tackles.
• P Chris Jones: Punter Chris Jones is a punter.
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