January 02, 2021
Only the truest, and perhaps most damaged of Eagles fans will be waiting all day Sunday to watch the Birds finish a forgettable 2020 season with a meaningless game against Washington.
They are not eligible for postseason play, fantasy football is over for most people, and the best case scenario is really a loss — as the Eagles are in line to clinch a draft slot as low as third overall (pending some help) with an 'L' in Week 17.
Adding insult to injury, the Eagles have the power to either lift Washington to an NFC East title, with a loss, or the winner of the Cowboys-Giants game, with a win.
Currently, the Eagles are 3.5-point underdogs, according to TheLines.com. We've already broken down the injuries for both sides and provided our own predictions. Now, as we do every weekend, let's take a look at some numbers to watch in this one, in the form of our five over/unders...
[A quick reminder for those new to our over/unders: Unless it's explicitly stated, these are my own over/unders based on how I think the players/teams will perform on Sunday — and the advice that follows is where I would put my money if I had to. They are not all actual numbers you can bet on, but we'll let you know when they are.]
That's the current total being offered over at DraftKings, according to TheLines.com and our staffers are split on their predicted outcomes, with three taking the over and three the under. With Miles Sanders out on Sunday, as well as Dallas Goedert and DeSean Jackson, the explosiveness really won't be there on offense.
There really is no point in examining either team's averages or trends heading into this final week, as the Eagles roster will be depleted and lacking motivation. Jalen Hurts will have a lot less ammunition and with the questionable quarterback play on the Washington side, the smart bet is for these two teams to score fewer than 44 points.
UNDER.
This over/under was originally set by us at 400 yards — a number Hurts surpassed in each of his last two games when combining his air yards and ground yards, but as we mentioned above the lack of weapons to complement him could limit him a little bit.
Still, without Sanders there is a pretty reasonable chance that Hurts winds up contributing to the run game more than usual, alongside Boston Scott and whichever of Jordan Howard or Corey Clement or Elijah Holyfield gets the rest of the carries. All of that comes before even mentioning how intimidating Washington's defense is — ranked fourth in yards allowed and fifth in points allowed. It is unclear exactly who Hurts will be throwing to in this one, though there is a good chance it's the last time Alshon Jeffery or Zach Ertz plays in an Eagles uniform (if the two are active).
UNDER.
JJAW was a second-round pick, who in two years has caught 12 passes for 214 yards. By comparison, D.K. Metcalf, drafted after Argeca-Whiteside in the 2019 draft, had 10 catches for 177 yards all by himself when he faced the Eagles back in Week 12. Opposing WR Terry McLaurin, also drafted after Arcega-Whiteside in 2019, has more than 1,000 yards on 80 catches this year.
The Eagles wasted a draft pick, as the Spaniard who went to Stanford has barely contributed at all to Philadelphia in almost two entire seasons. With a completely meaningless game on Sunday, there has never been a better time to get JJAW involved and force-feed him some targets to help evaluate what the Eagles should do. God help us all if Jeffry suits up and gets targets in this one.
Having been active just seven times this season and targeted five total times, there is no guarantee JJAW will be active on gameday, but one would hope the Eagles know what they're doing at least a little to get some kind of value out of this final game against Washington.
OVER.
With the secondary decimated by injuries and a unique meaningless week of action against a team on the other side that will be going all out trying to win, the Eagles (as we mentioned with JJAW) should be looking at some typically underplayed, younger guys to see what they have in them — which is why even the most attentive of Eagles fans may be taken aback by some of the guys getting snaps.
Last week, Grayland Arnold and Joe Bachie combined for 50 snaps. We won't spoil the rest of the roster for you — but with Jalen Mills out (he's on the COVID-19 reserve list) and an injury list that has seen guys like Derek Barnett, Shaun Bradley, Fletcher Cox, Jordan Mailata and others sit out practices, the players on the field by the fourth quarter Sunday may be no-names.
OVER.
For years, Graham has been eyeing double-digit sacks. As a pass rusher, Graham's impact is seen more often in other ways than simply collecting sacks. Maybe he is getting a hurry on the QB, or taking attention away from teammates. But in 2020, he's once again close enough to reasonably target 10 QB takedowns, entering Sunday with eight.
In 2017 he had 9.5, and last year he had 8.5. Graham will need to get to the quarterback twice to catch his white whale, and put an exclamation mark on his first ever Pro Bowl season. With so much negativity in these over/unders thus far, we're going to take a leap of faith and project Graham is able to be the star in what could be a game lacking in them on the Philly side.
OVER.
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