After two weeks of being the butt of NFL-wide jokes, the Philadelphia Eagles offense inched toward respectability in Sunday’s 24-17 win over the New York Jets.
All 24 of Philadelphia’s points came in the first half, as Darren Sproles scored twice, and Sam Bradford connected with Ryan Mathews for a 23-yard passing touchdown. Starting in place of an injured DeMarco Murray, Mathews had 108 rushing yards on 25 carries and added another 20 yards on two receptions.
For the third straight game, Jordan Matthews was the Eagles’ leading receiver, hauling in six passes for 49 yards. It was nonetheless Matthews’ worst performance of the season from a fantasy perspective. Zach Ertz ended with 30 yards on two receptions, as Bradford’s checkdown tendencies held receiving numbers low.
Here is a look at how Philly’s top skill-position talent fared along with an outlook for their future prospects.
Ryan Mathews
Don’t bother. The running back job belongs to Murray as long as he’s upright. The Eagles expected Murray to play this week before he came up with hamstring tightness in pregame workouts, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Odds are Murray will be back in the lineup in Week 4, which means Mathews goes back to spell duty.
In the first two games, Mathews carried the ball only four times for as many yards. While it’s possible his performance Sunday earns him additional carries going forward, that’s of no significance to fantasy owners. Mathews is a handcuff who probably tops out at a handful of carries per week; he’s not someone worth owning in standard leagues.
On the other hand, Mathews’ getting extra work will only further deplete Murray’s sinking stock. There’s no way anyone can sell low on Murray now, but things are getting dicey.
Jordan Matthews
Matthews is apparently the only reliable member of this offense. The second-year wideout has made at least six catches in every game this season, making him an every-week start in points-per-reception (PPR) formats. The problem arises in standard leagues, where Matthews is unfortunately tethered to checkdown machine Sam Bradford.
Touted all offseason as the potential answer in Philly, Bradford’s been a borderline disaster this season. His yards per attempt have gotten progressively worse since Week 1’s close loss to the Atlanta Falcons, bottoming out at 4.21 this week. He has not completed a pass longer than 32 yards all season, which is his only completion longer than 25 yards.
This is all bad news for Matthews, who seems confined to possession-only work. The 23-year-old is averaging only 10.5 yards per reception, 2.5 yards fewer than his total as a rookie. That number should be increasing as Matthews gets fully acclimated to the NFL lifestyle. Instead, it appears he’s being hamstrung by a system that hasn’t been effective and a quarterback who doesn’t appear to have what it takes to run said system.
Matthews is still a WR2, but it’s unfortunate he’s peaking there.
Zach Ertz
Ertz is a run-of-the-mill tight end who is going to produce run-of-the-mill numbers. Nothing we saw in his first two NFL seasons should convince anyone otherwise, and he’s off to a largely shrug-worthy start in 2015. Ertz has eight receptions for 93 yards, compiling no more than three catches in any game.
Bradford’s checkdown tendencies would on paper make Ertz an interesting play, but the connection between the two seems off. Ertz has needed 17 targets to make those eight grabs. The fact Bradford looked to him only twice Sunday furthers the notion that he’s just not a big part of the Eagles’ plans.
Ertz is droppable in all formats if there’s a better option on the waiver wire. Considering Daniel Fells has more receiving yards than Ertz, odds are your league isn’t lacking for proper replacements.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.
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