Injuries: The Story of the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2018 season

What to make of this?

Looking at the list of Eagles players that are hurt you would think it is a joke. Especially with every single player in the secondary either being out for the season or battling/recovering from an injury currently. The situation is almost unheard of.

Expectations for the Eagles offense are still high, especially since Carson Wentz, Zach Ertz, and Alshon Jeffery are still healthy, not to mention the talents of Nelson Agholor and newly acquired Golden Tate. The passing game of the Eagles is talented enough to make up (for some) for a porous run attack, but it positively will affect the team down the stretch.

Teams can just send four guys every time knowing the Eagles will throw, and that has been evident in recent games. Don’t forget the Eagles defensive line is still stellar and the linebacking core is handling itself as well.

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The offensive line has done an average job this year. Jason Kelce is getting older, Jason Peters is so very close to the end of his career, and Lane Johnson is struggling with knee issues. In just seven games Carson Wentz has been sacked 26 times which is the 12th most in the NFL.

Wentz would be higher than 12 if he’d played all nine contests but you can’t blame that entirely on the offensive line along with the Eagles poor running game. The talent they have in the backfield is not too impressive.

Overall, the team sits at 4-5 heading into Sunday’s game at New Orleans, the best team in the NFL. Assuming that they fall to the Saints, they would drop to 4-6. For as many injuries as the team has had, they are doing about as good as you would expect.

Even though the Eagles have one of the ten most difficult schedules to finish the year, the team can win out in the division with two wins against the Washington Redskins, a win at Dallas, and a win against the New York Giants. That alone puts them at nine wins. If the Eagles can finish at 9-7, they can fight for a wild-card spot, or even the division depending on how Washington pans out.

There are no excuses for teams, but there are logical and justifiable reasons for a team not performing as well as they should and injuries undoubtedly play a role in that. I would love to imagine how good the Eagles would be currently with an intact team but that is not how the game works. It is the next man up mentality, and the Eagles have to hold themselves accountable no matter injury-ridden their personnel is.