There's no underselling how bad it is to not have DeVonta Smith in the starting lineup in Week 7 for the Philadelphia Eagles against the Dallas Cowboys, but there is an argument that not having Michael Carter II in the secondary might be worse.
Smith is set to miss his third game of the season with the hamstring injury. Carter is about to miss his second straight game with the abdomnal injury.
The Eagles will have their reasons for missing Smith in the starting lineup, but not having Carter is much worse for them. Their secondary might be in bigger trouble than anyone could have imagined.
Philly's wide receivers could still survive without DeVonta Smith in the lineup
I understand how wild of a statement that is, but the Eagles' wide receiver room is still very talented. The problem is that Philly won't have Smith or Dontayvion Wicks in the Cowboys game.
With that being said, Makai Lemon, Darius Cooper, Elijah Moore, and Marquise "Hollywood" Brown will now step up at wide receiver. Cooper already leads the team with four touchdown catches, and he only has eight receptions. Lemon has struggled with 7.1 yards per reception, but he has been heavily targeted in the offense and should get more looks vertically down the field.
The interesting element added in the offense for the game is Moore and Brown. Philly has a chance to push the ball down the field with Brown thanks to his blazing speed. Moore could be used as well in the running game on gadget plays.
Even with Smith and Wicks out, the Eagles are most likely getting Saquon Barkley back in the backfield. Dallas Goedert, despite the knee injury, will be playing in the game and was one of Tanner McKee's favorite targets in the Week 6 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
It would be nice to have Smith out there, but the Eagles offense will still be able to survive. That's a different story at safety, though.
Michael Carter II being out only hurts the Eagles' biggest weakness on defense
Carter hasn't started many games this season, but before his Week 5 injury against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he was making good progress. He was doing well enough that he might have stayed in the starting lineup if he hadn't gotten hurt.
This season, Carter has allowed a passer rating of 56.3 and is fourth in the NFL in yards allowed per reception with 5.5. Pro Football Focus gave him an overall grade of 70.6, ranking him 24th among 98 NFL safeties. He has a coverage grade of 61.3 (ranked 42nd) and a run-defense grade of 89.4 (ranked fourth).
Here's where things go south with Marcus Epps and Kenny Moore replacing Carter in the lineup. Epps and Moore have each allowed a passer rating of 118.8.
The Eagles are losing that coverage element of the game with Carter in the lineup. Epps has struggled all season with it, while Moore is still learning the transition of being a safety in the NFL.
Even Andrew Mukuba, who is supposed to be the more "consistent" starting safety is a problem. He has allowed a passer rating of 112.5 and averages 17.6 yards allowed per reception. Mukuba might have big-play potential, but he is just as much of a liability in coverage as Epps and Moore is.
Dallas has some key weapons on offense that can really exploit the Eagles' biggest weakness on defense. Guys like tight end Jake Ferguson and wide receiver Ryan Flournoy are prime targets to attack the middle of the field and hurt the safeties. If the Cowboys scheme it up correctly, getting CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens on safeties with deep routes would hurt the Eagles even worse.
Read more: 5 bold Eagles predictions vs. Cowboys: Tanner McKee puts up dud performance
Philly has to help that Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, and Riq Woolen can win their one-on-one coverages. Otherwise, the safeties are going to be exposed big time without Carter playing.
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