Eagles-Seahawks player matchups to watch in Week 15

Eagles-Seahawks player matchups to watch in Week 15 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Eagles (10-3) will travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks (6-7) after losses to NFC contenders in back-to-back weeks.

Here are some key matchups to watch:

Eagles’ secondary vs. Seahawks’ receivers

After watching the Eagles get roasted in their secondary the last few weeks (and really all season) this is a bit of a daunting matchup. There seems to be a good chance Geno Smith will return from a groin injury that sidelined him in Week 14 and he has a trio of receivers that are really dangerous with D.K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba:

Metcalf: 51 catches, 864 yards, 7 touchdowns

Lockett: 65 catches, 711 yards, 4 touchdowns

Smith-Njigba: 49 catches, 493 yards, 2 touchdowns

A.J. Brown’s college teammate Metcalf has had a few monster games this season and he’s been a thorn in the Eagles’ side before. In two games against the Eagles, Metcalf has 13 catches for 212 yards. In Week 12 of the 2020 season, Metcalf had 10 catches for 177 yards and did a lot of that damage against Darius Slay. According to PFF, Metcalf caught 8 passes on 11 targets for 158 yards against Slay in that game.

A few years later and it’s clear that Slay is still the Eagles’ best cornerback. While the Eagles have the No. 28 pass defense, Slay is far from their biggest problem. On the other side, James Bradberry is having a down year and is clearly not playing to the level we saw from him in 2022. Four of the Eagles’ five starters in the secondary are over the age of 30 and that has seemingly been a problem, although they have recently tried to inject some youth into the secondary with Eli Ricks, Sydney Brown and Kelee Ringo.

One more thing to watch this week is the health of safety Reed Blankenship, who suffered a concussion against the Cowboys on Sunday night. The extra day might help Blankenship clear the protocol.

Eagles’ tackling vs. Seahawks’ running backs

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/eagles-seahawks-player-matchups-watch-120000386.html

Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia

Publish date : 2023-12-15 12:00:00

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