The Eagles are on a two-game winning streak following their victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Despite winning back-to-back games, however, it is hard to feel good about how this team is playing when you watch them on offense.
The play of receiver Alshon Jeffery is one of the main reasons why.
Jeffery had perhaps his worst game in an Eagles' uniform on Sunday, dropping almost as many passes (three) as he caught (four). His drops got more-and-more important as the game went on, and peaked when he let a perfectly thrown pass from quarterback Carson Wentz on a critical third-down with just over 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter slip through his hands. Although the Eagles won the game, the dropped pass came at a critical point when the Bears were mounting a comeback. What should have been a first-down for the Eagles turned into a fourth-down punt.
Although Jeffery did hold onto a third-down catch later in the game, the dropped pass was yet another example of Jeffery's struggles this season, and a reminder that for the Eagles' offense to turn this things, Jeffery is near the top of the list of players who are going to have to be better.
To say that Jeffery has been a disappointment this season would be an understatement. After catching two touchdowns in his first three games, Jeffery has found the end zone only once in his last five. He has failed to top 50 yards receiving in two-of-the-last three games, and has not topped 100 yards yet this year. His 10.2 yards-per-reception average is an all-time low for him in his career by nearly three-full yards.
Part of the reason Jeffery is struggling is that he isn't winning the 50/50 balls he made a career out of coming down with. Jeffery has never been great at creating separation, but was able to make up for it by coming down with contested catches. That has not been the case this season, and as a result, he has caught only 60% of the passes thrown his way — nearly 10% lower than last year.
The drops, something Jeffery has always struggled with, are once again an issue.
So far this season Jeffery has five drops — three more than Nelson Agholor. In fact, since the beginning of 2017 when Jeffery signed with the team, he has dropped two more passes than Agholor has, including arguably one of the biggest drops in recent franchise history when he let a pass from Nick Foles slip through his hands for an interception in their playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints.
What makes Jeffery's struggles even more concerning is how important he is to the passing game's success. Receiver DeSean Jackson has played only one meaningful game this season and it isn't clear how many more he will be able to suit up for after leaving yesterday's game in the first quarter due to the abdomen injury that has bothered him since Week 2. Slot receiver Nelson Agholor also needs to play better, but he isn't as important of a piece to the offense as Jeffery is. Receivers Mack Hollins and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside have been invisable for weeks.
That means outside of targeting tight ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert, head coach Doug Pederson is going to have to continue to make Jeffery the top priority among the receivers. Although quarterback Carson Wentz can certainly do a better job in spots delivering a more accurate pass, he is going to need help from his receivers — like any quarterback — to get the passing game going.
For the last eight games of the season that responsibility is very clearly going to be on Jeffery, and if he doesn't improve, the Eagles might have a very tough and expensive decision on their hands to make this offseason.
Prior to the season general manager Howie Roseman decided to make a somewhat curious decision to guarantee Jeffery's deal into the 2020 season. The result is that if the Eagles want to release Jeffery this offseason, something they very well could want to do, they will have to take on a $15 million cap hit in dead money. The hit would be less (around $5 million) if they trade him, but if his play doesn't improve, it might not be easy to convince another team to take him on.
Although that isn't something the Eagles have to deal with right now, it is a problem that is becoming a big one for the future.
Unless, of course, Jeffery can start to play at the level the Eagles hoped he would— something that would ease their concerns for the future while also helping to get the passing game going in the final eight games.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
