There are not many players for the Eagles' defense to be afraid of in their season-opening matchup against the Washington Redskins on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
The quarterback, Case Keenum, is not very good. The wide receivers might be the worst set of starters in the NFL. Tight end Jordan Reed is not likely to be at 100%. The offensive line is terrible.
Which is why it seems the defense will be focused on stopping one player Sunday — running back Derrius Guice.
It is easy to forget about Guice after he missed all of last season with a torn ACL, but the former LSU running back is fully healthy heading into Week 1, and he is without question the biggest wild card in the game. Washington head coach Jay Gruden has made it clear that Guice is going to be the No. 1 back, making stopping him the priority for an Eagles' defense that struggled against the run last season.
At 5-foot-11, 225 pounds, Guice has a dangerous combination of speed and power at his size. He totaled just over 2,600 yards in his final two seasons at LSU on the ground to go along with 29 touchdowns. He did not get a ton of work in the preseason, but looked good in the action he did get, averaging 4.0 yards on 11 carries.
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz acknowledged that Guice's lack of tape will make him tougher to game plan for.
"He's got some power to him. Appears to have some multidimensional skills," Schwartz said. "They're a big zone stretch team. It looks like he can run that play for them. After that, he's got some ability in the passing game, but they limited his touches in the pre-season games. We'll be ready for him."
One of the reasons the Eagles will be seeing so much of Guice is the Gruden's commitment to running the ball. According to NFL analyst Warren Sharp, the Redskins' most frequent play on 1st down in all situations — short, medium and long — was a running play. Their most frequent play on 2nd-and-seven or less was a running play. The only time they were most likely to throw the ball in any situation was on 3rd-and-four-or-more. In a league where passing is king, Washington has remain committed to the run.
That could be a potential issue for the Eagles, who gave up an average of 4.7 yards-per-carry last season, good for 20th in the league. Teams didn't run on the Eagles' often, but when they did, they had success doing it. The Eagles have different personnel on defense than they did last season, but they might not have upgraded as a run defense. Defensive tackle Malik Jackson, their big addition along the line, was benched last season in Jacksonville for his poor play against the run.
Washington is a team that will remain committed to the run, meaning the Eagles are going to have to play better against it on Sunday than they did last year.
If they allow Washington to get going on the ground, a game that should be a blowout might get close. As mentioned above Washington doesn't have much else on offense other than Guice. If they get the running game going, however, that will make life much easier for Keenum. It will also allow them to control the clock, keeping the Eagles' offense off the field.
If they are able to shutdown Guice early, however, the game will come down to whether Keenum can beat them -- and as fans remember from the 2017 NFC Championship game, the chances of that happening are slim.
You can follow Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
