Eagles look to get back on track vs. lowly Miami Dolphins
With little room left for error, pressure is on Eagles to bounce back against Dolphins
A few years ago, Jay Ajayi barreled into the NFL record book with backto-back 200-yard rushing games at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
That put him in the company of Earl Campbell, O.J. Simpson and Ricky Williams, the only other players who know how that feels.
But Ajayi wasn’t finished. In December of that 2016 season, he rushed for 206 yards at Buffalo. Simpson, Campbell, Tiki Barber and Ajayi are the only players with 200 or more rushing yards in three games in one season.
“We went to the playoffs for the first time in like 10 years,” Ajayi said. “We were on a roll. We were competitive. It was just a really good time to be a Dolphin.”
There was no storybook ending in Miami, where Ajayi has no roots, not even a condo to beat the weather of northern winters. The ties there ended when Ajayi was shipped to the Eagles for a fourth-round draft pick the following season, his relationship with then head coach Adam Gase stressed to the limit.
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson found a way to get the most out of Ajayi, whose knees were so arthritic that he rarely practiced in seven regular season appearances in 2017. The veteran back showed his heart by leading the team with 184 rushing yards in the postseason on the way to the Super Bowl 52 title.
Ajayi would love to relive some of the magic, albeit with the Eagles (56) as they attempt to end a two-game skid Sunday against the Dolphins (1 p.m., Fox-TV, WIP 94.1-FM). He almost certainly will receive a fine reception, as Hard Rock Stadium likely will be overwhelmed by Eagles fans, the Dolphins’ faithful staying away as their 2-9 team evokes almost no hope before the 2020 draft.
The Eagles would like to revive the running game. Leading receiver Zach Ertz is ailing so much from a hamstring issue that Josh Perkins was signed off the practice squad as insurance. While wide receivers Alshon Jeffery (ankle) and Nelson Agholor (knee) are expected back, which undoubtedly will help Carson Wentz, the quarterback has considerable trust in Ertz.
Dallas Goedert, who tops the Eagles with four touchdown receptions, is at least a reasonable alternative at tight end as the Eagles, favored by 10 points, try to kick-start the offense for a playoff run in which four of their five remaining opponents have losing records.
“Sitting here at 5-6 right now, obviously the last five games are pretty much must-wins if we want to see the postseason,” Goedert said. “That’s what we plan on doing. Obviously, it’s been an up and down year. If we win the last five games, we’re sitting at 10-6 which is a pretty good year for any team. And that’s our goal right now. We’ve got Miami, the New York Giants next week and then we just keep rolling. I think we’re sitting in a good position.”
The Dolphins have traded away several talents, including defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, in the midst of a stellar season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s been replaced by Eric Rowe, a second-round bust for the Eagles. Rowe is third on the Dolphins with 54 tackles.
“He’s smart, he’s tough,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said on a conference call. “He tackles. Obviously, he can play multiple positions. He’s played corner, he’s played safety, he’s played some nickel, and I think he has a lot of the characteristics we’re looking for in guys on our team.”
The Eagles are familiar with Ryan Fitzpatrick, the 37-year-old Dolphins quarterback. He’s 2-3-1 against the Eagles with five different teams, beating them last year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“He’s a competitor,” Eagles coach Doug Pederson said. “I love watching him play. He doesn’t care. He’s going to try to put the ball in tight windows and he’s going to lead probably more by example. But a lot of respect for him, a lot like (backup) Josh McCown with us. These are guys that continue to play and play at a high level and help their teams win and a lot of respect for those guys.”
While it’s too early to calculate magic numbers, a win Sunday would tie the Eagles with the Cowboys (66) for the lead in the NFC East. With two games against the lowly Giants
(2-9), one against Washington (2-9) and another against the Cowboys, the Eagles are in the thick of the division race.
The Eagles are 7-3 in December dating back to their 2017 Super Bowl season. Then again, that’s the thirdbest mark over that time, behind the going-nowhere-fast Chargers (8-2) and the Cowboys (6-2).
The flip side is that Wentz is just
10-12 as a starter since his memorable 2017 season ended with a club record 33 TD passes and torn knee ligaments.
Wentz has shown little ability to rally the Eagles in the face of adversity, particularly injuries. Last week he committed four of the team’s five turnovers in a loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
“Easier said than done but you have to let the offense just kind of work,” Pederson said. “Let the guys around you work. Trust your offensive line. Sometimes even trust your defense knowing that we have a pretty good defense right now and they’re playing well here in the last couple of weeks. And you don’t have to go in there into a game looking for plays, searching for plays. Let the plays come. Let them unfold and find the completion. And it starts in practice.
“Just as we talk during the week about the game plan and his ideas, our ideas, my ideas, thoughts, how I’m thinking about the game and just get him to really kind of focus on that and not worry about the outside. Keep a one play at a time mentality. Those are all things that we continue to talk with him about, where he doesn’t feel like he has to do everything.”
With Jordan Howard (stinger) likely to be scratched for a third straight game, it would be a good idea to see how Ajayi responds in his first trip to Miami since being traded.
It’s a simple plan: Control the clock, shorten the game and stay in the playoff hunt.