Avonte Maddox Will Make His Return Against The Cardinals

Author and Dylan MacKinnon

December 30th, 2023 6:45 PM

When Avonte Maddox tore his pec in week 2 against the Vikings, the assumption was that his season was over. But we got a pleasant surprise last week when they designated him to return from the IR. He was a full participant in practice all week. It was not enough for him to play against the Giants, but it was a great sign that he was close to returning. But now he is ready. The Eagles have announced he will play against the Cardinals.

It is great news considering how badly they have missed him. The Eagles have tried a handful of different guys in the slot since he got hurt. First, it was Mario Goodrich. He got beat up badly in that week 2 Viking game, before getting cut. They tried moving James Bradberry inside, but that didn’t work. Eventually, they brought Bradley Roby in. But he got hurt and hasn’t played all that great since he came back. Eli Ricks has looked good in limited snaps, but anytime he was asked to play more snaps he started to struggle. And they even tried moving Sydney Brown from Safety to the slot, and that didn’t work.

But now they can finally get some stability there. Avonte Maddox has been as solid as it gets in the slot. He struggled a few years ago when they asked him to move outside. But in the slot, he has been fantastic for them. And stopping the pass has been perhaps the Eagles’ biggest issue this season.

Darius Slay will be back soon too. And at least in the last two games, Kelee Ringo has played very well on the outside. So maybe the trio of Slay, Ringo, and Maddox will eventually put a stop to the Eagles’ issues at Corner. With them being near the bottom of the league in passing yards allowed, it can’t get any worse. And the middle of the field has been perhaps the biggest area of weakness for them. Now Maddox should go a long way to fixing that problem.

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Week 17 Power Rankings Roundup: Eagles Finally Snap The Losing Streak

• ESPN- 5- (Previously 5)

  “Carter started the season on fire, racking up 3.5 sacks and 25 pressures over his first five games. Corner Darius Slay called him “Mr. Unblockable” at the height of that stretch. Carter, the ninth overall pick, has had some splash plays since — most notably, a fumble return for a touchdown against the Cowboys in Week 14 — but his production overall has slowed, as he has registered one sack and one QB hit in the past six games. His playing time has dipped as well.”

  I am not too worried about Carter’s dip, yet. It is not unusual for a rookie to fall off at some point in the season. He didn’t invent the term rookie wall. And it feels like it is even more common for defensive linemen. The Eagles do need him to pick it up though. With how weak this defense is in the secondary and at linebacker, they need to get a consistent pass rush. And without him, they are not getting one.

  Jeff McLane on Twitter: "Quez Watkins: 1 snap. Nick Sirianni sent at least one message this week. The other in-game one went to Jalen Carter after his penalty and he got away with encroachment. He played a season low 33 pct of the snaps. https://t.co/VfmYBjEEYr / Twitter"

  Quez Watkins: 1 snap. Nick Sirianni sent at least one message this week. The other in-game one went to Jalen Carter after his penalty and he got away with encroachment. He played a season low 33 pct of the snaps. https://t.co/VfmYBjEEYr

  ESPN Power Rankings

• NFL.com- 4 (Previously 5)

  “The Cowboys lost and the Eagles won, ending their three-game slide, so the bottom line is that it was a productive weekend. The division title moved closer to landing in Philadelphia, with two winnable games remaining (vs. Cardinals, at Giants). But Monday’s victory over the Giants was fairly unimpressive on the whole.”

  That is more than fair. And this is not the same as when they were getting ugly wins over the Chiefs, Dolphins, and Bills. We have yet to see this team reach their potential. And there are only two weeks left in the season. We saw what happened when they played the 49ers and Cowboys recently. And if they don’t get their act together there may be a sequel to those results in the playoffs. The sloppiness has to end. You can’t do stuff like this below play, and still win big games.

  NFL on Twitter: "What a start to the 2nd half for the Giants!📺: #NYGvsPHI on FOX📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/2Mgsj0ajbL pic.twitter.com/BBgqLquaIL / Twitter"

  What a start to the 2nd half for the Giants!📺: #NYGvsPHI on FOX📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/2Mgsj0ajbL pic.twitter.com/BBgqLquaIL

  NFL.com Power Rankings

• The Athletic- 7 (Previously 6)

  “The Eagles haven’t been what they wanted to be on offense this season, but throwing the ball to Brown when all else fails has worked pretty well. Brown is fifth in the league in receiving yards per game (92.9). He’s been targeted at least nine times in Philadelphia’s last five games. On Monday, he got 11 targets and caught six passes for 80 yards against the Giants, and he’s under contract for three more years.”

  This offense has the talent to be elite. AJ Brown and Devonta Smith are an elite combo at WR. Goedert is a great TE. The O-line is among the best in the league. And Hurts is a top 5 QB. Why isn’t it working? Hard to tell. But the potential to turn it around is there.

  ☆𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘦𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘎𝘖𝘋☆ on Twitter: "AJ Brown is the first Eagles WR to have 100+ Receptions in a season🔥#FlyEaglesFly #Eagles pic.twitter.com/07H1KMiIZi / Twitter"

  AJ Brown is the first Eagles WR to have 100+ Receptions in a season🔥#FlyEaglesFly #Eagles pic.twitter.com/07H1KMiIZi

  The Athletic’s Power Rankings

• Sports Illustrated -3 (Last Week 4)

  “There are teams that get lauded for effort on a regular basis and teams who get picked apart. The Jalen Hurts pick-six against the Giants on Monday would be a game-ender in the playoffs. We are in a kind of reality phase for the Eagles quarterback as well as his defense. He is capable of moving this offense against most teams, but he is something of a liability against aggressive defenses that significantly change profiles after the snap.”

  Has Jalen Hurts had a turnover problem this season? Yes. Does he need to make better choices? Yes. But you can’t look at that pick 6 in the Giants game, and blame Hurts. His receiver slipped. If Goedert stays on his feet, it is an easy completion. It goes as an interception on his stat sheet, but it was not his fault. And it is kind of embarrassing that Sports Illustrated’s writer would use that play to make some type of misguided point about Jalen Hurts. Did you even watch the game?

  FOX Sports: NFL on Twitter: "A PICK 6 BY THE NYG MAKES IT A 1-SCORE GAME📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/watnYQHtn5 / Twitter"

  A PICK 6 BY THE NYG MAKES IT A 1-SCORE GAME📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/watnYQHtn5

  Sports Illustrated’s Power Rankings

• USA Today- 3 (Previously 3)

  “Take a collective breath, Philly fans. The NFC East leaders dominated everywhere but the scoreboard while defeating the Giants on Monday, when Jalen Hurts also set a single-season quarterback record with his 15th rushing TD. Yes, last year’s team was probably better – but this season’s squad still has a very reasonable chance to go further.”

  I think the nature of the game won’t lead to many fans relaxing. It was a blowout in every aspect but the final score. For 57 of the 60 minutes the Eagles dominated. But the several mistakes they made are what people are going to remember. Still, what we did see was this offense move at will on a team. Something we have not seen for a while. So that at least gave me some reason for hope. It also helps to see many of the teams they will face fall on their faces this past week.

  NFL on Twitter: "Hurts and Smith puts the Eagles up two scores ‼️📺: #NYGvsPHI on FOX📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/2Mgsj0ajbL pic.twitter.com/Iie4TCe9SA / Twitter"

  Hurts and Smith puts the Eagles up two scores ‼️📺: #NYGvsPHI on FOX📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/2Mgsj0ajbL pic.twitter.com/Iie4TCe9SA

  USA Today Power Rankings

• CBS Sports- 5 (Previously 6)

  “They just don’t look right, even when they win a game like they did against the Giants. They seem to be laboring at times.”

  Yeah, they haven’t looked right pretty much all season. Maybe something clicks into place once they get into the playoffs. But at this point, they probably are who they have looked like all season long. Will that be enough? It was enough to beat the Cowboys once and beat the Chiefs, Bills, and Dolphins. So it could be. But they are not the well-oiled machine they were last season. And they have major issues defending the pass.

  NFL on Twitter: "Tyrod Taylor tossing a dime to Darius Slayton 🎯📺: #NYGvsPHI on FOX📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/2Mgsj0ajbL pic.twitter.com/Uzdw0ahxJp / Twitter"

  Tyrod Taylor tossing a dime to Darius Slayton 🎯📺: #NYGvsPHI on FOX📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/2Mgsj0ajbL pic.twitter.com/Uzdw0ahxJp

  CBS Sports Power Rankings

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Author and Dylan MacKinnon

Category:

• Eagles // NFL

Tags:

Avonte Maddox,NFL,Philadelphia Eagles