Philadelphia Eagles: Is Zach Ertz primed for big game vs Denver?

With the Denver Broncos sporting an elite group of cornerbacks, the Philadelphia Eagles may need to look elsewhere for offensive production.

On Sunday, Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles offense may face their toughest test of the entire 2017 season. Facing Denver’s elite passing defense that currently ranks sixth overall in the league, as they give up mere 188 passing yards per game.

Fortunately for the Eagles, Denver is on the road, and the Bronco’s defense hasn’t been the same away from Sports Authority Field.

Now, them not being the same on the road doesn’t mean they have been bad, far from it actually. They have still been very good, but the Eagles being at home should most certainly help their case in this game.

The Broncos sport a very impressive secondary, with some of the most talented corners in the NFL. Aqib Talib, Chris Harris Jr., and Bradley Roby are some of the league’s best corners and can shut any receiver down on any given day.

In this game; Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, and company are definitely going to have their hands full, and the matchups of the Eagles top receivers squaring off with Denver’s corners will be a fun one to watch.

But I feel the Eagles receivers can have success on Sunday. This is not the 2016 Eagles, where their receiving core struggled against higher level corners. This Eagles receiving group is certainly a talented one and combined with their top-notch quarterback, could see some success.

Despite how good the Broncos’ secondary has been, one area where they do struggle is covering tight ends. Just last week, Kansas City’s Travis Kelce lit up their defense to the tune of seven receptions for 133 yards and a touchdown.

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In regards to that same game, the Denver cornerbacks shut down the Chiefs’ receivers and running game, but their struggles against the tight ends were the difference defensively for them. They gave up just three catches for 43 yards to wide receivers.

And much like the Cheif, the Eagles also have an elite tight end like Kelce in fifth-year player Zach Ertz. Ertz is arguably the best tight end in the NFL through eight games and he should be a handful for Denver on Sunday, so expect the Eagles to incorporate Ertz in their game plan and target him early and often.

There was a bit of a scare this week for Eagles fans when Ertz appeared on the injury report Thursday with a hamstring injury. While hamstrings can be tricky, Doug Pederson said Friday that he fully expects Zach will be good to go for the Denver game despite the fact he has been listed as questionable.

While I fully expect Ertz to see a high volume of targets on Sunday, don’t rule out the rest of the team’s tight ends. Trey Burton has begun to make an impact over the past few games and that can continue on Sunday. Same can be said about the always trustworthy veteran Brent Celek.

In game planning this week, I can be certain that the Eagles definitely honed in on this weakness and will look to exploit it. Expect to see the Eagles roll out with a lot of 12 (1 RB 2 TE) and 13 (1 RB 3 TE) personnel packages and attack the Denver defense with multiple tight ends, in addition to using these heavy sets for power running with LeGarrette Blount and possibly Jay Ajayi.

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With Ertz playing so well this season combined with Denver’s susceptibility to tight ends, expect the second-year quarterback and his favorite target to potentially have a field day on Sunday. If the wide receivers and running game struggle, this game could potentially become “the Zach Ertz game.”