Jay Ajayi needs to step up Week 13 with Jordan Howard already ruled out

With Jordan Howard already ruled out for Week 13, the Philadelphia Eagles need Jay Ajayi to step up for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Thanks to some unexpected help from the Buffalo Bills defeating the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, the Philadelphia Eagles could be tied for first place in the NFC East with a win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

Even if the Cowboys technically hold the tiebreaker over the Eagles at the moment due to their head-to-head matchup from October, just the fact that Philadelphia is in position to have the same record after Week 13 is huge.

Of course, if the Eagles are going to have any chance at taking down the Dolphins, the offense will need to play much better than the last two weeks against the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, both of which resulted in losses.

Looking at some of their previous success from over the years, if Philadelphia really wants to see the offense get back on track, the Eagles need to do whatever it takes to establish a strong ground game.

Unfortunately, Philadelphia has already ruled out Jordan Howard for a third game in a row, as the running back continues to deal with a shoulder injury, meaning Miles Sanders and Jay Ajayi should be in for a heavier workload.

The Eagles have already been relying on Sanders more than usual in recent weeks, as the former Penn State star has put together a pretty solid rookie campaign in 2019, but Ajayi is a different story.

Since Ajayi only signed with the team a few weeks ago, the Eagles running back has only appeared in one game so far with six rushes for a total of 16 yards, showing he hasn’t really seen the chance to shine just yet.

But now that Howard will be out again, Ajayi finds himself in the perfect position to show Philadelphia they made the right decision in bringing him back for a second stint with the team.

Ajayi certainly isn’t going to solve all the issues the Eagles have been dealing with in recent weeks on offense, but a strong outing on Sunday against the Dolphins could help take a ton of extra pressure off Carson Wentz under center.

Plus, when taking into consideration that finding carries when Sanders and Howard are healthy will be difficult for Ajayi, Week 13 seems like the perfect opportunity for him to take advantage of the extra playing time in the backfield.