Philadelphia Eagles: Miles Sanders catches a lucky (non)break

Do the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Las Vegas Raiders if Miles Sanders doesn’t get injured?

I know that’s an impossible thing to know, but think about it for a moment; in the first drive of the game, Sanders was on a roll. He picked up 25 yards on five rushing attempts – which feels like the most rushing attempts in a single drive all year – and perfectly set the team up for a quick 7-0 start off a nice angle route by his partner in crime, Kenneth Gainwell.

And then, disaster struck.

After only logging 12 offensive snaps, Sanders went down with a brutal looking leg injury and was carted off the field with the game very much still for the winning.

… and then the Eagles gave up score after score after score and were handed one of their worst losses of the season at the hands of interim head coach Rich Bisaccia, who’d only held the role since October 11th.

Needless to say, morale in Philly was low. Finally Nick Sirianni gave running the ball a chance and it was cruely snatched away by a darn injury.

Well fear not Philadelphia Eagles fans, for Miles Sanders may not be gone as long as the eye test may have suggested, at least according to the most connected man in the City of Brotherly Love, Derrick Gunn.

Miles Sander may take the field for the Philadelphia Eagles before Thanksgiving.

No. Broken. Bones.

While Miles Sanders will still appear on the Philadelphia Eagles’ injury report over the next few weeks, he at least won’t have to undergo surgery and may even avoid a trip to IR entirely based on the initial assessment of the team’s coaching staff.

Derrick Gunn, you just made many a Philly fan very happy.

Now granted, Sanders is still expected to miss between two and three weeks as his ankle is on the mend, which could leave the team down one of their top-3 offensive players heading into a make or break section of their schedule, but I’d rather lose Sanders for three games than 13, which would effectively end his season altogether.

If Howie Roseman and company can just secure the Eagles a legitimate rusher heading into Week 8, be that Josh Adams, Marlon Mack, Jordan Howard, or even Phillip Lindsay, there’s no reason Nick Sirianni can’t try to replicate his early rushing success against the Detroit Lions on Halloween, even if he has to be dragged kicking and screaming to those results.

There’s no doubt about it, Miles Sanders will be missed by the Philadelphia Eagles moving forward. When actually afforded an opportunity to get things going on the ground, he’s played very well and could conceivably be able to take the pressure off of Jalen Hurts and company if given a consistent number of touches per game. But just because he’s gone doesn’t mean the Eagles can suddenly become even more pass-happy. No, to still be in any sort of playoff hunt when Sanders is back, the Eagles will need to run the ball like he’s on the field.