Philadelphia Eagles: Kenneth Gainwell. Jordan Howard. Let’s go

After leading the Philadelphia Eagles‘ running backs corps over the first seven weeks of the 2021 NFL season, Miles Sanders will be absent in Week 8 versus the Detroit Lions.

For the first time this season, Nick Sirianni will be unable to turn to the supremely talented second-round pick out of Penn State and will instead have to look elsewhere for run-pass parody.

This will be a notable difference from weeks past, as in those contests, Sirianni all but ignored Sanders and never gave him more than 15 carries per game, but even if the first-year head coach has a serious change of heart and finally decides to value running the ball, he’ll have to do so with someone else this week, probably Jalen Hurts if history is of any indication.

…Or Sirianni could just give the ball to Kenneth Gainwell, Jordan Howard, Boston Scott, and even Jason Huntley in the Philadelphia Eagles’ must-win week 8 bout versus the Lions. I don’t know, just an idea.

The Philadelphia Eagles need to beat Detroit between the tackles.

The Detroit Lions and the Philadelphia Eagles have a lot in common.

Both sit in the cellar of their respective divisions, both have first-year head coaches that aren’t quite living up to expectations, and both have been victims of underwhelming quarterback play, even if the stats don’t always show it. The Lions and Eagles both rank at the bottom of the league in total offense and total defense and hold negative overall point differentials in the season.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that the Lions are also really bad at stopping the run.

That’s right, much like the Eagles, the Lions rank 10th in the league in run-stuffing and have lost five front seven players to IR. While opposing teams attack them in the air more than on the ground, when they do attempt to run, they allow 4.1 yards per carry, which is tied with the Eagles for the eighth-best overall mark in the league.

… wait, what? How does a team give up the 10th most rushing yards per game of any team in the league while simultaneously allowing the eighth fewest yards per rush?

One word: Volume.

Teams run a ton on the Lions because you can do so relatively easily. They’ve given up the fifth-most rushing of 20 yards or more, have a 40 yarder on their books, and gave up the 10th longest rush of any team in the NFL with a 48 yarder surrendered to Alexander Mattison of the Minnesota Vikings back in Week 5.

Through the first seven weeks of the 2021 NFL season, opposing teams are running the ball an average of 29 times per game versus the Lions. The Eagles, by contrast, have only run the ball 29 or more times in a single game three times all season long, with their high-water mark coming in Week 7 versus the Las Vegas Raiders.

Sidebar: That 32 rushing attempts is rather misleading, as Jalen Hurts once again led the team in rushing, and no running back had double-digit carries, but hey, I digress.

So what can/should the Eagles do to take advantage of the Lions’ front?

Run the ball.

Suit up Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott, elevate Jordan Howard and maybe even Jason Huntley from the practice squad, and ride a steady dose of runs between the tackles.

Sounds hard, right? In fact, it couldn’t be easier.

In football, you run the ball to set the tone. You run the ball to pick up yardage, yes, but also to run the clock down and keep opposing linebackers and safeties guessing as to what will come next. Running the ball opens up the screen game, forces additional bodies in the box, and even opens up downfield throws when done correctly. Considering the Eagles have been bad at all three of those things in 2021, it seems like a relatively easy avenue from which to try something new, no?

I mean, at this point, why not give it a shot?

Even if the Philadelphia Eagles run the ball 29 times with running backs,  that doesn’t necessarily correlate to an easy W. The Detroit Lions are 0-7, yes, but they can score well enough and aren’t quite going all-in on the first overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft just yet. But it sure could help, which is all that really matters at this point in the season.