Michael Ainsworth/Associated Press

Ranking Philadelphia Eagles' Best Individual Performances Through 11 Weeks

Steven Cook

The Philadelphia Eagles' spectacular 2017 season has been largely built on strong contributions from every player on the active roster, but that hasn't stopped certain individuals from shining bright in any given game.

The momentum built prior to the bye week appeared to be slipping through 30 minutes of Philly's Sunday Night Football road trip to Dallas in Week 11, heading into halftime in a 9-7 hole. But the Eagles showed their resolve by ripping off a 30-point second half, handing the rival Cowboys a humiliating defeat on national television to extend Philadelphia's win streak to eight.

Just as it's been throughout the whole season, the Eagles leaned on stingy team defense and a myriad of offensive playmakers Sunday night. But despite the fact a wide swath of Eagles produce every week, they wouldn't be 9-1 without a number of key performances from individual players.

Let's rank the best individual performances from the Eagles throughout a 2017 season that has already seen a vast supply of them. 

8. Nelson Agholor: 6 Catches, 86 Yards, TD in Week 1

Mark Tenally/Associated Press

Embattled receiver Nelson Agholor gave indications throughout a strong camp and preseason that he would be a factor in 2017, but Eagles fans were understandably cautious with their expectations. His Week 1 explosion threw that caution into the wind.

Agholor wasted no time proving what he can be to the Eagles offense, catching a 58-yard touchdown bomb on the debut drive of the season. The former first-round pick didn't stop there, catching five more passes and finishing with 86 yards and a score, emerging as the go-to wideout in a key season-opening divisional clash.

Agholor's Week 1 showing didn't prove to be a flash in the pan by any means, either. He's caught four more touchdowns and his 426 yards make him the team's third-leading receiver behind Alshon Jeffery and Zach Ertz.

He put up more yards in a four-catch, 93-yard performance with a score against Arizona, but the season-opening outing came in a game that remained close until the final minutes. 

After the free-agent acquisitions of Jeffery and Torrey Smith, Agholor needed to impress early on to earn a regular role in the offense. He's done more than just impress, and he is now a key cog in the passing game. That all started with his Week 1 performance.

7. Nigel Bradham: 10 Tackles, 2 Pass Defended in Week 6

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Nigel Bradham's beastliness has been on display all season, but it took a Week 6 injury to Jordan Hicks to fully showcase what he can offer as the leader of the Eagles' linebacker crew.

When Hicks left with an ankle injury in a Thursday night road game against the Carolina Panthers, Bradham stepped his game up and dominated the defense. He finished with 10 tackles, and his unique blend of speed and instincts had him blowing up plays with regularity.

Bradham also notched two pass defenses, but his impact on the run game made a huge difference. While Cam Newton finished with 71 rushing yards, the rest of the Panthers combined for just nine yards on 14 carries.

One week later, Hicks went down for the season with an Achilles injury. A loss that could derail many defenses hasn't done so to the Eagles, and that's a huge testament to Bradham's play in the middle.

6. Derek Barnett: 2 Sacks, Forced Fumble in Week 11

Michael Ainsworth/Associated Press

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is going to get to know Derek Barnett quite well over the next several years, and the rookie defensive end made it a point to introduce himself in Week 11.

Barnett has been emerging over the last couple of games, but under the lights at AT&T Stadium against a battered Cowboys offensive line became the perfect opportunity for his breakout.

The Eagles' young defensive end lived in the Cowboys backfield, sacking Prescott twice, notching three quarterback hits and forcing a second-half fumble that Bradham returned for the touchdown to effectively end the game.

One of his best plays came on a first-half pressure that forced Prescott into throwing an interception. And all of this happened despite Barnett playing just over 50 percent of the snaps.

The rookie out of Tennessee notched his second multi-sack game in his last four performances, but his Sunday night emergence will be the game Eagles fans will remember years in the future as the moment he officially arrived.

Barnett is just 21 years old, and that's a scary proposition for the rest of the NFC East.

5. Carson Wentz: 15-for-27, 199 Yards, 4 TDs in Week 9

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Carson Wentz's 2017 season has been spectacular enough to earn him a few spots on this list, but it's only right to begin with his surgical performance against the Denver Broncos in Week 9.

Pegged as the midseason litmus test for just how well Wentz could play against a so-called elite defense, his demolition of the Broncos made them look anything but elite. Aided by a burly rushing attack, the quarterback threw for four touchdowns on 15-for-27 passing and 199 yards in a 51-23 shellacking at home.

Wentz's completion percentage only hovered around 55 percent in the game, and the team scampered for 197 rushing yards against a defense that came into the game as the league's second-best unit against the run. But when the Eagles needed him to make big plays, he delivered time and time again.

The Eagles' blowout over Denver showed what the ceiling for this team can be when all three phases are clicking, but Wentz's playmaking took them over the top.

4. LeGarrette Blount: 16 Carries, 136 Yards in Week 4

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

LeGarrette Blount and the Eagles running game got off to a horrible start to the season through two games. But Week 4 left no doubt as to Philly's potential on the ground, and Blount's individual emergence was the exclamation point.

Blount couldn't be contained against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4, going for 136 yards on the ground on only 16 carries and consistently infusing electricity into an Eagles offense that struggled through the air. He also caught one pass for 20 yards to cap off one of the best single-game showings from a skill-position player on the season.

Just two weeks before, Blount got phased out of the Eagles run game altogether when he failed to get a single carry in Kansas City. But save for that game, the 30-year-old has gotten at least nine carries in every game and his Week 4 explosion is a reason why.

Blount hasn't surpassed 100 yards in a game since then and only has two touchdowns on the season. But he's consistently churned out tough yards and appears set to continue his role of 10 to 15 carries a game, even with the arrival of Jay Ajayi.

3. Corey Clement: 66 Total Yards, 3 Total TDs in Week 9

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Rookie running back Corey Clement has been among the most pleasant surprises on the Eagles roster in 2017, and his never-ending pursuit of NFL prominence came full circle in Week 9.

On paper, the Eagles run game was expected to struggle against the Broncos. On the field, though, the forgotten man in the backfield churned out one of the best performances of the season, reaching paydirt two times on the ground while rushing for 51 yards on 12 carries and grabbing a 15-yard touchdown through the air.

Clement has had his work cut out from the moment he signed a free-agent contract this spring after going undrafted. He's faced multiple uphill battles; first to make the 53-man roster, then to carve out an actual role. But he's impressed at every turn and was rewarded in Week 9 with the best performance of his young career.

The Eagles have made Clement's pursuit of regular playing time even tougher with the trade for Ajayi, but he's left Philly coaches no choice but to give him carries.

The 23-year-old's six touchdowns on the season are tied for the most among skill-position players.

2. Carson Wentz: 21-for-30, 304 Yards, 4 TDs in Week 5

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Heading into Week 5, Wentz's emergence as one of the best performing quarterbacks was already on full display. But he had yet to put up one of those eye-popping statistical games, and he made it a point to do so against the Arizona Cardinals.

After failing to throw more than two touchdowns in a game through the first four, Wentz picked apart a Cardinals secondary that featured multiple elite playmakers. He went 21-for-30 in his most accurate showing of the season, throwing four touchdowns on 304 yards passing in a 34-7 drubbing of the Cardinals.

Wentz couldn't miss early on, helping to navigate the Eagles to a 21-0 lead in the opening quarter. He only got sacked once and posted a season-high passer rating of 128.3.

The second-year gunslinger wasn't seriously tested from the Cardinals defense, and he did manage to throw one bad red-zone interception. Those are the only detractors from an otherwise vintage Wentz performance that set the stage for a stretch of dominant games to follow.

1. Carson Wentz: 17-for-25, 268 Yards, 4 TDs, 63 Rush Yards in Week 7

Michael Perez/Associated Press

Wentz lit up the NFL through his first six games, carrying the Eagles to a 5-1 record and emerging as a MVP front-runner going into a Monday Night Football showdown with divisional rivals Washington. It appeared to be the perfect setup for a young quarterback who's not quite ready for the "elite" label to falter.

If you thought Wentz would fall victim to such predictability, then you don't know what he's capable of.

With the lights on bright and a desperate divisional foe in the cross-hairs, the 24-year-old rose to the occasion and created one of the marquee moments of the season. He shook off relentless Washington pressure to make critical plays, throwing four touchdowns on 268 yards passing en route to a 34-24 victory.

While Wentz fired first downs and touchdowns with precision, his mobility created the biggest jaw-dropping play of 2017. Up just 24-17 early in the fourth quarter and facing a key third-and-eight at the Eagles' 27-yard line, he ducked underneath multiple Redskins pass-rushers, magically escaped a sure sack and scampered for 17 yards.

Six plays later, Wentz threw a touchdown pass to Agholor that put the icing on the cake of the Eagles' greatest individual showcase of the season.

Simply put, Wentz's performances are flying the Eagles to victory week in and week out. Each and every one has been outstanding. But if there's a singular moment in which his surreal play made the difference, it's his clinical Week 7 performance.

   

Read 0 Comments

Download the app for comments Get the B/R app to join the conversation

Install the App
×
Bleacher Report
(120K+)