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The Philadelphia Eagles will look to close out their preseason schedule with a win on the road against the Miami Dolphins Friday. It's the final preparatory game for both teams before the REAL season starts in September. With that said, here are some of the bold expectations we have for the Eagles when they square off with Tua Tagovailoa and the rest of the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium.
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Philadelphia Eagles Preseason Week 3 Predictions
4. Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott combine for 100+ rushing yards
The Eagles edged out Cleveland in Week 2 of the 2022 NFL preseason, thanks to a productive rushing attack that had both Gainwell and Scott churning out solid performances. Gainwell paced the Eagles with 46 rushing yards on 11 carries, while also taking one to the end zone. Scott, on the other hand, rushed 10 times for 33 yards and also a touchdown.
All told, Philly burned rubber for 144 rushing yards and a couple of touchdowns on 43 carries. Miles Sanders didn't play against the Browns, but with Gainwell and Scott leading the backfield, the Eagles showed that they have fantastic depth in the running back position. Plus, the RB2 position for Philly's run game — which does seem more predicated on a running back by committee approach — seems to still be an ongoing affair, so this preseason game against the Dolphins' defense that allowed 144 rushing yards to the Las Vegas Raiders last week, sounds like a tasty opportunity for both Gainwell and Scott to make a stronger case to win that role behind Sanders.
3. Jalen Reagor bounces back
There will be pressure on Reagor to have a strong showing in Week 3 of the preseason against Miami. While he's said to have impressed in training camp, his Week 2 performance against the Browns did not help — and probably even hurt — his stock. In the Browns game, Reagor was targeted four times and only caught two of those passes for 17 receiving yards. It was a step down from the 36-yard effort on three catches and four targets he had in Week 1 of the preseason against the New York Jets at home.
Reagor needs to put up a much more convincing effort if he wants to avoid becoming a victim of the final roster cut before the 2022 NFL regular season kicks off, especially after disappointing first two seasons with Eagles. After being taken 21st overall by Philly in the 2020 NFL Draft, Reagor has yet to top 400 receiving yards in a season.
The pair of Deon Cain and Devon Allen are also vying for the final Eagles receiver spots and they both looked much better than Reagor in Week 2; Cain had five catches on seven targets turned into 66 receiving yards, while Allen caught one of two passes for a 55-yard touchdown.
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2. Philadelphia forces a Tua Tagovailoa turnover
Tagovailoa shined in joint practices with the Eagles this week, which was a terrific confidence-builder for the Dolphins' QB1.
Via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald:
Tua Tagovailoa, who was extremely sharp in 7 on 7 and 11 on 11 drills. The first 11 on 11 drive epitomized how the Dolphins hope to attack opponents: intermediate completions in the middle of the field (16 yards to Trent Sherfield, 21 yards to Tyreek Hill), then had short dump offs (10 yards to Salvon Ahmed, eight to Mike Gesicki).
However, Philadelphia could still get some sort of payback when it faces off with the former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback this coming Friday. The Eagles' desire to play more coherently on defense is also fueled by the lack of sacks and quarterback hits they had against the Browns. In fact, they did not have either of those versus Cleveland. The Eagles need to make a statement on defense before the regular season begins and there aren't a lot of better ways to do it than forcing Tagovailoa to commit a turnover. After all, they were only 28th overall in the NFL in the 2021 season with just 0.9 takeaways per game and 19th with 23.1 points allowed per contest.
1. Eagles win and cover the spread
Both the Eagles and the Dolphins will enter Friday's game with a 1-1 preseason record. But between the two of them, it's the Eagles who have played more ed competitive in general across two games, at least offensively. They narrowly lost to New York in Week 1, 24-21, before taking care of business in the victory over the Browns on the road. Meanwhile, the Dolphins stumbled in Week 2 in a 15-13 home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders after upsetting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1. Take the Eagles spread.
