• Washington Commanders rely on backfield duo: Brian Robinson Jr. returned from injury to score the game’s first touchdown, while Austin Ekeler scored his first 80-yard receiving day since joining the team.
• Philadelphia Eagles offense is relatively healthy: Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert all played a normal snap share for the first time since Week 1.
• Unlock your edge with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all of our in-season fantasy tools, including weekly rankings, the Start-Sit Optimizer and more. Sign up now!
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
PFF's fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2024.
Washington Commanders @ Philadelphia Eagles
- Saquon Barkley: 26 carries, 146 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 receptions, 52 receiving yards
- Austin Ekeler: 2 carries, 7 yards, 8 receptions, 89 receiving yards
Brian Robinson Jr. returns to the Commanders lineup: Robinson Jr. has been limited or didn’t play in the last six games.
Robinson started the season playing at least 56% of the Commanders' offensive snaps in the first four weeks. He suffered a knee injury in Week 5, leading him to miss Week 6. He played in Weeks 7 and 8, but was involved in less than 50% of the Commaders' offensive snaps. He proceeded to miss the following two games due to a hamstring injury. He didn’t practice fully until Wednesday, which allowed him not to have an injury designation.
He was back to playing over 50% of the Commanders' offensive snaps like he was early in the season. The Commanders have used two halfbacks on the field more than anyone else this season. They typically do it some in the first half and rarely in the second half. They had been using the package on 13% of first-half plays, but it was up to 38% in this game. They also used it a few times in the second half. This allowed both Robinson to be the clear lead rusher and Ekeler the clear lead receiver.
This also prevented the other Commanders running backs further down the depth chart from being involved despite playing well in Robinson’s absence. Jeremy McNichols was active and played on special teams but didn’t play on offense until the last three minutes of the game.. Chris Rodriguez Jr. was a healthy inactive.
The Commanders have 10 days until their next game, which should let Robinson get closer to 100%. Washington still has its Week 14 bye week, which should also help him stay well-rested for the final quarter of the regular season.
Dallas Goedert is back to normal: The Eagles tight end was back to his usual role after playing on a limited basis last week.
Goedert typically plays in at least 84% of Philadelphia's offensive snaps, which has been true since the middle of the 2021 season. This means he’s rotated out less than the majority of tight ends in the NFL, and that’s how he started the season. He suffered a hamstring injury early in Week 6, leading him to miss the following three games.
He returned to the lineup last week against the Dallas Cowboys. He played just under 80% of Philadelphia's offensive snaps over the first three quarters, so he was rotated out a little more often than usual. The team largely used backups in the fourth quarter, making his snap rate look particularly low. He was also only targeted three times, leading to two catches and 25 yards. His fantasy value was saved with his first touchdown of the season.
In this game, his playing time was right back to what we would expect, as he only left the game on particularly long drives or very obvious rushing formations where they had time to substitute rather than hurrying to the line. He caught five passes for 61 yards. While his target rate is lower than earlier in the season, we should expect that. Last time he was fully healthy, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith weren’t healthy, whereas now all of the Eagles' weapons on offense are relatively healthy.
Miscellaneous Notes
- The Eagles released run-blocking tight end Jack Stoll earlier in the week. He landed with the Miami Dolphins off waivers. The Eagles elevated veteran C.J. Uzomah from the practice squad for this game to be their run-blocking tight end.
- The Commanders' increased use of two running back sets meant fewer snaps from two tight end sets. This meant more opportunities for Zach Ertz, who usually plays in single tight end sets, and less of John Bates and Ben Sinnott.
- Commanders kicker Austin Seibert missed his second straight game due to a hip injury. The Commanders elevated Zane Gonzalez off the practice squad for a second straight week to replace him.
Table Notes
- Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
- Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
- Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.
© 2024 PFF - all rights reserved.