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Washington Football Team: Five bold predictions vs. Eagles in Week 17

By Jacob Camenker

Sep 13, 2020; Landover, Maryland, USA; Washington Football Team running back Peyton Barber (34) celebrates with teammates after scoring the go ahead touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth quarter at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 13, 2020; Landover, Maryland, USA; Washington Football Team running back Peyton Barber (34) celebrates with teammates after scoring the go ahead touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth quarter at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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LANDOVER, MARYLAND – SEPTEMBER 13: Matthew Ioannidis #98 and Chase Young #99 of the Washington Football Team rush the Philadelphia Eagles offense at FedExField on September 13, 2020 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MARYLAND – SEPTEMBER 13: Matthew Ioannidis #98 and Chase Young #99 of the Washington Football Team rush the Philadelphia Eagles offense at FedExField on September 13, 2020 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

4. Chase Young sets a new career-high with 2.5 sacks

In Week 1 against the Eagles, Chase Young sacked Carson Wentz 1.5 times in Washington’s 27-17 win. That mark is his current career-high and it is, unbelievably, the only game in which he has more than one sack in his career.

Sacks aren’t a perfect indicator of pressure generated, and Young is a perfect example of that. He has generated a ton of pressure on the year, but he has “just” 6.5 sacks on the year. He will be looking to improve upon that in a great matchup.

The Eagles have played this season without a majority of their offensive line. Many of their starters have dealt with injuries, and this week, they will be extremely shorthanded at the tackle spot with Jordan Mailata (concussion) out for the game.

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Young will be able to take advantage of this. The Eagles are already down their top starters at the position, Andre Dillard and Lane Johnson, and now, they’re down three of their top backups, Jason Peters, Mailata, and Jack Driscoll. That’s an incredible amount of starting-talent and depth to be without, so expect the Eagles to be weak on the edge.

Jalen Hurts will have to run around a lot during this game. While he seems likely to scramble for quite a few yards (more on that later) he may be brought down for some sacks as well. We saw him under pressure against the Cowboys, and Washington has a significantly better pass rush than Dallas. They will be able to keep pace with Hurts because of their insane athleticism.

Young stands the best chance of consistently getting to Hurts, so this feels like a good time for him to beat his career-high single-game sack total by one. We’ll call for a 2.5-sack game for Young to get him to nine sacks on the year in 15 games of action. That would be an excellent mark for the rookie and would demonstrate his potential to be one of the league’s best defensive players moving forward.

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