Does injury to Curtis make Eagles better?

With wide receiver Kevin Curtis out for the first couple weeks of the season are the Philadelphia Eagles a better team? I know it is absolutely crazy to think that, but there are some valid reasons to think it does. Yes, I know all of you Eagles faithful are cursing and calling me an idiot right now. I say take your time and read the article, think about it rationally, and you to may think this can be beneficial. If you don’t feel free to bash me with a comment, haha.

First for you non-Eagles fan a quick background. Last Thursday, August 21st, starting wide receiver Kevin Curtis underwent surgery for a sports hernia. This injury has been very common to the Eagles the past few seasons as Donovan McNabb and L.J. Smith have missed considerable time to do this injury. Curtis said he aggravated the injury during the August 14th preseason game against the Carolina Panthers, supposedly its a problem he’s dealt with for years and is now finally getting something done about it. He’s also doing something troubling, and that is not putting a timetable on a return.

“I can’t predict the future, but I’m going to do everything I can to get back on the field,” Curtis said. “From what I understand of the procedure, there’s no reason at some point, I can’t feel just as good as I did before the injury.”

A common recovery time for such an injury is four to six weeks, and thats on the conservative side. Having surgery so late in training camp would pretty much rule him out for at least two games. The good news comes from coach Andy Reid who says the injury isn’t as severe as Smith and McNabb’s. “I can’t give you a time on that (Curtis’ return) . I don’t know that. When I do, I’ll tell you,” said Reid. “It wasn’t the worst one we’ve seen and it wasn’t the simplest one we’ve seen. They felt like they went in and did a pretty good job with it, so we’ll see how he does here. These next couple of weeks will be pretty important and we might have a better idea after a few weeks here.”

OK, enough about the background time for the real article. How can this make the Eagles better. I have two scenarios where this could be the beneficial, and unfortunately details on one player who may be hurt by all of this.

Scenario One: A better red zone offense. The knock on the Eagles offense has been that they could move the ball but can’t put it in the end zone. The new receiver setup that follows this injury could actually change that. The team has decided to start Hank Baskett as the split end, and leave DeSean Jackson in the slot. Baskett is by far the Eagles tallest receiver and by watching divisional rival New York Giants, you know those big guys are money in the red zone. Having a healthy L.J. Smith and Baskett gives the Eagles two legitimate options on that end of the field. For you fantasy guys, Baskett could even become a sleeper at his position.

Scenario Two: A change of game plan. Another knock on the Eagles offense has been that they throw the ball too much, especially when you consider their running back is Brian Westbrook. B-West is without a doubt the best all-around back in the league which may be part of the reason Mr. Reid hasn’t changed his game plan over the years. He knows B-West can catch so why not do what he does best and call passing plays. With his wide receivers being Reggie Brown and Baskett, and rookie DeSean Jackson in the slot, he might have to reconsider as their is no true game breaker when the team is playing in between the 20s. Yes, I know you Eagles fans are completely sold on Jackson, he is an exciting player that we all know, but he’s got a lot to prove before being called an offensive game breaker. I’ll say offensive cause as a punt return he probably is already.

This could finally be the year that Reid decides to do just that change the game plan and run the ball more. It wouldn’t even need to be much, maybe just 4 or 5 more running plays a game would go a long way in balancing the offense out. Granted scenario 2 is an extreme long shot, but it is a way that this injury to Curtis could make the team better.

Now who is the player this injury could hurt the most? DeSean Jackson. Yes, I’m officially crazy now because we all know this means DeSean will be on the field for even more snaps. Which would of course mean that he’s going to see more passes from McNabb his way, right. Not necessarily. Jackson will now be occupying the slot role, which is actually not the role you want in Reid’s offense. Jason Avant occupied the role last year and only wound up with 23 catches, yes there is a big talent difference but the fact remains the slot doesn’t see the ball to often even with all the three wide receiver sets. One could argue talent is the reason, but I think Reid would just rather throw it to B-West as a check down and let him run, then have McNabb fire it to a slot guy. Hopefully DeSean can wow in the first week or two and change the teams mind.

While both scenarios hold weight who knows really what is going to come from this injury. It could either break the Eagles in the first weeks or help them find a talent they weren’t really going to utilize. The Eagles will need to figure out a lot in Week 1, as they have a match-up with the Dallas Cowgirls in Week 2, and the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3. Those are two games where they will need to put points on the board.

Alright Eagles fans let ‘er rip! I’m still a fool for all this crazy talk so go light up the comment section up with your opinions I’d love to get your take on the injury and the scenarios it creates for this time.

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Tags: NFL, Philadelphia Eagles