The Philadelphia Eagles are reeling, having lost three games in a row. Still, the Las Vegas Raiders don't have many advantages going up against the defending Super Bowl champions in Week 15. Anything that might surface on that front has to be taken advantage of for there to be any chance of an upset.
On Thursday, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Eagles star right tackle Lane Johnson is in line to miss his fourth straight game on Sunday against the Raiders.
"Sounding like Lane Johnson (foot) will need another week before returning to the #Eagles lineup. Sunday’s opponent also doesn’t make his return imperative," McLane wrote. "Eagles have lost 3 straight with Johnson out. They’ve gone 14-27 when the future HOF tackle has not played in his career."
McLane tabbing Johnson's return to action for Sunday's game as not being "imperative," despite Philadelphia sliding, looks like bulletin board material for the Raiders. But there are bigger implications than that.
Maxx Crosby now has a matchup to take full advantage of
Johnson is, to put it in some appropriate parlance, "tougher than a $2 steak." So, even if the Raiders are easy to write off as a viable opponent that would push him toward suiting up, there's no doubt about the severity of his foot injury if he's unable to suit up on Sunday.
If Johnson is indeed out for Sunday's game, and he was not seen at practice on Thursday, once again to fortify McLane's report, the Raiders will have something that tilts substantially in their favor when they take the field.
The Raiders' pass rush, which is nothing new, begins and ends with superstar defensive end Maxx Crosby. He has 9.0 of the team's 25 sacks so far this season, and no other edge rusher has more than 3.0 sacks.
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Crosby also predominantly lines up on the left side of the Las Vegas defensive line. According to Pro Football Focus, to put a precise number on it, he has lined up on the left side for 679 of his 794 defensive line snaps (85.5 percent) so far this season.
That would put Crosby across from Eagles' replacement right tackle Fred Johnson on a regular basis throughout Sunday's game. He will surely be chipped and double-teamed as much as possible, but he will have ample 1-on-1 opportunities to take advantage of against an inferior offensive tackle.
It's easy to see Sunday's game as a get-right opportunity for the Eagles' offense. But Crosby is the one Raider defender who can wreck an opponent's game plan by himself, and now he's got an easier individual matchup coming his way as long as Lane Johnson ends up actually being out.