The Philadelphia Eagles (6-1) could dial up a heavy dose of their run game against the visiting San Francisco 49ers (0-7) on Sunday. A powerful coastal storm with strong winds and heavy rain will impact the East Coast beginning this weekend.
The Eagles are already heavy 13.5-point favorites over the winless 49ers, per Yahoo! Sports. If heavy rain is coming down at kickoff, the Eagles might lean more on the running backs than they typically do. Philadelphia has the fourth-ranked rushing offense in the NFL. That alone would make the Eagles offense pretty formidable in a heavy downfall. Throw in the fact that the San Francisco defense ranks 30th against the run and it is a potential recipe for disaster.
Eagles running back LeGarrette Blount, who signed a one-year contract with Philadelphia in May, is averaging five yards per carry. He has rushed the football 84 times for 419 yards and a touchdown. The Eagles also have Wendell Smallwood, who has carried the football 37 times for 138 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, for San Francisco, Carlos Hyde has led a rushing attack that ranks 30th in the NFL. While he is averaging 4.3 yards per carry and has four rushing touchdowns, Philadelphia owns the top-ranked defense in the league. The Eagles defense has allowed just 67 yards per game to opposing offenses.
Carson Wentz is the fifth-highest graded quarterback in the NFL and the third-best in the NFC, according to Pro Football Focus. He owns the analytics site's third-best quarterback rating and the best within the NFC. Wentz's improved play over his rookie 2016 season has put his name in the discussion for league MVP.
Wentz has completed 61.6-percent of his passes for 1,852 yards, 17 touchdowns, and just four interceptions. No quarterback has thrown more touchdowns this season.
What does the rainy forecast mean for the second-year quarterback?
"I think he'll be fine," said Eagles head coach Doug Pederson on Friday. "We just have to make sure we secure the snap, obviously number one, and ball security on handoffs, things of that nature. It just becomes little bit more point of emphasis. He hasn't played in a ton of bad weather games because he obviously played in a dome in college (at North Dakota State), but it doesn't bother him, too. He's lived it. He's had to live in the cold, the snow, wet, the rain, so he should be fine."
San Francisco heads into the matchup with rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard, who is starting just his second NFL game. Through three games, Beathard has completed 55.4-percent of his passes for 480 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.