Jeremy Maclin is now the unquestioned number one receiver on the Philadelphia Eagles after former number one, DeSean Jackson, was jettisoned this off-season in what many in the media and around the team have referred to as something of a culture-based purge.
Jackson, though supremely talented in certain areas, is just as glaringly deficient in others. He's speedy, smart and electric with the ball in his hands. He's also small, somewhat injury-prone and limited in terms of routes he can be effective running. He is reported to have clashed with Kelly and chafed at the bonds of Chip's team-first mentality.
Now in Washington, Jackson is still doing his frustratingly effective one-dimensional act - though he didn't dress for the Redskins game this week - and according to Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman, whose Seahawks trounced Jackson's former team yesterday in truly resounding fashion, the lack of a player of his caliber in their receiving corps has left Philly a much easier team to defend.
"I think they miss him tremendously," Sherman said of Jackson, according to a report from Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer. "He was an incredible player, and he's still a threat in this league. You can tell by the things he is doing out there in Washington. He either leads the league or he's up there in explosive plays - 40-plus and things like that."
Sherman, who may very well be the best cornerback in the league, was a major part of the defensive effort that held quarterback Mark Sanchez and the Eagles receivers to 82 total passing yards.
Maclin, who was singled up with Sherman much of the day, caught just three passes for 21 yards and a touchdown. Riley Cooper, the assumed number two, managed just three catches for 13 yards and rookie phenom, Jordan Matthews, had just two catches for 23 yards.
The reason for these low totals, Sherman believes, is not only the efforts of himself and the vaunted Legion of Boom backfield, but also because the Eagles are lacking a dimension to their passing game that only a player of Jackson's caliber can bring.
"A player like that, a defense has to account for," Sherman said about Jackson. "You have to be worried about where he is at all times. Right now, we can stand up across the board and play."
While Sherman may be correct that Philadelphia misses Jackson in certain instances, Kelly and the Eagles have still managed a 9-4 record behind an offense that is seventh in the league in both passing yards and rushing yards.
Would the diminutive Jackson, often streaky and especially unreliable against bigger cornerbacks, really have made a big difference in such a physical, low-scoring game?
It's impossible to know for sure, but that answer is probably "no."
