Macho Harris fumbled his last two kickoff returns and it almost cost the Eagles their game against the Denver Broncos, yet Andy Reid still has confidence in him, so he will be returning kickoffs on Sunday.
Reid’s explanation for Harris’ fumbles was that he was tired and had played too many plays on defense.
He didn’t have the ball secured on both fumbles and was carrying the ball in the wrong hand on the second one which was saved by Victor Abiamiri.
I hope that’s true because I expect this to be a tight game that will likely be decided by one or two big plays in much the same way as the first game.
A turnover here or there could make the difference and they can’t afford to give the Cowboys any easy points by turning the football over.
A fumble on a kickoff return would be a killer because it would be at the start of the first or second half or after a Cowboys score. A fumble on a kickoff is a huge momentum swing, as we saw in the Denver game.
They can’t afford it in a contest between two teams so evenly matched.
It doesn’t look like safety Quintin Demps is going to be able to go because of his strained ankle. They have mentioned Jeremy Maclin as a backup but he’s coming off of a foot injury and he’s not a good kickoff returner.
Maclin runs too high and he doesn’t hit the hole. He’s a punt returner, not a kickoff returner.
In addition and more importantly, he is too valuable as an offensive weapon to risk on kickoff returns.
If I were Reid, I would be willing to sign a veteran kick returner who would give me confidence that he wouldn’t put the ball on the ground.
This game is too important to overlook anything.
