DEPTH COULD DIFFERENCE IN EAGLES – REDSKINS GAME
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Targets like Jeremy Maclin give the Eagles a slight edge.
In case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few months, there is a little football game scheduled to take place at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday (4:15 p.m. FOX) between the Eagles and Washington Redskins.
It will feature the most talked about quarterbacks in the NFL this season.
Who will win? Let’s take a look and make our best guess.
Quarterback: If you went by body of work for a career, Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb is an easy pick. He has five NFC title games, six Pro Bowls, a Super Bowl appearance and almost 33,000 passing yards on his resume.
Eagles signal caller Mike Vick is the second highest rated quarterback in the NFL going into the game and was just named the NFC Player of the Month.
Vick has found his groove and has a myriad of weapons at his disposal while McNabb is struggling to find out how to use his less-than-impressive arsenal.
Advantage: Eagles.
Offensive line: The Eagles line has surrendered 14 sacks in just three games and are on pace to give up over 74 sacks for the season. That number is horrible. They have a solid rushing attack that has produced 417 yards on 70 carries; good for 6.0 yards per carry.
Jason Peters continues to struggle at left tackle, committing too many penalties and mistakes.
The Redskins are not rushing the ball well with Clinton Portis rushing for just 3.7 yards per carry but have allowed just five sacks. Casey Rabach leads this group. This unit has been a bit more stable.
Advantage: Redskins.
Running back: The Redskins are depending on an old running back in Portis (140 yards on 38 carries and two TDs) and are 28th in the league running the ball as a team.
LeSean McCoy has rushed for 209 yards on 34 carries and is tied for the league lead in touchdowns with four.
Advantage: Eagles.
Wide receiver: DeSean Jackson may be the most feared wide receiver in football. The third-year player has 13 catches for 318 yards and two touchdowns.
Santana Moss has 22 catches for 290 yards and a touchdown.
Depth is the difference here with the Eagles able to put targets like Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avant and tight end Brent Celek out there for Vick, not to mention McCoy out of the backfield.
The Redskins only have tight end Chris Cooley to go to and he has 14 catches for 197 yards.
Advantage: Eagles
Kicking: David Akers, a multiple Pro Bowler or Graham Gano, who has played in all of seven regular season games? Ummmm…
Advantage: Eagles
Defensive line: Hard to compare since the Redskins run a 3-4 alignment, the Birds a 4-3. The Eagles have allowed 377 yards in three games at a clip of 4.1 yards per carry. The Redskins are tough to run against allowing just 294 total yards and 3.5 yards per carry.
The Eagles though put a lot of pressure on the quarterback recording 11 sacks. With four sacks, defensive end Juqua Parker leads the way. The Redskins have come up with just seven sacks.
Advantage: Redskins
Linebacker: The Eagles live and die with Stewart Bradley in the middle. Outside of Bradley, this unit has not distinguished itself.
After the first two games this season, the Eagles allowed the most points of any team in the league. The game against Jacksonville was an improvement, allowing just three points, but there is still a ways to go.
For the Redskins, Brian Orakpo has 8.5 sacks in nine career games on the road. London Fletcher has played in 195 consecutive games, tied for second longest active streak in NFL among non-specialists.
Advantage: Redskins
Secondary: Rookie safety Nate Allen leads a unit that has collected five interceptions in three games, Allen snagging two of them. The Redskins secondary has corralled just two.
The Eagles have allowed four passing TDs while the Redskins have allowed five. Redskins safety LaRon Landry leads the Redskins with 34 tackles (27 solo).
Advantage: Eagles
Punting: Redskins Josh Bidwell was averaging 43.9 yards per kick while Sav Rocca has been nailing his punts an average of 47.7 per kick, good for third in the NFL.
Advantage: Eagles.
Kick coverage: Andy Reid is not happy with this unit’s performance allowing opponents 11.8 yards per punt return. The kick return team allows 23.7 yards per play.
The Redskins allow 8.6 per punt return, just 16.3 per game on kickoffs.
Advantage: Redskins.
Kick returns: This depends on whether Jackson returns punts. Even if he does not, it is hard to gauge these two units. Neither of these teams has run a kickoff or a punt back for a score or has been a factor in positive way this season.
Advantage: even
Coaching: Andy Reid’s body of work is outstanding but Mike Shanahan’s resume and game day coaching is better.
Advantage: Redskins.
Prediction: The Eagles offense has two many weapons. Their defense seems to have found itself a bit after the Jaguars game.
The Redskins just do not have the bullets to score enough points.
The Redskins defense keeps them in the game for a while but the Birds prevail at home, 17-10.