Eagles first glance

The Eagles offense flows through Brian Westbrook AP Photo/Tim Sharp

They say a wounded animal is the most dangerous. That cliché comes to mind thinking about the Philadelphia Eagles. Donovan McNabb is nursing an injured sternum and the central cog of their offense.  Brian Westbrook did not play in their loss to the Bears; he sat out with an ankle injury. The Bears caught them at the right time and Jason La Canfora seems to think the Skins are as well. 

I think this sort of conventional wisdom is probably right. However, despite the injuries to McNabb and Westbrook the Eagles defense has played amazingly well. Opposing backs have averaged just 2.9 yards per carry against the Eagles.  They rank #1 against the run allowing just 53.8 yards per game and rank first in sacks as well with 17.

Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, pass-blitzes and run-blitzes from everywhere and does a phenomenal job of deceiving the quarterback on where the blitz will come. Johnson also has fast, young, aggressive linebackers who are all stout run stoppers. Jason Campbell is going to have to keep his head on a swivel, make the right reads, and hit the hot routes, or its going to be a long day. So far, the Eagles defense has been susceptible to the pass.  They give up 191.8 yards a game, and rank seventh in touchdown passes given up.  The offensive line needs to give Campbell time to throw, and he will have to continue getting the ball out quick if the Redskins are going to counter all the blitzes.

Westbrook’s status for Sunday is still up in the air.  It probably depends on if he practices today. Given that my fellow DeMatha alum has burned the Redskins so many times in the past, we can only hope that his ankle has not healed enough to play Sunday. Westbrook is the ideal player to utilize against the Redskins, as he has an uncanny ability to break short/intermediate passes into long gains and scores, as he did at FedEx last year turning a short pass into a 57-yard touchdown which put the Eagles ahead for good. Sure, Andy Reid will use Correll Buckhalter to exploit this weakness.  But he will not be nearly as dangerous as Westbrook. 

Odds n Ends

The Redskins’ chattering glass is downright giddy; not so much for the Eagles. Witness Philadelphia Eagles Examiner Gordie Jones: 

Which leaves us with the Eagles (2-2) – and leaves us with ... what, exactly? While there are some obvious improvements from a year ago, especially on defense, we also see some of the same maddening trends. An inability to score in the red zone. Problems sustaining offense over an entire game. Some special teams hiccups.

Mostly, we again see a team that plays just well enough to lose. Last year they were 3-5 in games decided by a touchdown or less. This year, they are 0-2 in such games, with four-point losses to Dallas and Chicago.

In no small part because of their problems in nail-biters, they finished 8-8 in 2007, meaning they were the only team in the division to miss the playoffs.

Yes, there’s a long way to go this year. But they seem headed in the same direction.

Longtime Philadelphia Daily News scribe Paul Domowitch takes the glass half full/half empty perspective. 

The Curly R informs me that two different NFL ratings systems rank the Redskins as the best team in the NFL through four weeks. 

• Massey NFL Ratings
• Jeff Sagarin’s NFL Ratings at USA Today

Shorter Matt Terl: Face it you lost!

Cowboys Examiner Dan Telvock was “shocked, shocked” that I said Moss, Randle El and Cooley would be “more than the Dallas secondary can handle”. All I have to say is: Moss eight catches, 145 yards. Sure Randle El only had 36 yards on four catches, but he beat Terence Newman for a touchdown, as did James Thrash.

Jamie Mottram takes on the education of Tank Johnson.