It's finally here! Sunday at 1 marks the Eagles opener in Washington vs the Redskins. The hype will be building until then, with game and season predictions galore. I'll be watching the fox pre-game show at noon to get the worthless predictions from Bradshaw, Strahan, Johnson and Long. ( Howie will be an Eagles fan this seasons ince his son now plays for Philly. Johnson will always side with the cowboys, Strahan with the Giants and Bradshaw with the Steelers).
I pick the Eagles to go 10-6 this year and make the playoffs as a wold card. Carson Wentz should have a big year with his new and improved weapons. The defense looks better too, with rookie defensive end Barnett. The big question will be the shaky secondary and Coach Doug Pederson.
I'm not a big fan of defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz either. He doesn't blitz enough. He has a bend-but-don't- break kind of defense.Maybe he's a little better than previous coordinator Billy Davis, but he's no legend Jim Johnson either.
Come Sunday, the Birds need to ge toff to a fast start to neutralize the Washington crowd. Get up on the 'Skins early and the fans will boo the hell out of quarterback Kirk Cousins, coach Jay Gruden and owner Daniel Snyder. Allow the Redskins to jump out to a lead and they will feed off the momentum and think they will massacre the Birds once again ( Washington has won the last five match-ups against Philadelphia).
Pederson loves to throw the ball, and I'm sure Wentz will get his share of big plays on Sunday afternoon. But the offensive really needs to run the ball, control the clock, open up the field for Wentz completions to Errtz over the middle, Jeffery down the field, Smith over the top and Sproles in the slot. The offensive line needs to give Wentz protection and not put him in long third down situations. They need a lot of third and two situations so they can use RB Blount effectively.
Turnovers are always a big key to any game, and the Eagles need to eliminate fumbles by their suspect running backs. Playing a clean game is important for the Eagles to win on Sunday.
Winning gives the Eagles a victory over a division rival, puts them in first place immediately and sets the tone for the rest of the season. going to Kansas City in week 2 will be tough. Arrowhead Stadium is one of the hardest places to win on the road in the NFL. The angry Chiefs should be coming off a loss tonight against the Patriots; it will be their home opener with 10 days rest. Andy Reid is dangerous when given more time to prepare.
Follow that up with a tough home opener for the Birds in week 3 vs, division rival New York Giants.A key match-up for sure, as the G-men expect to be in the hunt for the division all year. But it won't be easy.
So, a victory on Sunday would mean so much. I say Eagles 34 Redskins 31 in a hard-fought affair coming down to the wire. It's not a must-win game. A loss would hurt but It's a long season. And it's never easy to win on the road in pro football. But I would love to see the Eagles get off strong, as they did in 2016, and not keep chasing teams until Christmas. It would be nice to have those December games mean something again. Home games against the Oakland Raiders on Christmas night and the Dallas Cowboys on New Year's Eve could make the holiday season even more special.
Winning early, like on Sunday at Washington, would go a long way in making those holiday games mean something more.
No comments:
Post a Comment