As much as I hate to say it, a few key plays through the first four games of the season could have had the Eagles sitting at 4-0. Unfortunately, we sit with a 2-2 record heading into a Week Five matchup against the Washington Redskins, who are coming off an impressive victory against Dallas.
I want to start off by apologizing to the Washington Redskins and their fans. Don't get me wrong, I knew you guys had a solid football team. Jason Campbell seems like a quarterback that gets better by the game. Along with most fans and analysts, I assumed the NFC East would be won by the Eagles, Giants, or Cowboys.
After last week, I believe the Redskins have just as good of a chance as anybody to win this division. Hey, if everybody stays healthy, I could see these guys even heading to the Super Bowl.
Now that the Redskins are 3-1, Sunday's game in Philadelphia is not only important for the Eagles, but for the NFC East standings as well.
If the Eagles can pull off a victory at home, they can at least be tied with the Redskins and Cowboys for being 1-1 in the NFC East standings. I know it's early to talk about the importance of the NFC East standings, but let's be honest. We all know that NFC East matchup this season is going to be crucial once playoffs come into the picture.
The record against the NFC East teams could play a crucial role if the Eagles want to win the division.
The way the Eagles played in the fourth quarter ended up playing a crucial part in the outcome of the Eagles' two losses this season to the Cowboys and Bears. In both games, the Eagles played well throughout the course of the game. If a few key plays had gone our way, the outcome could have been different.
The Eagles were looking to be in solid shape in the fourth quarter against Dallas in Week Two. While holding onto a lead, all the Eagles had to do was run the ball and take time off the clock to seal the victory in Dallas.
After some mixed communication between Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook, a key fumble by McNabb turned the momentum around for Dallas. If that fumble never occurred, the Eagles could have continued to waste time off the clock to prevent Dallas from getting the ball back.
I remember being at a local sports bar in Dayton watching the game. The Dallas-to-Eagle-fan ratio was probably 12:1 (the ratio would have been higher had my good friend Becky not moved to DC). Luckily, I met a kid from central Jersey who happened to be a big Eagles fan as well. He and I just shook our heads once that fumble occurred.
Once that fumble happened, that's all I kept playing back in my head for the rest of the night. That play alone proved how one single play can easily change the outcome of any game.
The same could be said about the Eagles-Bears game from last Sunday.
For the record, I was shocked when Kyle Orton came out firing against the Philadelphia defense. Whenever I thought of Orton, I always had flashbacks to his rookie campaign in 2005 when he only had a winning record because of that solid Bears defense.
When I heard he was the starting quarterback for the Bears this season, the first thing that came to mind was desperation.
1 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
hocus pocus 9 months ago
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