Eagles-Redskins: Strong Performance in Fourth Quarter Key for Philadelphia

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.

Obviously Rex Grossman is not the amazing quarterback that ESPN once thought he was when he led the Bears to a 5-0 start during the 2006 season (we all know how well he performed for the rest of the season, I don't care whether people say, he helped get the Bears to the Super Bowl).

I will admit that Orton looked good on Sunday in the first half. In the second half, he made a few key mistakes that we should have easily taken advantage of.

It's amazing how a few key plays could easily change the outcome of any game. Just think if David Akers, the kicker who used to seem golden every time he came out to kick a field goal, had just made those two missed field goals against the Bears.

Now, I know how hard it must have been to kick at night in the Windy City. However, I still believe that Akers from a few years ago would have definitely nailed those two kicks.

Those six points could have been a contributing factor to some of the Eagles' playcalling in the fourth quarter.

I will admit, that goal-line stand on the half-yard line by the Chicago defense on 4th-and-goal was unbelievable. I don't even think I was mad when it happened. I was more of in a state of shock.

However, one of those last four plays should have resulted in a touchdown for the Eagles. Failing to score on that drive ended up costing the game for the Eagles.

I hate to do hypothetical situations, but what if David Akers had nailed those two field goals? Instead of being down four, the Eagles would have been up two. Instead of going for it on fourth down on that one drive late in the fourth quarter, we could have easily kicked a field goal to go up five and put the pressure on the Bears.

But like I said, that's an awfully big hypothetical situation.

So what do the Eagles need to do on Sunday to defeat the Redskins?

Play solid football, like they have all season, and make sure they play strong in the fourth quarter. If the Eagles hadn't fumbled in the fourth quarter against Dallas and scored on that late drive against the Bears in the fourth quarter, we could easily be sitting at 4-0 coming into Week Five.

Instead, we need to bounce back against the Redskins this week.

The Eagles need to play well in the fourth quarter, like they did against the Pittsburgh Steelers. After a close 10-6 lead throughout the second half, the Eagles' defense just seemed to take over against the Steelers in the fourth quarter.

After a key safety and late field goal by David Akers, the Eagles were able to pull off the victory. As long as we play well throughout the course of the game against the Redskins, we should be able to pull off the victory.

Whoever plays better in the 4th quarter of Sunday's key NFC East match up will go on to win the game.