Die Hard Sports Fan

The Washington Redskins will face the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
TV & Radio Info:
Game: Redskins (3-1) at Eagles (2-2)
TV: FOX (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman)
Radio: 610 AM WIP All Sports Radio (Merrill Reese, Mike Quick)

Time: 1:00 p.m. ET

Game Notes:

• Last Regular Season Meeting: The Eagles beat the Redskins in Washington, 33-25.
• The Eagles have not allowed a touchdown at home in over 3 games.
• The Redskins have yet to turn the ball over on offense this season.
• OG Max Jean-Gilles will replace injured OG Shawn Andrews.
• Current Eagles players K David Akers and DE Chris Clemons started their NFL careers with The Redskins.
• Eagles QB Donovan McNabb is 10-5 all time against The Redskins.
• The Eagles are 12-5 when RB Brian Westbrook rushes for over 100 yards.
• RB Brian Westbrook grew up as a Washington Redskins fan.
• Eagles Punter Sav Rocca currently ranks 1^st in the NFL with a 44.1 net punting average.
• Eagles Head Coach Andy Reid is 2 wins shy of 100 career wins.
• Eagles Safety Brian Dawkins is 1 interception short to tie Eric Allen and Bill Bradley for the franchise lead in career interceptions of 34
• The Eagles lead the NFL in sacks (17)
• The Line: The Eagles are favored by 6.  Over/Under is 42

Injury Report:

Redskins - Out of Game: DE Jason Taylor (Calf). Doubtful: T Stephon Heyer (Shoulder). Questionable: LB Marcus Washington (Hamstring), CB Sean Springs (Calf). Probable: DE Andre Carter(Non-injury related), OG Randy Thomas (Toe).

Eagles - Doubtful: WR Kevin Curtis (hernia), DE Victor Abiamiri (wrist). Questionable: RB Brian Westbrook (ankle), TE L.J. Smith (back). Probable: QB Donovan McNabb (chest), S Quintin Demps (knee), RDT Dan Klecko (hand). 

Quote of the Week:

 ”The last few days have made me more optimistic.  I can feel myself getting better.  That’s what counts.  I am feeling very motivated right now.” - Eagles OG Shawn Andrews
Please feel free to comment below or in the tag board in the sidebar to chat with Eagles fans from around the world.

With that said, “E-A-G-L-E-S!!  EAGLES!!

Share This

The Eagles and Bears fought out a tough, competitive game with the Bears doing a better job of taking opportunity of some turnovers and earning the win.

1^st Quarter

The Eagles received the ball first to open the game.  The Eagles went 3 and out and were forced to punt after being sacked on 3^rd down by Bears Safety Daniel Manning.  On the Bears’ first offensive possession, they marched right down the field ending the drive with a Touchdown strike to Tight End Greg Olsen, who beat Eagles LB Chris Gocong in the endzone.

On the Eagles next possession, QB Donovan McNabb came out on fire, standing tall in the pocket, hitting rookie WR DeSean Jackson on multiple big plays including a 22 yard TD making the score 7-7.  Jackson also had a big run on a reverse, helping set up the Eagles’ first TD.

2^nd Quarter

On a Bears’ possession, they were forced to punt.  A Bears’ 38 yard punt was muffed by DeSean Jackson at the Eagles 24 yard line.  2 Plays later, Bears QB Kyle Orton found WR Marty Booker open in the end zone for a 23-yard Touchdown breaking the tie.  The Bears led 14-7.

The Eagles offense responded on their next possession by marching down the field.  WR Reggie Brown had multiple catches helping to get The Eagles down into The Bears’ Red Zone.  RB Correll Buckhalter then took a screen pass from McNabb 19 yards down to the Bears 1 yard line.  Buckhalter then took the next carry and plunged into the end-zone making the score 14-14.

On another possession, The Bears capped off a 60 yard drive with a 20 yard TD to KR/WR Devin Hester where The Bears took the lead 21-14 at half-time. 

3^rd Quarter

The Bears received the ball to start the 3^rd quarter and were forced to punt after a few plays.  The Bears punted the ball down inside the Eagles 10 yard line where McNabb through a costly interception with RB Correll Buckhalter getting hurt during the interception return.

Inside the Eagles 20 yard line, on the 2^nd play after the turnover, Bears QB Kyle Orton forced an ill-advised pass into the end-zone and right into the arms of Eagles Safety Quintin Mikell.  The Eagles defense gave the Eagles offense back the ball where the score still remained Bears 21, Eagles 14.

On the next possession, the Eagles went 3 and out and P Sav Rocca sent a booming punt deep into Bears’ territory where KR Devin Hester let it go over his head where he finally scooped up the ball and ran backwards, being downed at his own 4 yard line.

The Eagles defense stuffed the Bears down at the Bears goal-line forcing the Bears 3 and out.  On 1^st down, McNabb missed on an attempted pass to WR Greg Lewis.  With 3^rd string RB Lorenzo Booker in for injured RB Correll Buckhalter, Booker was creamed for a 3 yard loss on a screen play.  The Eagles failed to convert on 3^rd down with a pass to TE Brent Celek.  On 4^th down, K David Akers missed by dinking the upright of the goal post, giving the Bears back the ball with decent field position.

On the first play of the Bears’ next possession, Eagles DE Trent Cole sacked and stripped QB Kyle Orton forcing a fumble recovered by LB Omar Gaither who returned it to the Bears 28 yard line.

Almost giving up on the running game, the Eagles moved the ball inside the red zone, sometimes using 4 receivers in the formation.  On 2^nd down and 4 from the Bears 10, McNabb and the Eagles tried some trickery with a shovel pass to WR Jason Avant who took the ball down to the Bears’ 2 while picking up the first down.  On first down, McNabb rolled right, miss-firing on a pass in the end-zone to WR Hank Baskett.  On 2^nd down, McNabb tripped coming out from center and lost 4 yards.  With 3^rd and goal, The Eagles threw an incomplete pass in the end zone, bringing out K David Akers for another field goal attempt.  The Eagles cut the lead to 21-17 after Akers hit the 24 yard field goal.

The Bears responded with a Devin Hester kick return all the way to mid-field with a 51 yard kick return.  The Bears squandered the good field position, ending the 3 and out with a sack by Eagles DE J. Parker.

Upon the next Eagles possession, Eagles RB Correll Buckhalter returned to the Eagles backfield, carrying on first down for no gain.  The Eagles were unproductive, going 3 and out on this possession as well.  The Eagles were forced to punt and on the Bears very next offensive play, Bears RB Kevin Jones fumbled the ball, with it recovered by Eagles LB Stewart Bradley.

4^th Quarter

The Eagles ended the 3^rd quarter with a nifty reverse run to WR DeSean Jackson, who took the ball down to the Bears 15-yard line.  McNabb was sacked on the 1^st play of the 4^th quarter, by Bears LB H. Hillenmeyer.  The Eagles failed again to take advantage of the turnover and were forced for a David Akers field goal, cutting the Bears’ lead to 1 point at 21-20.

The Bears responded with finally their 1^st down of the 2^nd half and moved the ball down to the Eagles 24-yard line.  They stalled there and settled for a 41-yard field goal by K Robbie Gould.  The score was now 24-20, in the Bears’ favor.

The Eagles responded by marching down the field with a nice mix of runs by Buckhalter and pass plays by McNabb.  With 3:40 left in the game, the Eagles offense ran out of gas after calling a time out to discuss the next play.  On a crucial 4^th and goal from the 1, Buckhalter was stuffed by the Bears and their swarming defense, turning over the ball back to the Bears.

Taking the ball at their own 1-yard line, The Bears successfully moved the ball, gaining 1^st downs and making The Eagles burn up their time-outs.   The Eagles were successful in forcing the Bears to punt, but it was too little, too late.  The Eagles got the ball back with 17 seconds left after a DeSean Jackson punt return.  The Eagles ran one last play to WR Reggie Brown.  Brown didn’t get out of bounds and the game ended with the Bears winning 24-20.

Wrap-Up

• Bears QB Kyle Orton threw 3 first-half TD passes for a career high.
• Eagles WR DeSean Jackson caught his first NFL TD in his career.
• Eagles RB Brian Westbrook, TE L.J. Smith, and OG Shawn Andrews did not play.
• The Eagles Defense held RB Brian Forte to just 43 yards rushing, however, Forte also had 42 yards receiving.

NFL.com Game Center post game is attached.

With that said, “E-A-G-L-E-S!!  EAGLES!!”

Share This

Week 3 of the NFL Season brings us an interesting match-up of our Philadelphia Eagles hosting The Pittsburgh Steelers. Let’s take a peak into how The Birds Offense matches up versus that Steel Curtain Defense. The Eagles Offense comes off a tale of two stories from Monday night. In the first half against the Cowboys, their offense was almost unstoppable. In the second half, and more specifically in the end of the fourth quarter, it was not as productive. Now the Eagles have a short week to game plan for one of the AFC’s most dangerous teams; the Steelers. It is my opinion that the Eagles will need to throw the ball to beat the Steelers. As much as I get frustrated with Head Coach Andy Reid and his pass happy philosophy, I have to give him this one. I think the Steelers will game plan to shadow RB Brian Westbrook and force QB Donovan McNabb to air it out and beat the Steelers. The Eagles will need to spread the ball around consistently to all receivers. McNabb will need time, protection, and throwing lanes to step into as the Steelers can bring heat with their Linebackers as well as Safety Troy Polamalu. Eagles Receivers DeSean Jackson and hopefully an available Reggie Brown must have a solid, productive game. If McNabb is given time, protection, and passing lanes consistently, I believe the receiving core will have solid games as I am not confident that the Steelers Cornerbacks can keep up with the Eagles spreading the ball around the field. This would be a nice game for Tight End L.J. Smith to earn his paycheck and be a constant, down the middle of the field target for McNabb. One thing that worries me is if Eagles Guard Shawn Andrews is unable to play at 100% due to the injury he suffered on Monday. It all starts up front and teams that have solid lines have done well versus the Steelers. Not having the Eagles best offensive lineman is a huge plus for the Steelers and I am sure they will game plan to exploit his replacement in Max Jean-Gilles. There’s no doubt about it, the Steelers have a tough and stingy defense. The Eagles offense might as well get used to playing versus these types of defense as the Chicago Bears and the Washington Redskins are next on the schedule. Sunday’s performance will be a nice indicator on how things are to come and hopefully the outcome of this Sunday and in the future is of our Eagles’ Offense flying high. With that said, “E-A-G-L-E-S!! EAGLES!!”

Share This