November 28, 2009
| Last Updated: 11/28/09 11:23 PM ET
| Comments (160)
Nobody Saying It, But This Is A Must Game, Too
Nobody stood up during the week and said anything about a "must-win" game against Washington. Reporters haven't written eloquently about the importance of beating the Redskins in this NFC East game at Lincoln Financial Field. In fact, this has been kind of a matter-of-fact week for some.
Truth is, the Eagles have to beat Washington. Have to. No question about it. At 6-4, the Eagles are in the game in the NFC playoff picture. They are far from having a secure feeling. Any slip-ups now could be fatal to the postseason hopes.
So, yeah, this is a must-win game. I'm saying it. See if the headlines follow ...
The Eagles know how good Washington is and how good the Redskins can be. It has been a tough season for the Redskins at 3-7 with an offense ravaged by injuries and inconsistency. Washington doesn't score a lot of points, simply put. But Washington's special teams and its defense can win a game, so the Eagles need to be on top of their game to sweep the Redskins this season.
How do they do it? They play Eagles football. They protect Donovan McNabb and he steps up and plays well. The offense protects the football. The defense comes to the party and plays fast, physical football. The special teams avoids penalties. The Eagles play a smart, urgent game.
I'm looking at a team that has major personnel advantages here. The Eagles are the better team on paper, as if that means a thing. McNabb is going to drop back and throw the football and the Eagles are going to use three and four wide receivers and look to take advantage of the injuries that have impacted Washington's defensive secondary. On defense, the Eagles have to play downhill and attack Washington's injury-plagued offensive line and make sure the talented receivers don't get behind the secondary for big plays.
The formula is a familiar one against a team the Eagles see twice every year. There aren't going to be a lot of surprises. The Eagles don't have too many tricks up their sleeves, nor do they have reason to pull the rabbit out of their hats in this game.
All the Eagles have to do is play a good football game. Their best game of the year. This is the time of the year to begin to peak, and the good teams kick up their games a notch right now.
Are the Eagles a good team? I think so. They have a chance to show it by getting on a roll as December nears. The best Andy Reid teams did that, played their top football "once the snow flies," as head coach Buddy Ryan used to say.
The Eagles beat Washington, let's say, and then they go to Atlanta for a critical game and then to New York after that and ...
It makes no sense to look ahead. The Eagles have a different kind of challenge this week. They rose to the occasion last week in Chicago and must show a different kind of maturity here. The Eagles must play a great game. They must demonstrate they are ready to peak now, rather than play the one-up, one-down kind of games they have played this season. Reaching 6-4 means the Eagles are alive in the playoff chase. Get to 7-4 and head into December and then we shall see what this team is truly made of.
So it is a must-win game here. The Eagles need to realize that, even if nobody has said it out loud.
thefirelion
11/29/09
6:51 pm ET |
new spuds
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birdcrazy
11/29/09
6:34 pm ET |
Yup...trade DM ,sign Vick...on Asante...I chastised somewhere here in an earlier post..I said I says, "Asante cover the man not the QB,"....as usual, I'm glad he didn't listen...on tackling...if you ever had a neck stinger...well...nuff said..but he never was much of a wrap up tackler...and so what....still say my SITD was da man...the infallable, unflappable #5..watching the Cards and Tenn...der are a bunch of us teams all grouped in a bunch..next 4 weeks are gonna be a hoot....but Vikes are scary, really scary...
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david.taylorblades@...
11/29/09
6:30 pm ET |
well, a win is a win. hopefully the rest of the season we wont have ugly games like that. and if history repeats itself, the Tony **** and the cowgirls will fall out in december so we can catch up. LONG LIVE THE EAGLES.
oh yeah i live in deadskins land and it will be very quiet this week...
GO MACLIN
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JeromeBrown99
11/29/09
6:20 pm ET |
What was up with that Vick rollout pass? Good grief!
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vaeaglesfan1
11/29/09
6:20 pm ET |
wrapping up an dragging a wr down for a 4rd gain is totally different from half heart shoulder bump and a 15yrd gain. I didn't say drop Asante i said that i needs to improve on his total game and tackling is big part.
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JeromeBrown99
11/29/09
6:14 pm ET |
Bri))) Your boy... John Lennon... his concert from '72 in nyc is on again tonight... so my pal says. 10PM your time.... VH1 classic. Be there or be square! === I'm sure most all of you will be there. Not because you aren't square... but it's because you love to get a free gander at the exquisite Yoko Ono and her Plastic Elephant Memory Band.
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aapoet@...
11/29/09
6:14 pm ET |
Samuel will not get his head in there. He'll never be Sheldon Brown in that respect. He just needs to slow down guys for the calvary ... which he does. That said, he does need to make the play when he's on an island, and he has to make the play if a guy catches the ball on him. Deion rarely had to deal with that. He was a true shut down corner, which is a rarity. Besides his track speed, he had mind blowing closing speed. If he wasn't getting the INT, he was closing from seven yards to knock the pass away. Samuel is good, but he's not Deion. I'm not the biggest fan of the guy, but he was an unmatched talent.
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JeromeBrown99
11/29/09
6:07 pm ET |
poet)) I hope so. === I like Weaver.
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JeromeBrown99
11/29/09
6:04 pm ET |
That said... yeah... Samuel is none of the worst tacklers I have ever seen. But if you are starting a team... there are about 5 CB's you must have. He's one of them.
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aapoet@...
11/29/09
6:03 pm ET |
JB, I think we'll get Weaver signed. Reid is starting to appreciate him more, and this team has been good at locking up players. I know that we've lost some of the more expensive positions at times. It comes with free agency. But Weaver is still a FB, and he's not going to get HB money. He also seems happy here. Being with a team that competes, and that runs the offense he's played his whole career will be a factor. We're in pretty good position.
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JeromeBrown99
11/29/09
6:01 pm ET |
Deion Sanders not only couldn't tackle... he never tried to tackle. Didn't stop him from being the best CB ever. === No doubt Samuel is hurt. No doubt he won't put his head in there. But truth be told... I don't want him to. He's too valuable. Even more so right now while Hans0n is out. === Big plays follow Samuel. Period. Jim Johnson said he signed him because he was one of the biggest playmakers in the NFL. He was right.
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brizer9@...
11/29/09
5:58 pm ET |
JB stole my thunder,..essentially,..Q has not done anything remarkable..we gots time to improve there,..btw,..is fat pat still on this team?...that other patterson has problems as well...needs to perk up!..i'm actually glad that atlanter won!...my take on shady coming up,..sun glasses required
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vaeaglesfan1
11/29/09
5:54 pm ET |
only complaint for asante is he needs to make tackles. moosejohnson tried to say it was because of stinger but he always had a habit of missing sure tackles. But the 2 ints makes me forgive. injuries ar our archillies heel. thats why i hope we can gain a bye week in playoffs to get our guys healthy.
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JeromeBrown99
11/29/09
5:53 pm ET |
We need to sign Weaver. Not sure Reid wants to sign a FB long term... but if there was ever a FB to sign... this is the guy. === obtw... I doubt Weaver would sign anything. He said he wanted a one year deal to show what he can do and get a big contract. Welp... he's showed what he can do alright. He's gonna be high dollar.
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gsbatch1
11/29/09
5:50 pm ET |
Everyone has been ****ing to get Celery the ball, and what does he do? He drops balls that are in his hands. Granted some were a lil on the difficult side, but we need him to step up. We have alot of opps everywhere you look. Against a bad team we onside kick it to open the game? that makes no sense, our D allows what 10 of 15 3rds for the deadskins...too many things too fix, and running out of time.
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manth15@...
11/29/09
5:49 pm ET |
poet, i'd think turner would be out. he has high ankle sprain that he tried to come back from too early and re-injured it. ryan might play, he has banged up toe. gotta get quick pressure in his face and make him move on that toe.
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JeromeBrown99
11/29/09
5:45 pm ET |
We have serious problems on defense. Just too banged up. Sean Jones does virtually nothing. Shel Brown looks hurt and is constantly burned. Mikell has made few plays. Our LB's corp is in shambles. Macho in the slot is poor at best. Samuel is obviously hurt but remains a one man wrecking crew with timely INT's. Luckily... we have the time to get better. And most importantly... and this is what we have all been waiting for... #5 is heating up!
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aapoet@...
11/29/09
5:44 pm ET |
gsbatch, we don't know if they're lost for next week, but they are both banged up. Coach smith said he won't know until Wednesday. We have a big opportunity next week. dullas plays new york. Either new york gets knocked way back in the hole, or dullas takes a loss. Either way we have a huge opportunity to gain a stronger position in the race. Let's keep it going.
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robert.goldsmith@...
11/29/09
5:41 pm ET |
You don't win games in the NFL just for showing up. DAL drilled the same OAK team the Eagles lost to and the Eagles just scored 27 on the same team DAL eeked out 7 points against last week. In spite of injuries, penalties, and a TO that gave up 3 points, the team came from 8 points behind to get a victory. AR has enough crap to harp on to prepare this week for ATL. Tough victory and a rare season sweep of the Skins. Just keep winning and the Birds control their own postseason fate.
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vaeaglesfan1
11/29/09
5:39 pm ET |
i have to Mcnabb played great espceially since he had the defensive tackles in the backfield on most of our pass plays. he stayed cool and tried to extend the play as much as he could. the line was great on run blocking but on pass plays they lets skins get push
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gsbatch1
11/29/09
5:38 pm ET |
Atlanta Loss Turner along with Ryan?
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rohash@...
11/29/09
5:34 pm ET |
I think this was a great win just like last week. What I really like about the last two wins is that the offense was able to make game winning drives late in the 4th quarter and the defense was able to come up with the game winning stops. That's what you need to do to win close games in the NFL and there's gonna be more close ones than blowouts. Washington is not as bad as their record would indicate. Eagles still need to work on a few things (RZ offense, penalties and getting off the field on 3rd downs). One other thing I like about the last two weeks is the running game. Bottom line: we're 7-4 and in the thick of the playoff hunt. This was a big win.
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gsbatch1
11/29/09
5:30 pm ET |
NE1 see that INT by Griffin just now in the Vikes game? B-E-A-U-T-F-U-L.
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aapoet@...
11/29/09
5:29 pm ET |
manth, yeah, they took one from us there. Still, it showed that spreading the defense and giving McNabb the option with all of these weapons works. It worked with lesser weapons. It should be virtually unstoppable now.
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brizer9@...
11/29/09
5:28 pm ET |
as per usual Poet,.yur right,..carry on.
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