By Nevada Sharpshooter
The Cowboys travel to Philadelphia for a matchup full of playoff implications. Here is the bottom line, if Dallas wins they are in, if the Boy’s lose they are out. Philadelphia though needs a win and help. If Philly wins, Tampa loses and Minnesota or Chicago loses, then Philly is in. Tampa, Chicago and Minnesota all play at 1 eastern time, while Philly plays at 4:15 eastern which means Philly will know if they playing for a playoff spot at kickoff time or shortly after. I cannot help but believe that if Philly knows that their season is over, that they will have the intensity to beat the Cowboys. While it is very possible that Chicago or Minnesota could lose, it is highly unlikely that Tampa will lose at home over Oakland. Assuming that Philly will be eliminated from playoff contention before thier game is underway I like the Cowboys to get the win, so take Dallas +1.5 over Philly.
By #1 Sports
Philadelphia (5-4-1) Eagle fans – a warm and cuddly bunch by nature – have been screaming for heads since their crew finished with a 13-13 tie on Sunday at Cincinnati in which Coach Andy Reid continued to ignore the running game (23 passes vs. 5 rushes first half) and QB Donovan McNabb (227 of 382 for 2711 yards, 14 TD, 8 INT) threw 30 incomplete passes (28 of 58 for 339 yards, TD, 3 INT) including 3 caught by Bengals plus added a lost fumble. Further fueling the fire was the fact that many Philadelphia players – not just 10-year veteran McNabb – had no idea that no second overtime was waiting after the first extra frame expired in a deadlock! OK, with many connections to pro and college players over the years we can attest that these guys know more about coverages, systems, and schemes than what 98% of the viewers think they are seeing during a play but when it comes to the more geekafied points like statistics, records, and the more esoteric rules they are clueless compared to the average Arm-Chair Charlie. Counting ourselves in the Charlie group, combined with time spent around these guys, this seemingly odd hole in their knowledge came as absolutely no surprise to us. The comparisons of football to the military have been done (ground attack, aerial assault, gridiron, scrimmage, the bomb, flanker, field general, and many more) and these players see their job as playing the game, with the best teams those that most consistently and without question execute the strategy of the coaching staff whom holds the responsibility for these finer points. Anyway, every Charlie knows you have to run the ball in this league to win championships and Philadelphia just doesn’t consistently. 95.3 yards per game on the ground ranks 25th in the NFL and with an offensive line led by 6’7” 335 LT Tra Thomas (160 career starts) and 6’7” 330 LT Jon Runyan there’s just no lack of talent or beef to pound out the yards. Sure, 3rd-year 6’3” 338 RG Max Jean-Gilles is playing for Shane Andrews (out recovering from back surgery) but with a solid 4-0 yards per rush through 11 games, play calling is the only thing stooping RB Brian Westbrook (123 for 508 and 6 TD) and RB Correll Buckhalter (57 for 233 and 2 TD). At least Reid gets this pair of superb all-around athletes the ball in the passing game (combined 53 catches for 465 yards and 3 TD) but there just is no substitute for lining up and pounding the ball for what it can yield later in the game. As one would expect, the stat sheets for most of Philly’s receivers are filled but we are impressed by the job done by backup 6’4” 255 2nd-year TE Brent Celek (17 for 239 yards) and 5’10” 175 rookie WR DeSean Jackson (42 for 652 and TD receiving, 12 for 80 and TD rushing, 10.3 per punt return and TD) who has seized a starting job over Reggie Brown (13 for 192 and TD) and others.
By Razor Sharp Sports
Bragging rights are up for grabs in the Keystone State here in week 3 as the Eagle host the Steelers. Both teams are coming of Prime-time games last week with totally different results. Last Sunday night the Steelers shut down the Browns high-powered offense and hung on for a tight 10-6 victory to improve their record to 2-0. On the other side of the ball, the Eagles (1-1) dropped a high-scoring shootout on Monday Night in Dallas 41-37. So with these two teams getting together what can we expect?