by Matt Sweet
The final seconds ticked away, and the seemingly impossible came to fruition: The Oakland Raiders beat the NFC East division title contender Philadelphia Eagles 9-13 in what many (including myself) considered an automatic W for a Philadelphia team that appeared to have all their ducks in a row. They will be looking to take out their frustration in this week’s Monday night matchup against a fledgling club in the (+7) Washington Redskins.
After a promising preseason for the ‘Skins, Washington finds themselves at 2-4 on the season, and on the outs with head coach Jim Zorn. At the helm for only a season and a half, the Redskins organization announced this week that they have relieved Zorn of play calling duties until further notice, and for good reason. Washington has scored merely 79 yards through its first 6 games, 29th overall in the 32 team league, predicated by a rushing attack that has averaged less than 100 yards per game. However, the most glaring blot on Washington’s schedule this season is undoubtedly their loss to the then winless Kansas City Chiefs just last week. A fellow member of the under 100 rushing yards club, Kansas City outplayed a Washington team that was able to manage a total of 6 points against a defense that had given up an average of 27.6 points per game to that point of the season.
Every team from the NFC East who played last week lost, but none bigger than the Philadelphia Eagles. While they lost by only 5 points, the fact that the loss was at the hands of the Oakland Raiders made those 5 points seem like 500. After a week 5 shellacking of the Tampa Bay Bucs, the offense of Philadelphia couldn’t get anything going. While throwing 269 yards, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was sacked 6 times and forced to attempt 46 passes as the rushing game failed to get anything going. These Eagles became the first team in 3 seasons to fail to score a touchdown against the bottom of the barrel Raiders.
On paper, these teams are no comparison. Although each suffered embarrassing losses last week, the Eagles possess a superior passing game, a better quarterback, and a more effective defense, Philadelphia is a team that should be direct contender for the NFC East divisional title, if not the crème de la crème of the entire conference. The only problem they have is the fact that they can never seem to get out of their own way. That and their weak rushing attack put the pressure of McNabb to get the job done week in and week out; opportunities he has failed to rise to on a consistent basis. None the less, the Eagles know the importance of this game as they head into three straight divisional foes through the next three weeks. I would never say a loss to the Raiders would be an adequate rallying cry for a team to start rolling, but as always with the Eagles, you just never can tell.
Final Score: 27-18 Philadelphia
