In Philadelphia, we have the tendency to see only the negative side of the situation. This is especially true when it comes to the Eagles. In reality, the Eagles aren’t in bad shape. Even with the loss to the Vikings, the Eagles are only a half game out of first and arguably played the best out of all the teams in the division. On Thursday night, we will play our first divisional match-up of the season against the Giants in Met Life Stadium.
This past week the Giants lost to the Carolina Panthers in Carolina, 33-31. This was a sloppy game that had three fumbles and four interceptions, including a muffed punt returned for a touchdown. This game had a strange dynamic that saw both teams with the ability to move the ball and score; neither team could convert on third down as they were a combined four of 20.
While this game came down to a last minute 63-yard field goal by Graham Gano, for a Panthers win, the Giants would have the stand out performer. Odell Beckham would finish the day with eight catches for 131 yards and a touchdown plus a 57-yard passing touchdown to Saquon Barkley. Following this game and another disappointing Eagles game was the Sunday night game.
The night game featured the Texans and the Cowboys in Houston. The difference in this game would be Deandre Hopkins and the Texans ability to stop Ezekiel Elliot. Hopkins would end up with nine receptions and 151 yards and his big play threat opened things up for the other weapons in the Texans offense. At the same time, Elliot was only able to gain 54 yards on the ground. He did try and make up for it with seven receptions for 30 yards but without a running game the Cowboys do not have enough fire power offensively and would lose to the Texans 19-16 in overtime. The Cowboys will now take the short trip home and wait for the Jaguars next Sunday afternoon.
The other game in the division this week took place on Monday night as the Redskins took on the Saints in New Orleans. Not only would the Saints win this game, 43-19, but they would have the headlines the whole game as Drew Brees would pass Peyton Manning for most career passing yards and would bring himself with in one touchdown of the 500-career touchdown mark. By the end of the game, Brees would hit eight different targets and even have a reception of his own, ending up 26 of 29 for 363 yards and three touchdowns.
The Redskins just could not find any offense. Chris Thompson went down early which caused them to abandon the running game and Alex Smith couldn’t establish anything. They would wind up 4 of 13 on third down with the inability to sustain a drive. Next up for the Redskins is a home game against Carolina. This will not be an easy match-up and might all come down to the health of Chris Thompson and how good the defense is against the dynamic pair of Newton and McCaffrey of Carolina.
Tomorrow night is a must win for the Eagles and could be our last shot at turning the season around before we must go out and make a big move. With a win against the Giants, knowing the Cowboys and Redskins have tough games on Sunday, and getting an abbreviated bye week as we will get ten days before we play the Panthers in week seven, the Eagles may get the turnaround they need this season.
