Cautious optimism as Eagles prepare for Redskins…

We don’t really have to add to the hype surrounding the upcoming Monday night matchup between the Eagles and the Redskins. The players know what it’s all about:

“With the Redskins coming to town, everyone kind of knows how big this game is. That’s all we’re really focused on in this building,” tight end Zach Ertz said. “This is a huge game for us — either 6-1 or 5-2, it’s a big difference in our eyes, so we’re just focused on this game….”

Maybe the closest thing to a player getting a little ahead of things hype-wise is safety Malcolm Jenkins’ comparison of the 2017 Eagles to the 2009 champion New Orleans Saints of which he was a member:

“That team grew into its own identity, it won a bunch of close games, got lucky a couple times, but it was definitely a close group,” Jenkins said. “Guys hung out. They loved each other, enjoyed each other, grew with each other, knew each other’s families, spent a lot of time with each other outside of this building. All of those things are present in this locker room, but at the end of the day it’s what you do on the field. And I think we’re building obviously towards that, but not there yet.”

QB Carson Wentz might be guilty of daring to look ahead just a tad at this point, too.

“We’re made different this year [from 2016],” Wentz said. “We have a different character makeup in that locker room, and nobody is going to ever settle for anything less than greatness.”

Okay, a tough win over the Redskins on MNF won’t guarantee “greatness”… but it would go a long way to establishing separation from the pack within the division. That’s as much hype as I can handle right now.

Speaking of teams pulling away from the competition, here is the latest BRISUKSEGG Fantasy Football update:

Yeah ya know it! —it’s ATV (Chris Ruggiero) hitting on all cylinders so far with a dramatic win over Dutch Rubb’s Amish Mafia this week. ATV with the racer’s edge so far with a 5-1 start…

Same goes for the Drafttek Genius himself, ~BROZ, who has been mowing ’em down like a John Deere tractor with a 5-1 start as well:

There’s a bad omen for Monday night in ~BROZ’ scoring line, however—Kirk Cousins was his top scorer last week.

The best of the rest:

This NFL season has been brutal on Fantasy leagues so far in 2017.  Guys flashing one week then disappearing for weeks at a time has been the norm (see “Amari Cooper”, Exhibit A).

Equally disastrous for “Survivor/KOH/Suicide” leagues has been the strange inconsistency of most NFL teams from one week to the next. Before last week I was one of 2,200 players in a survivor pool some guys at my day job got me into…by the end of the week, there were only 26 players left intact. It’s been that kind of year, and maybe the main reason I hesitate to get too hyped over the Eagles just yet.