Tomorrow afternoon, the Philadelphia Eagles will have one goal on their agenda: just win. Tomorrow’s game against Washington is a must win in order for the Eagles to stay in playoff contention.
The past two weeks have not been good for the Eagles. The Seattle Seahawks came into Lincoln Financial Field and imposed their will for a 24-14 victory. Then last week on Sunday night football, the Eagles started out sluggish and the Cowboys did their job, holding on for a 38-27 victory.
The themes of those two losses were opponent dominance and turnovers. In their match-up against Seattle, the Eagles and Seahawks both committed two turnovers. In last week’s game against Dallas, the Eagles had three turnovers compared to Dallas’s one.
The Eagles need to get back to what they do best on offense and defense. This team needs to start fast against Washington, using the running game to their advantage, and getting Darren Sproles in the game more. One thing that I have wanted the Eagles to do more is use the screen pass.
Once the Eagles get their running game going, the play action pass and passing lanes should open up as well. Sanchez must hit big pass plays when he can. Washington’s defense is fairly good, only giving up 237.9 passing yards and 101 rushing yards per game, ranking 18th and seventh in the NFL respectively.
If the Eagles jump out to a big lead, the defense’s job will become that much easier. The front seven has been getting a ton pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Connor Barwin, Fletcher Cox, Vinny Curry, Brandon Graham, and others have been causing havoc forcing negative plays.
The Eagles defensive line needs to keep Robert Griffin III in the pocket. That is easier said than done, but if they can bring pressure from the inside to collapse the pocket, it will force Griffin III to make quick decisions with the football and that will lead to interceptions.
The secondary of the Philadelphia Eagles has faced a lot of well-deserved scrutiny this season. They can change all that tomorrow afternoon by making big plays. Washington has a solid receiving core with the likes Pierre Garcon, Desean Jackson, and Andre Roberts. If Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher can limit Washington’s big plays, that will be a victory for the secondary.
If the Eagles win tomorrow afternoon, all the pressure is on Dallas to win on Sunday afternoon at Jerry World against Andrew Luck and the Colts. If the Colts beat Dallas, then all the Eagles have to do is go to MetLife Stadium and defeat the New York Giants for the right to win the NFC East.
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