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David Akers played through numerous injuries before he had to cut last season short. He only made 6 of his 11 field goals of 40+ yards, and made only 72.7% of all of his FGs. Akers is recovered 100% this season and should be reliable once again.
Akers has made 82.0% of his field goals for his career and has averaged 6.32 points per game.
The Eagles have dominated the Giants as of late against the spread. The Eagles have covered the last four games at home against the G-Men. I look for the defense to make a couple of huge plays against Eli Manning, and the offense to put some points on the board on the Giants defense. This will be a game that McNabb wills his team to victory.
You’ll want to buy a McNabb jersey after this game.
The Eagles would probably like to run the ball a little more this season to take some pressure off of Donovan McNabb and the lackluster receiving corps. That will be harder than it sounds as the Eagles don’t seem to have one running back that can carry the whole load, which probably means running back by committee.
Brian Westbrook will get most of the carries. Westbrook is fast and he’s an excellent receiver out of the backfield, but he isn’t a between the tackle bruiser type. Westbrook has never rushed for 1,000 yards in a season and I don’t think he will this year either. Westbrook has played in 55 games in his career (35 starts) and has rushed for 2,235 yards (4.5 ypc) and 13 TDs. He also has caught 180 passes for 1,737 yards (9.7 avg.) and 14 TDs. Westbrook’s pass catches are like extended hand-offs as they are usually thrown to him behind the line of scrimmage. Westbrook is elusive in the open field and is a fine football player.
Ryan Moats only played in seven games last season (1 start) but he rushed for 278 yards (5.1 ypc) and 3 TDs. He also caught four passes for 7 yards. Moats is a tough runner that will most assuredly be the #2 back and give Westbrook a breather here and there.
Bruce Perry only has played in two games (1 start) in his two-year career because of injury. He has rushed the ball 16 times for 74 yards (4.6 ypc). Perry was a tough running back at Maryland and if healthy, he will help the Eagles.
Correll Buckhalter is trying to return after missing the last two seasons to injury. Buckhalter is the tough, inside runner that would compliment Westbrook perfectly if he could just get on the field. Buckhalter has played in 30 games (11 starts) and has rushed for 1,128 yards (4.4 ypc) and 10 TDs. He also has caught 23 passes for 263 yards (11.4 avg) and a TD.
Reno Mahe is a somewhat limited back-up, but he runs tough. Mahe has played in 28 games (0 starts) and has rushed for 178 yards (4.1 ypc). He also has caught 27 passes for 196 yards.
If you combine the skills of all of these backs, you would have a very good running back. I think Andy Reid will juggle some things up so that the team can run the ball more often, that can only help McNabb.