The Eagles moved the ball up and down the field in this game but they didn’t get a lot of points.  It didn’t matter because the defense made it stand up.  Donovan McNabb has a decent game as he completed 22 of 35 passes for 278 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Brian Westbrook returned to action and he carried the ball 20 times for 120 yards (6.0 ypc) and he also caught 6 passes for 36 yards (6.0 avg).  Kevin Curtis had another excellent game as he led the way for the Eagles receivers with 5 catches for 121 yards (24.2 avg) with a TD grab.  Reggie Brown also finally showed up for the season as he caught 6 passes for 89 yards (14.8 avg).  The Eagles finished up with 151 yards rushing on 28 carries (5.4 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 35 passes for 262 yards.

The defense played a good game especially against the pass.  Safety Sean Considine led the way on the defense with 10 tackles.  CB Sheldon Brown also had a solid game with 5 tackles and 1 interception.  The Jets did rush for 158 yards on 32 carries (4.9 ypc) but they only completed 11 of 21 passes for 109 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=271014020

The Eagles will be without starting safety Brian Dawkins who will miss another game with a neck stinger.  He has only made 7 tackles this season but he’s one of the leaders of the defense and will be missed.  Quintin Mikell will start again in his place and he’s played pretty well this season.  He has 19 tackles, 1 sack and 1 fumble recovery so far this season.

Both of these teams are desperate for a victory as the Eagles are 1-3 while the Jets are 1-4.  Donovan McNabb is still trying to get into his groove as something appears to be missing from his game.  Chad Pennington of the Jets is still trying to fight off Kellen Clemens for his starting job.

The Eagles will be getting RB Brian Westbrook back this week from injury and that should scare the Jets who are allowing 127.6 yards rushing per game and 4.0 yards per carry.  Westbrook is averaging 171.3 yards rushing and receiving per game and 7.3 yards per touch so far this season and he will be a major pain in the side of the Jets Front 7 on defense.  The Jets only have 3 sacks this season so McNabb should have time to throw against a Jets defense that is allowing 239.6 yards passing per game.  Look for both Kevin Curtis (19 rec, 323 yards, 3 TDs) and Reggie Brown (8 rec, 81 yards) to have good games against the Jets.

The Eagles blitz from all angles and that will cause the Jets problems.  The Jets have allowed 12 sacks this season while the Eagles already have 16 sacks in only 4 games.  DE Trent Cole (5 sacks) will get to have body contact with Chad Pennington early and often in this game.  The only way to slow the pass rush of the Eagles is to run the football so the Jets will attempt to run the football with Thomas Jones (290 yards rushing, 3.3 ypc) against the rugged run defense of the Eagles which is allowing only 74.5 yards rushing per game and 3.4 yards per carry.  The Jets must keep the passing game short to Laveranues Coles (32 rec, 300 yards, 4 TDs) and Jerricho Cotchery (30 rec, 414 yards) because they likely won’t have much time to throw the ball.

PREDICTION:  The matchups spell doom for the Jets in this game.  Look for the Eagles to win this game as the fans start yelling for Kellen Clemens before halftime.

The Eagles lost 1 game already this season because of the punt return men and they hoped they fixed that by re-signing Reno Mahe.  Mahe has sure hands but he won’t likely break many big returns because he’s not real fast.  He has returned 9 punts for 70 yards (7.8 avg) but the important thing is that he’s catching the kicks.  Greg Lewis had his shot and he returned 4 punts for 4 yards (1.0 avg) before losing the job.  J.R. Reed returned 2 punts for 8 yards (4.0 avg) before he lost the job.  He is now the main kickoff returner now that the Eagles are starting Correll Buckhalter at running back until Brian Westbrook returns.  Reed has returned 7 kickoffs for 164 yards (23.4 avg) so far this season.  Buckhalter has returned 9 kickoffs for 200 yards (22.2 avg) this season.