The Philadelphia Eagles (4-2) are hosting the New York Giants (5-2) Sunday and Philly fans have quite a sports weekend against New York coming up, as the World Series is going on between the Phillies and Yankees.  The Eagles will need a much better effort out of their running game than what they have been getting lately, as Brian Westbrook and LeSean McCoy combined for only 50 yards last game.  Wide receiver DeSean Jackson has been battling a foot injury, but looks to be ready to go Sunday, so McNabb should look to hook up with Jackson for some more big plays.  Jackson is averaging 20 yards per catch and has three touchdowns this year.

The Eagles defense will have a challenge in stopping the Giants running attack, which averages 142 rushing yards per game.  Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw lead that attack.  Eli Manning is coming off a three interception game, so the Eagles should try and force Eli into some more mistakes like he made last week.  He is a talented quarterback though, so they really do need to try and pressure him or he will sit in that pocket and pick apart the secondary.  This should be a close game, but I think Eli Manning will lead the Giants to a close victory.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  New York Giants 30, Philadelphia Eagles 28

The Eagles have signed undrafted running back P.J. Hill off the Saints’ practice squad.  He definately has a lot of talent and he showed it in the pre-season for the Saints but he was caught in a numbers games there with the depth that they have at running back.  Hill will back up Lesean McCoy and Eldra Buckley until Brian Westbrook is healthy enough to return to action.  This was a good move for the Eagles.

The Michael Vick experiment in Philly is going terrible.  He has completed 2 of 6 passes (33.3%) for 6 yards (42.4 QB Rating) and he has carried the ball 9 times for 22 yards (2.4 ypc).  It appears that his athletic ability (his only exceptional skill) has left him do to the time he spent in the pokey.  There is no way the Eagles should pick up his option for next season as it was a mistake to sign him in the first place.

The Eagles will be without starting running back Brian Westbrook for the next couple of weeks due to a concussion caused when he was knocked out cold in the game Monday Night against the Redskins resulting in memory loss.  Westbrook has carried the ball 41 times for 197 yards (4.8 ypc) with 1 TD run and he has also caught 17 passes for 130 yards (7.6 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Eagles are fortunate that they drafted Lesean McCoy last April as he will take over as the full time starter at running back.  He has carried the ball 59 times for 212 yards (3.6 ypc) with 1 TD run and he has caught 13 passes for 92 yards (7.1 avg) this season.  McCoy has a very similar skill set to Westbrook so the offense shouldn’t suffer too much while he is out. 

UPDATE:  Brian Westbrook wants to play this week but the Eagles should error on the side of caution trying to protect his health.

24-year old linebacker Akeem Jordan has really stepped up this season for the Eagles.  He has played in 6 games this season for the Eagles and he has made 37 tackles, has 1 sack, 2 interceptions, 2 tackles for a loss and he has defensed 4 passes.  Jordan has really improved as a player as he is on pace for 99 tackles this season.  He played in two years for the Eagles prior to 2009 in which he played in 25 games and he had 82 tackles.  Jordan is one of the most pleasant surprises for the Eagles this season and they need him to keep up the good work.

The Philadelphia Eagles took it to the Redskins putting up all 27 of their points in the first quarter.  Donovan McNabb was efficient completing 15 of 25 passes for 156 yards with 1 TD pass.  Michael Vick also got some P.T. in this game as he completed his only pass attempt for 5 yards.  He also ran the ball 3 times for 9 yards (3.0 ypc) yesterday.  Lesean McCoy didn’t have his best game filling in for a injured Brian Westbrook as he carried the ball 14 times for 37 yards (2.6 ypc).  He also caught 5 passes for 30 yards (6.0 avg) against the Redskins.  Desean Jackson was the game changer for the Eagles in this game as he caught 2 passes for 69 yards (34.5 avg) with a TD and he also carried the ball 1 time and it went for a 67-yard TD.  Rookie WR Jeremy Maclin pitched in with 5 receptions for 53 yards (10.6 avg) in this game.  The Eagles finished up with 244 total yards on offense (122 rushing, 122 passing) as they only had possession of the football for 28:17 in this game.

The defense was in bend but don’t break mode last night.  LB Akeem Jordan led the way for the Eagles in this game with 10 tackles.  Will Witherspoon was electric in his first game with the Eagles as he finished up with 8 tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed, 1 QB hit and he returned a interception 9 yards for a TD.  What a debut for Witherspoon!  DE Trent Cole was in the backfield a lot for the Eagles as he made 3 tackles, had 2 sacks, 2 tackles for a loss and he had 2 QB hits.  The Redskins finished up with 308 total yards on offense (62 rushing, 246 passing) in this game.  The Eagles are now 4-2 on the season.

The Eagles have lost WR Kevin Curtis indefinately due to knee surgery.  Curtis played in 2 games for the Eagles this season and he has caught 5 passes for 70 yards (14.0 avg).  Rookie WR Jeremy Maclin will continue to start while Curtis is out of action.  He has played in 5 games this season for the Eagles and he has caught 13 passes for 193 yards (14.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Maclin should be able to help the Eagles stretch the field with Desean Jackson on the other side.  This will continue to open up the short stuff for TE Brent Celek and RBs Lesean McCoy and Brian Westbrook.

The Eagles have lost 25-year old inside linebacker Omar Gaither for the season due to surgery to repair a Lisfranc sprain in his left foot.  He was the leading tackler for the Eagles at the time of his injury and this further explains why the team felt the need to trade for a solid inside linebacker like Will Witherspoon.  Gaither played in 5 games for the Eagles this season and he had 30 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 4 tackles for a loss and he defensed 1 pass. 

This game is no doubt going to be a defensive battle on Monday Night Football.  The Eagles can’t afford to throw the ball every down in this game to have success.  The Redskins will be likely blitzing a little bit more than usual taking a page from the game plan the Raiders used last week to shut the Eagles down.  To slow the blitzing the Eagles must run the ball and throw screen passes to Brian Westbrook and Lesean McCoy.  If the Eagles don’t have any threat of a running game than Donovan McNabb will be a sitting duck like last week.  The Redskins give up 118.0 yards rushing per game so the Eagles would be smart to mix things up better on offense in this game.

It will be interesting to see how new offensive co-ordinator Sherm Lewis plans to attack the Eagles’ D.  The thought here is that Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts will be very busy running the ball against a Eagles’ D that is allowing 103.8 yards rushing per game but only 3.6 yards per carry.  The Eagles will be blitzing from the minute they get off the team bus so look for Jason Campbell to throw a lot of short passes to TE Chris Cooley.  The Raiders’ TE Zach Miller repeatedly torched the Eagles last week so look for Cooley to have a big game.  If the Eagles start to sneak up to stop the running game and the TE look for the Redskins to throw the ball downfield no matter who the QB is.

PREDICTION:  EAGLES 16, REDSKINS 13

Brian Westbrook can still play and the Eagles need to get the ball to him more whether it’s a handoff or a pass to him.  He has carried the ball 38 times for 184 yards (4.8 ypc) with 1 TD run this year.  He has also caught 17 passes for 130 yards (7.6 avg) with 1 TD grab.  I have no problem with the Eagles using Lesean McCoy to give Westbrook a break once in a while but the Eagles’ offense is best when Westbrook is heavily involved.