The Eagles have acquired 29-year old inside linebacker Will Witherspoon from the Rams for rookie WR Brandon Gibson and a 5th round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.  Witherspoon should be just what the doctor ordered for the Eagles who have been having a hard time stopping both the run and dealing with RBs out of the backfield and TEs over the middle.  He played in 6 games this season for the Rams and he made 33 tackles and he forced 1 fumble.  Witherspoon has now played in 116 games in his NFL career and he has 685 tackles, 53 passes defensed, 19 sacks, 8 forced fumbles and he has 8 interceptions (one of which he returned for a TD).  Gibson has potential but he couldn’t get on the field this season for the Eagles due to the depth they have at WR.  This was a great move for the Eagles.

What an awful game the Eagles played yesterday as they seemed to think they had another bye week.  Donovan McNabb was off in this game completing 22 of 46 passes for 269 yards.  Brian Westbrook was one of the few players who came to play for the Eagles in this game as he carried the ball 6 times for 50 yards (8.3 ypc) and he also caught 9 passes for 91 yards (10.1 avg).  Desean Jackson had a impressive game too with 6 grabs for 94 yards (15.7 avg).  TE Brent Celek pitched in with 4 receptions for 75 yards (18.8 avg) yesterday.  The Eagles finished up with 325 total yards on offense (116 rushing, 209 passing) in this game.

Linebackers Chris Gocong (10 tackles) and Omar Gaither (7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) led the way for the Eagles in this game.  CB Asante Samuel and safety Quintin Mikell each picked off a JaMarcus Russell pass in this game.  The Raiders finished up with 325 total yards of offense in this game (116 rushing, 209 passing).  The Eagles are now 3-2 on the season.

This game could wind up looking like another train wreck for the Raiders.  At least the Raiders are playing this game at home.  The Raiders have only averaged 191.6 yards of total offense and 9.8 points per game this season so the Eagles’ D is likely licking it’s chops.  The Raiders will come out trying to run the ball in this game with Justin Fargas and Michael Bush against a Eagles’ D that is allowing 100.8 yards rushing per game but only 3.7 yards per carry.  If the Raiders can’t get a running game going against the Eagles they are in deep, deep trouble because the Eagles love to blitz as they have 13 sacks already in only 4 games this season.  Russell has been sacked 15 times already this season and he has turned the ball over 8 times so the Eagles will likely force him into a lot of mistakes.

The Eagles will likely come out throwing in this game as usual despite the fact that the Raiders are allowing 161.0 yards rushing per game this season and 4.3 yards per carry.  WRs Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson will likely be running deep early and often against the Raiders’ D.  The Raiders are allowing 221.0 yards passing per game this season so Donovan McNabb could be playing a glorified game of catch with his receivers.  McNabb will likely also attack the middle of the Raiders’ D with TE Brent Celek and the edges of the D with Brian Westbrook and Lesean McCoy out of the backfield.  Westbrook and McCoy will also likely get to tote the ball in the running game quite a bit this weekend. 

PREDICTION:  EAGLES 30, RAIDERS 6

Kevin Kolb has really played well so far this season for the Eagles.  He has completed 62 of 96 passes (64.6%) for 741 yards with 4 TD passes and 3 INTs (88.9 QB Rating).  Kolb is no threat to McNabb this season but the Eagles have already dumped Jeff Garcia and Michael Vick will probably be next after the 2009 season is over.  Kolb now appears to he the Eagles’ QB of the future.

Donovan McNabb showed no signs of rust in his first game back for the Philadelphia Eagles (3-1) as they easily beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-5) Sunday at home.  McNabb, in his first game back from a broken rib, went for three touchdowns and 264 yards on 16/21 attempts (76%).  The Eagles didn’t even need a running game, as they killed the Bucs despite having only 76 rushing yards.  The Eagles got a great game from their secondary, as they had three interceptions off Buccaneers’ quarterback Josh Johnson.  Asante Samuels had two picks and Sheldon Brown had one.  The Eagles’ defense also got three sacks and pressured Johnson all game.  They also shut down Bucs’ running back Cadillac Williams, holding him to eight yards on 10 carries (0.8 avg).

The Eagles were up 31-7 in the fourth quarter, so Michael Vick got some extra opportunities at the quarterback position.  He completed his first pass of the year, going 1/3 for one yard.  He also carried the ball four times for 10 yards (2.5 avg).  The Eagles were obviously the better football team and proved it in almost every aspect of the game.  The Eagles will have an easy win coming again, when they take on the Oakland Raiders on the road Sunday.

The Philadelphia Eagles (2-1) are happy to have their starting quarterback Donovan McNabb back as they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-4).  This will be a good game for McNabb to shake off any rust, as he has not played since week one when he suffered a broken rib.  The Buccaneers give up a ton of yards on the ground (172 yards per game) so McNabb will not have to do a whole lot.  Brian Westbrook and LeSean McCoy will be able to do most of the damage for the Eagles, as the two running back have combined for 264 yards on 60 carries (4.4 avg).

The Eagles defense should have a field day on the inexperienced Buccaneers’ quarterback, Josh Johnson.  Johnson, only 23-years-old, is making the second start of his career and is facing an Eagles defense that only gives up 156 passing yards per game.  In Johnson’s first start last week, he threw for 106 yards on 13 of 22 passes and had one touchdown and one interception.  The Eagles will probably take an early lead, forcing the Bucs to throw a lot, and I am expecting Johnson to make a lot of mistakes.  The Eagles will win this won easy.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Philadelphia Eagles 34, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10

The Philadelphia Eagles have their starting quarterback back, as Donovan McNabb announced he will play Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  McNabb broke a rib in the first game of the season and has not played since.  He said he will have to play through some pain, but McNabb has proven in the past that he is very capable of playing through injuries.  Kevin Kolb has done a nice job filling in for the injured starter but he is no Donovan McNabb, so this is great news for Eagles fans.  This will also be the first time that McNabb and Michael Vick will both be active in a regular season game, so it will be interesting to see how head coach Andy Reid uses the two talented players.

24-year old Brent Celek came into this season having played in 32 games for the Eagles in which he caught 43 passes for 496 yards (11.5 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He was one of the last guys that Donovan McNabb would look for in the passing game but not anymore.  He has caught 22 passes for 245 yards (11.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs already this season.  He has turned into the first option in the short passing game for the Eagles so he should put up huge numbers this season.

Rookie RB Lesean McCoy is really stepping up for the Eagles this season.  He has carried the football 34 times for 148 yards (4.4 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 6 passes for 47 yards (7.8 avg) this season.  Lucky for the Eagles he seems to have the same playing style as Brian Westbrook so he appears to fit right in.  Westbrook has been banged up already this season and the Eagles will likely use both McCoy and Westbrook (when he gets healthy) pretty evenly to keep Westbrook in one piece the rest of the year.