The Eagles have lost 29-year old starting center Jamaal Jackson for the rest of the year due to a torn ACL.  This will hurt the Eagles as Jackson has started all 15 games this season and he has played in 71 games (all starts) for the Eagles the last five years.  Jackson’s injury will cause the Eagles to shuffle the line a bit.  25-year old Nick Cole will shift from RG to center the rest of the year.  He has started all 15 games for the Eagles this season.  He is bigger than Jackson at 6’0″, 350 pounds and Max Jean-Gilles will replace Cole at guard and he is also huge at 6’3″, 358 pounds.  Jean-Gilles has played in 12 games (4 starts) for the Eagles this season.  Jackson is a great center so the Eagles will miss him but Nick Cole is a good player and he should do a decent job replacing him.  The bigger issue is at guard where the Eagles will need Max Jean-Gilles to step up.

The Eagles needed a 28-yard field goal from David Akers with 4 seconds left in the game to secure this win.  Donovan McNabb was solid for the Eagles in this game as he completed 20 of 35 passes for 322 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 INT.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 29 yards (5.8 ypc).  Brian Westbrook led the way on the ground for the Eagles in his game with 9 carries for 32 yards (3.6 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 5 yards (2.5 avg).  Lesean McCoy pitched in with 6 grabs for 27 yards (4.5 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 39 yards.  Brent Celek (4 rec, 121 yards), Desean Jackson (4 rec, 33 yards) and Jason Avant (2 rec, 25 yards) each caught 1 TD pass apiece.  Jeremy Maclin also had a solid game with 6 grabs for 92 yards (15.3 avg).  The Eagles finished up with 394 total yards on offense in this game (105 rushing, 289 passing).

Linebacker Akeem Jordan (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed) and CB Asante Samuel (5 tackles, 1 pass defensed, 1 INT) led the way for the Eagles on D yesterday.  The Broncos finished up with 241 total yards in this game (70 rushing, 171 passing) yesterday.  The Eagles are now 11-4 on the season.

The Eagles really outplayed the Niners yesterday to get a big home win.  Donovan McNabb completed 21 of 36 passes for 306 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs.  He also carried the ball 4 times for 5 yards (1.3 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Leonard Weaver led the way on the ground for the Eagles with 52 yards rushing on 17 carries (3.1 ypc) and he also added 2 catches for 18 yards (9.0 avg).  Lesean McCoy pitched in with 48 yards rushing on 9 carries (5.3 ypc) with a TD run.  Desean Jackson had a monster game for the Eagles with 140 yards receiving on 6 grabs (23.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Brent Celek pitched in with 4 catches for 73 yards (18.3 avg) yesterday.  The Eagles finished up with 422 total yards on offense (116 rushing, 306 passing).

The defense was excellent last yesterday for the Eagles.  CB Asante Samuel led the way for the Eagles with 4 tackles, 1 pass defensed, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception.  Safety Quintin Mikell also played well with 5 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception.  The 49ers finished up with 261 total yards on offense (107 rushing, 154 passing).  The Eagles are now 10-4 on the year.

This should be a interesting game especially with the weather likely to be pretty awful.  That could hamsting the deep passing game of the Eagles which would hurt the offense.  The Eagles will likely have to run the ball more than they like to but it will be hard to get McCoy going against ILB Patrick Willis of the Niners who is a beast.  The Niners also have a decent pass rush as they send players from all over the field as they have 34 sacks despite having no one with more than 5.5.  The guy the Eagles will be going to a lot tomorrow through the air will be TE Brent Celek.

The 49ers are now a passing team all of a sudden so the Eagles will need to get a pass rush in the face of Alex Smith.  That shouldn’t be a problem as the Eagles have 36 sacks already this year.  The Eagles better tighten up the chinstraps tomorrow because TE Vernon Davis and RB Frank Gore will be the guys getting the ball the most and they like to deal out some punishment of their own.  Corners Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown will make Alex Smith pay if he tries to get the ball to Josh Morgan or Michael Crabtree tomorrow.

PREDICTION:  EAGLES 24, 49ERS 21

23-year old WR/PR Desean Jackson is even more lethal than he was as a rookie last season.  Jackson has played in 12 games for the Eagles this season and he has caught 50 passes for 947 yards (18.9 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  He also has carried the ball 8 times for 125 yards (15.6 ypc) with a TD this year.  That’s no all Jackson has done though as he has returned 23 punts for 409 yards (17.8 avg) with 2 TD returns this year.  Jackson has touched the ball 82 times for 1,481 yards (18.1 avg. per touch) with 10 total TDs for the Eagles this year.  He is averaging 123.4 all-purpose yards this season as he is the Eagles’ most lethal weapon on offense.

29-year old QB Michael Vick likely doesn’t have much of a future with the Eagles but he is at least helping them on the field lately.  He has played in 11 games for the Eagles this season and he has completed 6 of 13 passes (46.2%) for 86 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (93.7 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 22 times for 93 yards (4.2 ypc) with 2 TD runs this year.  The Eagles have a option for the 2010 season on Michael Vick worth over $5 million bucks but they won’t pick it up.  Not with Donovan McNabb still playing at a high level and Kevin Kolb solidifying himself as the back-up QB this year.

The Eagles will be without WR Jeremy Maclin for a couple of weeks due to a torn plantar fascia.  Maclin has caught 46 passes for 623 yards (13.5 avg) with 4 TD grabs this season.  His injury will force the Eagles to get Reggie Brown out of the mothballs and that is a silver lining to this injury because he still is a good player.  For some reason Brown got into the Dog House for the Eagles.  He has caught 7 passes for 135 yards (19.3 avg) this season.

The Philadelphia Eagles (9-4) jumped out to an early 14-0 lead over the New York Giants (7-6), as Sheldon Brown had a huge first quarter fumble return 60 yards for a touchdown.  The Giants fought back though, so it was a good thing the Eagles got a big game from DeSean Jackson, who sat out last week with a concussion.  Jackson had 6 catches for 178 yards and a touchdown and also had a 72 yard punt return for a touchdown.  Donovan McNabb found Jackson for some big plays in the passing game, and McNabb finished with 275 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception on 17/26 passes.  The Eagles also got another touchdown from Michael Vick.  It was his second straight game with a touchdown, as he rushed 3 times for 11 yards and a touchdown.

The Eagles defense did not do a very good job against the Giants overall, but they did a great job forcing some turnovers.  They forced 5 fumbles and recovered 4 of them.  They had a hard time keeping the Giants from moving the ball down field though.  They let Eli Manning go for 391 yards and 3 touchdowns on 27/38 passes.  They also let rush for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns as a team.  Those are pretty bad numbers for the defense, but as long as they keep forcing a lot of turnovers the yardages don’t matter too much.

The Philadelphia Eagles (8-4) are on the road against one of their rivals, the New York Giants (7-5).  The Giants got a big win last week against the Cowboys, but their quarterback Eli Manning has not been playing very well and is battling a foot injury.  This is good news for the Eagles, as their pass defense is not as strong as their run defense.  Brandon Jacobs will likely be getting a lot of carries, with Ahmad Bradshaw filling it at times.  The Giants will be looking for a big day out of their running backs, so if the Eagles can keep them in check they will be in great shape.

The Eagles offense looked great last week, and Michael Vick proved he can still be a viable option in their offense.  The Giants have solid defense all-around, but the Eagles passing game has been great lately so they may be dropping some more defenders back into coverage.  They are also giving up over 100 rushing yards per game, so LeSean McCoy should get more than six carries this week and he could be a difference maker.  The Eagles have been playing better than the Giants lately, so I am going with them in this one.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Philadelphia Eagles 27, New York Giants 20

Michael Vick stole the show as the Philadelphia Eagles (8-4) blew out the Atlanta Falcons (6-6) on Sunday.  Vick threw for one touchdown and ran for another, while hearing early boos turn into cheers later in the game.  There wasn’t much doubt that the Eagles were going to win this one and they held the Falcons scoreless until the final play of the game.  The Falcons were without their starting quarterback Matt Ryan and the Eagles’ defense did a great job against his backup Chris Redman.  The Eagles’ allowed only one touchdown pass from Redman and picked him off twice.  Sheldon Brown returned one of those interceptions 83-yards for a touchdown.

The Eagles offense played very well despite missing Brian Westbrook and DeSean Jackson.  Vick had the two touchdowns, while McNabb threw for one score and 238 yards on 14/25 passes.  Leonard Weaver and Eldra Buckley split the carries and combined for 70 yards on 13 carries.  It was a pretty dominant game for the Eagles who put themselves two games up on the Falcons in the NFC Wild Card with this win.  It was also a great homecoming for Michael Vick who made his first major impact of the season and showed he still has a lot left in the tank.