This game will really test the Eagles as the Jaguars are a much better team than the Lions who gave the Eagles fits last week.  The Jaguars also play a lot better at home than on the road.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Eagles have the ball:  Andy Reid’s offense is still pass first even with Michael Vick at QB and I don’t see than changing this weekend.  Michael Vick will have to be careful not to force the ball to DeSean Jackson if he’s not open because CB Rashean Mathis is a big play corner.  Jeremy Maclin, Brent Celek, Jason Avant and Lesean McCoy out of the backfield will likely have increased roles in the passing game this week.  Eagles’ QBs have been sacked 12 times already this season so the O-Line better give Michael Vick time to throw so he doesn’t make mistakes.  Lesean McCoy and Michael Vick will also get their fair share of carries in this game against a Jags’ D that is allowing 120.0 yards rushing and 4.0 ypc.

When the Jaguars have the ball:  The Jaguars are going to try to be balanced on offense so that the D doesn’t gang up on Maurice Jones-Drew.  Jones-Drew will likely get his yards against an Eagles’ D that is allowing 123.5 yards rushing and 4.2 ypc so far this year.  David Garrard had problems with the Chargers’ blitzing last weekend and the Eagles will also bring the heat.  Garrard will likely try to get rid of the ball quickly to Mike Thomas, Mike Sims-Walker, Marcedes Lewis and Maurice Jones-Drew out of the backfield.

PREDICTION:  JAGUARS 27, EAGLES 24

Both of these teams put up good fights before losing in their season openers.  That wasn’t all they lost as both starting QBs (Kevin Kolb, Matthew Stafford) were knocked out of the game setting up a 2nd week match-up of back-up QBs in Michael Vick and Shaun Hill.  Here is a close look at the match-ups:

When the Eagles have the football:  The Bears rolled up 463 total years (101 rushing, 362 passing) against the Lions last weekend in Chicago.  This sets up the Eagles well with Michael Vick at QB this week.  He played well in his first real game action since his time with the Falcons last week.  Vick and Lesean McCoy will challenge the new and improved front seven of the Lions in the running game.  Vick’s rolling out of the pocket could also set up some big plays down the field to Jeremy Maclin and Desean Jackson.

When the Lions have the ball:  I think the Lions are going to be fired up for their season opener.  I have a feeling that Jahvid Best will have some success on the ground on the fast turf surface of Ford Field against an Eagles’ D that allowed 132 yards (4.0 ypc) against the Packers last weekend.  With Shaun Hill starting at QB the Eagles need to keep tab on the TEs (Tony Scheffler and Brandon Pettigrew) because he doesn’t have a strong arm.  They will still likely try to force the ball to Calvin Johnson though even if the Eagles double team him which could lead to some big mistakes.

PREDICTION:  EAGLES 23, LIONS 20

This is not a good match-up for Kevin Kolb’s first start as the unquestioned starting QB.  The Packers bring a lot of heat and they have solid DBs.  Here is a look at the match-up:

When the Eagles have the ball:  I look for the Eagles to come out running the ball with Lesean McCoy and throwing short passes to both him and Brent Celek.  This will give Kolb confidence early in the game which he’s going to need against a outstanding Packers’ D.  Hopefully this will cause the Packers’ D to creep more players in the box so that the Eagles can throw deeper to Desean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant.  To have any success throwing deep though the O-Line is going to have to keep LBs Clay Matthews, Brad Jones and DE Cullen Pickett away from Kevin Kolb.

When the Packers have the ball:  The Eagles have a pretty sturdy D but the Packers will present them with a lot of challenges.  The Eagles’ DTs (Mike Patterson, Brodrick Bunkley) and MLB Stewart Bradley will have to slow down Packers’ RB Ryan Grant so that the rest of the D can focus on the passing game.  Eagles’ DEs Brandon Graham and Trent Cole are going to have to get after Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers and hit him a few times because if he gets comfortable the Eagles are in deep trouble.  The Packers don’t have a go-to receiver as they like to spread the ball around to Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, Jermichael Finley, James Jones, Jordy Nelson and David Lee. 

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 31, EAGLES 20

The Philadelphia Eagles need to forget about last week’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys and try to continue their recent postseason dominance over the Cowboys.  It’s hard to forget last week’s 24-0 beat down the Cowboys gave the Eagles, which gave them the NFC East and home-field advantage in this game.  Donovan McNabb will need a much better performance than the 223 yards, zero touchdowns, and a fumble loss he had last week.  He was sacked 4 times too, so the offensive line needs to step it up and protect McNabb.  If not, McNabb needs to use his legs and allusiveness to buy some time and look down field.  The Eagles were one of the best teams at making big plays, so if McNabb and wide-receiver DeSean Jackson can hook up for some deep plays it will be huge for the Eagles.  The Eagles averaged 102 rushing yards per game this season, so if they can get some good production from their running backs, it will make the Cowboys’ pass rush less effective.

The Cowboys offense has been peaking lately, and quarterback Tony Romo is making some great plays for them.  Romo has not had much success in the postseason though, and the pressure has been building each year on him.  So, if the Eagles can get to Romo early and force a turnover it may rattle him.  Romo threw for 4,483 yards, 26 touchdowns, and only 9 interceptions while completing 63% of his passes, so he is a very good quarterback.  Romo gets a lot of support from his running game though, with the Cowboys averaging 131 rushing yards per game.  If the Eagles can keep the Cowboys running duo of Marion Barber and Felix Jones in check, it will make a world of difference on how they can attack Romo.  I expect this game to be closer than their matchup last week, but with the Cowboys peaking along with their dominance over the Eagles just a few days ago, I am going to go with the Cowboys in this NFC Wild Card game.

PREDICTION:  Philadelphia Eagles 17, Dallas Cowboys 27

The Philadelphia Eagles (11-4) are on the road going up against the Dallas Cowboys (10-5) on Sunday.  Although the Eagles have secured a spot in the playoffs, they need to bring it on Sunday if they want to capture the NFC East title.  If they win the NFC East they could likely end up with a first round bye.  It could be a tough game for the Eagles offense though, especially since the Cowboys’ defense is playing the best it has all season.  That means Donovan McNabb needs to have a good day for the Eagles and hopefully he can find DeSean Jackson on some deep routes.  Jackson has had an outstanding year at receiver for the Eagles, with 1120 yards and 9 touchdowns on 60 receptions.  Also, Michael Vick should get a few more snaps to keep the Cowboys’ strong defense off balance.

The Eagles defense is going to need to have a strong game too, since the Cowboys offense has been hot ever since they took down the formerly undefeated Saints two weeks ago.  If the Eagles can rattle Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo, he is very likely to turn the ball over.  He uses his legs well to give himself more time though, so it will be a challenge.  The Cowboys also average 128 rushing yards per contest, so the Eagles need a good all-around game to keep the Cowboys offense in check.  I expect this to be a close playoff-type game, but I am giving the Cowboys a slight edge with the home-field advantage.

PREDICTION:  Philadelphia Eagles 27, Dallas Cowboys 28

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

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

The Philadelphia Eagles (7-4) are on the road Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons (6-5) and both teams will be missing some key players.  The Eagles will be without DeSean Jackson, who suffered a concussion last week in which he said he “blacked out.”  That is never a good sign with a head injury, so it is smart that Jackson is sitting this one out.  Donovan McNabb will probably go to his TE Brent Celek more, who is the Eagles second leading receiver behind Jackson.  This will also be Michael Vick’s first time back in Atlanta since the infamous dog fighting scandal that nearly ended Vicks’ career.  Although Vick has not been an impact player for the Eagles this year, it will be very interesting to see how he and the Atlanta crowd reacts to his return.

I don’t think the Eagles should have too much of a problem beating the Falcons in this one, even without their star receiver.  The Falcons will be without their starting quarterback Matt Ryan (turf toe) and may be without their star running back Michael Turner.  Turner re-aggravated an ankle sprain last week, so even if he does play he wont be the same explosive back.  Chris Redman will start in place of Ryan at quarterback, and he led the Falcons to a comeback win last week.  Even though Redman had a good game last week, it was against the very weak Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so I don’t see him having the same success against a Philly defense that holds teams to 202 passing yards per game.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Philadelphia Eagles 28, Atlanta Falcons 17

These two teams always seem to play good games regardless of records.  The Redskins and a very banged up team right now but they have proved the last two weeks to be a very dangerous opponent so the Eagles better not overlook them.  The Redskins will likely try to run a pretty balanced offense this week.  Rock Cartwright will be the main man in the running game for the Redskins and he is a good player despite opening the season #3 on the depth chart.  Jason Campbell will likely be under a heavy rush from the Eagles who already have 30 sacks this season so the passing game will likely be kept short.  That means that the Redskins WRs and TEs are going to have to be willing to go over the middle and it will be interesting to see if they have the stones to do so as it’s a pretty soft bunch.

Head Coach Andy Reid of the Eagles is so set in his ways that the Eagles will likely continue to throw the ball a lot this week despite the fact that the Redskins are only allowing 161.6 yards passing per game this year.  The thing that will help Donovan McNabb the most this week as he has deep weapons in Desean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin and short guys in TE Brent Celek and RB Lesean McCoy in the passing game.  That will make it hard for the Redskins to key on anyone in the passing game.  The Redskins are allowing 128.4 yards rushing per game (4.4 ypc) so Lesean McCoy could have a big game if the Eagles give him the ball enough.

PREDICTION:  EAGLES 20, REDSKINS 14

The Philadelphia Eagles (5-4) and Chicago Bears (4-5) are facing off at Soldier Field Sunday, and both teams have been looking bad lately.  The Bears have looked a lot worse, and their quarterback Jay Cutler has been playing awful.  That doesn’t meant he Eagles can relax though, as they are still without Brian Westbrook and will be without him for the next few weeks due to his concussion symptoms still lingering.  LeSean McCoy will get the bulk of the carries, but the Eagles have not been running the ball much so I don’t know if he will get the ball all that much.  McNabb has had to throw the ball a ton, and it has lead to some interceptions.  The Bears give up only 195 passing yards per game, so McNabb will need be careful with his throws as the Bears have a decent secondary.

The Eagles’ defense needs to look to get some turnovers, as that is about the only thing the Bears have been doing lately.  Jay Cutler threw 5 interceptions last week and the Bears only managed to score 6 points.  Cutler will be trying to limit those interceptions, so he will most likely throw a lot of short passes and screens.  Matt Forte has been ineffective as a runner, but he has been great for Cutler on screen passes.  He caught 8 passes for 120 yards last week, so the Eagles need to be ready for the screen pass.  This is a tough one to pick for me, as both teams have been playing poorly lately.  With the Bears seemingly falling apart though, I will go with the Eagles in this one.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Philadelphia Eagles 28, Chicago Bears 24