I have to admit, in the McNabb era, I tended to worry about night games. If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you know I have always been a huge Big5 fan. But DMac was often not as his best in the prime time games. Maybe it was the pressure. Maybe he's a morning person. I don't know. What I do know is that night games left me nervous.
Add to that Matt Forte. The Eagles have the #19 ranked run defense. Somehow, I think the #19 ranked run defense is going to have some problems with Matt Forte.
Add to that Devin Hester. And a rookie punter and place kicker, neither of which has been what I'd call "consistent" so far this year. We can all yell "DON'T KICK TO DEVIN HESTER!" all the live-long day to the TV, but I'm not confident of either Henry or Henery's ability not to do just that.
On the other hand, the offense seems to be coming together. Defensive coordinators can decide to take away the outside/big play receivers. Or they can decide to take away the short/across the middle plays. Or they can decide to shut down the Eagles run game. Or they can decide to try to keep Mike Vick in the pocket and/or harass him all day. They can't pick "all of the above," at least not with only 11 guys. And if the team can continue to limit turnovers on offense (knock wood), it's pretty damn hard to keep them from scoring.
Meanwhile, it seems like Juan Castillo might finally be learning his job. Or he's shuffled the guys into the right positions. Or everybody went to Remedial Tackling classes. Or all of the above.
I don't think it's going to be a waltz like last week's win over the Cowboys, but I do think the Eagles will pull this one out.
In the rest of the matchups:
Jets at Bills: Interesting AFC East matchup. The Jets are coming off their bye, which, at least in Bleeding Green Nation, always equals "win." The Bills are coming off spanking the Redskins, which to me, screams trap game. The entire league is topsy-turvy this year. Which to me says Bills.
Seahawks at Cowboys: The Cowboys better win this one at home, otherwise I'm pretty sure they should all plan to leave town. Immediately. Like 4:08 pm Sunday afternoon. Cowboys.
Browns at Texans: Gotta go with my Texans! Team of Destiny Emeritus!
Colts at Falcons: And the suck rolls on into Atlanta. Falcons.
Dolphins at Chiefs: After what both teams showed me last week, I have to go with the Chiefs. Which clearly means the Dolphins will finally pull it together, right?
Bucs at Saints: The Saints HAVE to be pissed after last week, and I can't see them dropping a divisional game at home, even with Sean Payton up in the press box. Saints.
49ers at Redskins: I'm officially on the bandwagon. Also, the Redskins have literally run out of offensive players. 49ers.
Broncos at Raiders: That bye week came just in time, but in the battle of Tim Tebow and Carson Palmer, I have to go with "which team has a better ground game?" That would be the Raiders.
Bengals at Titans: The Bengals, under rookie QB (and fellow ginger) Andy Dalton are surging. The Titans are right in there, too, for AFC South. This is a tough call, as neither offense is exactly lighting it up. I think I'm going to have to go with the #4 ranked Bengals defense.
Rams at Cardinals: Ugh. Look away! Cards? Rams? Who cares? If forced to pick - which I am, by the office pool - I'll go with Rams. Under protest. That this game is even being broadcast.
Giants at Patriots: Hm, speaking of teams that have to be pissed after last week..yeah, Giants, to quote Inside the Iggles, "good luck with that." Pats.
Packers at Chargers: Is it even fair to make other teams play the Pack this year? Do the Chargers have a prayer? No to both. Packers.
Ravens at Steelers: I can't see the Steelers losing to the Ravens twice in one season, particularly not at home. Steelers.
On bye: Last week! Jaguars, Lions, Panthers, Vikings
Edited to add: NOT last week. What's with the skip week on byes, NFL?
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