The Eagles Preview
Auust 2, 2006
| By Chris White
| 
Discuss
Pads are poppin. Players are sweatin’ and cussin’. The Phillies are sellin’.
Thank goodness for football baby!
It’s impossible to not think about the only mystery team in town.
How good can the Eagles be? An excellent draft, TO behind them, a healthy
McNabb. This has the potential to be a really good Fall. As I wrote though
a few weeks back in our “What’s Wrong with Philly” column,
more then likely this will not be the savior season the ‘Cheese Steak
Heads’ in South Philly desire.
I just went over the schedule. After some not so careful analysis of the
entire division, here’s how I have the NFC East stacking up.
12-4 Washington Redskins
10-7 Dallas Cowboys
8-8 New York Giants
7-9 Philadelphia Eagles
Ouch.
This is after I have the Birds at 6-2 heading into the bye-week. Early season
wins at Houston (a gift), a fired up victory in the home opener vs. the
hated Giants, another win against an overmatched 49ers team on the west
coast, a gimmie vs. Green Bay at home, and a shocker vs. TO at the Link
on October 8th.
Then things get nasty. I think Philly suffers a letdown loss in New Orleans
the following week, and will head into the week 9 ‘Bye’ with
an ugly loss at home to the Jaguars. The Jacksonville game to me appears
to be one of the most important match-ups of the season. It’s winnable,
and it could be a huge momentum builder.
The second half of the season looks brutal on paper, starting with a tough
game at home vs. the Redskins. Keep in mind; nearly the entire Washington
season hangs in the balance of a fragile Mark Brunell. Daniel Snyder could
ruin the Redskin chemistry with a boob moment at any time as well. This
game could go either way, but the Skins look like they are ready for a run.
The final win of the 2007 season comes at home vs. Tennessee. Tell me where
the rest of the wins come from…
At Indy?
Carolina Home?
At Washington (see above, okay maybe one between the two)
At Giants?
At Dallas?
Depending on the status of both the Falcons and Philly, the finale vs. Michael
(OVERRATED) Vick could be a winner, but by then the damage has been done.
For the second year in a row, the Eagles will be watching the playoffs from
the comforts of home. Granted, I said this was a better team, an improved
team from last year. That second half schedule is brutal though. It won’t
be the first time the Birds ripped it up early and faded late, and I’m
afraid that’s the way the writing on the wall looks now, at the beginning
of training camp.
Of course this is all speculation. That’s why you play the games.
I’d love to be wrong on all of this, but sometimes doing the math
makes things a bit easier to see.
The good news is that math was never really my strong point. Let’s
hope I suck once again this year.
Bored? Stop in for a mental cocktail at Whitey's Pub!
www.geocities.com/crwhitey2000
