Last week I said Nick Foles was going to be fine. That he wasn’t the Eagles problem as they braced for the Cowboys.
Never mind.
Foles was a huge problem.
He won’t be this week. He’s out after suffering a concussion in last week’s horrendous performance by the Birds in falling to the Cowboys, who by the way weren’t a lot better.
This game now rests not on the shoulders of Michael Vick, but rather his hamstring. I expect Vick will be the starter on Sunday. I’m just not sure how long his hamstring will hold out. At any rate, he will not be 100 percent. Don’t be surprised, should he be the starter, to see him grab at that hamstring when his instincts take over and he’s forced out of the pocket.
To beat the lowly Giants, the Eagles likely will have to ride LeSean McCoy, regardless if it’s Vick or backup Matt Barkley behind center. Barkley got a taste of what a regular season NFL game is like when he came on for Foles in the 4th quarter against the Cowboys. All he did was throw three picks and have a fourth nullified by a penalty.
While their offense, led by the deer in the headlights Foles, went to sleep against the Cowboys, the good news is that the Birds’ much-maligned defense continued its weekly improvement.
They pretty much held down the Tony Romo and the Cowboy’s vaunted offense. If you had said before the game that the Cowboys would score 17 points, almost everyone would be picking the Eagles to win that game. Not when all you can muster is a field goal.
A loss here by the Eagles would be devastating to Chip Kelly’s plan for this season and bring up the idea of throwing Barkley to the wolves in an effort to find out if he has a chance of being this team’s quarterback of the future.
It all depends on Vick’s hamstring.
The Pick: Make it Giants 26, Eagles 23. That’s because I don’t expect Vick’s hamstring to hold up. If he goes out, the Giants should prevail. Should he not be affected by that balky hammy, that score could easily be reversed. In any case, it will be one of those grind-it-out, close NFC East games. You know, like the ones that actually used to mean something.
Last Week: Foles was horrific, bringing into question if he can ever be starter in the NFL. The Cowboys used press coverage to blanket the Eagles receivers. When they did get open, Foles couldn’t find them. When he threw, it was usually high, or wide, or in the dirt. He was just awful. You don’t win a lot of games in the NFL when you don’t get into the end zone. Foles didn’t get much help from his top offensive weapon. LeSean McCoy admitted this week he had a lousy game. I won’t argue with him. The Eagles certainly could use a few more turnovers, which they managed the last time they faced Eli Manning, who is having a season he’d probably like to forget.
Season Record: Now I’m starting to turn it on. Last week’s pick of the Cowboys (yes, it hurt me to do so) brings me up to 4-3, while the Eagles slipped back under .500 with the loss, sitting at 3-4. Amazingly, a win Sunday and a loss by the Cowboys vs. the Lions puts them right back tied atop the NFC Least.
Game by Game: Eagles 33, Redskins 27 (My Pick: Redskins 31, Eagles 23)
Chargers 33, Eagles 30 (My Pick: Eagles 33, Chargers 17)
Chiefs 26, Eagles 16 (My Pick: Eagles 31, Chiefs 23)
Broncos 52, Eagles 20 (My Pick: Broncos 41, Eagles 27)
Eagles 36, Giants 21 (My Pick: Eagles 29, Giants 26)
Eagles 31, Buccaneers 20 (My Pick: Eagles 26, Buccaneers 17)
Cowboys 17, Eagles 3 (My Pick: Cowboys 33, Eagles 23)
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