If I had told you back in the summer what awaits at the Linc Sunday, you would have rightly thought I had lost my mind.
It wasn’t that long ago that Sam Bradford was penciled in as the Eagles starter. Carson Wentz? He was supposed to be on the sidelines holding a clipboard this season.
Then Teddy Bridgewater’s knee exploded, radically changing the course of two franchises. Sam Bradford was shipped to Minnesota, in the process Howie Roseman got back the No. 1 pick he traded away in order to move up to get Wentz.
Then he and rookie head coach Doug Pederson went all-in. They decided to bypass backup Chase Daniel and install Wentz as the starter. The Birds got off to a sizzling 3-0 start, including a most impressive, dominating win over the Steelers, who some experts had ticketed as the AFC rep in the Super Bowl.
Then came the bye, and the Birds’ mojo went bye-bye as well. They stumbled in Detroit, losing a game they should not have - and could not afford to - to the Lions. Then they got dominated in Washington last Sunday.
Suddenly, Wentz looks mortal behind an offensive line that is without its best player, right tackle Lane Johnson. Rookie Halapoulivaati Vaitai struggled mightily right from the Birds’ first snap, setting a tone the Eagles never did shake.
And hold off on all those head coaching offers for Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. His Wide 9 defensive alignment suddenly is looking a lot like the system that was repeatedly gashed under old coach Jim Washburn. The Redskins rumbled for 230 yards on the ground, and failed to get much in the way of pressure on QB Kirk Cousins.
On the other side, things could not look much better for Bradford and the Vikings. Even without All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson, ‘Sammy Sleeves’ has guided the Vikings to a perfect 5-0 start.
Bradford is playing well, and the Vikings’ defense is among the best in the league.
The Eagles will have their hands full on both sides of the ball. Maybe the Vikes will suffer the same malady the Eagles did coming off the bye. I’m not going to bet on it.
Bradford no doubt would like nothing better than to shove another loss down the throat of Howie Roseman and Jeff Lurie. The guess here is that there may have been a bit more to his hurt feelings when the Eagles moved up to get Wentz, in the process discarding a lot of picks that could have been used to help Bradford’s offense.
Wentz is now saddled with the same issues Bradford faced. The Eagles have little in the way of weapons or anything that is going to scare the Vikings.
The scariest thing about this game is what the Vikings might do to the Wentz and that porous offensive line. Better learn how to duck, kid.
I’d love to see the Eagles pull out another improbable win here. I don’t see it. This one could get ugly.
The Pick: Make it Vikings 26, Eagles 13.
Last Week: Actually when I think about it, this is probably about where I thought this team was going to be. Then again, the Lions game could be passed off as a bad week; the Washington game cannot. The Eagles got manhandled, beaten physically on both sides of the ball. That’s a problem. Of course, I never foresaw the whole Bradford-Wentz monumental shift, the Eagles’ 3-0 start including the stunning thrashing of the vaunted Steelers, nor the loss they had no business losing to the Lions, and finally an always tossup NFC East game against the Redskins, which they lost. That brings Doug Pederson and his Birds 3-2 and facing a very tough task against the Vikings.
Game by Game: Eagles 29, Browns 10 (My Pick: Eagles 19, Browns 13)
Eagles 29, Bears 14 (My Pick: Eagles 24, Bears 16)
Eagles 34, Steelers 3 (My Pick: Steelers, 26, Eagles 23)
Lions 24, Eagles 23 (My Pick: Eagles 31, Lions 10)
Redskins 27, Eagles 20 (My Pick: Eagles 242, Redskins 23)
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