I have two words for you, Bird Brains.
Ground & Pound.
Doug Pederson discovered a couple of things last week in Buffalo, playing in some nasty weather conditions. When you control the line of scrimmage, you control the game. And you are much less averse to the mayhem that can happen when you become too pass happy.
There is another good reason for Doug to follow that approach as the Eagles, having saved the season vs. the Bills, return home for a rematch with the team they knocked out of the playoffs last year on the infamous Double-Doink game.
His name is Khalil Mack. And this week he will be matched against Eagles rookie left tackle Andre Dillard.
On Carson Wentz's blind side.
Yes, running the football, behind a steady diet of ex-Bear Jordan Howard and Miles Sanders, suddenly looks like the winning recipe again this week.
And that is even with the expected return of DeSean Jackson. By the way, does anyone else wonder why the Eagles don't just give Jackson another week off and through the bye week before testing that aching abdominal pull. Don't be surprised if he doesn't see much action. And don't be surprised if he pulls up lame if he does.
On the other side of the ball, the Eagles will have the luck of facing - for the second straight week - a quarterback who seems overmatched in the NFL. No one is scared of Mitch Trubisky. And you have to wonder if Bears coach Matt Nagy doesn't regret the team jettisoning Howard.
Howie Roseman opted against a big move at the trade deadline, instead thinking that the return of injured players such as Avonte Maddox and Jalen Mills was basically the equivalent. Or maybe he just doesn't think this Birds squad is worth letting go of those draft picks, although the way the Eagles draft, you have to wonder why. I ask you, would you trade Nelson Agholor (a 1st round pick) for some help right now?
The Bears have lost three in a row. They likely are beginning to get that air of desperation that makes an NFL team especially dangerous.
I don't see it happening this week on the road against the Eagles.
They just can't play into the Bears' hands by having Carson Wentz constantly dropping back to throw and leaving him vulnerable to a raging Khalil Mack.
Too bad we can't order up that rainy, blustery weather that dictated the game plan vs. the Bills.
This one will be in Doug Pederson's hands.
He would be wise to hand it off to Jordan to tote the load against his old team.
THE PICK: Make it Eagles 23, Bears 16. Doug Pederson needs to resist getting pass-happy, even with the return of DeSean Jackson. THey control the game on the ground - and manage to keep Carson Wentz healthy at the same time. Look for another big day for Jordan Howard going up against his old team for the first time.
LAST WEEK: Let's all just try to forget an eminently regrettable performance in Dallas. The Birds should have saved the airfare since they never bothered to show up in a thoroughly humiliating defeat. The loss stabilized the Eagles' rocky road and allows them to come home for a game before getting a much-needed bye week all even at 4-4. I unfortunately put way too much stock in that Bills' record. Not sure how that team makes the playoffs with that quarterback. The loss drops me back to the very same 4-4 mark. I'll take a page out of the Birds' playbook and say the season starts now.
GAME BY GAME: Eagles 32, Redskins 27. (My Pick: Eagles 27, Redskins 13)
Falcons 24, Eagles 20. (My Pick: Falcons 29, Eagles 27)
Lions 27, Eagles 24: (My Pick: Eagles 26, Lions 23)
Eagles 34, Packers 27 (My Pick: Packers 33, Eagles 23)
Eagles 31, Jets 6 (My Pick: Eagles 31, Jets 13)
Vikings 38, Eagles 20 (My Pick: Vikings 27, Eagles 26)
Cowboys 37, Eagles 10 (My Pick: Eagles 24, Cowboys 23)
Eagles 31, Bills 13 (My Pick: Bills 23, Eagles 17)
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