Predictions For Week 1 Vs The Eagles

[smakpo]

I think this game is going to come down to redzone defense. I doubt either team is going to have trouble moving the ball in the middle of the field. I see us out playing Philly in the redzone on both sides of the ball. 31 - 23 good guys.

[Vanguard]

Truthfully, I want to see us start fast, and blow them out.  But how realistic will that be?

[ToaCommander]

I predict a tough game. We can grind their defense down with the run but Polumbus is a worry on pass D.

 

The x-factor is Vick and McCoy. Their o-line is very good IMO. They can run the ball well if they put their minds to it. Its on Cofield, Bowen and Orakpo to stop the run and our ILB and safeties to play contain (Vick) and coverage against D-Jax. If Vick plays like 2 years ago, then we have a big problem. Just keep him in the pocket and our OLBs not to over pursue and and overly aggressive. Oh, and Rambo to sleep on the knife, so he can play sharp on MNF.

 

Bottom line - we can certainly win this game if our defense can contain/shutdown kelly's O but if things go right for Chip Kelly and Vick, an upset is also a big possibility.

[Shanahan's Tan]

of course you wouldn't want to be positive and expect something better....now would you? Seriously, I fully expect the Redskins defense to produce MORE turnovers this year because of the intense pass rush. If Robert can keep the int's to less than 10 and cut back on his fumble-itis...then yes indeed we can still have a better turnover differential than last season. It is possible.

 

It's all on RG3.

 

 

I'm being realistic.  A 17+ turnover differential is difficult for almost any defense, especially one that wasn't very good generally speaking.  Mix in the historical number of interceptions or lack their of by RG3.  Is it possible?  Yes.  Is it probably?  No.  But it doesn't mean they can't still have a good defense.

The Eagles are definitely a wild card in this game.  You pretty much know what you are getting with the Redskins.  The only real difference is you are getting back a healthy Garcon and Davis on offense.  On defense, they get back Orakpo and added 2 young DBs in the mix.  So there are some improvements not to mention RG3 is coming back to his second year in the system.  In the same breath, he hasn't had much of an offseason so he should have some rust he needs to shake off.

The Eagles on the other hand, bring back some talent in Jackson and McCoy, but also have a lot of new players and a whole new coaching staff.  Their offense line is healthy and will certainly help.  The new offense is the big question.  It seems to be something they are excited about implementing.  I'm not exactly sure how effective it will be this early but since it is the first time they are truly going to roll it out, they could certainly catch the Redskins offguard.

In my opinion, this will be an offensive game.  The Eagles defense looks horrible, while the Redskins offense is very potent.  The Redskins defense, while finishing last season very strong, still have some questions.  The game is definitely in favor of the Redskins but I wouldn't be surprised if the Eagles catch them off guard.

 

I still expect the Redskins to win by 7 points.

[LT Smash]

Called run for RGIII on the first play, just because they can.

[CGSKINS]

I think this is going to be a very tough game for the skins. The eagles are loaded in the skill positions on offense. I still don't trust our D and I'm wondering how much of Knee gate was a distraction to the team. I hoping this team can handle this stage they are going to be on come Monday night. I think the eagles are going to come in with the us against the world chip on there shoulder. Everybody is down on the eagles and I know they are tired of hearing that and all the hype of RG3.

I'm going with the skins by 3 in overtime but I think we might be in a tough spot. Not feeling to confidant about this game.

[HTTR123]

I think this is going to be a very tough game for the skins. The eagles are loaded in the skill positions on offense. I still don't trust our D and I'm wondering how much of Knee gate was a distraction to the team. I hoping this team can handle this stage they are going to be on come Monday night. I think the eagles are going to come in with the us against the world chip on there shoulder. Everybody is down on the eagles and I know they are tired of hearing that and all the hype of RG3.

I'm going with the skins by 3 in overtime but I think we might be in a tough spot. Not feeling to confidant about this game.

 

This game is just a little warm up for a real NFL team when we face the Packers the following week. Nobody can stop RGIII. We are much better than them at every position. They don't even have the personnel to run the 3-4 defense. Morris is going to run for 180 yards on that defense. The Eagles Oline is a complete joke not to mention Vick and his turn overs. RGIII will toss 4 tds and Morris will run in two more.

 

48-6 Skins. Yes it's going to be that ugly.

[HTTR123]

You are mis remembering. Link to Play by Play here. They got a first down by penalty and then nothing on their first drive.

 

Their second drive was kept alive by a penalty. It was not a smooth running operation. Kolb was running for his life. The big play was a gash run by Spiller, who will do that to people from time to time. 

 

No doubt the Eagles will get their yards in this game. What we don't know is if the Bills being hopeless for the rest of the first half was due to the QB change or defensive adjustments. Going into that game a Bills friend of mine was saying that Teul was better than Kolb. According to him Teul had out performed Kolb to that point.

 

Here are Vick's stats for the preseason.

 

Passing - 24/33 289 yds 1 TD 2 INTs 3 Sacks

Rushing - 9 for 73 yds 1 fumble not lost

 

So we have a lot of yards but not much meaningful production. Vick led 2 TD drives in the presason, one was a 24 yd drive after a turnover. Everything else was field goals. I think they will end up kicking a bunch of FGs as we get TDs and we will slowly pull away. By the 4th qtr their D will be gassed and Morris and Helu will be gashing them.

 

I wouldn't go basing the outcome of this game or any game on what happened in preseason. I've seen SB winners go 0-4 and look like dog dodo in preseason. I watched most of all the teams preseason games and to be fair the one Vick pick was a hail mary prayer pass that everybody new had to chance at the end of the half. He threw it up because there was no time left. My point is we all know what Vick is capable of doing when he is on his game. Who knows which Vick shows up. Who knows which RGIII shows up considering he hasn't taken a live snap in 8 months. With that said Skins 48 Eagles 6.

[HTTR123]

The pass defense sucked, the run defense did not.  The Pass rush was awful which hurt the secondary a lot last season, leaving them on islands when QBs had all day to pass.  Orakpo is back, Darryl Tapp, Brandon Jenkins, Meriweather etc etc etc have either returned or been signed to improve the pass rush.

 

To be fair Tapp has never been anything but average and is now playing a new position and I can't remember the last time Meriweather finished a game. Just saying. We still have rookies and average talent in the secondary. I wouldn't be shocked if the Eagles ran the ball a lot in this game. I think their run game I going to be at the top of the league. They have a great Oline and one the best RBs in the game. Everyone thinks Kelly is going to have Vick chuck the ball 70 times a game and that's not what Kelly did in college. His offenses were always run based. Running the ball is the best way of slowing down a pass rush. I don't see Kelly being a passaholic like Andy Reid.

[Voice_of_Reason]

To me, this entire game is going to come down to Haz and the defense.  I'd be absolutely shocked if the offense can't move up and down the field on the Eagles defense. They are transitioning, and don't have all the right players to fit the scheme. Been there, done that, have the t-shirt.

 

So, I have to imagine that the 'Skins have the advantage there.  Especially if they can get Morris going up the middle, which is where the defense might be the softest.  

 

But, the question is going to be, is this a shoot-out, or is this a mauling.  If Haz and the defense can get some quick stops early, this has the potential to be a laugher by half time. If they can't, this thing could be really, really tight going into  the late parts of the game.

 

We'll see.  I really like our chances.  But the key is going to be to stop the Eagles on early downs, then bring the funk and the noise on 3rd down. If you can get Vick rattled, he'll throw some balls up for grabs.  

[LD0506]

Close at the half, Shady gets his but they'll miss Maclin, Morris & Co. grind out yards and keep their O off the field, within a score either way until the 3rd quarter when Kyle decides to channel his inner Rex and say "**** it, I'm going deep!" w/ something wild out of his box of tricks, busts the game wide open, Skins win going away by double digits.

 

IMO the single most important factor is that this is a divisional game, you can count on them to be nasty and full o'surprises for either team.

[Bigmuss1]

I predict a lot closer game then what I'm reading on this thread..Unfortunately, I do believe our beloved Qb will struggle for the game.  I think Alfred is the key :

 

Redskins 31

Eagles 27

[Larry]

Well, we all know that our offense is going to include a really large dose of Morris. 

 

Philly knows it, too. 

 

(The good news is, they knew it last year, and couldn't stop it.  And this year, they're transitioning to a new defensive scheme.  One which we know from experience, takes a few years to successfully transition into.) 

[ILikeBilly]

I think this is going to be a very tough game for the skins. The eagles are loaded in the skill positions on offense.

1 good running back and 1 good receiver does not make for being loaded at the offensive skill positions.  Vick is a turnover machine.  I'm not sure about 2nd and 3rd WRs and who is their TE?  This is what I considered being loaded at offensive skill positions:

QB:  Robert and Kirk

RB:  Alfred and Roy

WR:  Garcon and Moss and Morgan

TE:  Fred

 

To me (a homer for sure) the eagles aren't even close to the Skins level.

[Laron Burgundy]

My prediction: Rambo knocks the wind out of Cooper over the middle.

[88Comrade2000]

I've already said this team starts out 0-2 before we make a run for the NFC Chmapionship game.  So, I'll just say a little rust on RG3 keeps the game closer and the Eagles pull an upset.  We get back at them in the rematch.

[BraunMan92]

I think we should rest the starters and beat them with our second-string team. 24-17 or so.  Then bring out the starters to be completely fresh for the second game at Green Bay.

 

The season is long and you have to keep your best guys fresh when you can and save them from being hurt against inferior teams.  After the bye the schedule gets REAL tough and we will need all our best guys healthy.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

Iggles 21  Skins 31

 

Morris has 120+ yards rushing and two scores

[MartinC]

My prediction: Rambo knocks the wind out of Cooper over the middle.

 

It seems the Eagles DBs will be doing that during warm ups.

[BraunMan92]

Getting a bit more nervous as this game approaches.  

 

McCoy out of the backfield on short passes and his YAC threat is the real concern.  We didn't have an answer for it in the second game last year.  Also, they are going to be alot less predictable with regard to run/pass selection than they were with Reid.

[Larry]

Considered starting a thread for this.  (My working title was "Prescient Game Balls"). 

 

I'm anticipating a Skins win.  (I realize that it's not guaranteed.  But I'm an optimist.) 

 

And, in my mind, I'm handing out game balls to the players who I think are most responsible for the win we don't have, yet. 

 

(Figured other people might want to do the same.) 

 

Me, I think I'm giving a game ball to London Fletcher.  I'm thinking that, if we win, he will have had more to do with it than anybody else.  We're going up against a team that has big play talent, and which is going to try to hokus-pokus us.  And we're doing it with two rookies in the secondary, and a pass rusher who hasn't played for a year. 

 

I'm thinking, if we win, London will have been a huge part in it. 

[Roger.Staubach]

RGIII will continue to make himself the focus of the team though the real reason for the win will be your excellent running game.

 

 

Redskins 39

Eagles 17

[nuposse87]

A big part will be on how our pass rush does. I still think our secondary is considerably below average, so Desean, Celek and McCoy all have ability to burn us should Vick get time. Vick is also not a statue, he's still probably the most nimble QB in the league, we just have to make sure he's consistently pressured because he is prone to mistakes when not able to plant and throw (although that kinda applies to every QB). We have to force 3 and outs early, in order to tire out their defense, which I'm sure we will. We will run all over them. If we can't force early short possessions by their offense, I think the game will be closer than I care for, but still us coming up with a W. 

 

To piggy back on what Larry said, London will be instrumental in making sure the defense is cognitively ready for every play, I just question whether he'll be able to handle that kind of speed going into the 4 th quarter if the iggles do unfortunately move the ball on us. 

 

Offensively I think Helu, Paulson and Davis have good games. Garcon should demand a double coverage at times and I think we can dink and dunk em to death. They know we like the deep pass so lets bleed em out slowly. 

[deejaydana]

did anyone watch the Eagles run D during the preseason? Wow, it was just awful, they gave up close to 6 yards per carry. All the folks in the media are smitten with what Chip Kelly's O will do and I understand the appeal but all the Skins need to do is pound the rock, to a degree, and keep their O off the field. You have to figure the Shanny's know exactly how to exploit what Philly will show with their "re-vamped" D but let's face it, Philly is in re-build mode. The Skins win this one by 14 easy. The emotion of RG3 coming back will be unstoppable for the dirty birds, would love to be at the game.  HTTR!

[Larry]

I'm assuming that Philly CAN take away the run. (Or at least reduce it a bunch). IF they are willing to leave their secondary man to man all game.

And, I expect them to try it. A lot.

Question then becomes, can RG3.2 make that cost them?