The Game Prediction Thread - The Commanders vs. The Eagles - A divisional battle!

[Koolblue13]

[Rex Tomb]

2 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

That is absolutely hilarious 😂 and the Giants are the fakest 2-0 team ever assembled.

[illone]

I predict a long afternoon...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the stinky fecal matter that call themselves Eagles....

 

Carson pulls one out against his old team.

 

Us 38

Them 20

[HigSkin]

LOL, Dianna Russini on This Just In selected this game for an upset alert and picked Washington.  Said being an in division game, she thinks Wentz and the Defense play much better.

[illone]

4 minutes ago, HigSkin said:

LOL, Dianna Russini on This Just In selected this game for an upset alert and picked Washington.  Said being an in division game, she thinks Wentz and the Defense play much better.

 

 

It's the NFL, anything can happen.

 

See 2021: Washington vs Tampa Bay. 😂

[The Rook]

 

Philthy - 31 - 4 TD's 4 PA's 1FG

Washington - 30 - 5 TD's (5 missed two-point conversions, cuz, you know ... "analytics") 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rook

[dyst]

26 minutes ago, HigSkin said:

LOL, Dianna Russini on This Just In selected this game for an upset alert and picked Washington.  Said being an in division game, she thinks Wentz and the Defense play much better.

Obviously it can happen but it’s always funny when you hear media predictions as if they have any ability

[HigSkin]

Scott Turner is a bit of a goof but really like this guy.  I love it when he says "oh I don't know" kind of like awe shucks moment but not afraid to say it.  LOL

 

 

[ToaCommander]

1 hour ago, HigSkin said:

LOL, Dianna Russini on This Just In selected this game for an upset alert and picked Washington.  Said being an in division game, she thinks Wentz and the Defense play much better.

 

She jinxed us, that it we lose on Sunday. 🤣

[HigSkin]

LOL, lowest ticket prices are $115 for this game compared to like an Atlanta game of $36.  

 

 

[illone]

https://www.bettingpros.com/articles/nfl-week-3-picks-predictions-eagles-vs-commanders-2022/

 

decent 3rd party writeup. 
 

 

 

[Llevron]

11 hours ago, HigSkin said:

LOL, lowest ticket prices are $115 for this game compared to like an Atlanta game of $36.  

 

 

I bought 6 tix on the visitors side during the preseason for like 90 bucks each. 
 

 

Sold them for 260 each Tuesday. VERY obstructed view. Like…. one of them seats with the little TV above it cause they know you can’t see ****. You can’t even see the Jumbotrons 😼
 

I don’t feel bad about it. 

[Cooleyfan1993]

25 minutes ago, Llevron said:

I bought 6 tix on the visitors side during the preseason for like 90 bucks each. 
 

 

Sold them for 260 each Tuesday. VERY obstructed view. Like…. one of them seats with the little TV above it cause they know you can’t see ****. You can’t even see the Jumbotrons 😼
 

I don’t feel bad about it. 

You didn’t sell the tickets to eagles fans did you? I hope not, cause if so, thats the only way you should feel bad  contributing to an eagles overtake of our stadium 

[KDawg]

8 minutes ago, Cooleyfan1993 said:

You didn’t sell the tickets to eagles fans did you? I hope not, cause if so, thats the only way you should feel bad  contributing to an eagles overtake of our stadium 

 

Based off the profit he shouldn't feel bad anyways.

[Llevron]

1 hour ago, Cooleyfan1993 said:

You didn’t sell the tickets to eagles fans did you? I hope not, cause if so, thats the only way you should feel bad  contributing to an eagles overtake of our stadium 

 

I would feel bad if i sold those ****ty seats to a Skins fan. I hope the Eagles fan that got them curses my existence with their dying breath. 

 

1 hour ago, KDawg said:

 

Based off the profit he shouldn't feel bad anyways.

 

you know my heart lol 

[Skinsinparadise]

Listening to the Eagles reporters this week including to one just on 980.

 

Jalen Hurts is the Tom Cruise of the NFL -- superstar, women adore him and men want to be him.  Loved in the locker room, the next QB superstar

 

Eagles O line rivals the Hogs.

 

Probably the best roster in the NFL -- maybe challenging the Dolphins to be the next undefeated team 

Edited September 23, 2022 by Skinsinparadise

[Rex Tomb]

Just now, Skinsinparadise said:

Listening to the Eagles reporters this week including to one just on 980.

 

Jalen Hurts is the Tom Cruise of the NFL -- superstar, women adore hkm and man wanted to be him.  Loved in the locker room, the next QB superstar

 

Eagles O line rivals the Hogs.

 

Probably the best roster in the NFL -- maybe challenging the Dolphins to be the next undefeated team 

They're good, but hopefully they are reading a few too many of their press clippings and we come out punch them right in the kidneys... Yes, I said kidneys.  

 

[Skinsinparadise]

 

 

[Rex Tomb]

2 hours ago, Llevron said:

I bought 6 tix on the visitors side during the preseason for like 90 bucks each. 
 

 

Sold them for 260 each Tuesday. VERY obstructed view. Like…. one of them seats with the little TV above it cause they know you can’t see ****. You can’t even see the Jumbotrons 😼
 

I don’t feel bad about it. 

Bwahahaha... and hopefully we send that one guy who had to sit behind the obstruction home with a whimper.  Couldn't even see the game and watch his team get smacked around.

[Skinsinparadise]

 

 

[Skinsinparadise]

19 hours ago, wit33 said:

This is a mediocre approach that Washington has subscribed to for last 25 or so seasons. Wentz and crew will put up 30 or so points, need defense to make a few plays situationally to escape with a victory. 

 

Both defenses will struggle. 

 

I agree not being fixated on turnovers on offense.  But as an ex-NFL player bemoaned about this defense recently, its not just they are bad, but they also don't create turnovers.  

 

you can survive a bad defense much easier if at least you are average at creating turnovers -- but it isn't what this defense did last season, the preseason or so far this season. 

 

 

 

That date will finally be here Sunday. And Vince Rizzuto, the founder of Philly Sports Trips who was behind the billboard, accomplished his goal: The 34-year-old’s travel company indeed sold tickets to 1,000 fans for Sunday’s game at FedEx Field when the Washington Commanders host the Philadelphia Eagles. 

They’ll be at the stadium to boo, taunt and cheer against Carson Wentz, Washington’s quarterback who spent his first five seasons with Philadelphia — where the signal-caller went from a beloved icon to being so ridiculed that diehards were hardly sad when Wentz’s trade request was granted following the 2020 season.

 

Starting around 6 a.m. Sunday, Rizzuto’s business will charter 20 buses for fans from the Philadelphia area and make the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Landover, Maryland. They’re far from alone. Representatives from Phans of Philly and The Green Legion — two other Philadelphia sports travel companies — said they have sold an additional 500 and 300 tickets for the showdown, equating to another 16 buses set to make the trek. 

That marks at least 1,800 Eagles fans that will be at Sunday’s game. And there will likely be thousands more. Invading FedEx Field has become an annual tradition for the Eagles‘ faithful as sections — and in the case of last season’s collapsed railing, literally — overflow with those dawned in green, white and black. 

Wentz adds another layer to the dynamic as he prepares to face his former team for the first time. 

“I’m sure the Eagles fans will travel well,” Wentz said with a smile. “But hopefully we’ll still be dominating the stands there. Either way, it’ll be fun.” 

Trolling Wentz

Michael Diaz is already picturing how the atmosphere will be when Wentz takes the field for Sunday’s game.

“It’s going to sound like South Philly,” said Diaz, The Green Legion’s social media coordinator. “Everyone is going to boo.” 

From his time with the Eagles, Wentz came to learn that Philadelphia had “quite the fan base.” That’s an understatement. 

The quarterback played in a city, after all, that famously booed and threw snowballs at Santa Claus during an Eagles game in 1968. It’s a sports town willing to throw popcorn at an opposing player, as a 76ers fan did at Russell Westbrook last year. Even their exuberance can lead to incidents, such as when fans excited to high-five quarterback Jalen Hurts as he ran off the turf at FedEx Field last season nearly tumbled into the signal-caller after a railing collapsed. (Four fans have since sued the Commanders claiming they were injured.)

Now their angst will turn toward Wentz. Rizzuto said Sunday’s game is Philly Sports Trips’ biggest event in the six-year history of his company, adding he sold out of the tickets he purchased from the Commanders. The Wentz showdown was a driving force behind the sales — and Rizzuto leaned heavily into the angle. 

In addition to the billboard, which Rizzuto said the cost can run anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000, the ad copy on Philly Sports Trips’ website teased the quarterback even further. Rizzuto encouraged fans to “get on the Wentz Wagon ASAP” because “there is NO guarantee” Wentz would still be the Commanders’ starter when the two teams play again in mid-November. 

Rizzuto, asked about the blurb over the phone, laughed.

“We like to be clever with some of the things we put out there,” he said. 

Joe DiBiaggio, the owner of Phans of Philly, has his own plan to troll Wentz and the Commanders faithful now rooting for the passer. DiBiaggio said the company plans to have a truck circling the stadium Sunday with a mobile billboard that will especially resonate with anyone who cheers for the Eagles.

What will be on the billboard? DiBiaggio said there will be an image of Nick Foles — the quarterback who replaced an injured Wentz in 2017 and led the Eagles to a championship — hoisting the Super Bowl trophy.

“He’ll be looping around,” DiBiaggio said of the truck driver, “and making sure all fans see it.”

To understand why Eagles diehards soured on Wentz, Foles’ championship run might have a large part to do with it. After that, Wentz was unable to reach the same level of stardom — when he looked like a legitimate MVP candidate before tearing his ACL. 

 

As Wentz’s performance dipped, more injuries followed. Reports then emerged questioning Wentz’s leadership in the locker room, which divided the fanbase further. The final turning point came in December 2020 when Wentz, amid an awful season, was benched for Hurts. Wentz was traded to Indianapolis months later. 

“When he played like crap, and the stories are coming in that he’s not taking to coaching, he’s not listening to his coordinators anymore, that he’s doing his own thing and it kept piling up, he was like, ‘I don’t want to play here,’” Diaz said.

“The fans do not like someone who doesn’t accept the criticism, deflects blame and then runs away.”

 

Becoming PhedEx Phield

Sunday’s game projects to be a near sellout for the Commanders. This season, though, Washington’s brass has again reduced capacity at FedEx Field — narrowing the figure from 67,617 to around 62,000 to 63,000, a team spokesperson said. 

The official added the organization was still working with the league to determine the final number, but said the reduction was made because of seating changes in the club section and to turn some suites into offices after the team’s business side moved from Ashburn to Landover.

 

Yet, Philadelphia’s fans will make up a good chunk of this weekend’s crowd — possibly the majority, if past games are any indication. Beyond Wentz, the close proximity between the two cities makes it an appealing option for Eagles fans, as do the cheaper prices compared to home games. With the Commanders struggling —and attendance falling — an opportunity has been created for others to fill the void. 

If it weren’t for FedEx Field, then perhaps Rizzuto wouldn’t have started Philly Sports Trips in the first place. The Pennsylvania native said he got the idea after traveling with family and friends to the stadium, taking it from a “passion project” to a full-time business.

“Washington was the birthplace of the company,” he said. 

 

To arrange the trips, companies like Philly Sports Trips and Phans of Philly worked directly with the Commanders’ ticket office. Each travel company purchased an allocation of tickets from Washington’s group sales team, a practice common around the league. 

A team spokesperson said the Commanders “aggressively” tried to sell group tickets for Sunday’s showdown, and not just to Eagles fans. This weekend’s contest will honor Hispanic Heritage Month, the team’s second annual “Pride Night Out” and HBCU Night Out — an attempt to draw out others not from Philadelphia.

 

But the reality is most will be there for Wentz. This week, Wentz called his time in Philadelphia a “wild ride.” The 29-year-old was evasive when asked where it all went wrong with the Eagles, but added he was happy to be with the Commanders (1-1) now.

Things turned out just fine for Philadelphia, too. The Eagles (2-0) look like they have one of the best offenses in football and appear to be a Super Bowl contender once again.

On Sunday, Eagles fans may be even happy to see Wentz once again. Even if they express it in a different way. 

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think he was going to be the quarterback for the future,” Rizzuto said. “I thought he’d be in Philadelphia a lot longer than he was.” 

Edited September 23, 2022 by Skinsinparadise

[Skinsinparadise]

 

 

 

 

It just needs the defense to do its part.

If the Commanders (1-1) want to challenge for a playoff spot this season, they will need more help from a defense that struggled in 2021 as well. After two games -- and facing a potent Philadelphia Eagles’ offense Sunday (1 p.m. ET, Fox) -- Washington’s defense has continued to surrender big plays and too many points.

It nearly cost the team in the opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It did cost them in Sunday’s 36-27 loss versus the Detroit Lions. And if they don’t fix their issues, it’ll cost them in the future as well.

 

“We’ve got to lock it in and not panic, figure it out,” Washington linebacker Cole Holcomb said.

Yes, they do. After two games, the Commanders rank 27th in yards and points allowed. No team has allowed more plays of 40 yards or more (four) through the first two games. They also gave up a 59-yard return off a free kick following a safety. Last season, the Commanders ranked 25th in points and 22nd in yards.

The Commanders have played without starting strong safety Kamren Curl, still recovering from a right thumb injury that required surgery in late August, and defensive end Chase Young, who is on injured reserve as he recovers from a torn ACL last November. They also have three second-year players in key spots at linebacker (Jamin Davis), corner (Benjamin St-Juste) and safety (Darrick Forrest); they’re an experienced defense in some parts but developing in others.

 

They’ve also lost depth along the defensive line. Commanders rookie backup Phidarian Mathis suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first quarter of the opener. Backup Daniel Wise exited with an ankle injury Sunday, leaving Donovan Jeter, a rookie undrafted free agent signed earlier in the week, to play 18 snaps, according to Next Gen Stats. And reserve end Casey Toohill, a key sub with Young missing, suffered a concussion in the first quarter.

 

That’s why head coach Ron Rivera said after the game that he had “a lot of concern” about the defensive line depth, especially after tackle Jonathan Allen played 52 snaps with a sore groin. He was supposed to be on a snap count, Rivera said, but they abandoned that plan due to the injuries.

 

The secondary must also play more consistent. There was a blown coverage on Amo-Ra St-Brown’s 49-yard pass reception in the first quarter in which he was wide open in the middle of the field. There was a lack of awareness in the secondary on St. Brown’s 58-yard jet sweep run in the fourth quarter. That play occurred right after Washington had cut the lead to 22-15. Three plays later it was 29-15.

 

“No one even knew I had the ball,” St. Brown told reporters afterward. “I don’t even think the safety that was looking at me knew I had the ball, and all I hear from the defense is, ‘Oh s--- ,’ from everyone. And I knew -- I knew at that point it was going to be a big play.”

Washington’s secondary struggled early last season with communication, stemming in part from having three new players among its top five defensive backs. The Commanders say communication is no longer the issue.

“We communicate very well; nothing has changed in that aspect,” safety Bobby McCain said. “We have to be better on the little things, be more detailed in practice and understand everyone has to do their job. We’ll get it done.”

 

When asked what happened in the first half Sunday, Forrest, starting in place of Curl, cited the scheme.

“It felt like they knew exactly what we were in,” Forrest said of the first half. “It was great offensive playcalling.”

Allen, though, refuted that claim on Monday afternoon, saying the players deserved the blame.

“I’m not a fan of putting a lot of things on the coaches. We’ve got to be the ones executing,” he said.

 

Rivera said the breakdowns are typically about one player not executing. Indeed, of Detroit’s 425 yards, 227 came on six plays. For example, he said, on a 22-yard touchdown catch by D'Andre Swift in the third quarter, a defensive back failed to rotate onto the Detroit back. Swift fell down, got back up and ran into the end zone -- all untouched. Ten players did their job; one didn’t -- and it cost them.

“It's not a group. It's not schematics. It is failure to put ourselves in position to force things to happen,” Rivera said. “There were six plays they made on that really gave us trouble. I'm not sure if I would put that much as much on schematics as much as I was some of the things that we’ve got to do better.”

Washington’s offense features explosive talent. Quarterback Carson Wentz has thrown seven touchdown passes in two games. The Commanders rank sixth in points and seventh in yards per game and are tied for second in most plays of 25 yards or more with seven -- a quarter of what they did all of last season. And they can score fast, with all of their points Sunday occurred after halftime.

 

Washington must correct its mistakes and knows it. The Commanders also will focus on the fact they have improved on third downs (fifth in the NFL) and that they stopped Detroit on its first two red zone trips -- forcing a field goal, then stopping them on downs. But the Lions then scored touchdowns on their next four trips in the scoring area. The defense looks good in moments and spurts -- but lacks consistency. And the inconsistency leads to points. The Commanders allow an NFL-worst 8.47 yards on first down -- a stat boosted by two plays that gained a combined 108 yards.

But they remain upbeat.

“If we keep putting our best foot forward,” McCain said, “it’ll happen for us.”

It has to. Otherwise, a season with the potential to be fun will be spoiled. Again.

Edited September 23, 2022 by Skinsinparadise

[Llevron]

31 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

 

 

So we are screwed lol 

[Skinsinparadise]

Just now, Llevron said:

 

So we are screwed lol 

 Probably so

[Mrshadow008]

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/lions-and-commanders-have-most-explosive-nfl-offenses-through-week-2/

 

 

Commanders and Lions tied at 11 a piece for the season. explosive plays defined as plays of 20 yards or more. we gave up 5 such plays on sunday to detroit. if my math is correct means philly gave up 6 such plays to detroit.