Eagles Strong Even Without McNabb

Eagles Strong Even Without McNabb

In week 2 the Eagles may not “Brees” through the Saints like they did through the Panthers. The word out of Philadelphia is that Kevin Kolb will be starting in place of Donovan McNabb if he is unable to play on Sunday due to his broken rib. The players and coaching staff in Philadelphia have expressed their confidence in Kolb getting the start, but not everyone feels this way, especially Philly fans.

Rightfully so, Kolb has not been too impressive in his regular season performances. Last year Kolb was only called in for the second half of the Ravens game in which McNabb was benched, or if a game was clinched and they wanted to give him some snaps for experience.  Whatever his reasons may have been for being called on, in 34 pass attempts Kolb has thrown four interceptions and only completed 50 percent of these passes. If he does throw up a stinker don’t be surprised to see the recently re-acquired Jeff Garcia clip up the chinstrap and trot onto the field.

Kolb himself on the other hand is rather confident that he will do fine on game day and believes he has a more firm grip on the offense now and at game time. “I think I pressed too much, I tried to show everyone I was ready, you can’t press as a quarterback. That’s in the forefront of my mind: relax and play smooth. Let the guys we have out there make plays.”

Kolb has it correct, in order for the Eagles to keep up against the Saints this weekend, the players the Eagles do have on the field have to make plays. Kolb needs to get the ball into the hands of Brian Westbrook early and often. The most important key to victory in this game is keeping the Saint’s powerhouse offense off of the field. The only way to do that is with long sustaining drives. In order for Westbrook to succeed, DeSean Jackson must be a factor in the passing game and Wildcat to help move the chains. Last week he had an incredible performance with 33 yards rushing and a punt return for a touchdown. These are beautiful statistics, but if the defence and special teams are not as productive as they were last week, the Eagles will need a balanced attack to win this game.

The other key to victory in this game is the Eagles defence; it needs to pick up any offensive shortcomings on Sunday going up against the league’s top rated pass offense led by Drew Brees. Last week he torched the Lions for 358 yards and 6 touchdowns. It is likely to say that this will not happen this week against the Eagles, but Sheldon Brown, Asante Samuel, and Ellis Hobbs clearly have their work cut out for them.  The defence should be riding an emotional high after Sunday’s castration of Jake Delhomme and the Panthers, but Sean McDermott (Jim Johnson’s protégé) needs to prove that week ones performance was not just a fluke. If he can create as much pressure as was accomplished last week the offense should be provided with many chances.

Follow us on Twitter: @GridironExperts