Big Plays Pace the Eagles past the Redskins

Thank God for some big plays in last night's Eagles game or we could have had another ugly loss on our hands. While the Birds did play better in their 27-17 win over Washington, despite two big plays they still did not look good on offense.

DeSean Jackson's 67 yard end around run for a touchdown in the first quarter and his 57 yard catch for a touchdown in the second quarter were all the Eagles really needed to win this game as by then they had a 27-7 lead which Washington never seriously threatened. The upsetting aspect of this game was the inconsistency of the offense in the second half. McNabb seemed to be throwing the ball at his receiver's feet all night long and for the second week in a row did not seem comfortable in the pocket. McNabb was only sacked three times and did not turn the ball over, but his completion percentage was only 60% going 15 for 25 for 156 yards. He will need a better performance than that to get a win this week over the visiting N.Y.Giants.

The good news for the offense, was a much better balance between the passing (26 attempts) and running ( 22 attempts) play mix. This would have probably been even better if RB Brian Westbrook didn't get knocked out early in the game with a concussion. In his place, rookie LeSean McCoy ran for only 37 yards on 14 attempts. The Eagles have to stay committed to the run especially against teams like New York and Dallas who they face over the next two weeks.

Defensive Coordinator Sean McDermott dialed up the proper level of heat to wreak havoc on Redskin QB Jason Campbell. Newly acquired LB Will Witherspoon was immediately thrown into the mix and had a major impact. He intercepted a tipped ball at the line of scrimmage and returned it for a touchdown, then later caused a fumble that led to a field goal. They will have to be able to do the same thing this week against Eli Manning, as he has been turning the ball over in bunches his last two games when put under pressure.

The bottom line is a win is a win in this league, especially against a divisional opponent. It moves the Eagles to 4-2 on the year with a chance to move into first place with a win on Sunday. With the Giants coming off of two straight losses, something tells me they are going have to play a lot better than they did on Monday night to pull this off.