NFC East Preview - Week 2

Washington Redskins

The first team to kickoff this coming Sunday will be the 1-0 Redskins as they take on the Cardinals, who are also 1-0, at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland. Washington is coming off a solid outing against the New York Giants which was surprisingly led by former Bears outcast Rex Grossman. Grossman torched the New York secondary as he tossed the ball for 305 yards and 2 TD’s and only made one mistake when he fumbled on a hit by the Giants pass rush. Rex will oppose QB Kevin Kolb who looked good against the Panthers at home which may or may not say anything considering the Panthers history over the past couple of seasons. It appears that this could be a very even matchup considering both QB’s put up equal numbers against their week 1 opponent’s. It is obviously a time will tell situation as to whether both men are for real or not with Kolb’s inexperience and Grossman’s propensity to be a turnover machine. I’ll give the edge to Washington based solely on the fact that they will be playing at home and a slight edge in offensive personnel.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys enter week 2 with another road game in San Francisco and coming off their first loss in franchise history when leading by 14 points in the fourth quarter. Of course the loss was also aided by a horrible late in the game interception by Tony Romo who clearly never saw Revis. Their opponents, the 49ers, are coming off a win at home against the Seattle Seahawks delivered only by two late game TD returns from Ted Ginn, Jr. Alex Smith and the offense held their own to keep the game close but certainly did not post flashy numbers as we saw from numerous QB’s around the league. The most impressive number from smith had to be that he only had five incomplete passes in twenty attempts. Dallas however was quite the opposite as they played a great game and dominated a highly touted Jets defense. The only problem was they played that great game for three quarters instead of four. This one should go to America’s team fairly easily as the Cowboys have shown they can play at a high level and let’s be honest I don’t think many people trust Alex Smith and it should only be a matter of time before he starts disappointing yet again.

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Philadelphia Eagles

Well the self proclaimed “Dream Team” Eagles looked good this past week against the Rams with Michael Vick leading the charge as usual both in the air and on the ground. Philly’s key players had huge days as expected with McCoy rushing for over 100 yards on top of Vick’s 100 himself and the lightning quick Jackson had 100 plus receiving on just 6 grabs with a TD. Now these numbers are to be expected from the players involved since they played the Rams who may be improved this year but not that much improved. The biggest story heading into this week’s matchup for Philadelphia is that they will be playing the Atlanta Falcons down in Atlanta which will be the first trip back to Atlanta for Michael Vick since his off the field arrest and subsequent jail time for dog fighting. This story makes it perfect for primetime television which is why the game will be the Sunday Night game. The Falcons are coming off a loss to the Bears despite 300 plus yards through the air for Matt Ryan. The ultimate downfall of the Falcons of course was the fact that they had three turnovers including an interception of Ryan by Bears star linebacker Brian Urlacher. Expect this game to be fairly high scoring with the edge going to Atlanta for the simple fact that they want to rebound after a poor showing against Chicago. The interesting matter to be seen will be the fan reaction to Vick and whether or not it will affect his play at all.

New York Giants

Finally we come to the New York Football Giants who will be showcased on Monday Night Football. The Giants are coming off an obviously disappointing loss to the aforementioned Redskins. Even with the Giants non-existent moves during the offseason and the numerous injuries suffered during the preseason nobody had to expect this poor performance. New York’s defense was terrible especially in the secondary where Aaron Ross and Corey Webster were lit up. The only bright spots for New York were Pierre-Paul and Michael Boley. Eli and his receivers couldn’t get on the same page for most of the game and their running game was not nearly as good as everyone expected. The good news is they play at home this week and they get the Rams. St. Louis is coming off a loss to Philadelphia as mentioned earlier but the bigger loss for the Rams was on the injury front. Bradford had to leave after getting his thumb hit on a pass attempt, Stephen Jackson departed very early after injuring his quad and receiver Danny Amendola departed after dislocating his elbow which could sideline him for more than just this week. Look for the Giants to win this game as Bradford is expected to play but who knows how effective he can be with that thumb and with Jackson out completely. Then again everyone said the same about New York when Rex Grossman was named the starter against them and we all saw how that turned out.

By Ed Murphy
Pro Football Fans Staff Writer