This weekend’s game versus the Detroit Lions is a huge one for the Philadelphia franchise. They’re sitting at 0-2 and facing a Lions team that is 2-0. A loss on Sunday would make the playoffs a remote possibility.
The Detroit squad has an explosive offense and needs to be kept in check by the Eagles defense, which will go to battle without Lito Sheppard.
The Eagles offense will probably have the services of Brian Westbrook but at less than 100% capacity. BWest is nursing a swollen and sore knee. The Eagles offense minus a 100% Brian Westbrook is not the same unit. They've got to change their strategy.
The other huge factor affecting the Eagles offense is the fact that Donovan McNabb is not any where near 100%. Vintage Donovan McNabb features unbelievable plays where McNabb eludes defenders and buys times for his receivers to get open. Donovan isn’t able to do that at the level that he has in the past because he’s only 9 months removed from a ACL surgery.
I think Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg must change their game plan to address McNabb’s condition. They’ve got to come out with an offensive game plan which emphasizes their running game. Regardless of what they do on the roster, they must activate rookie Tony Hunt and go into the game with Brian Westbrook, Correll Buckhalter and Hunt as the focus of their offense. McNabb can be effective if he’s kept fresh and only asked to throw the ball 20 to 30 times. They can’t employ a pass-happy scheme and expect him to scramble for his life time and time again.
We saw on Monday night when he was running out of bounds after at a scramble that he can’t stop on a dime. This shows that his knee is not ready to deal with the torque of stopping 240 lbs. going full speed. We also saw that Donovan can’t turn on the burners like he used to do, yet. You can’t put the weight of the entire offense on his shoulders. You’ve got to put that weight on the offensive line and running backs.
The Eagles defense will have its hand full with the Detroit offense and that’s why they should be kept off the field. They should treat McNabb like they did Jeff Garcia a year ago. Although McNabb looks like the same unbelievable playmaker that he was in the past, he’s not healthy enough for that right now.
