 The Philadelphia Eagles were among the first group of teams to get their bye week in Week 4 and no other team could use it more. Donovan McNabb has been out since a gutsy run into the end zone in the third quarter in Week 1. His broke his ribs and the fans have been awaiting his return ever since. The team has faired decently with Kevin Kolb as the quarterback, going 1-1. The Eagles have been winning or losing big, winning in Week 1 38-10 over the Panthers and in Week 3 34-14 over the Chiefs while losing 22-48 against the Saints. It is difficult to gage this team. They decimated teams that have gone a combined 0-7 and lost to a 4-0 team. The numbers all look good for Philadelphia. The Eagles are second in putting up points according to scoring average and 12th in scoring defense average. Take away the Saints game and the team is giving up just 12 points a game. Then again those two teams are 29th and 30th in the league in scoring defense. The Eagles have two easy wins coming up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-4) and the Oakland Raiders (1-3) coming up after the bye. The first realistic test is in Week 7 against the Washington Redskins. The Redskins are 2-2 and have plenty of issues of their own, but they also are a divisional foe which immediately makes the game more difficult. After the Redskins the Eagles have a pretty difficult schedule without a single gimmee game. Starting in Week 5 Philadelphia will have a complete trio of quarterbacks with McNabb, Kolb, and Michael Vick in uniform. Vick's role has yet to be defined, but most expect a wildcat package. This could be the most dangerous one of these in the league with a proven quarterback threatening to pass or run. LeSean McCoy and Brian Westbrook have been a pretty good in the backfield. Westbrook has been struggling with his own injuries. The speedster turned 30 this season and has been showing signs of wear and tear over the past few seasons. In fact, Westbrook might be the key to the Eagles season. McNabb is a proven tough veteran, but without Westbrook Philadelphia could have a very tough time in the tough second half schedule. The best of the receivers is a tight end. Brent Celek jas the most grabs with 22 and is averaging more than 10 yards a catch, which is quite impressive for a tight end. DeSean Jackson is a game breaker with just 12 receptions but an average of 21.6 yards per catch. Jason Avent is the number two receiver and Kevin Curtis is coming back, meaning that the Philadelphia Eagles should have all the pieces back after the bye. The defense is pretty good against any other quarterback than Drew Brees. That is the case for just about every other team in the league. The Eagles have held every quarterback but Brees to less than 100 yards passing. The team escaped a major injury with a 1-1 record, they hope the next two games can give them time to gain momentum for perhaps the toughest latter half schedule in the league.
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