Monday Night Football features a big NFC East showdown as the Washington Redskins (6-5) take on the Philadelphia Eagles (5-6), who are looking to get even within a game of the surging Dallas Cowboys.
For the traveling Redskins, this meeting with the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field won’t be an easy challenge as they’re not at full strength.
They’ve already lost four starters to injury for the season, including quarterback Alex Smith, and his replacement, Colt McCoy, did not perform well in his first start in three years as he threw three picks against the Dallas Cowboys in last week’s 31-23 loss.
The good news for Washington injury-wise is the expected returns of wide receiver Jamison Crowder and running back Chris Thompson. The bad news? Their performance on Monday Night Football.
Since 2013 they’re 1-8 on Monday night. Since 2008 they’re 2-13, and since 2001 their record is 4-18.
That’s very encouraging for an Eagles team that is coming off a 25-22 home win against the New York Giants but also has health issues.
They’ve several guys that are banged up in their secondary and the Redskins will try to take advantage of that. Of course, for that to happen McCoy has to play better and start to cut back on those costly interceptions.
On defense, the Redskins must focus on stopping tight end Zach Ertz, who’s having an unbelievable season with 84 catches on 111 targets for 895 yards and six touchdowns.
They, of course, have to also keep an eye on former Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate, who despite having only 11 catches on 20 targets through his first three games with the Eagles is capable of producing a lot more going forward.
The problem, of course, may not be Tate himself, but the Eagles offense, which in the last three games has averaged 16.3 points per game as opponents have held quarterback Carson Wentz to three touchdowns and picked him four times in that span.
Although the Redskins have a tough run defense, which ranks seventh in the league, the Eagles will try to rely heavily on their ground attack to break through it with Josh Adams, who has averaged 5.2 yards per rush this season and has had several big runs the last couple of weeks for them.
The Eagles are the favorite in this game with the spread at -6, the moneyline at -260, the comeback at +220, and the total for the game at 44.5.
Prediction: Redskins 17 – 28 Eagles
