The Eagles come out of their bye with a 3-3 record, and a home game against the Atlanta Falcons, who are 4-2, and also off a bye. The Eagles are very successful under Andy Reid coming off a bye, having a 10-0 record in games after the bye.
This game is also set to feature the return of Brian Westbrook to the lineup, and the first appearance of Kevin Curtis in the lineup. This should help the offense a lot, especially if the Eagles can establish a rushing attack, and then use play action to burn the Falcons. With Curtis, and DeSean Jackson, the Eagles will feature two very quick receivers, who can go deep, and also go short over the middle. Moving the ball hasn't been the Eagles problem this season, the problem has been putting the ball in the end zone when deep in the opponents territory. We sound like a broken record when we say it, but L.J. Smith and the other tight ends will need to come up with some big catches for the Eagles to improve in the red zone.
On defense, the Eagles will have to contend with Michael Turner, who is one of the NFL's leading rushers, and according to the Eagles defensive players, one of the hardest players to tackle. The Eagles will need to swarm to the ball with multiple defenders, and wrap up Turner if they want to have success. You have to key in on stopping Turner, since the Falcons have a rookie QB. Matt Ryan has played well this season, but you still would rather put the ball in his hands than Turner's. With the Eagles pressure defense, they should be able to devise a scheme to confuse the rookie QB.
The Eagles need to win this game with so many NFC teams in front of them right now, including everyone in the NFC East, and their opponent today. A win today will get the Eagles back over .500, which they need to do, with some big NFC East games upcoming.
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