The Eagles have hope once again following their much-needed 17-10 victory over the New York Giants last Sunday night. At 4-6, the Eagles are two games behind both the Giants and Dallas Cowboys, but with a 3-1 record in the division, they would likely be in good shape should any tiebreaker circumstance arrive. But the coaches and players for the Eagles will tell you that they're a long way away from concerning themselves with playoff implications. Rather, the beat goes on in "taking it game by game," and this week that means preparing for Tom Brady and the 7-3 New England Patriots.
The Patriots will be working on a short week after dismantling the Kansas City Chiefs 34-3 on Monday Night Football. Offensively, the Patriots rank second in the league thanks to their dynamic, versatile passing game. Brady has been his usual sterling self, sporting a 102.5 quarterback rating, good for second in the league. The Eagles defense will be tested because the Patriots' top targets are all threats in the middle of the field: Wes Welker, who leads the league in both receptions and receiving yardage, and the tight end tandem of Rob Gronkowski (second in the league with 10 receiving touchdowns) and Aaron Hernandez.
But the Eagles figure to score plenty of points as well against the Patriots, who rank 32nd in the league in yards allowed. Of course, the performance of the Eagles offense hinges on the health of Michael Vick. Recovering from two broken ribs, Vick had to watch from home as his teammates took home the win in New Jersey last weekend, but he'll do whatever it takes to play as soon as possible. If he's unable to play this week, Vince Young will get an opportunity to build on his win last week which was highlighted by the impressive 18-play, 80-yard game-winning touchdown drive. The Eagles will also hope to get wide receiver Jeremy Maclin back, who missed last week's game with a shoulder and hamstring injury. Regardless, the focus for the Eagles will be to bottle up the energy they provided against the Giants and use it against the Patriots in order to secure a win at home for only the second time this season.
When The Patriots Have The Ball:Juan Castillo faces what will arguably be his toughest test of the regular season when he has to scheme how to stop future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady. Brady is having another stellar season as he has completed 65.4 percent of his passes for 3,266 yards (2nd in NFL), 25 touchdowns (2nd in NFL) and a 102.5 QB Rating (yes, 2nd in NFL). Sure, he's thrown 10 interceptions on the year but four of them came in one game - the Week 3 loss at Buffalo. Castillo has not blitzed much this season (12.9 percent on third down pass plays through nine games), which could work well because that isn't necessarily the best way to beat Brady. Against the blitz this season, Brady has completed 64 percent of his pass attempts (73/114) for 1,039 yards with eight touchdowns against just one interception. His 113.2 QB rating against the blitz is the third-best in the NFL. And Brady is so good at getting rid of the ball quickly, that even when a team blitzes him he is only sacked 5.8 percent of the time - 7th-best in the league.
The Patriots are unique because their top skill-position players do most of their damage in the middle of the field. Slot receiver Wes Welker leads the league in receptions (76) and yards (1,028) and has scored six touchdowns this season. Tight end Rob Gronkowski is setting all-time touchdown records for the position. On Monday night, Gronkowski had two touchdown grabs to reach 20 for his career in just 26 games, the fewest amount of games for a tight end to reach that total in NFL history. Gronkowski's numbers aren't just good for tight ends. He is fifth among all players with 56 receptions and seventh with 805 receiving yards. Gronkowski's 10 receiving touchdowns are second in the NFL. And don't discount Gronkowski's counterpart at tight end in Aaron Hernandez. Slowed down by a knee injury earlier in the season which caused him to miss two games, Hernandez still has 41 catches for 418 yards and five touchdowns. To put that in perspective, Jeremy Maclin leads the Eagles with 46 catches for 612 yards and four touchdowns.
Those weapons in the middle of the field - along with Brady's quick-throwing ability - are key in the red zone. The Patriots have scored a touchdown 62.2 percent of the time inside the 20, which ranks third in the league. The Patriots are first in the league in total red zone points with 233 and are fourth in points per red zone trip (5.18).
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