Current Odds

The oddsmakers opened Philadelphia as a 3-point road favorite last week and the money has come in Philadelphia, pushing the spread to 3½ in many locations, while others have adjusted the juice only and made the Eagle -3 -125. Oddsmakers are often reluctant to move off the key number of ‘3’ as favorites win by exactly a field goal 10% of the time.

The Over/Under line opened 41½ and has risen to 42½ total points. Both the side and total line moves coincide with the current consensus sites as 70% of the public is favoring the Eagles, while 72% is supporting the Over.

The weather will be nice on Monday night as the forecast is calling for clear conditions with no wind and a kickoff temperature of 50 degrees.

Injury Report

The Eagles are banged up on defense and will be without two defensive backs as both Ellis Hobbs (hip) and Nate Allen (neck) are out this week, while defensive end Victor Abiamiri (knee) was placed on the injured reserve list and will be out for the rest of the season. Defensive end Juqua Parker (hip) and defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley (elbow) are probable and expected to play.

The Eagles are also battling injuries on the offensive line as center Jamaal Jackson (elbow) remains out for the season, while center Nick Cole (knee) is probable. Offensive guard Max Jean-Gilles (concussion) and tackle King Dunlap (knee) are questionable, while guard Todd Herremans (ankle) is probable and expected to play.

The Redskins had a bye last week, but still have a large injury list. Quarterback Donovan McNabb (hamstring) and running back Ryan Torain are both probable, while running back Clinton Portis (groin) remains doubtful. Tight end Chris Cooley (back) is questionable.

Two key defensive players, safety LaRon Landry (achilles) and linebacker Brian Orakpo (back), are both listed as probable and expected to play tonight.

Chance at Redemption

In the first meeting of the season, Washington beat Philadelphia 17-12. A big reason for that was the Redskins ability to run the ball with great success on the Eagles; they ran for 169 yards and averaged over 5.0 yards per carry. Following that performance, the Philadelphia defense was verbally chewed out by head coach Andy Reid and defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, and the players are looking forward to atoning for their effort in that game.

”Lets just say this, man. When we got to that team meeting, it definitely wasn’t a happy moment. You can put it like that,” linebacker Ernie Sims said. “We walked out of the room like, “Man, Coach Reid really meant what he said. That was an awkward day and I just pray I don't have to go through that again.”

The Eagles have improved their rush defense since that game. In their last four games, the Eagles haven’t allowed an opponent to rush for more than 75 yards. In three of those games they held Frank Gore, Michael Turner, and Chris Johnson to a total of 163 yards on 57 carries, an average of 2.9 yards per carry; the Eagles now rank 12th against the run in the NFL after those performances.

No Sliding for Vick

Last month, Washington knocked Eagles’ quarterback Michael Vick out for three games with cracked rib cartilage on a hit on the goal line. Vick was scrambling when he took the hit, sandwiched in between two Redskins as he attempted to get into the end zone. He could have slid, but Vick dove instead and ended up getting hurt on the play.

The Eagles coaching staff likes Vick’s aggressiveness and they are fine with him not sliding when he’s in the open field. “Yeah, Mike doesn’t slide. No, that’s OK,” offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said. “I don’t want to name any names, but there are great quarterbacks who never slid. They go head-first and get an underneath hit.”

Mornhinweg said Vick has the discipline in the open field to scramble without being vulnerable to career-threatening hits. “Sometimes when you have active quarterbacks, it looks like a free-for-all and it’s not,” he said. “It’s very disciplined with the really good ones, and Mike was really disciplined within his movements and all of the decision-making that he made.”

Eagle Says Vick is Easy

Donovan McNabb was the heart and soul of the Philadelphia offense for years, but one of his former teammates was quick to say that McNabb is “not that difficult a quarterback to play against.” Eagles’ Pro Bowl defensive end Trent Cole made that statement in a radio interview this week, and he isn’t taking anything back.

”I didn’t say nothing bad about him,” Cole said. “What I said was what I meant. They asked me if he's a difficult quarterback to go against. I said no, because I don’t think we have a problem with him. We never had a problem with him.”

Based on the first game, it seems as if Cole’s comments are accurate. Despite winning the game, McNabb passed for a season-low 125 yards in his homecoming game in Philadelphia. He completed just 8 of his 19 passes while throwing a touchdown and an interception.

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