Eagles at Redskins
THE STORY: There have been a few games throughout Michael Vick’s career that have shown what a tremendous talent he can be. Last week’s debacle against the Buffalo Bills was not one of them. The most famous of all of his performances, and perhaps the one that earned him a big-money extension and set expectations so high for 2011, came against the Washington Redskins last November. This edition of the Redskins has had an extra week to prepare for Vick and the floundering Philadelphia Eagles, who will be trying to salvage their season when they visit FedEx Field on Sunday.
TV: FOX, 1 p.m. ET. LINE: Eagles -1, O/U 47.
ABOUT THE EAGLES (1-4): Instead of grabbing a big lead and letting a calamity of errors turn the game into a loss as it had in previous weeks, Philadelphia made most of its mistakes early against Buffalo last Sunday and fell into a hole. The Eagles almost came all the way back, but Vick’s fourth interception in the final quarter sealed their fourth straight loss. Even with the offensive mistakes, the defense is getting most of the blame. First-year coordinator Juan Castillo, who previously served as offensive line coach, has come under fire for failing to get much out of a unit that imported stars like Nnambi Asomugha, Jason Babin and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the offseason.
ABOUT THE REDSKINS (3-1): Washington’s defense is stout, highlighted by a pass rush that leads the NFL with 3.8 sacks per game. Rex Grossman has struggled a bit with six touchdowns and five interceptions and went into the Week 5 bye after posting a season-low 143 yards on 15-of-29 passing in a 17-10 win at St. Louis. One of the rare teams that relies on the running game, the Redskins are averaging 126.8 yards on the ground behind the three-pronged attack of Tim Hightower, Ryan Torain and Roy Helu.
EXTRA POINTS:
1. The Eagles put up a team-record 592 yards of offense and Vick became the first player in NFL history with 300 or more passing yards (333), 50 or more rushing yards (80), four passing touchdowns and two rushing TDs in the last meeting.
2. Philadelphia has never lost five straight in 13 years under Andy Reid.
3. Grossman has thrown for over 300 yards in three of four division games as the starter for Washington.