The Philadelphia Eagles’ next challenge will be against the Washington Football Team on Sunday afternoon. These two teams are on two different paths in the NFC East divisional race. The Eagles are coming off a dominant 34-10 victory over the New York Giants as they spoiled Jake Fromm’s NFL starting debut. The Eagles are in the playoffs as a wildcard team for now. This can easily change if Philadelphia slips up within the next two weeks. On the other hand, the Washington Football team is coming off a miserable 56-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Washington has lost three in a row and their playoff chances are pretty much out the window. This article will preview the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 17 game against the Washington Football Team.
Last time these two teams played
These two teams played very recently as they faced off in Week 15. The Eagles won that game by a score of 27-17. Philadelphia got off to a slow start as they were down by ten points going into the second quarter. This is where the success ended for the Washington Football Team as the Eagles outscored Washington 27- 7 in the last 3 quarters.
Photo courtesy of G Fiume/Getty Images.
The Eagles did this by utilizing their potent rushing attack as Miles Sanders had 131 yards on the ground. Jordan Howard also produced as he 68 yards on the ground. Philadelphia had an impressive 238 rushing yards overall during this game. As for the passing attack, Jalen Hurts had a great game as he had 296 yards passing the ball, one touchdown and one interception. His favorite pass catcher in that game was Dallas Goedert as he burned Washington for 134 yards receiving yards on nine targets.
Key differences heading into this matchup
There are two major differences going into this game. Firstly, for the Washington Football Team they will have Taylor Heinicke back, as he was on the Reserve/COVID 19 list in Week 15. Garrett Gilbert started in the Week 15 matchup between these two teams. Heinicke has had an impressive year as a young quarterback for Washington. He has over 3,000 yards passing the ball and 20 touchdowns. The Washington quarterback does struggle with throwing interceptions as he has 14 on the year. As for the Eagles, they will be without Miles Sanders as he broke his hand last week against the Giants. This will be a big blow for the Eagles because he has been on fire recently in the past couple weeks.
How can the Eagles win this game?
The Eagles can win this game by sticking to what they have been doing most of the season, which is running the ball. Even though they are missing Miles Sanders, Philadelphia has proven they can be just as successful without him. The Eagles started using this heavy run offense without Miles Sanders for a few games as he was injured earlier in the season. Howard is a tough runner and will be able to break tackles against this Washington defense. Scott on the other hand, has a lot of speed and is elusive as he is one of the smaller running backs in the league.
As for the passing attack, Hurts needs to keep making smart throws and avoid throwing into double and triple coverage. He has done a great job at limiting turnovers the past couple of games, but still makes the occasional mistake. This is okay though because Hurts is still learning the ways of the NFL.
As for the defense, they have played lights out the past couple of weeks. They held the Giants to ten points last weekend and did a really nice job defending the pass. The Eagles have also been forcing turnovers on defense which gives them more offensive possession and opportunities to score. They will need to blitz Heinicke and make him uncomfortable in pocket as it will force them into mistakes. If the Eagles can do these things on offense and defense, then they will have the best chance at winning this matchup. This concludes this Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 17 game preview.
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