ALMOST SNUCK ONTO THE PHILS' TRUCK
The Eagles return to the West Coast to face the San Diego Chargers. Les Bowen will be blogging live from Qualcomm Stadium, but we get the morning started with our staff picks, key matchups and some other notes:
STAFF PICKS
Les Bowen: Chargers, 27-23 (More on Les' selection, by clicking here)
Ed Barkowitz: Chargers, 27-19
Bill Conlin: Chargers, 21-20
Paul Domowitch: Chargers, 31-20
Marcus Hayes: Chargers, 28-20
Mike Kern: Chargers, 27-20
Vegas Vic: Eagles, 23-19 (For Vic's Week 10 selections, click here)
DOMO'S KEY MATCHUPS
1. Eagles WRs DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin vs. Chargers CBs Antonio Cromartie and Quentin Jammer: Jackson and Maclin need to be factors for the Eagles to win. Cromartie and Jammer can be exploited if Donovan McNabb has time to throw deep. Advantage: Eagles
2. Eagles OTs Jason Peters and Winston Justice vs. Chargers OLBs Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips: Merriman and Phillips have combined for seven sacks in the last two games. Peters is playing on a bad ankle and Justice is unreliable. Advantage: Chargers
3. Eagles CBs Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown vs. Chargers WRs Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd: Samuel and Brown have combined for nine interceptions this season, but are going to have problems dealing with Jackson's and Floyd's size. Both are 6-5. Advantage: Chargers
NOTES
* Despite being listed as questionable, Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman assured reporters that he will play today. “Questionable?” a surprised Merriman said. “That's what they list me? No, they didn't.”
* Based on his Twitter page, Shawn Andrews was in San Diego on Saturday, visiting with his teammates. Andrews, out for the season on injured reserve, has been in Los Angeles doing rehab work on his back.
* The Eagles are second in the league in takeaways with 22, but they have turned those 22 turnovers into only 69 points. The New Orleans Saints have a league-high 24 takeaways, which they have turned into 93 points. The Giants are second in points off takeaways with 78 on 17. Green Bay has 68 points on 18 takeaways.
* This will be the Eagles' first trip to the West Coast since the debacle in Oakland. "Our last trip didn’t go so well," safety Quintin Mikell said. "That was a long trip back from Oakland after a loss, so I think everybody is a lot more focused this time and we know what’s at stake.”
* Another stat of note: During their three-game winning streak, the Chargers have recorded 15 sacks, including seven by Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips.
Les
Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News
since 2002.
Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les
only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no
penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite
what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News
from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much
lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their
two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with the paper covering the
Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a
selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre
and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
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