IS GLAD SPRING TRAINING IS FINALLY HERE
LES BOWEN'S PICK
After last week, so much for my resolution not to get all hand-wringy over what ought to be easy games.
Going into yesterday’s action, I was doing a way better job picking outcomes for the rest of the league than I was with the Eagles, which is kind of disturbing, since I spend all week around the Eagles and about 10 minutes on sorting out all the other games. Perhaps a little knowledge really is a dangerous thing. Or maybe this team is really, really confounding.
There is much here to beware. Another desperate opponent that will be trying to prove something. And last week, the Birds seemed to be spiraling into one of those offensive funks that often takes them weeks to solve. The Redskins, for all their ineptitude, have a solid defense, working against a cross-your-fingers-and-hope Eagles offensive line.
But somehow, I am picking the Eagles to cover. I don’t want to believe that we are back in 2008, watching a talented team wander around aimlessly before pulling itself together at the last possible moment. The Eagles are a better team than the Redskins. Marty Mornhinweg and Andy Reid aren’t Hall-of-Fame-caliber playcallers, but they didn’t just come out of retirement to run some other guy’s offense, the way Sherm Lewis will be doing.
Prediction: Eagles 20, Redskins 12.
DOMO'S KEY MATCHUPS
1. Eagles LG Todd Herremans and C Jamaal Jackson vs. Redskins RDT Albert Haynesworth: Herremans hasn’t played a down yet this season and Jackson often struggles with bigger, stronger tackles. Advantage: Redskins
2. Eagles RDE Trent Cole vs. Redskins LT Stephon Heyer: Heyer was flipped from the right side to the left after Chris Samuels got hurt. He’ll struggle without help vs. the non-stop Trent Cole. Advantage: Eagles
3. Eagles WR Jason Avant vs. Redskins CB Fred Smoot: Avant, the Eagles’ slot receiver, has just three catches in the last three games, but has a size-and-strength advantage inside vs. the Redskins’ nickel corner. Advantage: Eagles
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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