PREFERS TEMPLE'S OFFENSE TO PRINCETON'S
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.
Paul Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982. He has spent most of his 27 years at 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 came to the Daily News from the Fort Worth (Tx.) Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually wa s boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose two sports coats to blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley, a University of Oklahoma grad and very dangerous to be around following a Sooner loss, have been married 29 years and have raised 2 terrific daughters – Allison, 26, a lawyer and graduate of Boston University School of Law; and Amy, 23, who graduated from Clemson and works in marketing and sales for a professional baseball team.
