The Philadelphia Eagles are treating Monday night like a playoff game
The Philadelphia Eagles are looking to stay on top of the NFL this Monday night.
Just like that the Philadelphia Eagles are sitting alone at the top of the entire NFL. With a record of 5-1, the Eagles prepare for a three-game stretch at home. They will have their second battle of the season with the Washington Redskins on Monday night football. The Redskins are coming to Lincoln Financial Field with a 3-2 record. They may be two games behind the Eagles in the division, but that doesn’t mean the Eagles are taking this game lightly.
NBC Philly’s John Clark caught up with Eagles linebacker Nigel Bradham on Friday. Bradham stated that the Eagles are basically treating this week’s game like the NFC Championship. It may not be a battle among the best in the conference, but it is definitely a battle between the two best in the division.
An Eagles victory on Monday not only helps them maintain the best record in the conference, but it gives them an 3-0 record against divisional opponents. It could also be sweet revenge for the Eagles to sweep the Redskins after being swept by them in the past two seasons. They were able to pull out the victory on the road in week one, can they finish the job at home?
The take-over…
At this point in time, the Eagles know that anything less than clinching a playoff berth would be a failure. Over the last two weeks, they have been deemed as Super Bowl contenders. Although they have to keep reminding themselves to remain humble, there is no doubt they can maintain this momentum.
Since the first week of the season, the Eagles have shown major improvements in certain weak spots. They rushed for only 58 yards in week one against Washington. Since then, the Eagles have been averaging 132.5 yards-per-game. Offenses have not been reciprocating the numbers against the Eagles defense, either. They have out-rushed opponents 795-394 this season. That is pretty impressive for a team who had little to no run game last year.
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Along with the rushing game, the passing game has been excellent as well. Quarterback Carson Wentz has been ranked in the top five in passing yards and passing touchdowns through week six. Those numbers prove that he is clearly worthy of all of the MVP talks over the past week. The Eagles may not be the underdogs this week, but they don’t think for a second that this game is a guaranteed win. They will be taking it one game at a time and treating the rivalry games like the conference championship.