Eagles must stand firm versus Washington, Cowboys ground attacks

What can the Philadelphia Eagles defense expect to see in Sunday’s matchup?

If the Eagles find themselves in danger of losing this game, it will be for one reason. Washington would have found success by consistently pounding the ball up the middle and finding their tailbacks in the passing game. That would, then, open the play-action game

Outside of that (and the presence of Terry McLaurin), nothing about Washington’s offense is consistently scary. Philadelphia can’t let the enemy’s playmakers get a hot hand.

Gibson has the eighth-most rushing yards in the league, but Washington has gone away from him as of late. He isn’t fully impacting any game that he’s playing in. Patterson has shown flashes as a decent backup in recent weeks, so the Eagles will need to gameplan for him.

If Washington relies on what’s been a floundering passing attack, the Birds and their pass rush should feast. Taylor Heincke completed just seven of 22 pass attempts, He racked up 122 yards, and he threw for one touchdown versus two interceptions in the loss to the Dallas Cowboys. You have to hope for a similar performance in Week 17.

Heincke was also sacked four times last Sunday. That’s encouraging news for a team that has yet to consistently get to the other team’s signal-caller.