THE MATCHUP
Philadelphia Eagles (3-2) at Washington Redskins (2-4)
Monday, October 26, 2009 @ 8:30 PM ET
Fed Ex Field, Landover, MD

THE LINE
Eagles are the favorite, giving 7 1/2. The Under/Over is 37 1/2

THE RECORD
The Eagles are 3-2 Overall, 2-1 at Home and 1-1 Away.
They are 2-1 in the NFC and 0-0 in the NFC East
The Eagles have scored 136 points and given up 99.

The Redskins are 2-4 Overall, 2-1 at Home and 0-3 on the Road.
They are 2-3 in the NFC and 0-1 in the NFC East.
The Chargers have scored 79 points and given up 96.

2009 TRENDS AGAINST THE SPREAD (ATS)
The Eagles are 3-2 ATS.
The Eagles are 1-1 ATS away.
The Eagles are 1-0 ATS as the underdog.
The Eagles are 1-0 ATS as an away underdog.
The Redskins are 1-4 ATS.
The Redskins are 0-3 ATS at home.
The Redskins are 1-0 ATS as the underdog.
The Redskins have not been a home underdog.
PREGAME ANALYSIS
The key to this game is the Philadelphia passing offense. If they bounce back from their poor performance last week against the Raiders, and gain over 250 yards in the air with no interceptions the Eagles are 80% favorites. Statistically speaking, if the Redskins can hold the Eagles to under 220 yards passing, they have a chance of a big upset.

GAME PREDICTION
Philadelphia Eagles 24 Washington Redskins 10

The Giants loss to Arizona should have the Eagles ready to play. An Eagles win puts them a 1/2 game out in the NFC East.
The handing off of play calling duties from coach Jim Zorn to newcomer Sherm Lewis will not be enough for the Redskins to pull out a miracle.

GAME INFO:
Teams: Philadelphia Eagles vs Minnesota Vikings
Game Date/Time: Sun, Jan 4, 2009 4:30 pm EST
Location: Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota
TV: FOX

THE TEAMS
The Philadelphia Eagles finished the season 9-6-1. They averaged 26 a game while giving up 18 points a game. They were 2-4 in the NFC East and 7-5 in the NFC.

Eagles QB Donovan McNabb has been on a tear recently. He has thrown 23 TDs and 3916 yards in 2008. Running Back Brian Westbrook and Wide Receiver DeSean Jackson lead the Eagles offense.

The Minnesota Vikings finished in first place in the NFC East with a record of 10-6. They have scored a liitle more than 23 points a game while giving up on average 21 points a game.

The Vikings are led by QB Gus Frerotte (12 TDS and 2157 yards), running back Adrian Peterson (10 TDs and 1760 yards) and wide receiver Bernard Berrian (7 TDs and 964 yards).

THE LINE
The Philadelphia Eagles are favorite by 3 points (-3) with the Over/Under of 41 points

AGAINST THE SPREAD 2008 REGULAR SEASON
The Eagles are 10-6 Overall ATS, 8-4 against conference opponents and 4-4 in road games. They are 8-5 as the favorite and 0-1 as the road favorite.

The Vikings are 6-10 Overall ATS and 4-8 against conference opponents. They are 3-5 in home games, 3-5 as the underdog and 0-1 as the underdog at home

THE PREVIEW
This is an extremely close game in simulations with the Eagles winning just under 51 percent of the simulations. The key to the game is turnovers. The Vikings nearly missed the playoffs because of their fumbling problems. The Eagles made the playoffs because the play-making defense forced three turnovers including 2 forced fumbles last week. If the Eagles force two or more turnovers their chances increase from 51 to 61 percent. However, if the Vikings hold onto the ball and have no more than 1 turnover they are favored winning 63 percent of these simulations. Another key is the Vikings run defense which is arguably the best when at full strength. However, since Pat Williams missed the last two games of the season they allowed 70 yards and 1 TD to Michael Turner and 77 yards on 5.1 ypc to Derrick Ward. Their last 2 opponents ran for over 100 yards on the Vikings defense. While Brian Westbrook is only averaging 3.4 ypc it is up from the 2.8 he averages if the Vikings were at full strength defensively. If Westbrook has at least 50 rushing yards the Eagles have a 67 percent chance of winning. If he is under 50 yards the Eagles win just 36 percent of the time. Adrian Peterson is averaging over 110 rushing yards per sim, but he is averaging twice as many lost fumbles as Westbrook. It will be vitally important for Peterson to hold onto the ball.

THE PREDICTION
Philadelphia Eagles 21 Minnesota Vikings 10

The Eagles started the season slowly and looked like they were out of playoff contention. QB Donovan McNabb was benched for a game. When he came back, so did the Eagles. But the Eagles defense is as good as any team right now. They come off a 44-6 pounding of the Dallas Cowboys to get into the playoffs. The Vikings don’t have a chance

sources: espn, fox sports, cbs sports, nbc sports

TEAMS
Dallas Cowboys (5-3) at New York Giants (6-1)

GAME INFO
November 2, 2008
Time: 4:15
TV: Fox
Surface: Field Turf - Giants Stadium
Weather: More sun than clouds. Cool. 55° F. 6mph wind

SPREAD
N.T Giants (-9)  Under/Over 41 Points

TEAM STANDINGS
The Dallas Cowboys are in jeopardy of falling out of the NFC East playoff race with half the season to go. They trail the New York Giants (6-1) and Washington Redskins (6-2). The Philadelphia Eagles are right behind them at 4-3.

The New York Giants, on the other hand, have reeled off two consecutive wins and are in first place in the NFC East.

MOMENTUM
The Dallas Cowboys started the season strong, winning their first 3 games. Since then, they are 2-3. The Cowboys are 2-2 on the road and 3-3 against NFC teams. They beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Home last week by a score of 13-9. The Cowboys are averaging a little over 25 points a game while giving up, on average, 24 points a game.

The New York Giants are 4-0 at home and 4-0 against NFC teams. They have won 2 straight going into Sunday’s game.  They have won two in a row, are 4-0 at home, and 1-2 on the road.  They are averaging 27 points a game while giving up only 16.  In the fourth quarter of last Sunday’s game they held the Pittsburgh Steelers to -18 yards total offense - just an outstanding feat, considering the Steelers offense is led by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

KEY INJURIES
Cowboys: OG Kyle Kosier (foot sprain), RB Felix Jones (hamstring), CB Terence Newman (sports hernia) and QB Tony Romo (broken right pinkie) are out; TE Jason Witten (broken rib) said he wants to find a way to play if possible. Giants: OLB Gerris Wilkinson (knee) is out.

KEYS TO THE GAME
According to NFl.com, QB Brad Johnson will start, but if he struggles early the Cowboys won’t hesitate to turn to Brooks Bollinger, who took practice snaps with the first team this week. The 40-year-old Johnson lacks arm strength and mobility, making it difficult for him to get out of the way of the Giants’ ferocious pass rush or hurt New York vertically. Either quarterback will need a massive game from RB Marion Barber to alleviate the pressure. … If CB Anthony Henry isn’t ready to play, the Cowboys will start a pair of rookies in Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick. Even when healthy, Dallas would have a difficult time matching up with all of the Giants’ options downfield, so the Cowboys desperately need an effective pass rush. Giants QB Eli Manning is still prone to critical errors when forced to unload the ball before he wants to.

SERIES HISTORY
This is the 92nd regular-season meeting between the two. The Cowboys lead the series 54-35-2. The Cowboys won the two regular-season games last year, but the Giants beat the Cowboys in the playoffs en route to winning the Super Bowl title. A Cowboys win would be their fourth straight regular-season win against the Giants.

PICK PREDICTION

Giants 27-13
Take the Giants even though they are giving nine points to the ‘Boys.

• The Giants defense is just too good
• Brad Johnson lack of mobility
• Giants are playing at home
• The weather will not hamper Eli Manning