UKHTTC touches down with the Eagles

This will be a tough one.

After just about hanging on vs a depleted New Orleans Saints, it is the 12-2 Philadelphia Eagles who step into town this Sunday. There might be a legitimate claim that as an overall roster, the Eagles are the best team NFL-wide.

Everywhere across the field there are problems for the Commanders and in particular, the Philadelphia Defense has been outstanding – they rank number one in TDs allowed and yardage allowed.

The threat is also there on the Offensive side of the football. AJ Brown and Devonta Smith are legitimate WR studs in the NFL, although this time out, Washington will be boosted by the presence of the outstanding Marshon Lattimore at Cornerback.

General Manager, Adam Peters, I have little doubt, acquired the services of Lattimore with exactly this kind of game in mind.

Of course, even if you negate the pass, there is Saquon Barkley to pop out the backfield; containment by the Washington DEs is a real need on Sunday.

Here at UKHTTC, we had a catch up with the unsurprisingly ultra-confident British and Irish Eagles, who provide a podcast and fan engagement in the UK and Ireland. Posing the questions is UKHTTC founder, Christian Burt.

UKHTTC: the Eagles are well on the way to an NFC East divisional title, but I assume Philadelphia are very much in win-now (i.e. Superbowl) mode. What gives you expectation that you can land the Lombardi and what gives you pause for thought?

I think the team are playing for each other.

In Philadelphia, nothing drives a team to succeed more than the media and fans getting on their back, especially when they are getting on their back when they are winning. You can tell the team is locked in.

Specifically, the DEF is on fire. If the DEF continues to play at the elite level that it is right now, then the Eagles OFF will be enough to take them to the promised land. If Fangio’s system falters, or we lose some key players, the OFF will need to continue to improve like they did against the Steelers.

How have the FAs performed this season for the Eagles?

Bryce Huff has huffed and puffed and not blown a thing down. Serious disappointment before he went off on IR. He is back in the practice window now, so we will see how many, if any, snaps he gets going forward.

Saquon Barkley: I mean do I really have to answer that question! The best Free Agent pick up maybe EVER in the NFL? MVP candidate right there.

And how is the 2024 rookie class looking?

Sexy AF.

CB Quinyon Mitchell is the favourite for the DROTY and literally no offensive coordinator or QB is throwing the ball his way. He has no INT, because he is literally locking down every number 1 WR that comes into town.

Cooper DeJean has been a stalwart. Punt Returner, Nickle Corner. He is a freak multi-sport athlete from college and could well be one of the steals of the draft. He is also in the running for DROTY and highlights how good Howie Roseman is as the GM of the Eagles.

Other mentions – Jalyx Hunt has been getting more and more reps at DE/LB and looks like he will carve out role for the birds. Rookie RB Will Shipley is sitting this year, let’s see if they keep Kenny Gainwell long term.

Where might Washington have some success on Sunday?

Normally you would say the run game, as they are third in the league in a lot of those stats. But our Rush Defence is elite.

Then you would say Scary Terry, but Mitchell locked him up last time and, if I was Washington, I’d do everything to get him away from Quinyon, but then you have Cooper DeJean and Darius Slay… mad to say it but Slay is probably the best to go up against there and he is still playing at a high level.

So that leaves me with Jayden Daniels hero ball…he has the talent!

And where do you feel that the Eagles can get the better of the Commanders?

Barkley had 198 yards from scrimmage last time, I expect a similar tactic from the Eagles given he had a quiet time out against the Steelers.

But to be honest, Eagles are playing complimentary football right now, baring a big drop off, I can’t see any other outcome other than Philadelphia win. Which is not what I said before we played earlier in the year, but the Eagles are a different team now.

Any under the radar guy to look out for?

Grant Calcaterra – backup TE, has played well with Goedert out. And Gainwell has been lighting it up the last few weeks when given the ball. Check out his spin moves last week; someone has been looking at Saquon in practice.

On the sideline and off-field generally, things can seem a bit techy for the Eagles. Do you see this as a problem?

Not at all. See answer at the start of this article.

Philadelphia thrive under media scrutiny; they are an emotional and passionate team that matches the City. And while some Eagles fans don’t like HC Sirianni, I personally can’t think of a better fit for the Eagles.

Score prediction for the game

Eagles 27 – 16 Commanders