After a close to brilliant Monday night performance against Andrew Luck and the Colts, the Jets return home to take on the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles are coming off of what may have been the ugliest game I ever watched on TV. Free Agent signing DeMarco Murray was held to 2 yards on 13 carries and the Eagles offensive line was absolutely terrible. They had a hard time with the Cowboys front 7 which made a clearly rusty Sam Bradford look like a QB playing with a blindfold. The Jets on the other hand played one of the most aggressive defensive games I have seen in a long time. They held the Colts offense to just 7 points and for a second week in a row forced 5 turnovers. On the offensive side of the ball, the Jets had a hard time running the ball early but were able to hit some nice plays through the air. Brandon Marshall hauled in a perfectly thrown Ryan Fitzpatrick pass carrying 2 defenders in the endzone for one of the Jets TD's. Eric Decker had an explosive first half catching Fitzpatricks other TD pass.
Let’s take a look at how these to teams pair with each other.
At QB, I call the match up even. I understand that Fitzpatrick has looked good thus far and Bradford has had a rough start to his Philly career but you can’t overlook Bradford’s talent. I think he will get better each week as he familiarizes himself with Chips system. Let’s not forget this guy missed all of last season. This Sunday he is the most talented QB on the field.
The major matchup in this game is the Jets Defense vs. the Eagles Offense. As good as the Jets D played last week is equal to how poorly the Eagles O looked last week. Can the "Mad Scientist" figure a way to right his offensive ineptness from last week? The Eagles struggled in all phases of offense last week. Most glaring was their lack of a running game. Look for them to try to correct that this week by spreading the Jets out and hitting a lot of dink and dunk type passes in hopes to open up a few looks in the run game. The key for the Jets deffense will be what they have excelled in so far this year, pressuring the QB and creating turnovers. A big factor will be the Jets not getting fatigued by the Eagles quickly paced offense. If this happens early, look for the Eagles to be able to hit some big plays late in the game.
Flipping the script and looking at the Jets Offense vs the Eagles Defense you would say on the surface this is a huge edge for the Jets. I couldnt agree more. I think the Jets can take advantage of a few key matchups. The first is Marshall on Maxwell. Marshall has been the WR1 the Jets have been dreaming of... so far. I think he continues with another big week. Winning the time of possession battle should be a key factor in this game. The Jets need to control the clock to give the defense a chance to catch their breath against the Eagles offense. Look for Ivory (if healthy) and Powell to see a lot of action on the ground.
Predictions for the game: The Jets are a 1.5 point favorite in this game. That’s a very tough line but I look for most money out there to be on the Jets. I think this game is a lot closer than people in the media think. One thing the Jets did not do well last week was put the Colts away when they had plenty of chanses. If that’s the case this week, the eagles can steal this game late as the Colts had the chance to last week. I think ball control and time of possession are keys to victory for the Jets this week. My Fitzpatrick prediction will be the same as it was the last 2 weeks, throw for around 200 yards with a TD. On the ground, I really want to see Ivory (if healthy) and Powell pound the middle of the Eagles Defense. The biggest factor in this game for the Jets is health... Revis, Decker and Ivory, all have been banged up. Trevor Reilly, Chis Owusu look like they will be held out. All 5 have been big contributors so far. Devin Smith and Lorenzo Mauldin look as if they will be active but look for both to be on a bit of a "pitch count" this week.
BOLD PREDICTIONS: Eagles win 21-20. For this to happen, Darren Sproles will need to have a big game and the Eagles will need to score on defense or special teams. Quincy Enunwa has a handful of catches and a TD,