Philadelphia at Washington

I'll always take a close hard look at teams that got embarrased the way Washington did last week. If it's not a horrible team, they are often worth a look. NFL players and staff have pride. Good teams that get embarrased tend to bounce back while the public fades them. Washington is a damn good team. Last week's loss I am chalking up to the "Wellington Mara factor." Outside of that game, Washington has been playing outstanding football. They have beaten some very good teams this year including Chicago, Dallas and Seattle. They barely lost to Denver on the road, nearly winning as a 7 point underdog and they outplayed Kansas City in every possible way in a loss that should have been a win. Then, they destroyed San Francisco 52-17. Again, outside of what I consider a fluky loss, Washington is playing playoff football. Philadelphia has fallen on hard times and looks like a mediocre team this year. They've been blown out in two of their last three games and in the third game, needed a blocked punt return for a touchdown to avoid losing. We get the better team at home, pissed off coming off an embarrasing loss, and we're only laying three. On the road this season, Philadelphia has been outscored in the first quarter 45-0. If they get behind in this one, Washington's defense is too good to let them back in it. The Skins' defense matches up perfectly here. Philly has called passing plays a ridiculous 78% of the time this year. Yes, over three fourths of their offensive plays have been pass plays. Washington has the league's #1 pass defense folks. You shut down Philadelphia's passing game and they are toast as they have the league's worst running game. The Eagles also own the 25th ranked defense. One star on the Skins minus the points.