Eagle Scout: Fortunes reverse for Eagles, 'Skins

When the Eagles head down I-95 to face Washington at FedEx Field on Monday night, they are sure to encounter a frothing-at-the-mouth Redskins fan base. It might not be the Eagles, however, that the natives are waiting to pounce on.

With Washington mired in a quarterback drama that makes the Eagles' situation look serene, Redskins fans could turn on either Donovan McNabb or coach Mike Shanahan.

What a difference a month makes. The first time these teams met in early October, McNabb was making his triumphant return to Lincoln Financial Field. He was anything but perfect, but Washington eked out a 17-12 win, and McNabb afterward was crowing about who got the better end of the trade between the teams.

Now he's out of shape and stupid, at least if you read between the lines of Shanahan's explanations for benching McNabb two weeks ago.

The Eagles, meanwhile, are still basking in the glow of their first victory over the Colts in 17 years. A month ago, Michael Vick entered the first Redskins game fresh off two near-perfect performances. But he was knocked out in the first half and missed the next three games.

Now Vick is back, and all is right in Eagles World - unless, of course, the Redskins score an upset.

Here is a look at the teams:

In the four games in which Vick has started at quarterback, DeSean Jackson has caught 19 passes for 416 yards and three touchdowns. In Jackson's three starts with Kevin Kolb at quarterback, the speedy wide receiver had six catches for 88 yards and one score. While too much may have been made of the differences - they are small samples, after all - there is no denying that Vick and Jackson have a vibe going on.

And when those two are clicking, the rest of the arsenal - led by running back LeSean McCoy and receiver Jeremy Maclin - makes the Eagles' fourth-ranked offense that much more daunting.

The defense is led by defensive end Trent Cole and cornerback Asante Samuel. Both are playing at perhaps the highest level of their careers.

If the Eagles fall short of their ultimate goal or even their preliminary goals, they will likely look back and point to one area as their shortcoming. The offensive line has been a sieve most of the season and was ravaged by the Colts last week. Max Jean-Gilles had stabilized right guard when it became obvious Nick Cole couldn't. But Jean-Gilles is questionable for Sunday with a concussion, and Cole is the alternative. That spells trouble.

The Eagles' run defense was scorched early in the season and especially against the Redskins when the complement of Ryan Torain and Clinton Portis gashed the unit up the middle. Since that game, however, the Eagles have improved their run-defense ranking by 12 spots and have shut down top tailbacks Frank Gore, Michael Turner, and Chris Johnson.

Washington's defense is second-to-last in the league as far as yards surrendered, but it's nowhere near that bad. The unit does one thing very well, and it may be as important as any defensive statistic: the Redskins get off the field on third down. They're second in the NFL in that category, behind only the New York Giants, and have forced opposing offenses to punt 34 out of 98 times.

They're also pretty good at buckling down inside their own red zone, allowing touchdowns only half of the time. The Eagles' defense, by comparison, has given up red-zone touchdowns 75 percent of the time.

On offense, receiver Santana Moss is McNabb's top target. He's caught 48 passes for 604 yards, but has only two touchdowns. Moss is great on third down, though, catching 13 passes for 170 yards.

As inconsistently as McNabb has played, a lot of blame has to be placed on an offensive line that rivals the Eagles' in futility. The ineffectiveness of tackles Trent Williams and Stephen Heyer has kept McNabb on his toes.

If the Redskins can't run the ball anywhere near the way they did in the first meeting - when they gained 169 yards - they'll have to rely on McNabb behind that porous line. Torain (hamstring) and Portis (groin) were missing by the end of the Detroit game two weeks ago, but they've had time to heal up.