Eagles go for season sweep of banged up Redskins on Monday Night Football

By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly editor 

In week one the Eagles got their first win over the Washington Redskins in two seasons. Since then the Eagles have gone 4-1 and established themselves as an elite team in the NFL this season. 

The Redskins have not played poorly either, as they are currently second in the NFC East with a 3-2 record. 

Previous meeting

The Eagles won 30-17 in their first game of the season against the Redskins. The Eagles did a good job offensively but the deciding moment came when Brandon Graham recorded a strip sack on Kirk Cousins and Fletcher Cox recovered the ball and ran it back to the endzone to seal the victory. 

The Eagles registered four sacks on Cousins that week against what is considered to be an elite offensive line. The Eagles front four has built momentum ever since that game and the Redskins offensive line is extremely thin in terms of health at this point of the season, potentially opening the door for another big day getting after the quarterback. 

After two years of losses to the Redskins, the Eagles could sweep a season series against them for the first time since 2013. 

Alshon poised to break out

Alshon Jeffery has not lived up to the no. 1 wide receiver billing on paper yet, but he has shown enough to expect a breakout game to be right around the corner. 

Jeffery is averaging four catches, 52.8 yards, and o.3 touchdowns per contest.  What those numbers do not show is that Jeffery has been missed on multiple plays by Carson Wentz that would have gone for big gains. It took Wentz more than half of last season to start getting his chemistry down with Zach Ertz and now the pair are a lethal connection. It should not be long before Wentz and Jeffery begin to click on those big plays.

The stats also ignore that Jeffery has faced his toughest competition in the first six weeks in the form of cornerbacks Patrick Peterson, Marcus Peters, Janoris Jenkins, and Josh Norman – who the Redskins will be without for this game.

Last Week Jeffery nearly broke off two huge plays that would have easily gone for 20 or more yards had it not been for non-called pass interference from Panthers cornerback James Bradberry. Jeffery gained excellent body position throughout the game on Bradberry that forced Bradberry to interfere with him. 

Jeffery should be able to shine under the lights against a battered Redskins secondary. 

Advantage: Wentz

Carson Wentz continues to grow as a player in his second season, even garnering MVP praise from multiple national commentators following a standout performance in primetime last week. 

The Eagles are in primetime again this week and are 3-2 in such games since Wentz has become the team's quarterback. Wentz will have a much more favorable matchup this week than the one that he had against a stout Carolina defense. 

As James Palmer of NFL.com notes, the Redskins are not getting after the quarterback this season and Wentz is among the league's best with a clean pocket:

Carson Wentz has a passer rating of 116.0 when not pressured (2nd-best in the NFL). The Redskins are T-27th in the NFL in QB pressures.

— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) October 22, 2017

With star cornerback Josh Norman ruled out, his partner in the secondary Bashaud Breeland listed as questionable, and first round pick Jonathan Allen placed on injured reserve, Wentz will have a chance to pick apart a decimated Washington defense.

Injury report

The Eagles are as healthy as they have been in weeks. On their final injury report only Ronald Darby (ankle), Jordan Hicks (calf), Wendell Smallwood (knee), and Mychal Kendricks (hamstring) are listed as questionable and nobody has been ruled out. 

Hicks exited last Thursday's game against Carolina and Smallwood has missed the last two weeks. Hicks has maintained that he is good to go for Monday night ever since the injury. Smallwood practiced in full all week so the questionable designation just appears to be a formality. Lane Johnson will also return after missing the Panthers' game with a concussion. Johnson carries no injury designation. 

Ronald Darby returned to practice this week, but his status is up in the air since it is his first week practicing since dislocating his ankle in week one against the Redskins. If he does play it is hard to imagine that he would step back into his starting role with only one week of limited practice under his belt. 

The Redskins injury report is loaded with key players ahead of this matchup. 

Elite cornerback Josh Norman has been ruled out as he recovers from a fractured rib. Also ruled out for Washington are without offensive lineman Ty Nsekhe and Tyler Catalina. 

All-pro left tackle Trent Williams and Norman's partner at cornerback Bashaud Breeland are listed as questionable, along with safeties Deshazor Everett and Stefan McClure, linebacker Mason Foster, and running back Rob Kelley.

Williams reportedly almost missed last week's contest with the San Francisco 49ers and missed practices on Thursday and Friday before practicing in a limited capacity on Saturday. Breeland was limited all week. Interestingly, coaches held him out of one-on-one drills after they let Breeland test his knee before shouting "stop" and removing him from the drill.

The Redskins also placed rookie first round pick Jonathan Allen on injured reserve earlier this week, leaving a huge hole along the Redskins defensive line to go with their banged up offensive line. 

Broadcast Information

Time: 8:30 p.m.

Television: ESPN | Play-by-Play by Sean McDonough with color commentary by John Gruden and sideline reports from Lisa Salters

Radio: 94.1 FM WIP | Play-by-Play by Merrill Reese with color commentary by Mike Quick and sideline reports from Howard Eskin

Online: NFL Game Pass