After an Eagles loss to the Buccaneers, a Redskins loss to the Colts, it was a guarantee that the leader of the NFC east wouldn't be alone and would have a 1 and 1 record. While all of us in Philadelphia were agonizing over a surprising Buccaneers team with an explosive offense that would prove too much for us in a 27 to 21 defeat. The Redskins and Giants didn't find too much luck in their games either.
Since the Redskins took on the Eagles next opponent, the Indianapolis Colts, that is where we will begin. The Colts came in to Washington 0 and 1 after a tough defeat week one at the hands of Andy Dalton and the Cincinnati Bengals, 34-23. While the Redskins looked good against what is looking like a bad Cardinals team in Arizona, 24-6. The game itself wasn't pretty, Luck who is in the process of finding himself again after missing the better part of two seasons would struggle making a costly error on almost every drive including two interceptions. The Redskins on the other side, could not find a running game and their only weapon seemed to be Chris Thompson catching passes out of the backfield. They would also fumble the ball twice losing one of them. At the end this game came down too who could find the end-zone and it wasn't the Redskins as they could only manage 3 field goals in a 21-9 loss.
The Colts were led by T.Y. Hilton who had 7 receptions for 83 yards and a touchdown. Hilton is going in to week three licking his lips as he takes on an Eagles defense that was brutalized by receivers over the past 2 weeks. Next week the Redskins will take on Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers, while on one leg has led the Packers to an important week one win and a surprising week two tie against 2 divisional rivals. The tie was the second of this young NFL season. The week threes game will be in Washington and should be a good one.
Later in the day, in Dallas, the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys would face off in an important divisional match-up. The focus of the game coming in was the clash between two former Big Ten rivals as Ohio States Ezekiel Elliot was taking on Penn States' Saquon Barkley. These two running backs are both key factors to their offense and that would be proven during the game.
The Giants would prove ineffective early as Elliot and the Cowboys would take an early lead. After half time the Giants would get back in the game a little bit but an early fourth quarter touchdown from Elliot would be the final blow as the Cowboys would join the Redskins and Eagles for a share of the division lead at 1 and 1, with a 20 to 13 victory. They would be led by a solid 79 rushing yards and a touchdown from Elliot who had a lot of support from a clean game from Dak Prescott. Meanwhile the Giants could not find their run game or any consistency from Odell Beckham. Saquon would only manage 28 yards on the ground and Odell was only found 4 times for 51 yards. The one positive for the Giants is the effectiveness of Barkley catching the ball out of the backfield as he pulled down 14 of his 16 targets for 80 yards.
Next up for the Giants is a road game against a Texans team that is still trying to get the footing they had last season before Watson got hurt. While the Cowboys will fly out to the noise of Seattle and face a Seahawks team that is surprisingly win-less. As for us Eagles fans we must get ready for Andrew Luck, T.Y Hilton and the Colts. The big difference in the preparation for this week’s game is the returning Carson Wentz. Wentz has already been announced the starter and hopefully will be able to not only stay healthy but shake off the rust quickly against a solid Colts team.
