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Monday Night Football preview - Seattle at Philadelphia
By Jeremy Harness December 4, 2005 |
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PHILADELPHIA--The Seattle Seahawks currently in first place in the NFC West at 9-2, will take on the last place Philadelphia Eagles at 5-6, in the NFC East in week 13, on Monday Night Football on December 5th. For the Hawks who just got by the New York Giants last Sunday 24-21, Seattle needs just one more win to clinch for the NFC West title or a St Louis loss this Sunday to wrap up the playoff spot. Seattle’s Joe Jurevicius caught a 35-yard pass from quarterback Matt Hasselbeck at 43 seconds left in the first quarter give the Seahawks a 7-0 lead. The Giants got their game on at least for the meantime when Jay Feely booted a 39-yard field goal with 4:23 on the second quarter clock to make it 7-3 Seattle. The Giants then took the lead in the second quarter when Jeremy Shockey caught a 7-yard pass from quarterback Eli Manning for a 10-7 lead. The Seahawks answered right back when Jurevicius caught a Hasselbeck 16 yard pass at 4:36 as the Seahawks overcame a 13-7 deficit to come back and make it 14-13. The Seahawks Sean Alexander ran for four yards at 4:33 in the fourth quarter to put the Seahawks further on top 21-13. Then with just 1:59, remaining in the ball game the Giants Amani Toomer caught an 18-yard ball from Manning to make it 21-19. The Giants elected to try a two-point conversion which was good and it made the score 21-21. The Seahawks then ended the thriller when in O.T. Josh Brown was in field goal position to boot a 36 yard with 2:45 remaining in O.T. to give the Seahawks their 9th win of the season over a challenging New York team. Brown said of his field goal, "you can’t describe the highs and the lows of the game." For Feely who missed two field goal attempts just from the artistry of kicking balls though the up rights Brown had to feel for him, "with 54 yards I understand exactly what he's facing. The other two (attempts) I feel bad." Eagle’s side of the ball: The Eagles came back last Sunday for a victory over the last place Packers at home and were relieved to pick up the victory 19-14. The big news is Donavon McNabb will miss the last five games of the season to have surgery on his hernia. After loosing Terrell Owens to a suspension this will surely crush any post-season opportunities that the Eagles had any possibility of competing for. Also for the Eagles cornerback, Lito Sheppard will be out for the rest of the season as well as he'll be required to have ankle surgery. McNabb also is suffering from a groin injury and Andy Reid decided that was enough for the tore up McNabb, "once the groin became an issue, rest couldn't help it out. There's too much discomfort where Donavon can’t run." said Reid. The Eagles who ran for 181 yards against the Dallas this season and 181 yards rushing against the Packers for the win may stay with that formula. Reid will look to make the explosive plays on the carries happen so the Eagles offense could get a sense of confidence like last Sunday against the Packers. "It’s kind of weird we wanted to celebrate, but we didn't know if we should or if we should just look at it as business as usual." said the Eagles L.J. Smith. "The guys were excited, we've been working hard, and there have been some games where the ball just hasn't been bouncing our way. But we've been battling, and (Sunday) we came up with a big win." added Smith. J-Dogg's prediction: The Eagles win last Sunday beat last place Green Bay. The loss of Terrell Owens and Donavon McNabb this season leaving the ground game as the strongest point for the Eagles this Monday night. The Eagles had better use that talent as if they did against Green Bay early or the Seahawks can turn it around on the Eagles very fast. The Eagles will also have to get an early jump on Seattle otherwise, it will be over early. The Eagles are also home at Lincoln Financial but their strength is the ground game, as they have no one like McNabb to throw the ball against this tough Seahawks defense. The Eagles have strength also in kicker David Akers who converted four field goals last Sunday at home and had six attempts to do so. Just for kicks: Sean Lendetta who was added to the roster will return as punter. Lendetta was punting for the Eagles previously in 1999-2002 the 43 year old played the last two seasons in St Louis before the Eagles acquired him again. Lendetta also will do the job for the next five games have averaged 43.3 yards per kick in 20 years; Lendetta has appeared in two Pro Bowls. Final Eagles note: The Eagles have filed a grievance with the League office after Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones went on a local talk station saying he was interested in pursuing suspended Eagle Wide receiver Terrell Owens. The Eagles say that Jones was "tampering" with his remarks and the Cowboys have stated that it was not tampering and that Jones was just expressing interest in Owens and tampering is if the Cowboys actually contacted Owens and negotiated a deal. In the Hawks camp: The Seahawks are a force to reckon with Joe Jurevicius with eight catches, for 137 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday had his second highest total for this season. Jurevicius had his highest total this season against the Arizona Cardinals. Sean Alexander for the season is a hot commodity with 1339 yards in carries, 121 yards for average, and 20 touchdowns. The Seahawks quarterback Hasselbeck in 11 games has thrown for 2606 this year an average of 7.4 yards per pass, 14 touchdowns passes, with eight interceptions and a quarterback ratio of 88.8. The money this coming Monday is on the Seahawks for this road trip they carry the same weapons that got them through to beat New York. The Eagles are just torn up in a nutshell and the Dogg is picking the Seattle Seahawks to win by 7 points. Jeremy Harness covers Monday Night Football each week and co-host Sportstalk on 1430 KVVN San Jose and 1110 KLIB Sacramento |
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