News: BTB: The Weekly BEast Report: Covering The NFC East

NewsBot · Sep 10, 2013

Helped along by the fact that the NFC East teams began their season-long quest for division superiority by battling among themselves, it is time to once again take a look at the teams that the Dallas Cowboys will have to outplay if they expect to find themselves with a date for the NFL's annual post-season party in January. Let's take our weekly look at the BEast.

New York Giants

New York Giants: 31

Dallas Cowboys: 36

As OCC mentioned in his morning news links, the Giants worked out both Brandon Jacobs and Willis McGahee on Tuesday. In addition, the Star-Ledger reported that they also took a look at former Jets RB Joe McKnight. In the end, the Giants re-signed Jacobs to their roster. This is the second week in a row that the G-men have worked out several veteran ball carriers; last week they took a look at guys like Beanie Wells and Johnathan Dwyer.
After suffering a concussion during helmet to helmet contact with fellow defensive back Ryan Mundy, Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara has to pass the league's concussion protocol before he can practice or play. Our friends over at Big Blue View are now reporting that Amukamara is expected to be on the field when the Giants face the Broncos later this week. Yesterday, the speculation was that he would miss the Giants' home opener.
After playing in a limited role against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, JJason Pierre-Paul reported that he felt no negative effects from his return to football. JPP played as a third-down specialist on Sunday night, and he expects his workload to increase against Denver.
Up next for the Giants will be an appearance in "Manning Bowl III" as Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos make their way to the Big Apple. Barring a Super Bowl meeting between the two brothers, this match-up will most likely be the final time that the Manning brothers meet on the football field. In each of the two previous contests Peyton on the Indianapolis Colts emerged with victories over Eli and the Giants.

Washington Commanders

Philadelphia Eagles: 33

Washington Commanders: 27

Washington quarterback Robert Griffin, III made his return to live action on Monday Night Football. Over at our sister site Hogs Haven, UkRedskin gave this analysis of the issues that Griffin faced as he tried to shake off the rust:

Robert Griffin III started off rusty, to say the least. It's hard to tell if he wasn't trusting his knee or if it was still bothering him, but he wasn't driving off of it to create the necessary torque for him to throw the ball with accuracy and velocity. Because he wasn't driving off his back leg, he wasn't turning over his front one, making his mechanics completely out of wack [sic]. When he threw to his right, the ball was sailing on him; but when he threw to his left, the ball died on him (costing him his second interception).
On the injury front, linebacker Ryan Kerrigan left Monday night's game with a possible concussion. Today it is being reported that Kerrigan did not have a concussion and that he is expected to return to practice on Wednesday,
In addition to the confusion that led one reporter to refer to the Commanders defense as "11 men stranded on 11 different islands", Washington did not help themselves in executing the fundamentals either. Speaking to the media after the game, Coach Shanahan had this to say:

"We didn’t do a great job of tackling. Go back to the drawing board and do better. A couple of missed assignments by young guys hurt us,"
Next up on the slate for Washington will be a test of another nature. A defensive secondary that had serious issues on Monday night will be subjected to the passing skills of Aaron Rodgers as the Skins venture into the (not so) frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.

Philadelphia Eagles

Speaking after the game, Eagles QB Michael Vick had this to say:

"I've never been a part of anything like it," Vick said. "When the first quarter was over, I thought we was about to go into halftime. It was unreal. The only thing I could tell myself was, 'It's going to be a long season.' "
In another case of teammate on teammate injury, Eagles cornerback Bradley Fletcher has suffered a concussion. The Eagles are already thin at the corner, and if Fletcher is unable to complete the NFL's head injury protocol, he will be replaced by either nickleback Brandon Boykin or Brandon Hughes. The Eagles had released Hughes on Saturday, and brought him back today.
While everyone seems focused on the fast pace of the Eagles offense, the players on the other side of the ball had an impact as well. They had two interceptions, a fumble recovery, and generated a safety. On the other hand, once the scoring tidal wave ceased, leaving the Eagles with a 33-7 lead, the defense did everything they could to allow the Commanders back into the game. It gave up twenty unanswered points.
Next on the Eagles' agenda will be the team's home opener at Lincoln Financial Field. The San Diego Chargers with be the next team to participate in the Chip Kelly Invitational Track Meet.

More from Blogging The Boys:

News: BTB: The Weekly BEast Report: Covering The NFC East

NewsBot

New Member