<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=left>Winning Points Newsletter
Philadelphia over Oakland by 9 (Sunday, Aug 6, at Canton OH)
Philly’s rookies were in camp four days earlier than Oakland’s rookies, while the Philly veterans
reported one day earlier than the Oakland veterans. So if you’re going to like a side
here, it should probably be the Eagles based on that important intangible. The influential
tone of the game figures to be defense. Here’s why. The Raiders are in a first-year regime of
Art Shell, but they kept their defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. There are no big transitions
being made in Ryan’s system where in 2005, Oakland’s rushing yield was a little less per
carry than their opponents’ overall average gain per carry. The Eagles ran the football on
only 47% of their plays last season. They need to work on what is now a weak running
game, against a better-than-rated run D. Ryan Moats and Bruce Perry need to get the most
carries, not oft-injured #1 Bryan Westbrook. Donovan McNabb’s legs do not want to see
the other side of the line of scrimmage in a game like this. When McNabb comes out, is
anyone confident in the ability of Jeff Garcia to move this team with the “twos?” The
Eagles’ three QBs behind McNabb – Garcia, Koy Detmer and Timmy Chang – should be
called the tiny trio. Meanwhile, the Raiders are auditioning quarterbacks against one of the
deepest top-to-bottom defenses in the NFL, a unit that looks to improve its sack total from
last season with a bolstered DE rotation featuring Jevon Kearse, Jerome McDougle, Trent
Cole, Juqua Thomas and possibly rookie LB Chris Gocong, who played end in college and
had led the nation with 23.5 sacks as a senior. “We’ve got some good speed and quickness…
so we are going to try to take advantage of that,” Eagles’ defensive coordinator Jim
Johnson said last week. The Oakland offensive line is being targeted for the most re-tooling.
So, Aaron Brooks (first game in new system for an error-prone guy), Andrew Walter,
Marques Tuiasosopo?…Don’t forget to duck! PHILADELPHIA, 19-10.</TD><TD vAlign=top noWrap align=right width=60>08/06/06 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>