Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Monday Night Football is on the way! The Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles will battle it out in their 2013 NFL Week 1 game.
Two star quarterbacks, Redskins’ Robert Griffin III and Eagles’ Michael Vick, both with versatile running attacks and guns for throwing arms, will face off and lead their high powered offenses.
Griffin is coming off a risky, but becoming more frequent, surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right knee. The quickness of his return has placed him on the radar as superhuman, and some are comparing him to Minnesota Vikings superstar running back Adrian Peterson, who coming off a similar surgery came just short of breaking the all-time rushing record.
For Vick, who was originally drafted by the Atlanta Falcons first overall in the 2001 NFL Draft, is supposedly on the rise again after three average years as the Eagles’ starter. He has never played a full season for the Eagles. His best year was in 2010 when he threw for over 3,000 yards with 21 touchdowns and ran for 676 yards and nine more touchdowns.
Needless to say, the Redskins will have to spotlight Vick to keep him in check. Redskins fans all too well remember Week 10 in 2010 when Vick passed for 333 yards with four touchdowns and ran in two more touchdowns with 80 yards rushing.
Last year the Redskins won both games versus the Eagles, outscoring them 58 to 26.
This year the Eagles have Chip Kelly as their new head coach, his first year in the NFL. His new, unseen in the NFL, fast paced offense will undoubtedly give Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett a headache in game preparation. Haslett said:
“You have to have the ability to adjust to what they’re doing and be flexible in what you’re doing. So I can only go off what I’ve seen. I’ve watched 23, 24 Oregon films. I watched what they did in preseason.”
If the Redskins are going to stop the Eagles, they need to spotlight Vick. With Kelly’s faced paced offense, the Redskins will have little time to prepare each play. Redskins Head Coach Mike Shanahan has faith that his veteran linebacker London Fletcher can step up to the task. Haslett agrees.
“London’s the best at it, so we don’t have to worry about that. He’s well prepared. He’ll know exactly what we want in every situation. If something happens, and I can’t get the call in, he’ll know what calls we’re going to have based on what they’ve got in the game…London’s like having a coach on the field.”
The Redskins’ defense has improved greatly over the offseason. Their secondary is improved and the up front players and linebackers are now once again healthy. A high scoring game should come Monday night. Look for both Griffin and Vick to try and prove their worth.
Thomas is a Sports Writer writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @tmford88, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
