Out of the Nest: Colts at Eagles

Every week during the season, we’ll scout out the Eagles next opponent. This week, that opponent is the Indianapolis Colts.

The Opponent: The Indianapolis Colts, a.k.a. the Baltimore Colts, a.k.a. the Mannings, a.k.a. Tracy Porter still haunts your dreams

Record: 5-2

The Line: Eagles by 3. For those of you praying the Eagles would be a home dog this week, no such luck.

Last Game: A 30-17 revenge whipping against the division rival Houston Texans. Houston crushed the Colts in Week 1 thanks to Arian Foster getting over 200 yards on the ground. But a quick start for Indy forced Houston to ditch the run early (far too early, with Foster only getting 15 carries this time), and Indy cruised from there.

The Coach: Jim Caldwell. But who are we kidding here? Caldwell may very well be a taxidermied seal. Peyton Manning is the unofficial head coach of this team.

The Offense: Second best in yardage. Second best in passing. And shockingly, not dead last in rushing, as they were last season. Mike Hart did a nice job in relief of Joseph Addai on Monday Night, taking virtually all the carries away from former first round pick Donald Brown, who looks useless. Despite major injuries to Addai, Dallas Clark and Austin Collie, Manning has still been able to piece together a big passing offense with the like of Jacob Tamme and a host of other stray dogs. Not a bad day’s work for the reigning NFL MVP.

The Defense: You can run on this defense. A lot. The Colts rank 28th in rush defense, and that opening loss against the Texans was keyed by a relentless ground attack. That’s good news with Mike Vick coming back, because Vick’s runs could really blow holes in this defense. Now would be a good time for Andy Reid to unleash Jerome Harrison and see what he, Vick and LeSean McCoy can do together. If the Eagles can limit big plays from Manning early on, they can pile up the rushing yards.

Key Matchup: The Eagles tackles versus Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. Mathius missed some snaps versus Houston due to a leg injury, but he came back. Vick has been sacked a lot this year, so the offensive line will have to do its part limiting Mathis and Freeney on the edges. When those two get pressure, the Colts flourish. When they don’t… BOOSH!

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