Battle of 2-0s: Eagles@ Cardinals

The Eagles travel to the dessert this week as they go against the 2-0 Arizona Cardinals who are starting a familiar face to the Eagles. Quarterback Kevin Kolb will start Sunday as John Skelton has a injured ankle and will miss some time. The Eagles have not been successful against the Cardinals with Andy Reid as coach as they have a losing record to them including last years crucial loss when Vick broke his ribs and the Eagles lost a fourth quarter lead and went on to lose 21-17.  This year the game has a bit bigger story line as Kolb starts vs his former team. Last year he was injured so Skelton started the game.

The keys for the Eagles defense: To stop Kolb is to apply pressure in the inside and force him to roll right which he has a bad habit of doing. When Kolb sees pressure he just seems to freak out and not make the right decisions for example last week I was watching the film of Cardinals @ Patriots and when the Pats had pressure Kolb, instead of stepping up in the pocket and making a throw he tried to extend the play by rolling which made him lose sight of half the field resulting in Kolb just throwing it away and taking a unnecessary hit. If Asomugha can stop Fitzgerald the Cardinals will pretty much have no way of scoring. I believe the Eagles should and will double up Fitz all day most likely putting Nnamdi on him and having Allen take him deep as well. Will Rogers-Cromartie take his former teammate Sunday? That is something to think about, DRC covered Fitz most practices when he was a member of the Cardinals so he knows him well but I still think that Nnamdi is the more aggressive corner who can shut him down. As for the Eagles offense STOP THE TURNOVERS, they have 9 TOs in 2 games. If they protect the ball and run the ball efficiently they should be ok. You just have to be able to solve the Cardinals blitz packages as they disguise them a lot with zone blitzes so the O-Line has a tough test Sunday going up against guys like Darnell Dockett and Calais Cambell.

Key Matchup: Center Dallas Reynolds vs DT/DE Darnell Dockett- Reynolds is coming into the starting lineup for injured Jason Kelce who will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injurie. Reynolds will need to protect Vick from one of the best pass rushers in the game today in Dockett. This will be Reynolds first start of his career so its very important that he does not let Dockett get to Vick early, if he can hold him long enough for Vick to get the ball out he should be fine but its a big match up for his first game.

Prediction: I believe the Eagles will take this one in another nail biting game 21-17

The Eagles take on the Cardinals at Phoenix U Stadium at 4:05 ET on Sunday.