Thanksgiving Game at the Linc

The Eagles play on Thanksgiving for the first time since 1989, as Arizona comes to Lincoln Financial Field for a prime-time game. Both teams have a short work week after tough losses on Sunday. Arizona (7-4) is in line to win the NFC West and hopes to rebound after losing to the Giants on Sunday, while the Eagles (5-5-1) need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. Philadelphia’s defense will be severely tested in this one by the high-flying Arizona offense, ranked second in the NFL. Let’s be realistic though something has got to change from the last few games. What? I don’t know but the offense has got to score some points if they hope to win this game. The Eagles are searching for the right mix offensively. Donovan McNabb is the starter at quarterback after being removed in the second half of Sunday’s loss in Baltimore, hoping to get into some kind of rhythm early in the game. The offense has just one touchdown in the last eight quarters of action. Finding a running game is a key, and the Eagles are going to have to go without running back Correll Buckhalter (knee). Brian Westbrook is clearly not completely healthy, so the Eagles may have to give little-used Lorenzo Booker some action. Arizona is a fast defense that likes to blitz. The Eagles will try to make some big plays in the passing game to loosen up the line of scrimmage for the running game. Something has to give. Whatever the Eagles need to do, they must find a way to get McNabb and the offense going early and forge a lead. McNabb opened playing well in Baltimore, completing 6 of his first 7 passes. But then he struggled and was benched after a half. Benching McNabb was not the right coarse to take obviously, which brings us back to what I have been saying since before the draft; the wide receivers have to catch the ball and make something happen after the catch. This is a critical spot for McNabb and the Eagles, again. The franchise quarterback for much of the last decade, McNabb needs to rise to lead the team in an absolute must-win game in front of the home fans.

Through gimmicks and gadgets and some tough-guy moments from Brian Westbrook, the Eagles have averaged 94.5 rushing yards per game. They rank near the bottom of the NFL in that category, despite a 4.0-yard-per-carry average. Too often this season, the Eagles have failed on short-yardage runs and the cracks in the foundation of the running game have burst wide open to right now: The Eagles must manufacture a running game on Thursday night even with Westbrook hobbling because of knee and ankle injuries and minus Correll Buckhalter, the only halfback with any kind of size. That the Eagles need to run, at least to present the threat of the running game, is nothing new. We've been talking about it all season. And the Eagles have continually had trouble committing at all to the ground game, even when they have had a healthy Buckhalter and a reasonably-healthy Westbrook. It is fair to ask why, although the coaches have been asked that many times over by the Philadelphia media and have not really had answers. The offense is structured to attack in the passing game, but in the weeks of trouble of late the passing scheme has failed and the Eagles haven't had a running game on which to rely. Thursday's challenge is multiple. Quarterback Donovan McNabb is in the spotlight, of course, given the recent past, but he can't go it alone. Even in weeks past, the Eagles could turn and give the ball to Buckhalter had they chosen, and to a somewhat-explosive Westbrook, who as recently as the Atlanta game (four games ago) was dominating. They don't have those choices now.

So how do they play keep away from a Cardinals offense that doesn't much care for the run, either, but has such an explosive passing game that Kurt Warner and Co. have fashioned a 7-4 record by playing throwball? We'll see. How much can Westbrook really provide? If he gets 10-12 carries and contributes 70 yards of offense from the line of scrimmage, well, Westbrook should be applauded from coast to coast. He is one of the toughest players there is anywhere, and at full strength Westbrook remains one of the best players in the game. But after a game on artificial surface that beats up a healthy Westbrook for at least the next several days, how much can a banged-up Westbrook play four days later? The Eagles are going to have to be creative here. They have little-used (16 carries, 32 yards) Lorenzo Booker available, and he is excited for the opportunity to play. What we have seen from Booker hasn't been especially impressive, but maybe what he needs is a large dose of playing time to show what he can do. Chances are, he is going to get that heaping spoonful of repetitions on Thursday night, and the Eagles have to find ways to get him into space, to allow him to use his speed and to provide a certain kind of spark in the backfield. If Westbrook is really hobbled, the Eagles can also line up fullback Kyle Eckel as a pseudo-halfback and at least give him some carries to run it up between the tackles. Anything to keep the Cardinals from blitzing the house and coming hard after McNabb. When McNabb does manage to get the ball to one of the WR’s they absolutely have to catch it, that is what they are payed to do, after all.

In a game like this, the key is going to be which team sets the tempo. Arizona is the old-school UNLV of the NFL -- run and gun, fling the football all over the field with MVP candidate Warner taking charge, reborn with the Cardinals. Can the Eagles get into a shootout and hope to win? Can an offense that has scored just one touchdown in the last two games suddenly go bonkers and have everything come together just like that? Or do the Eagles try to slow things down, move the chains, dink and dunk and control the clock? Certainly, whatever happens, the Eagles have to run the football without some good players able to be at their best. The running game, inconsistent all season, must be given some kind of emphasis on Thursday night. One thing the Eagles don't want to do is get into a catch-up game against a Cardinals offense that doesn't stop pushing the envelope. Do the Eagles have it in them to run, to use smoke and mirrors if necessary, to give Booker a long look, to hand off to Eckel, to dedicate themselves to the ground, even if it isn't pretty? Again I say I don’t know. As far as I can see the playcalling and the receiving corps has to improve dramatically if the Eagles are going to win this game or any others. It’s easy to put it all on McNabb, and everyone has for years now, but let’s take another look at this; the best season that this team has had was the season when they had a talented non rookie WR (T.O.), who could be expected to catch the ball when it hit him in the chest. I’m not suggesting that the team get him back just get someone who can catch the ball, and stop blaming it all on Donovan. Secondly the playcallers have to call running plays and stick with the run even if it doesn’t work right away. Teams who stick with the run when it doesn’t work in the first half often end up winning the game by controlling the second. Running the football takes time: it is a process of wearing down the opponents defense and winning the time of possession. I hope the Eagles can salvage this season but I am afraid that they have left it too late.

Who to watch in this game

• Eagles DE Trent Cole vs. Cardinals OT Mike Gandy
• Eagles DBs vs. Cardinals WRs
• Eagles TE L.J. Smith vs. Cardinals LB Karlos Dansby
• Eagles LT Tra Thomas vs. Cardinals DE/OLB Bertrand Berry
• Eagles RBs Brian Westbrook & Lorenzo Booker vs. Cardinals S Adrian Wilson