The Eagles and Falcons don’t face off until this evening, but chances are you’re going to have to make your decisions on whether to play these guys now. Luckily, we do have some recent history to lean on with these two teams having played each of the last two years. Also, let’s just assume you know you should be starting Michael Vick.
Start Em - Jeremy Maclin – In his rookie year, Maclin caught four passes for 83 yards at the Georgia Dome, including a 56 yarder. Last year, in a week 6 game in Philadelphia, Maclin nabbed seven catches for 159 yards and a pair of TDs. Combined that’s 11 catches for 242 yards and two TDs in two games. He seems like a pretty smart start.
LeSean McCoy leads the NFC in rushing and scored twice last week. The smart money is on another big game on the fast track in the dome tonight, especially with the Falcons losing their best DT Jordan Babineaux for this week. LeSean McCoy also always has big games in domes. He's rushed for 391 yards (for an 8.3 avg), and five
TDs in his last three games inside. Another must start is McCoy's counterpart Michael Turner. The Eagles surrendered 154 yards rushing last week and that was in a game where the Rams all but abandoned the run in the second half. St Louis did run for 5.9 yards a clip and even though a 59 yard run form Steven Jackson inflates that, they still were effective when they ran the ball.
Sit em – Brent Celek – The Eagles TE only had once catch this week and once again seems to be being asked to block frequently. On the other side, Matt Ryan doesn’t seem like a great start. Ryan was sacked five times, threw no TDs and one pick last week against the Bears. It was similar to his performance against Philadelphia last year when he turned the ball over twice and was sacked three times. He’ll be facing an even better defensive line and secondary this time around. Plus, it's very likely that the Falcons will focus on running the ball against the Eagles, rather than trying to throw.