Next week there will be a game between the two best teams in the NFC East, and it's not going to involve the defending division champion New York Giants. In beating the Giants to a pulp Sunday, 40-17, the Eagles -- and the Dallas Cowboys, who beat Seattle at home -- have sent the G-Men back to third place. New York has now lost three straight games, while the Eagles won their second in a row after an embarrassing loss in Oakland.
Leading the way for the Eagles was Donovan McNabb, who barely broke a sweat in destroying the Giants' patchwork secondary. He completed 17-of-23 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns. He continues to show a strong chemistry with DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Brent Celek, who combined for 11 catches, 186 yards and three scores.
If you're still having trouble finding a decent tight end option at this point, you're doing something wrong. The tight end position has been consistently deep and productive over the first two weeks of the season. The Big Four is becoming more like the Big Dozen -- well, maybe.
There's simply no shying away from what Dallas Clark did on Monday night. He is essentially a No. 2 wide receiver for this Colts offense with Anthony Gonzalez down and out. However, you already knew that, right? And so, we must stick to our guns for yet another week with Mr. Clark leading the tight end rankings.
Each Monday of the fantasy football season, we'll cut through the fantasy numbers put up by individuals and tell you what they really mean.
In the overwhelming majority of fantasy football leagues this season, Matt Forte was a top-5 pick. He was coming off a sensational rookie season and now had a strong-armed quarterback to stretch the defense and open running lanes for him. Thus far, the payoff for Forte owners has been quite futile. In two games, he's carried the ball 38 times for 84 yards -- without scoring a touchdown.
Be patient, though, because the payoff is on the horizon.
With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.
Meet The ... Eagles, backed by two injury-prone, aging talents with yet another shot at fantasy greatness! Andy Reid and company have loaded up on new toys for Donovan McNabb. They are hoping to rekindle the memories of when a guy named T.O. was around. Finally, McNabb breathes deep and says, "Now I have enough playmakers." However, will he and his homeboy Brian Westbrook actually be able to stay healthy?
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.
Earlier this offseason Donovan McNabb said he wanted to see how the Eagles upgraded the roster before he would talk about a contract extension. After last fall, when things got so bad that Andy Reid benched McNabb for Kevin Kolb, it looked as if neither head coach nor starting quarterback would be in Philly another year, much less long term.
With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.
The Eagles' perfect draft dream scenario actually played out last week: after opting not to re-sign 34-year-old Tra Thomas, the organization swung a deal for Jason Peters, one of the league's best young left tackles (or, if you're Andy Reid and into hyperbole, the best left tackle.) It cost Philadelphia the 28th pick, but given Peters' track record (even after an uneven 2008 season) -- as well as the uncertainty that comes with drafting a player to step into a starting role -- it was worth it.
Last February, the Eagles franchised tight end L.J. Smith even though he was coming off an injury-plagued 2007 season where he played in just 10 games, caught 22 passes for 236 yards and hauled in a lone touchdown.
But the team's 2003 second-round pick had been a key cog in Andy Reid's version of the West Coast offense, and seemed worth the average salary of the league's top-five tight ends, especially since it was just a one-year deal.
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.
The Eagles underachieved for most of the 2008 season (the nadir had to be either tying the lowly Bengals are getting thumped by the Ravens -- take your pick) only to get hot during the last month of the season.
Philadelphia would eventually lose to Arizona in the NFC Championship game. And while nobody saw that coming as recently as Thanksgiving, the team did have high expectations heading into the season. Assuming Donovan McNabb is indeed in the organization's long-range plans, what do the Eagles need to do in the coming months to make a Super Bowl run?
There was little reason to think -- at least as soon as 15 real time minutes ago -- that the Philadelphia Eagles had any chance of beating the Arizona Cardinals and advancing to the Super Bowl. Adrian Wilson was sacking Donovan McNabb frequently, Antrel Rolle and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie were smothering the Guls' receivers (whom are average at best anyway, DeSean Jackson's youth aside).
Then, all of a sudden, McNabb hit Kevin Curtis on a laser-rocket-arm 50 yard completion on third and 19 that set up the Eagles up in the Arizona red zone, a rare occurance today indeed. Four plays later, D-Nasty found Brent Celek in the back of the end zone and the Eagles were suddenly within nine points.
FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.
Kellen Winslow has been a colossal bust at the tight end position this season in fantasy. Mostly, it's been due to injury issues, which we later found out was a staph infection and not any sort of crotchal inflammation. He had five catches for 64 yards last week against a tough Ravens defense.
This week, the Browns are set to face an absolutely terrible Broncos defense. As I noted in the wide receiver rankings, I expect Brady Quinn to heavily rely upon Winslow and Braylon Edwards in his first career start. There are only two tight ends I'd rather have this week, and they are facing off in the same game ...