Eagles vs Raiders predictions

[PhillyPhreak54]

Eagles - 16
Raiders - 9

[phillywin2k5]

Eagles 27
Al Davis' multiple chins 23

[Feva]

Eagles - 23
Faders - 19

[Magical_Retard]

i always forget but in the first pre season games how much time does the first unit get? i would only want them in for one series and then yank them out. the rest of the game should be given to buckhalter to see which qrt he will blow his knee in. i say late 2nd.

[Don Ho]

Phi-whocares
Oak-careless

It is preseason the winner is really inconsequential.

Thank you, thank you very much.

[dis12]

who cares, really.  At least I can get my Football hard-on cured ...even if it's just preseason.

[MURP]

i always forget but in the first pre season games how much time does the first unit get?

I think we are in uncharted territory here with the hall of fame game, so who knows. In the first preseason game last year against the Steelers,  the first team offense was in for the full first quarter and then finished that drive with a TD a few minutes into the 2nd quarter.


On a side note.  The first play of that game last year was a McNabb INT returned for a TD.  Really set the pace for the season eh?

[Don Ho]

On a side note.  The first play of that game last year was a McNabb INT returned for a TD.  Really set the pace for the season eh?

I do remember being awfully pissed about that game even though it was pre-season.

[Feva]

Not a prediction, but maybe an overlooked aspect of this game.

Raiders' Burgess refuses to hold grudge vs. Eagles

BETHLEHEM, Pa.
You won't hear "I told you so" out of Derrick Burgess, the former Eagles defensive end who signed with Oakland last offseason and then stunned the NFL by leading the league in sacks.

Burgess, who lines up Sunday against his former teammates in the Hall of Fame Game -- the second time he's faced the Eagles since bolting for Oakland -- wouldn't thumb his nose at the organization that gave him his first break in the pros.

Even though his play during the 2004 postseason showed an abundance of promise, and even though the Eagles' drop-off in pass rush last season prompted them to shell out a bundle of cash toward another defensive end, Darren Howard.

"I don't look at it like that," Burgess said in a telephone interview from Raiders training camp headquarters in Napa, Calif. "I look at it like it was a business decision for them. They decided it wasn't in their best interests, and that was it."

Still, it raises a point of debate for sports talk radio or among friends at the bar: Had the Eagles matched Oakland's offer of $17.5 million over three years, Burgess would be an Eagle today and they wouldn't have needed to bring in Howard, who cost them $30 million over six years.

Could the money saved there have helped the Eagles upgrade other areas of need? Say, wide receiver or power running back?

"That's not my problem," Burgess said. "I'm with the Raiders. I wish them all the luck, except when they play us, and that's it."

Of course, the Eagles would have needed some incredible foresight to predict the kind of season Burgess would put forth.

At the time, it seemed like a gamble on Oakland's part to award Burgess, then an unrestricted free agent, such a lucrative deal along with a signing bonus worth $5 million. Foot injuries had relegated him to one game over two seasons in 2002 and 2003 and he had played in just 29 games in four years, amassing 8 1/2 sacks, six of which came during his rookie season.

But in the postseason, specifically in Philadelphia's 27-10 NFC Championship Game victory over Atlanta, he showed flashes of brilliance. He sacked slithery quarterback Michael Vick twice then added Tom Brady to the list in the Eagles' 24-21 loss to New England in Super Bowl XXXIX -- a sack that boosted his postseason sack total to four, a franchise record he shares with Hugh Douglas and Reggie White.

"I always knew he was a good player," Eagles defensive tackle Darwin Walker said. "A lot of people in this area doubted him and he went out and showed what he was all about. It's like that every year, somebody always tops out. But we all knew he was a good player."

Burgess still thinks fondly of Andy Reid and his ex-teammates. He even admitted to feeling awkward last season when he arrived at Lincoln Financial Field during a Week 3 clash against the Eagles clad in Oakland's trademark silver and black.

Not until harsh fans showered him with chants of "traitor" did he feel, well, more at home, more comfortable.

"Coach Reid and the staff, they all believed in me and gave me the opportunity," he said. "I still look at the Eagles as one of my teams. It was nothing but a great time for me. I was drafted there. I'm from the Washington, D.C., area. It was real tough to leave."

Oddly enough, it was after that game -- a 23-20 Raiders loss that dropped them to 0-3 -- that Burgess went on an unbridled sacking spree. Oakland had finished tinkering with a 3-4 defensive alignment and switched to a 4-3 set, playing more to his strength as an edge rusher.

He recorded two sacks apiece in each of his next three games and nine in Oakland's final seven games to finish with 16 and become the first Raider in franchise history to lead the NFL in sacks.

"Once I got in that situation with the defense we were running, it started flowing so good," he recalled. "It was just one of those things."

And though Oakland endured its own abysmal season, Burgess couldn't help but feel sorry for the mess he left behind and the woes and drama incorporated with the Eagles' 6-10 season.

"Just to see the winning spirit go out of them like that, it kind of hurt me," he said. "But I know the type of guys they have and the leadership in there. They'll be all right." Reach Geoff Mosher at gemosher@delawareonline.com

[Sgt PSN]

Eagles - forty-twelve
Raiders - two

[Cerevant]

i always forget but in the first pre season games how much time does the first unit get? i would only want them in for one series and then yank them out. the rest of the game should be given to buckhalter to see which qrt he will blow his knee in. i say late 2nd.

Are you new around here?  Don't you know buck only blows his knees in non-contact drills?  If he were to blow his knee at the preseason game, it would be during warm-ups.

[Magical_Retard]

yeah but since he hasnt been getting much action in practice im placing my bets on this game.

[The BIGSTUD]

Eagles 56
Raiders 2

Hank Baskett 14 receptions 202 yards receiving and 5 TDs.

Mahe gets tackled in the backfield for a safety.

holla

[dis12]

Eagles 27
Al Davis' multiple chins 23

At the HOF inductions, Al Davis was there.  He looks like a walking corpse

[Rome]

Eagles:    24
Raiders:   20