Noles battle BC (updated) / Eagles visit Bengals

A Saturday night showdown in Doak Campbell Stadium.  This is a matchip that has the potential to put an even bigger wrench in the the ACC standings then they already have, if Florida St wins and Wake Forest goes down then Florida St will once again control their own destiny in the Atlantic side of the conference.

Bobby Bowden’s club is coming off a good solid win against a Clemson program searching not only for a coach but an identity.  They totaled up 419 total yards in that game 266 which were on the ground in a committee style attack.

In this game the Noles will have to find a more balance attack to get through the 14th overall ranking (9th agaisnt the run & 8th against the pass) that Boston College’s defense brings into this contest.  They may have to toss in a few new wrinkles or nuggets they have hardly or never used in sometime.  I put my faith in Jimbo Fisher to dial up something and make it work.

Keys to this game:

- Christian Ponder still needs to find a groove in his passing game completing only 55% of your passes will only get you so far and beat so many teams.  Thankfully for him he is in the bad ACC this year.  Going forward this will have to improve to compliment the ability he has with his legs and force teams to honor/fear his game.

- Stick with the running game that has been the offensive strength for this team all year long.  Bosotn College yes has a solid defense they can be beat if you get to them and never take your foot of the throtle.

- Defensive sink your teeth in to the offense.  Give BC the chance to keep plays, drives, & hope alive and you’ll pay.

***Update***

FSU will be short 5 players this weekend due to a campus brawl.  Click here to read all about it.

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Eagles try to get back on track

Andy Reid and company need to get back on track now or the season at least in my eyes is all buy over for them.  They to me had a horrible game against the Giants despite only losing by 5.

In this week 11 contest the Eagles head to the queen city also know as the home of the Bengals.   The Eagles as mentioned are coming off a defeat while the Bengals are riding high after bye week that followed their first win of the season against Jacksonville.

Sunday to me is a must win for Philadelphia as they have one of the toughest remaining schedules left in the NFL and these type of games they need to win to even attempt a chance at giving myself and any Eagle fan false hope that something will actually happen. 

Keys to the game:

- McNabb your receivers actually have hand and can use them, it’s time in your 10th season you learned to hit them on a more consistent basis then  your career 58.9% completion percentage has shown us.  Use your legs and playmaking ability to make this happen and free up Westbrook & company to make plays and help you out.

- Offensive live you are the heaviest in the league use it to your advantage.  The Eagles need to improve here an start now, they are one of these worst teams in the NFL at short yardage situations. 

- Defense has really yet to find a solid groove to get it going this year.  They have played well at time but really haven’t played a complete game since probably they beat the Steelers.   Jim Johnson not only will need to dial up pressure packages which he is typically know for but they will need to stop the Bengals and maybe if they are lucky cause a few turnovers.

-  Speical teams has to contribute a bit more then they have with kick returns & punt returns to give the offense good if not decent starting field position.  It’s really time we should be seeing more significant contributions from this aspect of the team.

 

Any questions, concerns, comments e-mail me @ jamescentifonti@sportstalkbuzz.com

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