Word is that King Dunlap may not be able to play on Sunday, and that could become the Achilles heel for the Philadelphia Eagles. Dunlap was expected to play in place of starter Jason Peters, who was officially ruled out of this week’s action.
Not only do the Eagles have to go three deep at left tackle if King can’t go, but the only other option they have, is to play Todd Herremans at left tackle. At first glance, that wouldn’t appear earth-shattering as Herremans is listed as the right tackle, but what a depth chart won’t tell you is that he was already playing out of position. Herremans is naturally a guard.
So the Eagles will be having a guard that was playing at tackle, switching sides to play the other tackle position. While The Hogs of old would have thought nothing of it, it will likely bring about huge problems for the Eagles’ left side.
Regardless of how the Eagles solve the riddle, they’re depleted at a position that lines up against the Redskins greatest strength. Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan have owned the edge in all four of the Redskins match-ups this year, and spotting them a starter and a back-up, could just prove too much.
Expect to see Jim Haslett exploit the weakness early and often, and attack the left side. Michael Vick, being left-handed, WILL see the rush coming from the left, but limiting where he can go in any way, is vital to shutting him down.
For more on this week’s match-up, please check out our special Game Day Preview article.