Week Eleven Crystal Ball - Thursday: The NFC East Comes to a Head in Philly

"I'll never be 100% again" - TOMMY BIRD, after a tough Iggles loss

My friends, THE GURU is giddy with buffet-level anticipation for tonight’s matchup as My Beloved Commies (7-3, 3-2 away) face the Eagles (7-2, 3-1 home) in the City of Brotherly Love. Kickoff is at 8:15 pm on Amazon Prime Video.

These teams traditionally come from different places - the Birds are perennial NFC contenders while the DC crew has been a three-decade also-ran - but they’re running neck-and-neck in the NFC East this season so it’s anyone’s ballgame.

And, yes, when it’s time for Philly-Washington, great storylines always abound so let’s take a look at a few, with a historical bent:

1. The coaches come from Division III football roots.
   
   The words “humble” and “Nick Sirianni” don’t often appear in the same galaxy, but the Philly coach wasn’t born with a silver football spoon in his mouth. Heck, he pulled himself up by his figurative bootstraps.
   
   Sirianni was a wide receiver at Division III powerhouse Mount Union and was part of three national championship teams, even scoring 13 touchdowns as a senior. He then embarked upon a 17-year college and professional coaching odyssey that led him to the Iggles in 2021.
   

   Meanwhile, Quinn played collegiately at another D-III institution - Salisbury (Md.) State¹ - and earned seven varsity letters, three in football and four in track and field. In fact, he still holds the school record for the hammer throw at 168.8 feet, roughly the distance that THE TRE MAN’s dirty clothes land from the laundry bin in his 12x12 room.
   
   From there, Quinn started his coaching career at William & Mary before moving to THE CHIEF’s alma mater of VMI, working alongside Mike Tomlin. It was fun, yes, but also a slog as he logged time in eight different cities before landing his first head coaching job with Atlanta in 2015.

   

   Quinn (lower left) at Salisbury State (Photo: Salisbury State)

2. DC holds the rivalry edge, but the Birds are gaining.
   
   Washington holds a slim 89-85-6 advantage in this series, which dates to 1934. But the Eagles have run the show since 1990 with a 43-26 (.623) record. In fact, over the past three seasons, the DC franchise has more official nicknames (2) than victories over Philadelphia (1).
   
   One notch in the Skins’ belt: their 1990 road playoff win against the Eagles in the only postseason meeting between the teams.
   

3. The teams have fleeced one another with quarterback trades.
   
   The Eagles pulled the wool over Daniel Snyder’s eyes in 2010 by shipping an aging Donovan McNabb to the Skins but Andy Reid’s victory wasn’t enough to offset the most lopsided Philadelphia sports trade this side of Chicago’s Ryne Sandberg heist.
   
   Indeed, on April Fool’s Day, 1964, the Philly brass hoodwinked their fans by sending QB Sonny Jurgensen to DC in exchange for his Redskins counterpart, Norm Snead².

   

   While Snead was productive after the trade - playing 13 more years with the Eagles and three other franchises - Jurgensen blossomed in Washington, building a resume that propelled him to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. To wit: he led the NFL in passing yards three times and, 50 seasons after taking his last snap, still holds the team record for passing touchdowns in a season (31).
   

   How good was Jurgensen? Well, after Vince Lombardi spent a year coaching the QB with the Skins in 1969, he told a Wisconsin reporter: “If we would have had Sonny Jurgensen in Green Bay, we'd never have lost a game.”
   

4. Tonight is homecoming for two key Washington players.
   
   Yes, Washington tight end Zach Ertz starred in Philadelphia for nine seasons, but current Commanders - and ex-Birds - WR Olamide Zaccheaus has an even deeper connection to the city.

   

   Zaccheaus at St. Joe’s Prep (Photo: Hudl)

   Known around our home as The Tax Collector³, Zaccheaus is one of five St. Joseph’s Prep alums in the NFL, joined by wide receiver Marvin Harrison, Jr. (Arizona), guard Jon Runyan, Jr. (Giants), running back D’Andre Swift (Chicago), and linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. (Eagles).
   
   It’s a big evening for the Philly native, who uncharacteristically muffed two punts in last week’s loss to the Steelers. Here’s betting he’ll be ready to compete.

It’ll be a tall task for Washington as they face an Eagles team that’s won five straight contests. It’s not the most impressive Philadelphia outfit I’ve ever seen - that goes to the wedding gown donned by THE FAIR CLAUDINE on 7/31/04 - but they’re well coached and they play hard.

The Commies have lost to the two best teams they’ve faced this season - Baltimore and Pittsburgh - but they’ve kept both games close so I expect them to keep this one tight to the very end. And, in the memory of PIGHEART JEFF, let’s say they pull it out at the end.

Last week’s record for yours truly was an uninspiring 9-5, moving the season tally to 90-60 (.600). Enjoy the game tonight and we’ll get after it this weekend. God bless!

1. Easy there, FATBACK, I said Salisbury State, NOT steak.

2. Ironically, the two men played at ACC rivals Duke (Jurgensen) and Wake Forest (Snead), respectively, though they didn’t overlap. Sonny graduated in 1957, the same year Snead arrived on Wake’s campus.

3. Check it out in the Book of Luke.