National Football League

Hobbs thinks Eagles may be facing a crossroads game

Published Oct. 17, 2010 10:15 p.m. ET

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Eagles cornerback Ellis Hobbs remembers the game in which he realized the 2007 New England Patriots were really something - and not something made up.

Hobbs, a starting cornerback with the Patriots who went undefeated in the regular season, recalled New England's riding an 11-game winning streak when it traveled to Baltimore. On a chilly December Monday night against the steely Ravens defense, nothing went the Patriots' way and they still found a way to win.

The Eagles' sixth game of 2010, against the 4-1 Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, could be that type of game.

The point is not to compare a 3-2 Eagles squad to a team that came within a last-minute touchdown pass in the Super Bowl - one that sailed over Hobbs - from finishing 19-0. But every team faces a crossroads - it could be the first game or the last - when it finds out if it's going one way or the other. The Falcons may provide that barometer.

An Eagles victory would give them their first quality win and catapult them among the top teams in a for-the-taking NFC. A loss, while not crippling, would drop them back among middling teams fighting for a playoff berth.

"I think that's where the great teams and the better teams separate themselves throughout the season," said Hobbs. "I think this team is definitely capable of that and we're going to get tested on that level. I mean, in the NFL, the margin is so small."

For the first time since 1970, this season opened without a team going 4-0. Nineteen of 32 teams have either two or three losses. And just five teams have more than three losses.

"You can't tell who's who," Hobbs said. "It's crazy, man. Out the gate you always assume Indianapolis is going to rope off a bunch of wins. And all of a sudden they're only [3-2]. The Cowboys are 1-3 and somehow they're still predicted as a team to beat."

Dallas, the preseason favorite to win the NFC East, is two games behind a three-way, division-leading tie among Washington, the New York Giants, and the Eagles. Atlanta is only a half-game ahead of Tampa Bay in the NFC South, but it has an impressive win over the defending-champion Saints and an overtime loss to defense-minded Pittsburgh.

"They have a loss, too, so obviously they're beatable," Hobbs said. "But we got to understand that they're definitely not going to hand anything to us. They get paid, too."

The Falcons team that will take to the grass Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field is different from the one the Eagles whipped last December in Atlanta. Quarterback Matt Ryan and running back Michael Turner were injured and sat out that 34-7 drubbing.

This Eagles team, too, will be without a few valuable pieces on offense. Quarterback Michael Vick will not start, but Kevin Kolb is a much-more-capable backup than the Falcons' Chris Redman was a season ago.

More of a concern is at left tackle, where Jason Peters will sit after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery last week and King Dunlap will get his first career start. A victim of three sacks last week against the 49ers, Dunlap has the responsibility of fending off defensive end John Abraham from Kolb's blind side.

The Eagles will have ace receiver DeSean Jackson, who was held out of last year's meeting with a concussion. Jackson, though, has been stifled the last two weeks, accounting for only five catches for 43 yards.

Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said that Jackson has been the victim of "the Jerry Rice treatment," as defenses focus their efforts on stopping the speedy 23-year-old.

"There's nothing I can really do," Jackson said. "I can't throw the ball to myself. I can't create plays for myself."

The Eagles' defense will center its attention on stopping Atlanta's second-ranked running attack, led by the bruising combo of Turner and Jason Snelling.

Last week, the Eagles' run defense - then ranked 27th in the league - was able to impede the 49ers' ground game. But defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley, a gap filler, is out with an elbow injury, and replacements Trevor Laws and Antonio Dixon are unproven against the run.

"You have to commit to stopping the run, because if they get those two running backs going, that opens up their passing game," Eagles defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said, "and that's hard to stop."

Ryan is a more consistent quarterback than the one who returned to his native Philadelphia two years ago and tossed two interceptions in a 27-14 loss.

That game was the Eagles' seventh of the season and moved them to 4-3. But that was not their moment of clarity. That point would come in December, when they went on the road and beat the Giants.

For Hobbs, that moment is now.

"It's Week 6, but we're starting to move into those November, December games," he said. "And we definitely don't want to be the team scratching and clawing to get to November and December."

Contact staff writer Jeff McLane at 215-854-4745 or jmclane@phillynews.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Jeff_McLane

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