Kevin Kolb hopes to lead Philadelphia Eagles over struggling San Francisco 49ers
Kevin Kolb will be looking to justify his initial billing as head coach Andy Reid's number one quarterback in Philadelphia as he leads the Eagles into Candlestick Park to take on the San Francisco 49ers in week five's Sunday-nighter.
How they match up
A quarterback controversy emerged in Philadelphia when starting quarterback Kevin Kolb suffered a concussion and was replaced by backup Michael Vick. The situation was supposed to be temporary, and Vick was in as starter only to allow Kolb an opportunity
to recover, but coach Reid handed Vick the reigns after stellar back-to-back performances against the Detroit Lions and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Reid is now forced to go with Kolb again since Vick went down last week in the Eagles' loss to the Washington
Redskins when he was sandwiched between two defenders after scrambling out of the pocket on a long run. The hit left Vick unable to continue and out for the foreseeable future with cracked rib cartilage. Prior to his injury, Vick posed a serious rushing threat
to opposing defences and was the Eagles' second leading rusher behind running back LeSean McCoy who also leads the team in receptions. Don't expect Kolb to do the type of rushing that Vick did as Kolb is more the type of quarterback that likes to sit in the
pocket and wait for receivers to get open. He'll also be wary of putting himself in the line of fire looking to avoid further injuring himself.
Forty-niner fans are probably wishing there was a similar type of quarterback controversy on their team, but there seems to be no one available to step in for the underachieving Alex Smith, who, despite his lack-luster performances, continues to have the
backing of head coach Mike Singletary. The 49ers did recently take measures to improve their offence by handing Mike Johnson the duties as offensive coordinator after firing Jimmy Raye. The 49ers are off to one of their worst starts ever and desperately need
to get something going. Only the Carolina Panthers have scored fewer points per game and only five teams in the NFL have conceded more points.
What to expect
At the start of the season many believed that the 49ers were the best team in the NFC West, but after four straight losses the outlook is very bleak. The Eagles have had no consistency due in large part to the problems they've had at the quarterback position
– a situation which has been largely out of their control. As it stands, the Eagles could probably start one of their cheerleaders at quarterback and still manage a victory over Singletary's listless 49ers. If San Francisco lose for a fifth straight time look
for headlines rumoring front office movement the following day. The Eagles should have no trouble stopping the 49ers offence and should come away with a comfortable 27-13 win – the exact same result from when these two teams met in Philadelphia on Dec. 20
last season.
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