With week one of the NFL regular season looming, the Philadelphia Eagles have a tough matchup against the Washington Redskins.

As we look ahead to week one of the regular season, the Philadelphia Eagles will square up against one of their division rivals. They face their first test of the seasoning, taking on a team that always gives 100 percent. Overall, Philly has a rich history with the Washington Redskins. Of all of the NFC East teams, the Redskins seem to have the Eagles’ number. In this decade alone, the Skins have defeated the Birds in eight of their fourteen bouts.

Background to the Madness

Now, it’s not as if the Philadelphia Eagles don’t get the best of the Washington Redskins. In the 2000’s, Philadelphia took care of Washington in 13 of their 20 games. Overall, this rival always seems to bring out good games. One game that comes to mind immediately is Donovan McNabb‘s second game as a Redskin. In that game, the Eagles, led by Michael Vick, crushed the Skins 59 to 28. That was probably one of the highlights of my fan-hood as an Eagle, in all honesty.

Other than that night, this battle has been fairly 50-50. Clearly, this feud tends to bring out the best in both sides’ players. On both sides, you have teams that simply don’t like each other. That type of hate shows itself in many forms. For instance, back on September 21, 2014, Redskins defensive lineman Chris Baker took what many considered a cheap shot at Eagles quarterback Nick Foles. In retaliation, Eagles offensive lineman Jason Peters stepped in to defend his quarterback. This resulted in a fight, but more importantly, it showed just how much both sides hate one another

Anyway, as much as I’d love to continue talking about the history of this rivalry, that’s not why we’re here. You wanted matchups, so I’ll give you matchups. Clearly, these matchups rank highest in importance for the Eagles to win. Obviously, if the Philadelphia Eagles win these battles, they will most likely win the game.