When you think of Sunday afternoon at 4:15 on CBS, you think of one team and one player, that team being the New England Patriots and that player being Tom Brady. This Sunday, the Patriots take on the surging Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles are coming off a huge win in the Meadowlands over the New York Giants by a score of 17-10. The two teams face off for the first time since the 2007 season, when the Patriots clipped the Eagles wings by a score of 31-28.

But this isn’ the 2007 season, Donavan McNabb is no longer the quarterback of the Eagles, and Randy Moss is no longer a Patriot. Eventhough the teams have contrasting records, this is a must win game for them both. For the Patriots, they now are looking toward the postseason and perhaps a 1st round bye. But for the Eagles this game is one of the biggest ones of the season. The Eagles need to win at least 5 of their next 6 games to have  at least have a chance at the playoffs. There are two major questions going into this game, those being the quarterback situation for the Eagles and the secondary of the Patriots.

Last week Eagles fans, like me, saw Vince Young start in place of the injured Michael Vick. Young throw 2 touchdown passes and 3 interceptions. But Youngs performance for now, has saved the Eagles season. But who will it be young or the electrifying Michael Vick. Patriots fans shouldn’t just be worried who the Eagles quarterback is, they will need to worry about their weak secondary. The Patriots rank 32nd in the NFL in pass defense, and have a group of unexperienced defensive backs that may not be able to keep up with a player like the Eagles DeSean Jackson or Jeremy Maclin.

Even though I am an Eagles fan, this is still a very tough pick. Two things I really look at for this game is both teams run offense and the defenses in general. The Eagles defense stepped up big time last week at the Meadowlands against Eli Manning, and will once again need to step up against the legendary Tom Brady. But what will really need to be watched is the matchup between the Eagles recievers and the Patriots defensive backs. With or without Michael Vick, I really cannot see myself picking against the Eagles after the performance of Vince Young and the Eagles defense.

My Pick: Eagles 34 Patriots 28