Eagles-Jets Preview: New York's defense is a major test for Philadelphia's offense

The Philadelphia Eagles 2015 regular season football schedule continues this week with a must-win game. The Eagles are set to take on the New York Jets on Sunday, Sept. 27 at MetLife Stadium. In preparation for the game, I reached out to our acquaintances over at Gang Green Nation. Scott Salmon kindly took the time to answer my questions about the upcoming contest.

Let's take a look at his answers.

1) The Jets are 2-0. Why are they off to such a great start?

I think it comes down to three things. The biggest thing is just how stacked the defense is. When you have a top three defensive line and a top three secondary, it's going to be difficult for anybody to move the ball on you. The second thing is Todd Bowles. Under his predecessor, the team would hit highs one week and then lows the next. They could play up to their opponent sometime, but they usually played down to inferior ones. Bowles is just a consistent personality. Finally, I'm going to give Brandon Marshall some credit personally. I think he's added a new attitude to the offense and finally given them a game breaker they can go to when they need SOMETHING, and they know he'll deliver.

2) The Eagles are 0-2 and look terrible. Do you think this could be an easy win for the Jets?

It should be. The Eagles are struggling right when the Jets are playing as well as I've seen them since 2010. That said, I'm not willing to count Chip Kelly out yet. I think he's a genius and he'll figure out the problem eventually. I've seen the Jets struggle when they should win too often, so a shocker from the Eagles would never surprise me.

3) How far do you think the Jets can really go with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback? What are the realistic expectations for this season?

Before the season, I said around 8-8, 9-7 and making a push for the wildcard. With how good the defense has been, minimum competency is all that's needed to make a playoff push. Fitzpatrick has been far better than I expected, but he's still struggled to throw the ball deep. That's going to be a problem if another team finds a way to rack up points against the Jets and they can't just rely on long methodical drives. I think I'm now willing to give them an extra game, so let's say 10-6, but if the defense can keep averaging 8.5ppg, minimum competency will get them into the playoffs.

4) Name one matchup that really favors the Eagles and one that really favors the Jets.

For the Eagles, rather than a specific person, I'll say their tempo worries me. I know they've been slower under Sam Bradford, but the Jets don't have a ton of speed in their linebacker corps. If the Eagles can find a rhythm, there's a lot to exploit in the middle of the field against the Jets. As for the Jets, the defensive line versus Bradford should be fun (for us). They're very quick and harassed Andrew Luck all night last week. With how immobile Bradford is, he could be in for a long night.

5) Score prediction?

I'll go with 27-10, Jets.