Fun Facts about Eagles-Redskins

Since we have an extra day to kill before this week’s latest installment of the Eagles-Redskins rivalry, I’ve put together some interesting numbers to help pass the time.

(NOTE: The predictive value of these stats is highly questionable considering all of the mitigating circumstances involved. But I love looking at stats, so I figured I’d see what I could find. Basically, you should just take them with a grain of salt.)

• In 14 games played after returning from a bye week, Mike Shanahan-coached teams are 10-4.

• Under Andy Reid, the Eagles are 12-0 after returning from their bye week. But in the games played the week after those games, the team is just 4-5.

• Donovan McNabb is undefeated against his former team. (Okay, this one has a small sample size, and therefore doesn’t really mean anything. I just threw it in for kicks.)

• The Eagles haven’t lost a single contest this year when Michael Vick plays the whole game. (He didn’t start against Green Bay, he left with an injury in the first half against the ‘Skins, and then he missed every game until returning against the Colts last week. And the Eagles promptly won.)

• Alright, this one’s a mouthful. You know how each team plays its division opponents twice during the season? Under Andy Reid, if the Eagles lose their first meeting of the year against a division opponent, they are 9-8 in the second meeting.

• In 4 games against the Redskins, Michael Vick has a record of 3-1. He has completed 56% of his passes, thrown 2 touchdowns, and has a QB rating of 104.7. But that one loss? It happened this year in Week 4.

• In his one win against the Eagles, Donovan McNabb has a lowly 60.2 QB rating, with 1 touchdown, 1 interception, and whopping 42.1% completion percentage. But over his entire career, at Fedex Field McNabb has a record of 7-3. He’s completed 61% of his passes and thrown 17 touchdowns to just 6 interceptions. His QB rating? An impressive 90.9. (Granted, he wasn’t playing for Washington when he did it, but I’m not splitting hairs.)

• For his career, the ‘Skins leading receiver Santana Moss is averaging 4.2 receptions/game and 52.8 yards/game against the Eagles. He has only caught 2 touchdowns during that span.

And finally, regarding matters of “cardiovascular endurance”…

•  Michael Vick has led 6 fourth-quarter comebacks and 8 game-winning drives in his 8-year career. In his 12-year career, Donovan McNabb has led 15 fourth-quarter comebacks and 23 game-winning drives.

Just FYI: I compiled all of these stats by using Pro Football Reference. It's a great way to kill time, so if you've got a few minutes, you should check it out.