In consecutive games, the Philadelphia Eagles have trailed by double digits at halftime.

They’ve managed to rally for two victories.

But they’re also aware this trend must change beginning with Sunday’s NFC East clash against the Washington Redskins.

Reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Week Darren Sproles is determined to help the Eagles get off to a quick start.

“We’ve got to start fast,” Sproles told the Delaware County Daily Times. “We can’t wait for the second half to get started. We’ve got to start in the first half.”

The Redskins are expecting a fast start by the Eagles.

“They’re going to go fast no matter what,” Washington coach Jay Gruden said on a conference call. “The biggest thing for us is to do a good job on third down. That’s the best thing to slow them down is to get them off the field. If we can get them into third down and keep them under 35, 30 percent then we’ll have a great day. If they’re converting third downs and they’re keeping us on the field for these 9-, 10-, 12-play drives than it will be a long afternoon and guys will be winded like crazy. So it’s going to be very, very important for us to play well on third down and get them off the field.”

The Eagles have come from behind in large part because of the impact of Sproles. He had seven catches for 152 yards and rushed four times for 26 yards, including a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts.

“When you look at Darren, he's really, really put together and he's probably the most fit guy on our team,” Eagles coach Chip Kelly told reporters. “There's a special quality to him from that standpoint, and I don't know that we knew that when we got him. When we first looked at him, obviously the dynamic ability as a returner jumps out at you, his ability to catch the ball coming out of the backfield and as I said after a couple days dealing with him, really impressed with him as a running back. That wasn't something that was a preconceived notion but after me watching him the first couple days, I'm like this kid has pretty good ability as a running back. And when you see his size, he's a little different than your prototypical small guy.”