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Five things learned in Redskins' victory over Eagles
By Tom Garrett
Myriad penalties, a costly Jordan Reed fumble, a curious decision to punt at Philly’s 35-yard-line, and a depleted secondary wasn’t enough to keep the Washington Redskins from pulling out a gutsy, 23-20 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Here are five things we learned:
1. When they had to step up, the Redskins did: The Redskins had the chance to blow the game open in the first half (see below), and they didn’t. But they also had several opportunities to lose this game in the fourth quarter, and they didn’t. Instead, the defense got a couple of key stops down 20-16, Alfred Morris ripped off some nice runs, Kirk Cousins protected the ball and made some decent throws, and the receiving corps – especially Pierre Garcon and Jamison Crowder – hauled in several tough catches. In getting to 2-2, Washington at least seems competitive. This is progress.
2. The Redskins have to get their penalties under control: The officials were a little quick to reach for their flags on Sunday, but, even so, Washington’s penalty problem became much worse even than it has been in recent weeks. In addition to several personal foul penalties, there was a key holding penalty that erased a Cousins run for a first down (due to a penalty on the Eagles, the down was replayed). The Redskins were tagged for 10 (accepted) penalties and a whopping 110 penalty yards. This is not progress.
3. The defense played about as well as it could have under the circumstances: We knew coming in that the Redskins’ secondary was depleted. Yet, a fierce pass rush kept the Eagles in check in the first half, holding Philadelphia to no points and under 100 yards of offense. It was apparent from the start that the Redskins would have no chance to cover the Eagles deep if Bradford had time. And they didn’t. With less pressure on Bradford in the final two quarters, he hit a handful of key deep passes, including bombs to Riley Cooper and Miles Austin for touchdowns. However, Washington ultimately prevailed. After giving up the Austin touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Redskins stopped the Eagles twice, forcing two punts down the stretch. Washington finished with five sacks and generated two turnovers. The secondary needs to get healthy ASAP.
4. The Redskins must finish drives: I remember the talk last year from Jay Gruden about “getting six instead of three” as a priority for improvement. That’s an issue that continues to plague Washington, and it made a big difference on Sunday. The Redskins should have been up 14-0 or 10-0 at the end of the first quarter. Instead, a couple of nice drives resulted only in two field goals. A huge statistical edge and a great start by the defense produced a mere 6-0 lead. With the score tied at 13, the Redskins drove inside the Eagles’ 15, but again fell short of the end zone. If Washington had finished off even two of those three drives, the game would have unfolded much differently. Thankfully, the Redskins did finish that last one.
5. This running attack is good for the Redskins, bad for fantasy owners: Having a multi-faceted run game is a nice luxury. We already knew that Alfred Morris was a potent weapon, but Matt Jones and now Chris Thompson have each shown their value as well. Thompson broke out this week, with a 42-yard run and 77 total yards of offense against the Eagles. Not bad for a guy who’s third on the depth chart. Of course, if you own any of these guys in fantasy, playing them becomes a risky proposition. But, if you also happen to be a Redskins fan, you’re probably still happy today.
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