Monday Football Afterword: Redskins vs Eagles

Poor offensive line play and an atypical lack of ball security
doomed the Redskins on Monday night.

Saswat Misra

The Philadelphia Eagles’ relatively unknown offensive architectured by Chip Kelly was shown early and often in a big win against the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football. RGIII and the Redskins got off to a slow start, which did them in as they ended up losing 33-27. Eagles RB LeSean McCoy led the Eagles’ offensive attach with 184 rushing yards on 31 carries.

The Philadelphia offense came out looking very sharp and very comfortable as they were able to move the football at will in the first half. The only damper was a 75-yard fumble return for a touchdown by DeAngelo Hall on the first drive, but that didn’t have any effect on the Eagles’ momentum. Aided by the Redskins’ offensive mistakes, Vick and McCoy engineered a well-balanced, fast-paced attack that blew the game wide open. Solid defensive performances by Perry Riley, London Fletcher and Ryan Kerrigan weren’t enough to contain the Eagles until the second half when the Redskins started to show signs of life.

All eyes were on RGIII leading into this game, but early on he and the rest of the Redskin offense came out flat and rusty. The Redskins turned the ball over, committed several procedure-based penalties, and didn’t bring the same energy to the field that the Eagles’ defense brought. RGIII looked completely out of sync and looked like he could have used a pre-season game to screw the proverbial nuts and bolts of the offense. He was missing wide-open receivers and making poor decisions. In the second half, the offense started to settle down and launch a mini-comeback, but it was too little, too late.

It was unfortunate to see the Redskins struggle early, but it was encouraging to see the offense get it together in the second half, especially RGIII, whose throws looked much better. My concern is that we didn’t see the same explosiveness we saw from him last year. But give Philadelphia’s pass rush a lot of credit for that. Overall, I’m not too disappointed with this loss. Shanahan and company will make sure that the offense stops the technical errors that plagued them tonight before their next game. The Redskins play at Lambeau Field next week against the Packers, who are also 0-1.

Cory Puffett

I am in agreement with Saswat on everything above. He did a nice job of recapping the game, so I won’t bother repeating him. But I do have a couple thoughts to add to his.

Don’t buy into the hype ESPN and NFL.com are dishing out in favor of the Eagles’ offense just yet. During the second half, Philly’s offense got very conservative and when it did, it was easy to stop. Chip Kelly needs to recognize that and remember that there’s no such thing as running up the score in the NFL. Score however many points you can. Teams can always come back, as the Redskins showed. Philly’s offense can be unstoppable, but not if they turn conservative when they get a lead.

Washington’s offense came alive late. Griffin III did not play in any preseason games and was not quite prepared for how fast the defensive backs can be running toward the ball, leading to two interceptions. He was fine late in the game and I can see him still finishing the season with fewer than 12 interceptions. He didn’t run much, but it wasn’t clear whether that was because he can’t or because he’d rather pass.

Alfred Morris struggled early, and there was no excuse for that first fumble. But he is generally sure-handed and fumbling should not be a concern going forward. My concern in the running game was the offensive line. As good as Washington’s line was last year, they looked as bad as 2011 and earlier today. They will need to pull together or it will be a long year for the Washington offense.

As for Philadelphia’s defense, they locked things up in the trenches but struggled in the passing game, especially during the second half. I won’t be able to tell whether it was simply conservative play-calling or legitimate holes until I watch the coaches film on the game, but it will be something to keep an eye on going forward.

All in all, between this and the Sunday night game, this should be an interesting division to watch this season, with no clear-cut favorite emerging in Week 1.

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