EAGLES 22 – Redskins 27
DESPITE the loss and being swept AGAIN by Washington, clearly you could see some very solid building blocks yesterday. Some of which still have me bursting with pride. Today I almost feel like a man whose team just clinched a playoff berth. Although there IS one small thing bugging me.
The was no quit in that game on our side. True, the game was never out of reach, but there were a couple of momentum swinging plays where a young team could have let the wind go out of their sails, and given into the “here we go, again” syndrome. That however, never happened.
When our LS Jon Dorenbos was injured and then the guy who filled in for him TE Brent Celek (2 – 7 – 3.5 – 0) was injured there were multiple Eagles on the sideline “auditioning” to fill the spot. Guys were lining up for the chance to step up. It looked like a team that was eager to support each other and who wanted to not just compete, but win. You can’t help but be proud of that.
The only thing that bugs me about the game was what didn’t happen after the cheap shot on RB Darren Sproles (5 – 27 – 5.4 – 0 – 0 / 2 – 13 – 7.5 – 1). There should have been a brawl. That or we should have returned the cheap shot on a player they need to make a playoff run. I feel like it only happened because we let that same Redskin player get away with injuring Celek, with an earlier cheap shot to the head. A message needed to be sent that those sort of actions precipitate an immediate and costly (Buddy Ryan/700 Level) response. The rest of the NFL cannot be allowed to think that it’s open season on our players.
Aside from that, it was a VERY good game.
I want to talk a little Offense now. QB Carson Wentz (32/46 – 69.5% – 314 – 1 – 1), showed his usual poise, and added a dash of escapability to the mix. It was good to see him display that. Even better were the types of passes that he threw. They were mostly down-field throws, not passes at or behind the line of scrimmage. Our Offense went on the offensive for a change.
Defensively DT Fletcher Cox (3 – 1.5 – 0 – 0) made return to relevance yesterday nothing a sack and half. While stats are not the end-all-be-all of football, when your chief pass rusher doesn’t get to the QB, it becomes a concern. CB Leodis McKelvin (5 – 0 – 1 – 0) picked off a pass and took it back to the house for 6, after getting torched by DeSean Jackson for an 80 yard strike earlier in the game. Aside from that, our CB play was pretty shitty yet again.
Did you notice?
Fourth quarter, Washington’s ball, 4th and 1 from our 35 yard line:
QB Kirk Cousins lines up in the Shotgun, so it’s an obvious pass. McKelvin lines up opposite WR Pierre “Not Very Fast” Garcon, giving him a cushion for some reason. Garcon gets a free release and makes an easy 6 yard catch over the middle for the first down. Two plays later the Redskins scored the game winning TD.
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