Eagles Sweep Redskins with Week 7 Victory

The Redskins lost to Philly this week 34 – 24. This was the outcome nearly all of us at the Hog Sty predicted, particularly after an inadequate performance against the Eagles in week 1. Nothing here was a surprise; the Eagles generated consistent pressure and manhandled the offensive line, Washington’s running game was non-existent, and the receiving corps just couldn’t click outside of veteran tight ends Vernon Davis and Jordan Reed.

Interestingly enough, Carson Wentz and Kirk Cousins had similar numbers. Kirk Cousins’ 303 yards were just a hair above Wentz’s 268. Kirk had 3 touchdowns and Wentz 4. Both quarterbacks had an interception. But looking beyond the numbers, images of the quarterbacks begin to diverge. Kirk couldn’t stay on his feet through the evening, while Wentz had more time to throw and – when he didn’t – the speed to beat rushers with his feet. Where Kirk looked frazzled much of the time, Wentz looked most at home tucking the ball and running himself. He ended as the game’s leading rusher with 8 carries for 63 yards, including a brutal 21-yard miracle play that initially looked like a sack.

Hmm, on whom shall I assign blame? A case could be made for the offense, of course. Six weeks into the regular season and Terell Pryor still looks lost. He caught a ball or two out of bounds on Monday night and only mustered two catches for 14 yards all evening. Crowder’s fumbling problems continue. Everyone else, aside from the aforementioned tight ends, looked pretty pedestrian, but that may be something of a function of this offense in general. After all, if you don’t have a running game on which to rely, you need to spread the ball around plenty to avoid predictability.

A case could be made for the defense as well. This is a unit that just can’t seem to get off the field, despite Brown, Foster, Kerrigan, and Galette all doing some good work up front. They couldn’t seem to get help over the top, so their efforts were mostly for naught. Swearinger didn’t do well in coverage and once again Zach Ertz – hardly a guy to fly under the radar – went ham for about 100 yards. We just don’t seem to have a matchup answer for tight ends, especially an athletic guy like Ertz. And when it came to scoring, Wentz was more willing to share, tossing TDs to four different players.

Let’s just blame both. This was a team loss, in that we were outclassed in every facet of the game. I’m not really indicting Washington or Jay Gruden for this — the Eagles are the “real deal”, as they say, and Wentz has all the right moves.

Things certainly get difficult from here on out. The Eagles are now sitting comfortably atop the NFC East, with a series sweep against Washington to feather their cap. The Redskins are currently tied with the Cowboys at second, though the ‘boys still have two matchups against Philly to look forward to. To make things worse, the Redskins have a tough schedule here in the immediate future.

At this point in the season, I’d have to say Washington is playing above the pedigree of their roster. We don’t have a running game, which is an immediate ball-and-chain for this offense. Our receivers aren’t clicking, with oft-injured newbie Josh Doctson now outplaying the 8-million-dollar-man himself (Pryor). We’ve been ravaged by injuries, including in our secondary. Gadget guys like Chris Thompson have stepped up, and we should be thankful, because without them we might not have any plays for the reel.

The Redskins can be a bit unpredictable, though, so we may just have some magic to come. One thing’s for sure: I’m glad there are no more matchups against the Eagles.