The Takeaways, Week 13: Redskins at Eagles

December 5, 2018

by Steve Thomas

Not much of what I would label as “redeeming value” came out of the Redskins’ loss to the Eagles on Monday Night Football, certainly not in the second half.  The fans have been in full-scale burn-it-down mode over the last 24 hours, knowing that this game was a huge blow to the Redskins’ season.  Throw in yet another week of devastating injuries, and it adds up to what I like to call “a negative overall event”.  While it’s true that the Redskins managed to hang with Philadelphia through the third quarter despite players dropping like flies at a bug zapper, the wheels truly came off the bus in the fourth quarter.  History will remember this game as an easy Eagles win, but the truth of the matter is that if a few things had broken another way, starting with Colt McCoy’s leg, Washington might have at least been in it at the end of the game.  Alas, it was not to be, and the final result was disastrous.  Plenty of storylines were born out of this contest, obviously, not many of them being good, so be prepared for another negative edition of The Takeaways this week.  This is going to be short, because I just can’t muster the mental fortitude to torture both me and you with too much bad tonight.  Enjoy.

The Redskins lose another quarterback

Obviously, the big story is that backup turned starting quarterback Colt McCoy broke his right fibula and as of this writing has already had surgery.  The Redskins are being perhaps overly optimistic by not placing Colt on injured reserve in the remote contingency that (a) the Redskins make the playoffs, and (b) he can come back early enough to be ready to go in such an event.  It’s good to have dreams, Jay.  Reality, though, is that Mark Sanchez is the Redskins’ new starter for the rest of the season.  Sanchez’s performance was about what I expected: he looked like an NFL quarterback, at a minimum, which is a positive and is about all anyone should expect from a third-string quarterback signed off the street less than two weeks prior.  At least he didn’t run out of the back of the end zone or look totally shell-shocked as some unheralded rookie forced into service most likely would have done.  Sanchez did manage to drive the team down the field for a field goal, and he gave Adrian Peterson one heck of a powerful handoff[1] on Peterson’s 90-yard touchdown run.  He also made a game-killing interception and generally looked like a very rusty version of the Sanchez from his best days, which weren’t all that hot to begin with.  I propose to you that this is about what you should expect given these circumstances.  It’s totally fair to blame the team for not keeping a third quarterback on the roster coming out of training camp, but that’s water under the bridge now.  Welcome to the Sanchez Era, kids.

The defense continues to regress from early-season success

What happened, defense?  At the beginning of the season this unit looked like one poised to take a big step up into the realm of legitimately good units, but instead has totally fallen off a cliff over the past several weeks.  It’s quite frankly a miracle that they haven’t given up a ton more points; that’s more a function of the Redskins playing a few games against teams that are bad in the red zone, such as Tampa Bay and Philadelphia, more than anything.  Regardless, it was a bummer watching the Eagles continually drive up and down the field on the Redskins, even though they only scored 28 points.  This week, Zach Ertz was the principal villain, with the linebackers and safeties being the main failures.  Ertz was by far the only problem, though, as running back Josh Adams and the other Eagles’ running backs all had strong performances against what was supposed to be the strength of the team.  What’s most disconcerting is that Washington’s defense can’t use the injury excuse as can the offense; they’ve just regressed.  Or maybe, just maybe, this was always a unit that needs some more improvement and we just got suckered into the hype based on a couple of good early games.  Next week brings Saquon Barkley and Odell Beckham, Jr., so it doesn’t get any easier.

Adrian Peterson sets a milestone

Old man river, Adrian Peterson, accomplished a major milestone this week, moving into a tie for fifth place on the career touchdown list with 106.  Peterson has essentially been the lone bright spot on offense all year despite being burdened with some absolutely atrocious blocking by the patchwork, injured Redskins offensive line.  As I pointed out earlier this year, Peterson is in the midst of an historically great season for a running back aged 33 or older (read it here).  Despite a couple of down weeks recently, which as I said were primarily caused by some awful blocking, I shudder to think what the 2018 offense would look like without him.  Peterson is forcing himself into the Redskins’ conversation for next year, regardless of the presence Darius Guice.  I would submit to you that Guice has plenty of time to be the sole feature back and would likely benefit from playing with a hall of famer like Peterson.  Keep an eye out on whether Washington offers AP a new contract this offseason.

Josh Doctson has progressed, somewhat

Lost in the cries of disaster over the last couple of weeks is the fact that Josh Doctson has progressed.  He was the team’s leading receiver against the Eagles and has definitely gotten better since the beginning of the year, or at least has had more of an impact recently.  He’s still inconsistent, but is it possible that he isn’t a total bust?  Might he be worth a small and reasonable two or three year contract offer for next year?  It’s definitely true that none of the three quarterbacks this year have made consistent use of his talents.  Just food for thought here, but perhaps Doctson could become better than most fans think if given more of a chance.  I’m not saying that Washington needs to break the bank for the guy, but the team should perhaps consider keeping him around if he continues to show something in the last quarter of the season.

It’s not over, yet….but, it’s over

It’s possible that the Redskins win their next four games, thereby ending up 10 – 6 and winning the division, with some help from Dallas along the way, but I think we all know how this movie is going to end.  All hope isn’t technically lost yet, but what are the chances of the reeling Redskins running off a four-game win streak after losing the last three?  Not very good, although I have to admit that it would be the most Redskins thing ever.  Considering the length of the injury list, though, realistically that isn’t going to happen.  I can’t sugarcoat the importance of this loss to Philadelphia; realistically, Washington most likely can’t climb out of the hole it has dug for itself.  I hope they do, but I’m not going to hold my breath.  This was a pretty devastating loss.

That’s it for The Takeaways for this week.  The Redskins are thankfully back to a normal Sunday schedule this week, as the New York Giants travel to Jack Kent Cooke Stadium for a 1:00 pm contest.  See you next week.

 

 

 

 

[1] For the tone deaf, this is sarcasm.