Game Preview, Week 1: Redskins at Eagles

September 6, 2019

by Steve Thomas

The darkness has come and gone, the clouds have parted, and the sun has risen again! In other words, real NFL football that counts is back, after seven long months.  Things don’t start off slow for our beloved Redskins, who have to travel to The City of Hate, Philadelphia, to face the Eagles in what is sure to be one of the toughest games of the year.  Based on the early betting odds (see below), Vegas certainly thinks it’s a tall order for Washington.  Getting a win would be a both huge boost to the team’s chances going forward and contrary to the team’s prevailing results during Jay Gruden’s tenure.  Last year’s week one victory over the Arizona Cardinals was more to do with the Cardinals being terrible than it did with the Redskins really being ready for the season, but nonetheless, going 1 – 0 for the second year in a row would certainly be a step in the right direction.  Alas, it will be tough, but not impossible.  How, you ask?  Read on, because we have all the details in this week’s game preview.

Game time & location:         Sunday, September 8, 2019, 1:00 p.m. ET, Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA; Gates                                                     open 10:30 p.m. ET (earlier access to premium seating and facilities); parking lots open                                                         8:00 a.m.

Television:                              Fox

Television announcers:        Kevin Burkhardt, Charles Davis & Pam Oliver

 

DC-area radio:                        The Team 980

Redskins radio network:       Click here

Eagles radio network:           Click here

Satellite radio:                        XM: 231 (Eagles broad.) Sirius: 211 (Redskins broad); internet: 831 (Redskins broad.)

 

Redskins roster:                      Click here

Redskins depth chart:            Click here

Eagles roster:                          Click here

Eagles depth chart:                Click here

 

All-time head-to-head record vs Eagles: 85 – 76 – 6 (last 10: 5 – 5) (streak: 0 – 4)

Last meeting:  L, December 30, 2018, 0 – 24

Early odds: Eagles, -10

3 KEYS TO THE GAME

Be prepared and come ready to play

It’s no secret that in most years the Redskins have looked lost in week one.  As I mentioned, last year was the rare exception, mostly due to the Cardinals ineptitude more than anything else. The single biggest key to this game is Washington’s ability to come out at full effort, sharp, and ready to play.  Gruden played the starters even less than normal during this preseason, so the players who will see the field had even less live game prep than in prior years.  Regardless, since the Redskins are facing a top-quality, talented team like the Eagles, nothing less than mid-season form immediately is a mandatory requirement.

Case Keenum needs to not be a dink and dunk Alex Smith clone

Frankly, Keenum didn’t really show much during the preseason, but that was more due to the limited offense more than anything else.  Hopefully.  The Redskins will need to open up their offense a bit in order to be effective.  New starting “X” receiver Terry McLaurin is essentially a total unknown, but he has the speed and talent to be a major weapon.  Last year’s team, led by Smith, rarely if ever took shots downfield and more often than not simply dinked and dunked the majority of the game.  Keenum needs to keep the Eagles’ defense off balance by taking the training wheels off and use some of this newfound size and speed in Washington’s receiver corps, along with All-World tight end Jordan Reed, if he’s available.  It’s going to be important against a team like the Eagles.  Of course, for that to happen, this means that Washington’s offensive line has to do its job and keep Keenum from being treated like a human lawn dart, and it means that the Redskins need to keep the Eagles off balance via a quality run game from Derrius Guice and Adrian Peterson.

Pressure Carson Wentz

As much as I hate to say this, Carson Wentz is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.  One truism of football is that all quarterbacks perform worse under pressure.  The strength of the Redskins defense is clearly the defensive line, led by Jonathan Allen, and that group needs to get significant interior pressure on Wentz.  The Redskins got a decent number of sacks last year, and there’s no reason to think that shouldn’t continue this year.  Regardless of whether Ryan Anderson starts the game, it’s a virtual certainly that rookie pass-rushing specialist Montez Sweat will see the field on passing downs.  Plus, with Mr. Reliable, Ryan Kerrigan, healthy and on board, there’s no reason to think that the Redskins won’t be able to make Wentz immensely uncomfortable.  They’ll have to in order to win the game.

3 KEY MATCHUPS

Ereck Flowers vs Fletcher Cox

I’m making an assumption that Cox, a defensive tackle, will be lined up over Flowers, because, why wouldn’t he be?  Cox has been hurt but is supposedly going to play this week.  The Eagles do move Cox around, but Flowers is probably his natural opponent, and Flowers also happens to be the weak link in the Redskins line.  If Cox ends up abusing Flowers like a German Shepard abuses a chew toy, it will prevent Keenum from being effective or doing anything but short, quick dumpoffs, which is a key to this game.  Flowers does have his moments of quality play, but he’s never really been able to put it all together for an entire 60 minutes, particularly in pass protection.  That having been said, left guard is a new position for him, and it’s better suited for his talents than tackle. He did look good at times during the preseason.  Keep your fingers crossed on this one, because it’s probably the single most important matchup of the game.

Terry McLaurin vs Avonte Maddox and Ronald Darby

The Redskins basically kept McLaurin in the garage for the entire preseason, but that wasn’t before we all got to see him routinely torch essentially all of the Redskins’ defensive backs in training camp.  Gruden clearly didn’t expect McLaurin to be as good as he was.  With the departure of Josh Doctson, McLaurin has all of a sudden gone from a third round rookie to a starter and maybe the most dangerous member of the receiving corps.  The Eagles corners don’t really scare anybody, so it’s possible that McLaurin’s debut could go well.  It’s pretty important that he becomes that critical weapon for Keenum in a game against a defense as talented as the Eagles.

Desean Jackson vs. Josh Norman, Quinton Dunbar, and Montae Nicholson

Jackson is (a) one of the most dangerous deep threats in NFL history, and (b) most likely out to prove something to his old team.  This is unfortunate, because as Redskins fans know too well, Jackson is extremely difficult to cover, particularly when your team has relatively slow outside corners as the Redskins do.  Jackson has the ability to appear to be loafing, and then all of a sudden turn on the jets at the right time like few, if anyone else, can do.  The Redskins are quite simply not equipped to cover him one on one in man coverage.  Montae Nicholson, in particular,, needs to shade coverage Jackson way most of the day in order to prevent Jackson from taking the proverbial top off the defense and making things exponentially more difficult for Washington.  Watch how this key matchup goes.

OFFICIAL INJURY REPORT (as of Thursday (active roster only)) (starters in bold)

LP – limited practice                           FP – full practice                     DNP – did not practice

NIR – not injury related                      Q – questionable                     O – out

D – doubtful

Redskins	Eagles
QB C. McCoy, fibula; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O	LB K. Grugier-Hill, knee; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O
CB F. Moreau, ankle; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O	T J. Mailata, back; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O
DL C. Brantley, foot; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP; game: Q	QB N. Sudfeld, wrist; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O
LB C. McKinzy, concussion; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP; game: Q	DE D. Barnett, shoulder; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP
TE J. Reed, concussion; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP; game: O	G B. Brooks, achilles; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP
LB S. Dion Hamilton, chest; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP	S R. Ford, achilles; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP
WR P Richardson Jr., quad; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP	C J. Kelce, NIR – rest; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP
	WR A. Jeffrey, biceps; Wed: not listed; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP

TEAM STATISTICS

Redskins:

To be honest, the 2018 Redskins offseason basically stunk.  As you can see, Washington finished last season ranked 29th in points, 28th in total yards, 28th in passing yards, and 17th in rushing yards.  Of course, it was essentially Injury Armageddon last year, with the likes of Josh Johnson throwing to Jehu Chesson, so things could be dramatically better this year with the addition of a legitimate NFL starting-quality quarterback and better receivers. Let’s hope so, because none of us wants to see the anemic, deathbed-quality offense the Redskins were forced to put on the field last year.

Defensively, things were a little bit better last year, with the Redskins ranked in the middle of the pack in most categories despite the amazingly high number of injuries.  In 2018, the Redskins were ranked 15th in total points surrendered, 17th in total yards, 15th in passing yards, and 17th in rushing yards.  Things are bound to get better overall with good health, improved talent back subtraction in the inside linebacker group, the addition of Landon Collins at strong safety, who seems to be everything as advertised and more.

The Redskins have nowhere to go but up in the punting and kicking return games, as they were absolutely horrible last year, and the year before that.  The team has newfound reason for hope, though, in Steven Sims Jr., so keep your fingers crossed.  The Redskins were awful in coverage during the preseason, having given up multiple touchdowns, so let’s hope that was just an aberration.

Record (2018): 7 – 8 (3rd) (Away: 4 – 4; NFC: 6 – 6; NFC East 2 – 4)

All-time franchise record: 600 – 590 – 28

Offense

Offensive rankings (2018)	29 (points) / 28 (total yards) / 28 (yards per game) / 28 (yards per play) / 28 (passing yards)  / 29 (passing yards per att.) / 17 (rushing yards)  / 20 (rushing yards per att.)
Points for (2018)	281
Yards per game (2018)	299.7
Passing (2018)	509 att (26th); 298 comp; 61.1% comp per. (28th); 6.65Y/A; 3021 net yds; 16 TD; 15 Int
Passing leader (2018)	Smith (328 att, 2180 yds (31st), 62.5% comp perc (25th), 10 TDs / 5 Int, 85.7 QB rating (27th)
Receiving leader (2018)	Reed (558 yds (81st), 84 tgts (59th), 54 rec (67th), 2 TD, 10.3 YPC)
Rushing (2018)	414 att (14th); 1774 yds; 4.3 Y/A; 110.9 Y/G (17th); 12 TD
Rushing leader (2018)	Peterson (251 att (5th), 1042 yds (8th), 7 TD, 4.2 Y/A (33rd), long 90)
Sacks surrendered / rank (2018)	44 / 21
Ave time of possession / rank (2018)	29:37 / 19
3rd down conversion rate / rank (2018)	36.4% / 24
TD percentage in red zone / rank (2018)	52.5% / 25

Defense

Defensive rankings (2018)	15 (points) / 17 (total yards) / 16 (yards per game surrendered) / 22 (yards per play) / 15 (passing yards) / 22 (passing yards per att.) / 17 (rushing yards) / 18 (rushing yards per att.)
Points against (2018)	359
Yards per game surrendered (2018)	353.4
Opponent’s passing (2018)	537 att (13th); 362 comp; 67.4% comp perc. (27th); 7.6 Y/A; 3794 net yds; 27 TDs; QB Rating 95.1 (20th)
Opponent’s rushing (2018)	413 att (15th); 1860 yds; 4.5 Y/A; 12 TD; 116.3 Y/G (17th)
Sacks / rank / Sack leader (2018)	46 /7 / Kerrigan (13)
Tackles leader (2018)	M Foster (131)
Int / rank / Int leader (2018)	15 / 13 / Swearinger (4)
Opponent 3rd down conv rate / rank (2018)	43.88% / 29
Opponent TD percentage in red zone / rank (2018)	51.92% / 8

 Special Teams

Kick returns (2018)	19.7 Y/R (30th), 30 returns, long 44 yards (17th), 0 TDs
Punt returns (2018)	6.5 Y/R (25th), 17 returns, long 30 yards (20th), 0 TD
Kick return defense (2018)	22.7 Y/R (18th), 13 returns, 0 TD
Punt return defense (2018)	9.8 Y/R (24th), 31 returns, 1 TD
Punting (2018)	45.3 Y/P (11th)

Turnovers (lost by O / recv’d by D / net / rank) (2018): 19 / 26 / +7 / 8

Penalties (total accepted # / rank) (2018): 115 / 22

Eagles:

The Eagles actually finished the season somewhat middle of the pack in 2018 in terms of the major offensive statistical categories – Philadelphia was 18th in points, 14th in total yards, and 28th in rushing yards, although they were 7th in rushing defense.  The addition of former Redskins Desean Jackson and a healthy, ready-to-go Wentz (unlike last year) makes this an exponentially more dangerous team than the 2018 version.  Not to mention, the Eagles feature one of the top tight ends in football – maybe the best – and athletic tight ends have at times been a major achilles heel for Washington.

Defensively, the Eagles were good but not great in most of the major statistical categories in 2018, ranked 12th in total points surrendered, 23rd in total yards, and an abysmal 30th in passing yards. Also, they were 7th in rushing yardage surrendered, but just 25th in yards per attempt at 4.5 yards per attempt.  The discrepancy is because the Eagles were run on less than any team in the NFL last year, with just 332 rushing attempts against them last season.  The strength of the Eagles team, though, is their quality defensive line.  Last year as a team, the Eagles had 44 sacks (2 less than the Redskins), and they will look to put significant pressure on Keenum.

Record (2018): 9 – 7 (2nd) (Home: 3 – 4; NFC: 6 – 6; NFC East: 4 – 2)

All-time franchise record: 577 – 601 – 26

Offense

Offensive rankings (2018)	18 (points) / 14 (total yards) / 16 (yards per game) / 17 (yards per play) / 7 (passing yards) / 12 (passing yards per att.) / 28 (rushing yards) / 31 (rushing yards per att.)
Points for (2018)	367
Yards per game (2018)	357.6
Passing (2018)	599 att (7th); 422 comp; 70.5% comp per. (2nd); 7.6 Y/A; 4275 net yds; 29 TDs; 11 Int
Passing leader (2018)	Wentz (401 att, 3074 yds (21st), 69.6% comp per., 21 TDs / 7 Int, 102.2 QB rating (7th)); Foles (195 att, 1413 yds, 72.3% comp per., 7 TDs / 4 Int, 96.0 QB rating
Reception leader (2018)	Ertz (1163 yds (16th), 156 targets (6th), 116 rec (2nd), 8 TD, 10.0 Y/C)
Rushing (2018)	398 att (20th); 1570 yds; 3.9 Y/A; 98.1 Y/G (28th); 12 TDs
Rushing leader (2018)	Adams (120 att, 511 yds (42nd), 5 TDs, 4.3 Y/A (31st), long 29 yds)
Sacks surrendered / rank (2018)	40 / 16
Ave time of possession / rank (2018)	31:45 / 4
3rd down conversion rate / rank (2018)	41.0% / 12
TD percentage in red zone / rank (2018)	59.02% / 17

Defense

Defensive rankings (2018)	12 (points) / 23 (total yards) / 23 (yards per game surrendered) / 23 (yards per play) / 30 (passing yards) / 15 (passing yards per att.) / 7 (rushing yards) / 25 (rushing yards per att.)
Points against (2018)	348
Yards per game surrendered (2018)	368.6
Opponent’s passing (2018)	626 att (30th); 417 comp; 66.6% comp per. (24th); 7.4 Y/A; 4308 net yds; 22 TD; QB Rating 93.4 (15th)
Opponent’s rushing (2018)	332 att (1st); 1551 yds; 4.7 Y/A; 14 TD
Sacks / rank / Sack leader (2018)	44 / 10 / Cox (10.5)
Tackles leader (2018)	Bradham, Jenkins (97)
Int / rank / Int leader (2018)	10 / 25 / Douglas (3)
Opponent 3rd down conv rate / rank (2018)	36.21% / 8
Opponent TD percentage in red zone / rank (2018)	44.26% / 1

Special Teams

Kick returns (2018)	22.0 Y/R (19th), 33 returns, long 48 yards, 0 TDs
Punt returns (2018)	6.5 Y/R (25th), 32 returns, long 42 yards (13th), 0 TDs
Kick return defense (2018)	22.5 Y/R (13th), 24 returns, 0 TDs
Punt return defense (2018)	6.3 Y/R (6th), 31 returns, 0 TD
Punting (2018)	48.5 Y/P (2nd)

Turnovers (lost by O / recv’d by D / net / rank) (2018): 23 / 17 / -6 / 25

Penalties (total accepted # / rank) (2018): 107 / 8

 

* Statistics courtesy of www.pro-football-reference.com, www.nflpenalties.com, www.nfl.com, www.teamrankings.com, www.espn.com, www.sportingcharts.com