Week 6 Observations Redskins vs. Eagles
– The Redskins defense exerted its will on Philly’s offensive line from the very first play, as Ryan Kerrigan and Will Blackmon got to Eagles QB Carson Wentz right out the gate. Three plays later Kerrigan struck home again with another sack. The Eagles were clearly at a disadvantage with right tackle Lane Johnson missing his first game of a 10-game suspension for using PED’s.
– DeSean Jackson just seems to have a unique ability to find a way to get open. On most plays, the veteran receiver has a good 1-2 second window where if the quarterback is on-point, he’s open. That’s not to say Jackson doesn’t make mistakes…he dropped a sure TD later in this game as evidence of such.
– This could prove to be a long season for the Eagles secondary, beyond a strong safety pair in Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod, the unit is paper-thin. Jenkins had to move up and play corner late in the game due to injury.
– After a rough start to the season, Matt Jones appeared to finally get things going yesterday as the second-year back had a career high in yardage on the day. It looked as if Jones’ confidence grew with every carry.
– The normally sure-handed Ryan Grant made his way onto the field for the first time in a few weeks and dropped the only pass thrown his direction. Grant hasn’t heard his number called that much this year and he needs to seize the opportunity when he does. The third-down pass could have kept the Redskins drive going at the point, but instead, the team had to punt. Grant didn’t see the field again.
– The Redskins defensive line was all over the Eagles. Philly couldn’t run or pass without at least one Redskins lineman or linebacker in their face. Coming into this game, many questioned if Washington could stop Philly’s rushing attack…the answer, in hindsight, of course, was yes.
– The Jamison Crowder TD pass and catch was a thing of beauty. Crowder is truly blossoming into a star in this league, and fast. It appears that Crowder and Cousins have developed some chemistry between each other. So far this year Crowder is Kirk’s second favorite target behind Jordan Reed.
– Can’t say enough about how much the Redskins completely owned the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. A few noticeable times the Eagles did get decent pressure, but overall the trenches belonged to Washington.
– It’s safe to say that Carson Wentz had nightmares about Ryan Kerrigan last night. The veteran linebacker was in the rookie QB’s face the entire afternoon. Even on the plays where Kerrigan didn’t get a sack, he was constantly disruptive, especially in the first half. Ends Chris Baker and Ziggy Hood along with linebacker Trent Murphy were constant disrupters as well.
– Robert Kelley is a great change of pace for the Redskins from Matt Jones. Kelley moves through holes fast and has the ability to change directions by shifting sideways without slowing down in the process. The backfield of him, Jones and Chris Thompson is starting to come together with the gameplan.
– The Vernon Davis penalty following his “free-throw” was completely ridiculous. The league is going way overboard with this new excessive celebration policy….lighten up guys, it’s football.
– The play was a simple case of catching the Eagles defense in zone defense and carving them up with a wide-open Davis.
– The excessive celebration penalty basically opened the door for the kickoff return for a touchdown for Philly. Not to take anything away from Wendell Smallwood’s 86-yard for a TD, but without the penalty, that kickoff sails through the end zone like normal. The NFL really needs to calm down.
– The end-around play to Jamison Crowder was wrongly whistled dead. Crowder’s knee never touched the ground as he stayed on top of Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks, and then rolled back to his feet. Should have gone for a 9-yard gain…instead, it was ruled a ten-yard loss. Another blown call…the play is not reviewable by the way.
– Cousins looks impressive rolling out of the pocket and throwing on the run…this is an area that Kirk has improved in over the course of the last four years.
– On the pick six by Malcolm Jenkins; the play was a simple play-action fake to Matt Jones and a designed pass to Vernon Davis. Cousins should have fired the ball into Davis’ hands with some velocity…fact is he threw an easy toss towards Davis that Jenkins was completely waiting for with baited breath on the other end. The run for a TD was easy after the pick was telegraphed by Jenkins.
– DeSean Jackson dropped a sure touchdown on 2nd and five on the last drive of the first half. It appeared that the ball hit his finger-tips then his helmet before falling to the ground. Jackson had both feet in bounds in case you’re wondering. Matt Jones ended up running it in from the one following a late-hit penalty on Fletcher Cox.
– The 54-yard pass from Carson Wentz to Jordan Matthews was pretty much a perfectly timed and well-executed play. Kendall Fuller was defending Matthews pretty well with safety help over the top from Will Blackmon, but Wentz was spot-on with his accuracy. The Eagles rookie showed flashes of brilliance at times Sunday, but the Eagles need a top-tier receiver, and an offensive line before they will be serious contenders.
– At 12:52 left in the fourth quarter it didn’t make much sense for Chris Thompson to bring the ball out of the end zone on a kick return, but that’s just what he did….returning it all the way to the 10-yard line. In essence the play didn’t mean much because Matt Jones riddled off a 13-yard run on the first play following the return.
– Even though this game basically ended on a long Matt Jones run…it was over long before that moment as Washington really put a firm beating on the Eagles despite what the final score would have you believe.
