Eagles cruise to win over Redskins
by JasonB on Oct 26, 2009 11:59 PM EDT
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PrintThe Eagles defense coupled with Desean Jackson combined to beat the Skins in a game that was never really in doubt after the first few moments of the game. On just the 4th play from scrimmage Desean Jackson took an end around 67 yards to the house. From that point, the Eagles defense took over. At the end of the first quarter, the newest Eagle Will Witherspoon picked off a tipped pass and returned it for a TD to put the Birds up 14-0.
Jackson would add another big play TD when he streaked past the Washington secondary and caught a Donovan McNabb pass for a 57 yard TD. Desean Jackson became the first Eagle to have a 50+ yard rush TD & a 50+ yard receiving TD in a game since Bosh Pritchard did it in 1949. The Eagles went on to win their first championship that year... In all, Jackson finished with 167 all purpose yards with 2 TDs and a 29 yard punt return thrown in for good measure.
As good as Jackson was, the Eagles defense was probably the real star of the night. They forced 4 turnovers, racked up 6 sacks, stifled the Redskins run game, and held their 5th team in 6 games to under 20 points. A defensive performance like that is going to give you a chance to win any game.
Tonight's win pulls the Eagles to within a half game of the NFC East lead.
More after the jump
The Eagles offense didn't answer many questions tonight. We know the Eagles have some explosive weapons and are capable of breaking off big plays. We've known that... What we don't know is if they can establish the run, if the offense line can play consistently, and if they can move the ball methodically. They really didn't do any of those things. The big plays were great, but we can't live on big plays alone.
I thought Donovan McNabb struggled again tonight. He was better than last week, but certainly not at the top of his game. The inconsistency of the offensive line surely played a part in that, but McNabb showed a lot of the same inaccuracy we saw from him last week.
The Eagles' inability to run the ball was painful to watch tonight. Unlike last week, they actually tried to run the ball a bit this time around but never really got anything going. If you take out the Desean Jackson end around, the Eagles had 55 yards rushing on 26 attempts. LeSean McCoy, who got the majority of the snaps in the absence of the injured Westbrook, really had no shot to make anything happen tonight. There were a number of times that he was hit a half second after getting the ball. I don't know what they can to fix this offensive line, but it's just not good enough.
Speaking of Brian Westbrook, he took a knee to the head which knocked him out of the game with a concussion. He did later return to the sidelines and seemed ok, but his status for next week could be in doubt.
What a debut for Will Witherspoon huh? He gets a sack, a forced fumble, a pick, and a TD to go along with his 6 tackles. If this was any indication of what he'll do for the rest of the year, this looks like a fantastic midseason pickup.
Final thoughts
Bottom line is that any win on the road in the NFC East is a good win. The Eagles offense has room to grow for sure... but they went out and handled a Redskins team that has really given them trouble over the past couple years. This was the start of a run of several tough division games and it started off well. Tonight was a positive.
Next week the Eagles meet the suddenly struggling Giants in Philadelphia for the lead in the NFC East.
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Good start
But we need consistency on offense. I am happy with the win because, we have to start somewhere. Donovan needs to work on his mid and short accuracy. I know they surrendered three sacks (one was on McCoy, and the other was just a lucky leg whip by Albert) I was pleased with the play on the offensive line. This is the first time this season that we have had an actual full functioning unit. I said Will was a great pick up and he proved it tonight. He was a monster. We need to play better, but this is a start and I feel good going forward.
Division Games
Are always tough, so sometimes you gotta win an ugly one. This ending is preferable to the two the Eagles had against the Skins last year.
We need Westbrook next week
And I think he knows it. Expect him to try his damndest to get out there.
And if he can’t go…well, then McNabb is going to have to step his ass up and make some plays. An offensive effort like the one we just witnessed simply will not do against the Giants, or many of our remaining opponents for that matter.
3 sacks?
if were not counting 3 quarters.
and we beat the Redskins! Nice!!
RIP Jim Johnson. You will truly be missed.
by Igglesfan13 on Oct 27, 2009 12:58 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
And I was called an “idiot” by Wild_Eagle and MG77 called my proclamation of Witherspoon being our best linebacker “ridiculous”. A bunch of members got on my back when I posted Witherspoon’s stats from 4 years ago and saying he looks promising.
I’ll take my sorries now.
This is only his first game,he made two huge plays and was the star of the defense. This was an excellent pickup of the Eagles. The Eagles however couldn’t cover yet another TE. Second string TE Fred Davis had 8 catches for 78 yards and 1 TD. That’s Jordan’s man.
Andy Reid has to live with Sunday's reality: He was out coached by Tom Cable. (John Clayton)
Since 2005: Andy Reid 36-32-1; 7-25-1 when tied or losing at halftime.
Next year… Jordan at WILL. Bradley at SAM. Witherspoon at MIKE, Gocong at DE opposite Cole.
Could turn our biggest weakness into our biggest strength.
by UnclaimedFright on Oct 27, 2009 6:45 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Great start for Spoon
I hadn’t dared to hope he’d be that good. Now he has to keep it up!
Next week is the test for the entire team. Kevin Boss in the middle has me concerned for Sunday. I think the run game will be mostly controllable, if the Eagles defense does show up.
5gohome says: Philly headlines should read….
Mcnabb Blows!!!!! in another eagles victory.
I wish some of my fellow fans in Philly would give me some of the good crack they are smoking so i can see McIdiot as they do. Cause watching him play with out dope is painful. Please someone help me out here. GIVE ME SOME. Cause as of right now my QB sucks large #$$‘s and I can’t see it anyother way.
yours truly,
5gohome.
Maybe you should take over for Al Davis or Jim Zorn.
Inconstency at leadership creates losing seasons. AR and friends have to coach the guy through this stretch and, of course, keep #4 ready, in event of worst case.
I like your style though: “Panic early, freak-out often, nothing can be solved with hysteria, but it sure is fun running around on a burning deck screaming uncontrollably.”
We should give Runyan a look. It won’t help the run game, but it would probably help the pass protection. Our offensive line looks like garbage.
Thanks, Shawn Andrews. Because of you we’re not just saddled with your broken ass, we’re stuck with your scrub brother. At least Jason Peters is a good pickup, though not the all-world tackle Andy made him out to be.
And McNabb looks bad. I think he’s still hurt from his rib. If we go as far as McNabb takes us, we’re going straight to 8-8. DeSean Jackson isn’t going to break off plays like that every week to save us.
by UnclaimedFright on Oct 27, 2009 3:04 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
To me, it looked like a lot of the problems in protection last night came from Herremans and Peters. Herremans got bullrushed by Haynesworth all night and Andre Carter generally managed to get the better of Peters. That strip-sack he had came from the left side. Maybe there another blown block over there that I didn’t see. Regardless, a lot of the pass protection issues that I’ve seen haven’t come from Winston Justice, so I’m not sure what help Runyan would be.
Let the beasting begin.
by TransplantedFan on Oct 27, 2009 10:02 AM EDT up reply actions
On the strip sack
Peters went for the cut for some reason and Andre Carter easil avoided it and got to mcnabb, just a lazy play on peters part.
i was actually at this game
had a hell of a time. i always go to the eagles and skins game every year they come down to fed ex, but this was my first monday nite game.
nite game period for that matter. completely different atmosphere.
4th and 26!!!!
All the problems we had last night
are fixable! The O-line should get better with time, they still haven’t played together much as a healthy and cohesive unit. A lot of rotation up front has really contributed to the shaky start we’ve had up front.
Coverage over the middle of the field on defense should get better. I think we’re going to be fine. Witherspoon turned out to be a fantastic addition to this defense! His style of play and aggressiveness should rub off on everyone else on that defense. I think we got to see some of that last night. The D looked hungry and violent! Just the way we like it!
On the good side: DeSean and Maclin are going to be incredible for us for a long time. This receiving corp. is just going to get stronger as the year goes on (barring any more injuries). Maclin has really settled into his roll and looks way more comfortable on the field than he did at the beginning of the year.
Final note/ question: Is it too early to get a Witherspoon Jersey? I’m torn between these 3 to replace my Dawkins Jersey: T. Cole, Bunkley, Witherspoon. I had been waffling between T. Cole and Bunkley since the preseason; the Spoon is sure to not only play well this season, but get his contract extended so he can demolish Offenses for us for a long time. Whatcha’ think?
Loooooook here brotha'.....who you jivein' with that Cosmic Debris!!!???
Personally
I’m going to wait to see if Witherspoon sticks around after this season is over. The plan that UnclaimedFright drew up (in an above post) looks amazing, it would be so sweet to see that come to life!! :-)
by mariedior82 on Oct 27, 2009 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions
Thanks for take Marie, and welcome to BGN!
If Spoon keeps this up, I don’t see how we let him go…..but stranger things have happened! : )
Loooooook here brotha'.....who you jivein' with that Cosmic Debris!!!???
Juan Castillo must be fired
I can’t make it any more clear than that.
Just so he isn’t lonely waiting for the bus, send Vick out the door as well.
Useless…both of them.
or that timeout we had to burn because the punt team didn’t know who was supposed to be on the line of scrimmage
Yeah, throw Daisher (?) in there too.
That dude freaking sucks.
I’m pleased with the win, a win is a win and we needed to start somewhere… I think that our problem is going to be consistency on offense. If you think about it they didn’t do all that much. McNabb is rushing throws and making them inaccurate. Especially on 3rd down situations. Take for instance even the big play to Jackson that was a double move, it was way under thrown and Jackson practically caught it running backwards… That can’t happen against the teams that are coming up… Hopefully this week McCoy can work on his blocking abilities seeing as no one knows if Westbrook will be back or not which I think everyone hopes he will be…
MNF
I was at the game yesterday and the most painful thing to see was McNabb’s inability to convert on 3rd down plays.
There were passing lanes that were open but the passes consistently fell short of the receivers on 3rd down plays.
I do not know if his ribs are bothering him but it was windy yesterday and he was having trouble throwing the short and mid range passes.
BTW stop this wildcat nonsense. Eagles run it very poorly.
We are right back in it now with this win and if we we beat the giants we will be in first. the way the giants have looked the last two weeks we can definitely beat them
mcnabb stinks!!!
last nights performance was another truly awful game from the league’s most overated player… mcnabb was just plain terrible… not one sustained drive against one of the worst teams in the nfl… with all that talent around him he still looked dreadful….how many 3 and outs??? how many 3rd and longs… how many balls thrown into the dirt? when is reid going to figure this out? mcnabb is a no talent lackluster loser…. what makes it worse is he actually thinks he deserves star respect… as average as garcia was, he was better on his worst day than bozo…. kolb?… hard to say if he has "it" but we know mcnabb does not!!!!!!!!!
Didn’t you post this exact same thing somewhere else already?
Let the beasting begin.
by TransplantedFan on Oct 27, 2009 2:10 PM EDT up reply actions
McNabb is a loser? 4th and 26? 5 NFC Championship games? 1 Super Bowl loss?
That said, McNabb is the goddamn King of the Dirtball. If I had drunk a shot of Tequila for every dirtball he threw last night, I would have been drunk out of my mind by the third quarter and passed out in the 4th.
McNabb is better than Randall but equally as maddening. Is anyone selling McDirtball t-shirts? At this point, I’d buy one.
by ghostofandrewatters on Oct 28, 2009 12:41 AM EDT reply actions
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