Eagles Vs Falcons Review

RipperEagle Retrospectives:
Week 8: Falcons @ Eagles
By RipperEagle (RE96)

The numbers spoke for themselves, and just about any loyal Eagles Fan knows the drill: after the bye week under Head Coach Andy Reid, the Eagles have not lost to any opponent coming into their week eight game with Atlanta, after having week seven off. It didn’t matter who the opponent was, or where the opponent was at, or in what city we were partaking football action in. And at the beginning, it appeared as if that nine game streak would be challenged as the offense was ice cold, starting with Donovan McNabb, lack of running ability, and some receiver drops as the Falcons went up early. Then, a few plays started popping and soon enough, the offense was ejecting heat and smoke flames every which way at the Falcons.

And soon enough, Atlanta would become another number.

In what could be described as a modern day miracle, the Eagles offense came as humanly close to even as possible in the play calling department, and it paid off in huge dividends as the team punched in three rushing touchdowns. And the defense allowed two touchdowns but it kept the door closed when it had to as the Eagles improved to over 500 with a 27-14 win over the visiting Falcons. After spotting the Falcons a seven point lead, the Eagles posted 20 points unanswered, thanks in large part to returning pro bowl back Brian Westbrook. And then after Atlanta scored their lone 2nd half touchdown, it was once more Westbrook playing the role of Sarah Michelle Gellar in Buffy and slaying the Vampire one last time with two of the touchdowns, McNabb plowing his way for the other. But still, the win doesn’t allow for the Eagles to leave the basement of the NFC East anytime soon as Washington and New York won on the road, and Dallas won at home, making the entire division four and zero, all in out of division matches, three inner-NFC.

Quarterbacks: It took McNabb a while to find his bearings, starting off at 3-of-11 early on in the game, but he would eventually get into his groove and manufactured three total touchdown drives and two field goal tries. Most astounding was the fact that McNabb has once more become bold and reckless out there, as he actually took six carries for 25 yards and the best one was his three yard dive right up the middle for the first touchdown of the game to tie it at seven each. His passing numbers were 19 of 34 (56%) for 253 yards with no touchdowns but no interceptions either with a QB rating of 79.7. In my honest opinion, I think the usage of more running plays allowed him to become more consistent as the game went on, finishing 16 of 23 after that poor opening quarter, although he had our only turnover with a fumble.
McNabb Grade: A (93%)

Back Field: Whether you refer to him as “The Wizard” or “B-West” or whatever you wish, just call Westbrook the guy who gets it done. The simple fact that he got the ball 22 times to run it is a sign that perhaps he is far healthier then we originally thought, as he ripped off a career best 167 yards rushing for an impressive 7.6 yards a run and two touchdowns, one from 16 and the other from 39 after the late mishandled punt by Adam Jennings. And what would the typical Westbrook outing be without some pass receptions as he hauled in six for 42 yards, so his total numbers were 28 touches for 209 yards and two touchdowns. Correll Buckhalter saw his action limited, two weeks removed from topping over 90 yards rushing in San Francisco, as he had four carries for zero yards and two catches for 29 yards. Perhaps the most infuriating thing was the fact that a rare Dan Klecko reception for good yardage was negated by a penalty on Tra Thomas.
Unit Grade: A+ (100%)

Wide Outs and Tight Ends: It has occurred to me that I have grand ideas for a mid week column between games, entitled “Ripper’s Unsolved Mysteries: Wide Receivers Edition.” It sincerely and truly boggles my mind as to how someone like Hank Baskett can bounce in numbers so oddly from week to week and how, even though it says they played, Greg Lewis and Jason Avant were invisible to the human eye, calling on a microscope to find them out there. The Eagles welcomed back Kevin Curtis for his first game of the season as he co-led the unit with three catches, along with DeSean Jackson, while Baskett had only one lousy catch. Both tight ends LJ Smith and Brent Celek had two receptions as well, and Smith was actually called out as laying safeties and corners out for Westbrook. That was, of course, prior to having his bell rung on a cheap shot by Lawyer Malloy. And yet again, Matt Schobel wasn’t even activated for the game…I would tell you I am surprised by this, but I am sure that you already know I am sarcasm tired there.
Unit Grade: B- (80%)

Offensive line: Well, prior to the game we found out that pro bowl guard Shawn Andrews had successful back surgery and will miss about three months. This, of course, will put him to the middle of January for him to even start practicing on that timetable, and the debate was over whether to put him on the IR or not. But after what the offensive line did against Atlanta and the rushing yards we got, I would be inclined to put him on the IR because they look just fine without him. The line forged the way for 192 rushing yards at six yards a carry for the team while allowing only two sacks and two penalties on the left side of the line (Thomas for illegal hands to the face and Todd Herremans for holding) while center to right, including Shawn’s replacement Max Jean-Gilles, were scotch. They have allowed 12 sacks now in seven games, less then two a game, and have rarely looked better.
Unit Grade: A (95%)

Defensive line: The line knew it had a big task on their hands, and the way they were going against the run as of late, it would be natural to question their ability to stop the NFC’s best running offense (and second behind the Titans). But as with the first four games of the season, the run defense came up huge again, thanks in large part to the mismatch at end between Trent Cole and aging tackle Todd Weiner, who was in due to Sam Baker having an injury. Cole played a large hand in stopping the run, leading the team with six tackles and one for a loss while Broderick Bunkley had three tackles and another for a loss. Darren Howard had a tackle, which turned out to be the line’s only sack along with a tackle for a loss and a QB hurry, while Juqua Parker, Mike Patterson, and Trevor Laws all had one solo tackle each.
Unit Grade: A- (90%)

Linebackers: Taking center stage was not Omar Gaither nor was it Stewart Bradley, rather, it was Chris Gocong. Yeah I know, that sounds kind of anticlimactic huh? But Gocong was the focal point of the attack from the backers today, as he posted four tackles (which it usually takes him four games to get that many tackles at any rate) with two tackles for a loss, a QB hurry, and the team’s first sack of the game, and a special teams tackle as well. Bradley had four tackles from the middle and Gaither had two tackles from WILL, while Akeem Jordan stole the show on special teams along side Tank Daniels and Tracy White, the second newest Eagle on the team (behind Kyle Eckel, who did not play in the game). The three starters had a huge hand in helping to hold the Falcons to a team total 77 yards rushing, and Michael Turner to only 58 of them yards.
Unit Grade: A- (90%)

Secondary: Just to show you how important Roddy White is to their offense look at the numbers from the game: Matt Ryan completed 23 passes, eight of them to White (and 15 to six other targets) and 113 yards for White (as opposed to 164 yards) and two touchdowns (none for anyone else). And that doesn’t even include the other looks his way that were dropped, knocked down, intercepted, or the one where White was called for pass interference. Brian Dawkins, Sheldon Brown, and Joselio Hanson (yep, you saw that right) had five tackles each to lead the unit with Brown notching a pass defense. Asante Samuel had four tackles for the game, along with three pass defenses and an interception while Quintin Mikell had four tackles. And Lito Sheppard finally woke up, posting two tackles, FOUR pass defenses, and his first interception of the year despite White interfering with him in the end zone.
Unit Grade: B (85%)

Special Teams: Coverage was the name of the game (well, on the Falcons returns anyway) as they held the Falcons to 17 yards a kick return and 5.5 yards a punt return, and it was Jordan who sealed the fate of the Falcons with the recovered muffed punt at the Falcons 37 with 2:22 left in the game. Sean Considine, Daniels, and Jordan all had two tackles on special teams, but our returns were terrible, with an average of 15.7 yards a kick return between Quintin Demps and Buckhalter, and a negative 1.7 yards a return on punts for Jackson. However, David Akers hit three extra points and two field goals for nine points, and Sav Rocca punted seven times, averaging 40.9 a boot and netting 37.7 with two inside the 20.
Kick and Punt Coverage Grade: A+ (100%)
Kicking and Punting: A- (90%)
Return Game: D+ (68%)

Coaching: First of all, my hat is off to the team of Reid and Marty Mornhenwheg for putting together a more balanced attack (because according to Merrill and Mike, both men are calling the plays now) as 66 total plays produced 34 pass attempts and 32 rushes, at 52-48 pass-run ratio, certainly one that I think we can ALL live with from week to week. Secondly, the run defense did much better because some of our drives were longer then they had been, well, at least from the second quarter on. And third of all, Rory has to get the guys to block for our own return men, otherwise, they did a heck of a job.
Coaching Grade: A (93%)

Ripper’s Three Game Balls:
3. Akeem Jordan: Made the play that helped to bury the game once and for all.
2. Lito Sheppard: Finally came out to play with his first pick and four pass defenses.
1. Brian Westbrook: An unanimous decision by Ripper and his evil and good sides: 209 yards of offense and two touchdowns shows why we are so much better with both him and Donovan in the backfield at the same time.
Honorable Mention: Asante Samuel and Donovan McNabb

Numbers and Stats of Interest:
-Coach Andy Reid won his 100th game as the leader of the Eagles, including playoffs, in defeating the Falcons.
-The Team’s 192 rushing yards is easily the highest such total of the season to date, easily dwarfing their previous high of 106 yards in week four at Chicago.
-Again, the red zone offense encounters a 1-yard line situation and has to settle for a field goal, going 2-of-4 down inside the red zone: so much for the fade.
-The Eagles are now 10-0 after the bye week under Reid: this officially calculates to 10% of his career wins in Philadelphia.

A very solid win by the team, although once again it was made more exciting then it had to be when the Falcons cut the lead to 20-14. Next up is a trip to Seattle to face the Seahawks, who beat us last year 28-24 at the Linc. However, THAT was AJ Feeley and his four interceptions leading that team, but THIS team will be lead by McNabb into Qwest Field.

Bye Week Blues

Having a by week has it's pros and cons. First you get some rest. You have time to sit back and focus on what's going wrong and come up with a plan to fix it. There is also the health of the players. Players who were banged up get extra time to heal. It is a good thing to have a bye week when things are going wrong. But when a team is rolling, the bye week could change their momentum.

One of the cons of the bye week is for the fans. I am a football lover in general, but not having the Eagles play this week pained me. There is nothing more I love to do on a Sunday than watch or listen to my team. Whether they win or lose. It's my passion for the team.

What can we expect from the Eagles after the bye? I'm not sure. They cut RB Tony Hunt and brought in another LB, Tracy White, which gives us seven on the roster. Now I don't know what the Eagles are thinking here. Maybe with Hunt gone they are looking at Klecko at FB, move Howard to DT and move Gocong to DE. With all these moves it sounds like a plan. But who replaces Gocong at SAM? Jordan? Daniels? White? Do they move Bradley over and insert Mays at MIKE where he played great in preseason? Time will tell.

Health is a key thing after the bye. The Eagles will have WR Kevin Curtis back. RB Brian Westbrook will be back. DE Victor Abriami will be back. And hopefully OG Shawn Andrews will be back. With all the injuries healed, look for a more explosive Eagle offense.

This week the Eagles play the Falcons, who also had a bye week. Both teams will be refreshed and ready to go. With the NFC East being the tough division it is, the Eagles need to win every non divisonal game to stay within reach. And it starts this week against the Falcons.

Eagles Vs 49ers Review

Going out to San Francisco the week prior to the bye, the Philadelphia Eagles knew that they needed this game. Not only would be going 2-4 into the bye be a bad situation, but their division rivals weren’t losing many games, only two combined actually up until Sunday. So realizing that they were missing a few key starters and some depth players, the Eagles took the fight to the host 49ers and pulled their record to even after six games by beating the 49ers in Candlestick Park. And they did it in vintage 2008 Eagles fashion as well.

Which means, you know, it was FAR more exciting then it had to be.

The Eagles dominated early on, holding an 11 point lead at one point (17-6) but from the final minute of the second quarter until the beginning of the 4th, it was all 49ers with 20 unanswered points to enter the final frame of play with a 26-17 lead. But then in the fourth quarter, every unit clicked for the Eagles, namely the defense, as they jolted the 49ers for 23 unanswered points and three turnovers en route to a 40-26 high scoring affair in San Fran. This game had everything you could ask for: a combined eight field goals made, a touchdown thanks to a blocked field goal for San Fran, and then an interception for a touchdown by the Eagles to ice the game for good. Oh, and a pretty competitive match up between a career back up and an elite running back in the league (Correll Buckhalter Vs. Frank Gore).

The Eagles bye week couldn’t come at a better time, with injured starters Kevin Curtis, Reggie Brown, and Brian Westbrook all expected back in two weeks time when we play host to the red hot Atlanta Falcons. The only one uncertain will be Shawn Andrews, who missed his fourth consecutive game with back issues.

Quarterbacks: A few days after saying that things had to change and stepping up and voicing his concern for the offense, Donovan McNabb made sure he did his part in putting the unit back on the right track. The franchise leader in pass attempts (which he holds after the 49ers game) yards, completions, and touchdowns continued his fine play as he hit 23 of 36 passes at 63.8% (rounds off to 64% which was his season average when we went to the Superbowl in 2004) for 280 yards with two touchdowns, an interception, and a 94.7 QB rating. His longest pass completion was for 27 yards, nothing that evokes anything short of the Rams game in week one, but a lot more of the passes were hitting in the double digits and up, as opposed to one or two yard dink and out routes. And the interception was worthless, because not only did the defense come alive to stop them, but it was at their 12 yard line, and he rebounded nicely enough to make you forget about it. Another interesting element was the one McNabb roll out for four yards as well: it is interesting because you have to go back weeks to find the last time he rolled out of the pocket to run.
McNabb Grade: A (95%)

Running and Full Backs: With all the ailments and injuries that Westbrook is suffering through, Buckhalter has been making a pretty sizeable profit and impact during his time out. The General carried the ball 18 times for 93 yards and a touchdown while also leading everyone with seven receptions for 85 yards, totaling 25 touches and 178 yards and a touchdown for our fantasy football players. Even with Westbrook out of the game, Lorenzo Booker still only had one carry for five yards and no receptions in the game. And Dan Klecko, who was originally brought back home to Philly as a fullback but turned back into a defensive tackle, paved the way in the backfield for the running game and also caught a pass. In fact, maybe I am crazy here, but the 5.2 yards a rush for Correll and 4.9 as a team would allow me to insinuate that, perhaps, Klecko should be kept as a fullback, and we move Tony Hunt back to running back and move someone else out, like Booker. Speaking of, where the hell was Hunt at?
Unit Grade: A (93%)

Receivers and Tight Ends: The impending return of both Curtis and Brown after the bye week makes me wonder what we will do with DeSean Jackson, who has been a star for us at receiver since them two started suffering through injuries. Perhaps by moving him back to the slot and between #2 with Brown, he could be a load of fireworks over the middle as he caught six passes for 98 yards and had one receiver reverse for a yard. Hank Baskett posted four catches for 38 yards and a touchdown, which FINALLY came as a result of using his measurable size difference over corners and safeties on a F-A-D-E route! Greg Lewis caught three passes for 38 yards and Jason Avant had one catch for 17 yards, while LJ Smith had a reception for two yards after missing last week’s game and the second touchdown pass. But the only question I have to ask is, just what is the point of keeping Matt Schobel if he is going to be inactive, or inquiring about Tony Gonzalez instead?
Unit Grade: B (85%)

Offensive Line: I know the contention was made that Andrews should be considered the best player on the offense we are missing, but the case again on my behalf is to look at the 5.2 yards rushing for the General and, once again, NO sacks and NO penalties on the line. The former stat is especially impressive, considering that the line does not play their best against base 3-4 defenses like the one Mike Nolan employs (see the Cowboys and Steelers games if you don’t believe me). In fact, the closest anyone got to McNabb was end Justin Smith, who had their only quarterback hurry up against Tra Thomas. And Max Jean-Gilles never was called by name, which is a good thing, although Todd Herremans was called a couple of times for some devastating blocks on Correll runs and screens. While I would love to see Andrews back in, he can take as much time as he wants if this line is going to play like it has over the past two weeks: Max is doing just fine.**
Unit Grade: A (98%)
**This is my opinion ONLY: feel free to shoot me for it!

Defensive Line: If Juqua Parker was “only 75%” going into that game, then I will take him at 75% over some other ends at 100% then. Parker was a phantom to the offensive line of the 49ers, or so it seemed, as he had five tackles, two for a loss, a sack, a quarterback hurry, a pass defense, and an interception which he took 55-yards to the end zone to ice the game for the Eagles. Oh, and “JP’s” tackle on tight end Delanie Walker was a thing of beauty too, for a loss of ten. Trent Cole led the unit with six tackles and had a sack, a tackle for a loss, and a forced fumble on 49ers Quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan., which fellow end Chris Clemons picked up. Rookie tackle Trevor Laws had two tackles, Mike Patterson had two assisted tackles, and Darren Howard and Broderick Bunkley each had one tackle apiece, with Howard notching a tackle for a loss, a quarterback hurry, and also the final sack on the final play of the game. And even though Gore ran for 101 yards, 25 of them were on one run, knocking him back to 76 yards on 18 carries then, and I cannot take away from the pressure we got on JT all game, and the fact that the D-Ends came up with ALL three sacks was pretty downright impressive.
Unit Grade: A (95%)

Linebackers: As a defensive leader from the middle, Stewart Bradley has been taking it all in stride and doing all the little things that make up a great MIKE in this system. He again led the team with nine tackles but it was Omar Gaither who played gang busters on Gore, with seven tackles and two for a loss, both on Gore. Chris Gocong had two assisted tackles, while Akeem Jordan and Tank Daniels saw their action on special teams. But yet, the tight end was again a factor, although not really as much as Cooley, Olsen, and Witten before Vernon Davis. Although, Davis DID get 57 of his 75 yards on one freak pass: he had six of them as well.
Unit Rating: B (85%)

Secondary: Really, no matter what O’Sullivan tried to do for the 49ers, he couldn’t seem to find much, outside of a few spruce freak plays of 57-yards to Davis, 26 to Arnaz battle, 21 to Isaac Bruce, and 25 to Josh Morgan. Other then that, the secondary contained their little known names at wide out and tight end, as both Quintin Mikell and Brian Dawkins tallied seven tackles with Mikell also logging a pass defense, an interception, and two special teams tackles. Former 49er Joselio Hanson had three tackles while Asante Samuel had two tackles and two passes defended. Both Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown had an assisted tackle, which is good news because it means they weren’t getting beat at all.
Unit Rating: A (93%)

Special Teams: The story again was Dave Akers, although it wasn’t due to his missed field goal (even though he did miss one from 54 but I’ll get to that) as he hit four field goals and four extra points for 16 total points. Sav Rocca didn’t fair as well today, although it would mainly be because of coverage or lack there of, as he punted two times for 38.5 a boot but 16 a net, putting one inside the 20-yard line. Quintin Demps averaged 29 yards a kick return, although he got a 63-yard return which led to the first touchdown of the game, and Jackson had 14 an average on punt returns. Akeem Jordan led teams coverage with three tackles while Sean Considine and Mikell paced it with two each, and while Allen Rossum, another former Eagle in 1998 and 1999, had the one punt return for 45 yards, his average on kicks was 21.6, well below his NFC leading 29 yards a return coming in. As I mentioned out front, the missed field goal by Akers was blocked, as much his fault as the blockers out front, so that is a no fault.
Return Game Grade: A (95%)
Akers Grade: B+ (88%)
Coverage and Rocca Grade: B (85%)

Coaching: First thing is first…the inclusion of the F-A-D-E route should be more from here on out! That said, once more, the run pass game was tilted 67-33 pass run, but at least more shots were tried to the middle and long as opposed to just dumping it off all the time. Special teams were solid except for the field goal block, and the defense, at fault for only 19 of the 26 points, was phenomenal outside five or so freak plays and simply outstanding in the 4th quarter. And on top of that, the staff KNEW we needed this win, and we got it.
Staff Grade: A (95%)

Ripper’s Three Game Balls:
3. Donovan McNabb: I know, you say third place, but look at who is in front of him: McNabb did very well in the game, sans his interception.
2. Correll Buckhalter: Complete work horse whose stats spoke for themselves.
1. Juqua Parker: Most impressive is that he was allegedly “injured” coming into this game: played nothing like it at all in my opinion.

Numbers and Stats of Interest:
-Keeping it on the back burner for two weeks, McNabb and Andy Reid set the record for most wins as a duo starting out together and what a coincidence…in San Francisco, bypassing Bill Walsh and Joe Montana, who teamed up for 75 wins. Speaking of more records, on the pass prior to the blocked field goal, McNabb set the attempts record for Eagles passers as well.
-On four passes where O’Sullivan passed for more then 20 yards a clip, he posted 129 yards and had 70 yards on 13 completions otherwise.
-San Francisco shot themselves in the foot with ten penalties and six on the offense, including three false starts, two holds, and illegal formation.
-San Francisco led the TOP battle 33:19 to 26:41, and in the second and third quarters, accumulated over 10 minutes in each set.

Well, as I said before, we needed this win to avoid going sub-500 to the bye week. Now, we rest up and get back Reggie, Kevin, Brian, and hopefully Shawn as well so we can return to host the Falcons on the 26th.

Redskins Vs Eagles Review

After watching what the Washington Redskins did a week ago when they went to Irving Texas to play the Dallas Cowboys, it would be of considerable concern if the Philadelphia Eagles were to fall behind in the game like the Cowboys did a week before. And in the starting minutes of the game, it was all Eagles all the time, with a 14-0 lead leaving the first quarter with a rushing touchdown and a punt return touchdown, the first of his career from DeSean Jackson.

But the autopilot, it went on way to early.

A bend but don’t break defense yielded three field goals in the second quarter before finally breaking into pieces by yielding two second half touchdowns. But it wouldn’t have been so bad had the offense actually been able to do something other then just on their opening drive and their closing drive. Because let’s face it, without the Jackson punt return for a touchdown, this game really wasn’t even close despite the team taking the early 7-0 lead with the game’s first drive. The 23-17 win for the Redskins allows them to move back within a half game of the division leading New York Giants at 4-0 after their blowout of the Seattle Seahawks 44-6 and into a technical tie with the Dallas Cowboys, who are 4-1 as well with their win over the Cincinnati Bengals 31-22, leaving the Eagles at 2-3, two games out of second place and 2.5 games out of 1st place in the division. The loss is also the team’s second in the division and also their first home loss of the season.

Quarterbacks: It is much to say that Donovan McNabb was not in a hurry all that much today, which begs the question as to why the ball was rarely, if ever, thrown downfield, or why they didn’t try and take a risk once in a while. Not having taken a sack and rarely even seeing a Redskins defender in the backfield with him, McNabb completed 17 of 29 passes for 58.6% with 196 yards and no touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 79.1 QB rating. And while a share of the missed passes were knocked down at the line, mostly by Defensive End Andre Carter, some of them were dropped, ones by Brent Celek, Greg Lewis, and Jason Avant bobbling the ball on the sideline are the ones that come to mind first. Still, he never showed any ailment of being hurt, although that might be because he was never hit much.
McNabb Grade: B (82%)

Running and Full Backs: Well, the good news is that, after missing the Chicago Bears game last week, Brian Westbrook returned to the field against Washington today. The bad news, however, is that he was either misused when he was used or he wasn’t nearly used enough in the game. Westbrook ran the ball 12 times for only 33 yards but the only offensive touchdown while also grabbing a team high six receptions for 51 yards, totaling 18 touches for 84 yards and a touchdown. Maybe the only thing that the coaching staff heard from me last week was to incorporate more Jackson rushing attempts, as he took two receiver reversals for 13 yards, while Reggie Brown took a pitch for six yards, Tony Hunt got a powerful burst up the middle for six yards, and Correll Buckhalter, the starter from last week in Chicago, ran the ball two times for zero yards.
Unit Grade: C+ (78%)

Wide Outs and Tight Ends: I’ve been giving Brown a little bit of crap for not getting back into the lineup for a few weeks, but he looked good against Chicago and looked a little better against Washington as he caught four passes for 84 yards, including a 40-yard shoulder roll, get up and run catch. Maybe then as well is LJ Smith, who caught three passes for 26 yards while four players came up with one catch apiece: Greg Lewis for 22 yards, Jackson for eight, Hunt for two, and Jason Avant for three yards. I think the results here today were a mixed bag, while Brown and Smith looked pretty good all around, the three guys I mentioned in the quarterback grade kind of drag the grade down with their drops.
Unit Grade: C+ (78%)

Offensive line: Whether you want to blame the line for the lack of a running game or the runners themselves is your call, but there is no doubt that the line came to play against the pass, allowing no sacks and no quarterback hurries. In fact, only one penalty was called on the offensive line (Jamaal Jackson’s false start, or illegal snap, depending upon which outlet you want to listen to) while LJ was the only one to get called with a holding call. True, Jason Taylor did not play, but Carter was contained pretty well by Big Jon Runyan, while the backup to Taylor, Demetric Evans, was not heard of against Tra Thomas. And for the third straight game, Max Jean-Gilles got the call at right guard for the injured Shawn Andrews and perhaps turned in his best all-around game so far this season. Todd Herremans and Jackson, of course, were also integral in shutting down the defensive tackle duo of Cedric Griffin and Kedric Golston.
Unit Grade: A (93%)

Defensive line: It was the Mike Patterson show, and while he was able to overpower the interior duo of Casey Rabach and Randy Thomas, it is just a shame it resulted in run stops instead of sacks, as he posted up ten total tackles (eight solo and two assist) while his partner in crime Broderick Bunkley had four tackles, again all of them on the run. Trent Cole, while he historically struggles against Tackle Chris Samuels, still had four tackles on the run, and Juqua Parker had three more tackles, while Darren Howard and Trevor Laws added one: Parker also had a pass defense and Cole had a tackle for a loss, which was rare that they got to Clinton Portis in the backfield. However, the entire collection of defensive linemen were just dominated all day by the Redskins offensive line, resulting in a total of 203 rushing yards.
Unit Grade: C- (70%)

Linebackers: The stat line for Chris Cooley went like this: eight catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. The reason I put this hear is that, traditionally, the linebacker is supposed to be the one that is responsible for the end, but Cooley pretty much just ran roughshod over them all. Stewart Bradley co-led the team with ten tackles and had one quarterback hurry, while Omar Gaither had six tackles and a pass defense while Chris Gocong was pretty much invisible in coverage and against the run with one tackle and one pass defense. On one hand, their job was made more difficult because the line got pushed around, but on the other hand, a few missed tackles piled up as well.
Unit Grade: C (75%)

Secondary: It wasn’t Jason Campbell who haunted the secondary, because Portis and Laddell Betts already did that on the ground, so the secondary didn’t get as much action as they would have liked. Brian Dawkins was everywhere again, tallying eight tackles, the game’s ONLY sack with a tackle for a loss and a quarterback hurry. Sheldon Brown had four tackles and a pass defense, while Asante Samuel and Quintin Mikell both had four tackles as well, while Lito Sheppard had one tackle, with Mikell also posting a quarterback hurry. Once again, the rating for the secondary might be a bit off due to the fact that the true damage was done on the ground by the Redskins.
Unit Grade: B (85%)

Special Teams: Once again, I am left to ask how many more missed field goals will it take until we make a move for someone who can actually kick the ball straight? I don’t know what is going on with David Akers, but his kicks are long enough, but two out of the last three misses have just sailed the wrong way instead. Akers was one of two while also hitting two extra point attempts, while Sav Rocca averaged 50.4 yards a punt, netting 42.8 a punt and also putting two of them inside the 20 for another marvelous effort. And, well, what can be said about Jackson and his SOLE punt return opportunity, other then 68-yards for his first return for a touchdown in the NFL, one week after getting his first reception for a touchdown. However, the kick return coverage for Quintin Demps was abysmal, as was Tank Daniel’s stupidity on special teams. Remember, this is the SAME stuff that got Matt McCoy kicked off the team a year ago. In fact, he was VERY lucky the officials left their glasses at home and picked up the flag on his penalty on Jackson’s touchdown. Oh, and the punt and kick coverage units were average at best.
Jackson Grade: A+ (100%)
Rocca Grade: A (95%)
Coverage Grade: B- (80%)
Kick blocking and Akers Grade: C- (70%)

Coaching: At the 8:06 mark in the 4th quarter, it was as if I was reliving another horrible nightmare, such as the week before when we failed to get the ball in from a yard out against Chicago, only this week, we got three points instead of nothing. The defensive staff at backers and linemen along with Jimmy Johnson deserve some flack as well for their units getting pushed around the field, especially in the second half. Special teams was, for the most part, pretty good, but again, I have a huge quip with the 3rd and one call to run, because we are such a PASS ORIENTED TEAM that we should have run that fade to Hank Baskett…ere, where exactly WAS he?
Rory Grade: A- (90%)
Andy Grade: B- (80%)
Jimmy Grade: C (75%)

Ripper’s Three Game Balls:
3. Offensive Line: Outstanding pass blocking, and McNabb was protected in the game like Fort Knox.
2. Brian Dawkins: The “Old Washed Up Safety” had the game’s only sack, and was his usual flying all over the place self.
1. DeSean Jackson: The images of a punt return touchdown were not a mirage, and wearing his jersey today brought the first touchdown of the year there.
Honorable Mention: No one

Numbers and Stats of Interest:
-The league’s best defense against the run and yards per carry were taken apart by Washington: in the first four games, we gave up only 215 yards rushing at an average of 2.8 yards a run, both tops. Washington ran the ball for 203 yards and averaged 4.6 yards a carry as a team.
-Three times a team held the ball for over 10 minutes in a quarter, as the Eagles held the ball for 11:23 in the first quarter and the Redskins had it for 12:12 in the second and 11:32 in the third. Also, Washington sustained two drives of seven minutes or longer, including the final 7:18 to run the clock out.
-On their opening touchdown drive, the Eagles posted 80 yards after Westbrook’s touchdown: on the following seven drives, the team was only able to amass 88 yards, leading to five punts, a missed field goal, and the half.
-With the lack of a turnover during the game, Washington again has zero on the season, making them only team to have that mark.

Well, it is kind of hard to win games when you cannot stop the run and you decide to take your foot off the gas when you jump out to a 14-0 lead in the game. In time, these are issues that the staff is going to have to fix, unless they want to go to our bye week in week seven with a 2-4 record, and more then likely, three games back in the most competitive division in the NFL.