Eagles Ve Redskins Game 2 Review

The situation was perfect for the Philadelphia Eagles: two AFC teams lent helping hands to gun down two of the Eagles’ main advisories in the wildcard race, as the Baltimore Ravens beat the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday Night 33-24, and then on Sunday afternoon, the San Diego Chargers beat the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay 41-24 to drop two teams closer to Philadelphia. And, going into the late afternoon game which was changed due to flex scheduling, all the Eagles had to do was get revenge on a team who had beaten them at home in week five. After all, the Eagles went to the Meadowlands and beat the Giants, so why not the Redskins in Fed-Ex?

And then, well, the offense turned Pre-Cardinals game again.

In a game that would have pushed the Eagles alone into the 6th spot in the NFC, the offense came out flat and stayed that way, save for one long pass on a field goal drive and the final drive of the game which came a yard short of the end zone with the clock running down from four seconds. The end result was a 10-3 Redskins victory and a season sweep of the Eagles by Washington. And realistically speaking, the Eagles can STILL make it in the playoffs, but the following things need to happen in week 17:
A) Eagles need to avenge a week two loss to the Cowboys with a victory at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.
B) In a revelation befitting to the “one team has nothing to play for and the other does” quota, the Oakland Raiders need to beat the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay, which would take them from well endowed in the playoffs at 9-3, to 9-7 on the season.
C) Then, the Eagles record of 9-6-1 would trump the matching 9-7 records possessed by Dallas and Tampa Bay.

But, somehow, I can’t see Oakland winning on the road, and I don’t think that Sundays in January will have any events for the team, unless it’s watching the game at home from the couch.

Quarterbacks: There were not a lot of things out of the realm of reality that could have went wrong in this game for Donovan McNabb, except for throwing an interception (which could have been the case at least three times). If he wasn’t throwing the ball behind receivers, he was throwing them to ones who were covered and getting killed, or receivers would drop passes. For the game, McNabb was 26 of 46 (56.2%) for 230 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 70 QB rating. In addition, McNabb kept the ball and rolled out twice for eight yards and, on a sack, fumbled the ball for the game’s only turnover. I understand that the receiver drops were not his fault, but a lot of passes were being forced that either were incomplete or he was pitching them to targets who weren’t even remotely open by an inch.
McNabb Grade: C- (70%)

Running and Fullbacks: Remember when Andy Reid said that if we didn’t run for at least three yards a carry that he would abandon the run? Well, I’d hate to tell him this, but we averaged 3.9 rushing as a team and yet the ball was only taken 16 times and, of course, only 14 count because McNabb kept it twice on a rollout. Brian Westbrook was hobbled a little bit later on but took the ball 12 times for 45 yards and also caught six passes for 71 yards, including a 47-yard reception which led to our one and only field goal. DeSean Jackson had one rush for seven yards and had another which was negated by a holding call on Reggie Brown, and more disappointing was the one carry Correll Buckhalter got for two yards, while he had two receptions for 18 yards. And if it hadn’t been for one reception by Dan Klecko for two yards, I would have never known he was out there, same with Kyle Eckel.
Unit Grade: B (83%)

Wide Receivers: The loss of Kevin Curtis and Hank Baskett to injuries for this game is NO EXCUSE for a PATHETIC eight drops, six of them coming from this unit. Brown, who saw his first action in three weeks due to the injuries to the two mentioned out front, had four receptions for 47 yards, including the one at the goal line which ended the game, and contributed one drop. Both Jason Avant and Jackson had two receptions each, and while Avant had one drop on the game, NO ONE beat Jackson, who was credited with FOUR drops, including one where he beat DeAngelo Hall on the sideline and on the final drive in the end zone. And despite the injuries and receiver shortage, Greg Lewis had only one catch.
Unit Grade: D- (60%)

Tight Ends: Yes, LJ Smith DID lead the team with seven receptions, but he only averaged seven yards a catch, he dropped two passes, and completely missed on his blocking assignment on 3rd and goal at the 3, which forced us to go for the field goal. Brent Celek had one catch for eight yards and in my mind he could have been tagged with a drop but he didn’t get it.
Unit Grade: D- (60%)

Offensive line: The battle between Jon Runyan and Jason Taylor was often a struggle for Runyan, as Taylor had both of their sacks and the forced fumble along with a QB hurry. Tra Thomas held Andre Carter in check for the most part, although he still had two QB hurries. The line was not called for a penalty, but rarely was there a push up the middle for any runner who was lucky enough to get the ball. Still, aside from Taylor, the line did pretty well.
Unit Grade: B (85%)

Defensive line: Havoc was created by the defensive line, mostly by the defensive ends, and Jason Campbell could not step back without fear of getting smashed. Again arguably the best defensive player on the field, Trent Cole posted eight tackles to lead the line, along with a sack, a QB hurry, and a tackle for a loss. Mike Patterson had seven tackles on the game, all against the run and was a vital clog in the middle against Clinton Portis and Laddell Betts. Broderick Bunkley had four tackles along with a pass defense while rookie Trevor Laws had two tackles in the rotation behind Broderick and Mike. Victor Abiamiri had two tackles in the end rotation and also posted a sack, a tackle for a loss, and a forced fumble (which makes no sense because I remember Troy Aikman saying Campbell “Dropped the ball,” and he is NEVER wrong). Darren Howard had one tackle, two QB hurries, a pass defense, and a sack and would have had two if Chris Clemons, who had one tackle himself, wasn’t called for being “off sides.” Juqua Parker chipped in a pass defense as well, and Washington ran for 122 yards on 32 carries, although their 3.8 run per carry is awfully deferred by 14 yards a scramble for Campbell.
Unit Grade: A (95%)

Linebackers: The unit saw plenty of action against the run and in the form of passes out of the backfield and to the tight end. Stewart Bradley led the team with ten total tackles while Akeem Jordan had seven tackles and a tackle for a loss (three yards on Portis). Chris Gocong though was the busiest of the three all-around as he had six tackles, two pass defenses, and a tackle for a loss (two yards on Portis).
Unit Grade: A (93%)

Secondary: On 18 completed passes, Campbell only had 144 yards (127 after sacks) and no one receiver had a dominating effect in the game (Betts and Santana Moss had five receptions and 43 yards for Betts) but regardless the secondary still had two miscues. For one was Quintin Mikell who while he led the unit with six tackles and one QB hurry on a mad blitz, had a “pass defense” which should have been an “interception” in the end zone, leading to Washington’s 3-0 lead. Another was in the 4th quarter at 11:29 on a pass intended for Devin Thomas when Asante Samuel, who had four tackles for the game, dropped a sure handed interception, simply making THAT a pass defense. Brian Dawkins, attending his seventh pro bowl in February, had five tackles and a pass defense, while both Sheldon Brown and Joselio Hanson had three tackles each, and Quintin Demps had one on defense.
Unit Grade: B+ (89%)

Special Teams: Sub par overall, to be nice. David Akers made his one and only field kick, but Sav Rocca only averaged 39.8 a kick, and some sloppy punt coverage saw his net fall to 34.3 a kick on eight of them. Jackson had one punt return for seven yards and Demps had one kick return for 18 yards, while our coverage teams held Rock Cartwright to one kick return for 20 yards but Antwan Randle-El had 13.3 yards a punt return and a long of 36 yards. The X-factor was Ryan Plackemeier, who averaged 40 a punt and 34.1 net but put FIVE inside the 20-yard line.
Akers Grade: A (93%)
Rocca Grade: C+ (78%)
Coverage and Blocking Grade: D+ (68%)

Coaching: There is really nothing I can say about the defense, except for them two dropped interceptions. Special teams was not very good, especially covering punts and coverage for our own when we did get a shot. And, well, why am I not surprised that the old ways came back to life in this one? And by that I mean the totally titular play-calling again. All toll, we had 48 pass attempts including the two sacks, and 16 carries (again, if you count that McNabb scrambling was pass attempts, then 50-14). And I understand that passing might have been the best thing to do with Westbrook hobbled, but come on, we have TWO OTHER RUNNERS, and all the passes that were either missed, dropped, or nearly intercepted and we keep going at it. That is a poor job by the play caller, and I would be willing to bet 50 dollars that this imbalance means Andy is back on the signals again.
Unit Grade - Defense: A (95%)
Unit Grade - Special Teams: C (75%)
Unit Grade - Offense: D (65%)

Ripper’s Three Game Balls:
3. Chris Gocong: Very good game against run and pass.
2. Darren Howard: Should have had two sacks thanks to Clemons.
1. Trent Cole: Monster game again from a guy snubbed of the pro bowl.
Honorable Mention: Ryan Plackemeier (first Non-Eagle) and Victor Abiamiri

Stats and Numbers of Interest:
-Only two times did the Eagles manage to post net yard drives of 20 or more yards, 76 on a drive for the field goal, and 90 yards on the final drive which ended the game at the 1-yard line.
-Despite holding the ball for 33:14, nearly 1/3 of Washington’s time came in the 2nd quarter, when they held it for 11:12, managing only the field goal.
-Despite only scoring three points, the Eagles actually had more offense (275 to 249) but their 3rd down percentage collapsed again: where as over the last three wins they were 33 of 50 (60%) they were 3-of-14 in the game for 21%.

Well, even though every possible scenario exists for the Eagles to still make the playoffs, it becomes less likely if the offense that showed up in Landover comes home and shows up for the Cowboys. All this and NOW we have to hope that Oakland can beat Tampa Bay?

I think I will be going back to that “off-season thread” within the week with a full-on off-season landscape.