That sound you can all hear is the sigh of relief that emanated from Philadelphia yesterday afternoon and can still be heard echoing now. Indeed the Eagles were successful against the Washington Redskins in what was the first of many must win games for them in the remainder of the 2011 NFL season. With some tinkering up front, and notable injuries to the Washington offensive line, the run defense improved and in spite of Vince Young’s best efforts, the offense was able to cling on to its first half lead, walking out of the nation’s capital with a victory.
For the Redskins on the other hand this game raises question marks over the future of their season, with how they handle this week potentially setting a barometer for the remainder of the season. Will Mike Shanahan and the fans be happy to accept that this is just one of those games that you get from Rex Grossman? Or will this be the stimulus to ditch Grossman and bring in John Beck to see what he has?
On the back of not only the result, but also the manner of this game, both of these two NFC East teams now stand at a cross road of their season. Let’s see how they got there.
Philadelphia – Three Performances of Note
1. Controlling the left side
The loss of Jason Peters has thrown the Philadelphia offensive line into a state of flux, but the combination of Todd Herremans (+5.6) and Evan Mathis (+4.1) on the left side of the line worked a treat for the Eagles this week. In the run and pass games the combination worked sublimely as both individuals and the two of them working together in combination. The Eagles ran a number of sprint plays to the edge to test the Washington defense and thanks to the blocking of these two sealing the pursuit, widening contain and working to the second level the Redskins simply were not up to the task. Neither player yielded any pressure in the passing game and on the 17 rushes to the left side of the offensive line the Eagles registered 97 rushing yards at an average of 5.7 yards per carry. With the pressure on, and against a defense playing good football, this pair of Eagle linemen stood up to be counted.
2. Tweaks at defensive tackle
Derek Landri (+2.9) saw his most extended action of the season and, in combination with Trevor Laws (+0.9 run defense), helped bring a stronger spine to the Eagles run defense this week. The Redskins have had success running the ball in 2011, but against Philadelphia this week their offensive line struggled to get the necessary lateral movement. This allowed the Eagles’ undersized linebackers to flow to the football and, in combination with a pair of injuries to Washington offensive linemen, ensured the Redskin running game never got out of first gear.
3. Two thirds of the earth is covered by water…
I’d be surprised if Philadelphia fans aren’t saying this old gag with a smile on their face in reference to Kurt Coleman (+2.5 coverage) at work today. Yes it may only have been Rex Grossman on a bad day, but the three interceptions he pulled down were difference makers in a close game as the Eagles failed to put away a poor Washington team. Coleman also had a pass defense nullified by penalty at the 3 minute mark of the third quarter; all day long Coleman appeared to have a bead on Grossman’s passes and the hustle he showed on Grossman’s last interception suggested that he wanted the ball more than the Washington receivers. Whether he was baiting Grossman into throws or simply taking advantage of a bad day at the office the end result was the same; only Fred Davis caught more passes from Grossman than Coleman in this game.
Washington – Three Performances of Note
1. Bad Rex
Wow, where do you start with this performance from Rex Grossman (-6.4)? His four interceptions were poor but they weren’t the only poor throws or bad decisions that he made on the day. Grossman was graded negatively for 11 of his throws in this game compared to only three positively graded passes. This is the kind of performance that every Redskins fan knew would arrive at some point but could it have arrived at a worse time? One more week of keeping bad Rex out of the game and the Redskins had a glorious opportunity to put the Eagles out of the hunt for the division and give the Redskins another crucial division victory. As it is the NFC East hunt has closed up a touch and after such a poor display the Redskins now have some horrible doubts hanging over the coming weeks. Not the momentum a team wants as they come out of their bye week.
2. Missed tackles in the secondary
Considering the tackling and pursuit the Redskins displayed in this game it is almost a surprise that Philadelphia’s skill position players couldn’t rip off a big play or two to make the score line look a little healthier on their side. The Redskins missed eight tackles on defense with five of those coming in the defensive backfield and three from O.J. Atogwe (-2.2) on his own. That kind of tackling will usually see a player like DeSean Jackson or LeSean McCoy put you to the sword. Somehow the Redskins managed to dodge that bullet, through little of their own work.
3. Losing the battle up front.
Much like their counterparts in Philadelphia the Redskins suffered injuries to key offensive linemen in this game. Unlike their NFC East counterparts they simply did not cope with the shuffle that came as a result. At left tackle Sean Locklear (-4.0) failed to re-discover his 2009 form as he struggled in the Redskins zone blocking scheme. Most puzzling of all at center was Erik Cook (-2.6) who struggled not only as a blocker with the likes of Trevor Laws and Mike Patterson, but also with the snap count. Two false start penalties at home is inexcusable for any offensive lineman, let alone the center.
Game Notes
– It doesn’t get much worse than Rex Grossman’s downfield passing. On throws aimed more than 20 yards downfield Grossman was 1/6 for 45 yard and three interceptions.
– For the third straight week Nnamdi Asomugha played every single defensive snap for the Eagles.
– The Redskins only ran the ball 13 times by design and didn’t average more than 4.0 yards per carry through any individual point of attack.
PFF Game Ball
Todd Herremans and Evan Mathis were outstanding on the left side of the Philadelphia offensive line in both run and pass games. These two executed their blocks outstandingly all game long to set a strong foundation as the Eagles got a crucial win as they set about returning to an even keel.
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