I’m really free-lancing here so please forgive the rambling rose… the Redskins tried to allow us back in the game in this NFC-Mediocr-east title game… but we seemed incapable of capitalizing. If you are an Eagles fan this game was like watching a market correction on Wall Street. In other words, difficult…and having to digest price setbacks along with confusing earnings reports.
First let me get this off my chest— Sam Bradford is an okay talent who may have missed a few targets last night but overall he played well enough to manage a win— he can hit a receiver in a very tight window at times and appeared courageous under the brunt of a constant pass rush all night which basically exposed the Eagles O-Line as decrepit (even all-pro left tackle Jason Peters was being beaten like a drum on the edge with consistency)… but the playbook at Sam’s disposal is amazingly devoid of viable options. This is an impotent offense when it counts the most.
Yes, the dropsies were a problem… and the Eagles had a ton of ’em and most could not be blamed on the wet ball at the rainy Linc late in the game… But even moreso than those physical mistakes, the absolute lack of imagination in playcalling by Chip Kelly and Pat Shurmur in crunch situations was disappointing to say the least. And the tidal wave of offensive procedure penalties continued…
I don’t know if you blame Kelly or if you blame the players running his offense— or both— but it’s not working and now we’ve run out of time for it to ever work in 2015.
Defensively the Eagles effort was puzzling— they actually pulled off a bunch of 3-and-outs on Kirk Cousins and the Redskins offense early. But there was very little effective pass rush as the game went on. Cousins was counting to 4 and 5 seconds on many dropbacks. For me as a fan it was embarrassing.
McVay and Gruden eventually figured out how to eat our lunch with plays aimed right at our biggest weaknesses on D— linebackers and nickels who struggle to cover TE Jordan Reed and corners who struggle in man coverage on crossing and out routes. And struggle we did.
Still, we were in the game until the turnovers. Bad turnovers. Add in all the dropped passes and the overthrow to a wide-open Zach Ertz under pressure by Bradford, and we basically overdrew our good luck savings account.
Bottom line— we are a 6-9 team in technical disarray. There’s no shame in failing— you’d just like to fail in a way that inspires you to believe you are getting better with each try. We are not.
The Eagles offense came out crisp after the opening kickoff. Their first drive ended with a 1-yard Ryan Mathews touchdown run. But Washington took over from there, with Kirk Cousins finding tight end Jordan Reed for two first-quarter touchdowns. We had no answer for covering Reed. Truth be told, few teams do when he’s healthy.
The Eagles drew to within 13-10 but were outscored 22-14 in the second half as Washington put the game away.
The Eagles were without defensive starters Bennie Logan (calf) andByron Maxwell (shoulder) to start the game.
Cousins threw four touchdown passes and had a season-high 365 yards and the Redskins beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-24 on Saturday night to win their first division title in three years, completing a worst-to-first season.
DeAngelo Hall returned DeMarco Murray‘s fumble 17 yards for a momentum-changing TD in the third quarter (why does DeAngelo Hall always insert himself as a thorn in the Eagles’ backside?). Cousins threw TD passes to Chris Thompson and Pierre Garcon and a pair to Jordan Reed.
As good as Cousins performed against our defense, he gave us a game-changing gift at the end of the first half. It cost the Redskins at least three points.
Cousins like a dope took a knee with no time-outs and 6 seconds left from the Eagles 6 with a 16-10 lead. He realized his mistake and tried to spike the ball, but the clock ran out.
Cousins later tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Thompson to give Washington a 23-10 lead. He converted three third-down passes on the series after Jaylen Watkins dropped an interception.
The Eagles answered quickly as Murray ran in from the 4 to cut it to 23-17.
But Murray then dropped a pitch, Hall picked it up and ran it back for a 30-17 lead late in the third quarter.
“I can’t take my eyes off it,” Murray said. “It was my fault.”
The Eagles missed a chance to take the lead early in the second quarter whenSam Bradford overthrew a wide-open Zach Ertz on third-and-9. It would’ve been a 60-yard TD.
They missed another opportunity on the following series when Nelson Agholor dropped a 28-yard TD pass and settled for Caleb Sturgis‘ 34-yard field goal that cut it to 13-10.
Bradford had 380 yards passing. … Jordan Reed had nine catches for 129 yards. .. Former Eagles Pro Bowl WR DeSean Jackson had four catches for 40 yards…
Final
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSH | 13 | 3 | 14 | 8 | 38 |
| PHI | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
Scoring Summary
| FIRST QUARTER | WSH | PHI | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
TD
12:08
Ryan Mathews 1 Yd Run (Caleb Sturgis Kick)
6 plays, 80 yards, 2:52
|
0 | 7 | |
 |
TD
5:50
Jordan Reed 22 Yd pass from Kirk Cousins (Dustin Hopkins PAT failed)
5 plays, 69 yards, 2:45
|
6 | 7 | |
|
TD
1:00
Jordan Reed 12 Yd pass from Kirk Cousins (Dustin Hopkins Kick)
7 plays, 61 yards, 3:40
|
13 | 7 | |
| SECOND QUARTER | WSH | PHI | ||
|
FG
5:56
Caleb Sturgis 34 Yd Field Goal
7 plays, 42 yards, 2:15
|
13 | 10 | |
|
FG
1:43
Dustin Hopkins 28 Yd Field Goal
8 plays, 25 yards, 2:18
|
16 | 10 | |
| THIRD QUARTER | WSH | PHI | ||
|
TD
6:58
Chris Thompson 12 Yd pass from Kirk Cousins (Dustin Hopkins Kick)
11 plays, 54 yards, 4:05
|
23 | 10 | |
|
TD
4:47
DeMarco Murray 4 Yd Run (Caleb Sturgis Kick)
6 plays, 52 yards, 2:11
|
23 | 17 | |
|
TD
3:15
DeAngelo Hall 17 Yd Fumble Return (Dustin Hopkins Kick)
3 plays, -4 yards, 0:46
|
30 | 17 | |
| FOURTH QUARTER | WSH | PHI | ||
|
TD
8:55
Pierre Garcon 13 Yd pass from Kirk Cousins (Kirk Cousins Pass to Jamison Crowder for Two-Point Conversion)
13 plays, 82 yards, 7:44
|
38 | 17 | |
|
TD
4:34
Jordan Matthews 8 Yd pass from Sam Bradford (Caleb Sturgis Kick)
13 plays, 80 yards, 4:21
|
38 | 24 | |
Matchup: WASH EAGLES
1st Downs 25 23
Passing 1st downs 21 17
Rushing 1st downs 4 4
1st downs from penalties 0 2
3rd down efficiency 5-14 7-19
4th down efficiency 0-0 2-3
Total Plays 74 77
Total Yards 418 398
Total Drives 14 14
Yards per Play 5.6 5.2
Passing 351 353
Comp-Att 31-46 37-56
Yards per pass 7.3 5.8
Interceptions thrown 0 0
Sacks-Yards Lost 2-14 5-27
Rushing 67 45
Rushing Attempts 26 16
Yards per rush 2.6 2.8
Red Zone (Made-Att) 3-5 3-4
Penalties 8-70 8-45
Turnovers 0 2
Fumbles lost 0 2
Interceptions thrown 0 0
Defensive / Special Teams TDs 1 0
Possession 34:15 25:45
| C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | SACKS | QBR | RTG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Bradford | 37/56 | 380 | 6.8 | 1 | 0 | 5-27 | 22.1 | 91.4 |
| TEAM | 37/56 | 353 | 6.8 | 1 | 0 | 5-27 | — | 91.4 |
| C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | SACKS | QBR | RTG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirk Cousins | 31/46 | 365 | 7.9 | 4 | 0 | 2-14 | 81.1 | 120.3 |
| TEAM | 31/46 | 351 | 7.9 | 4 | 0 | 2-14 | — | 120.3 |
| CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeMarco Murray | 5 | 27 | 5.4 | 1 | 12 |
| Darren Sproles | 5 | 9 | 1.8 | 0 | 8 |
| Ryan Mathews | 4 | 5 | 1.3 | 1 | 2 |
| Sam Bradford | 2 | 4 | 2.0 | 0 | 4 |
| TEAM | 16 | 45 | 2.8 | 2 | 12 |
| CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfred Morris | 17 | 49 | 2.9 | 0 | 8 |
| Pierre Thomas | 4 | 22 | 5.5 | 0 | 9 |
| Kirk Cousins | 5 | -4 | -0.8 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM | 26 | 67 | 2.6 | 0 | 9 |
| REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | TGTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zach Ertz | 13 | 122 | 9.4 | 0 | 17 | 17 |
| Jordan Matthews | 6 | 104 | 17.3 | 1 | 43 | 8 |
| Darren Sproles | 7 | 56 | 8.0 | 0 | 14 | 9 |
| Nelson Agholor | 2 | 35 | 17.5 | 0 | 18 | 5 |
| DeMarco Murray | 3 | 24 | 8.0 | 0 | 13 | 4 |
| Brent Celek | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| Ryan Mathews | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 0 | 11 | 3 |
| Josh Huff | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| Jonathan Krause | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| Riley Cooper | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kenjon Barner | 1 | -7 | -7.0 | 0 | -7 | 3 |
| TEAM | 37 | 380 | 10.3 | 1 | 43 | 55 |
| REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | TGTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Reed | 9 | 129 | 14.3 | 2 | 28 | 11 |
| Pierre Garcon | 7 | 80 | 11.4 | 1 | 25 | 12 |
| Pierre Thomas | 7 | 67 | 9.6 | 0 | 15 | 8 |
| DeSean Jackson | 4 | 40 | 10.0 | 0 | 22 | 6 |
| Ryan Grant | 1 | 24 | 24.0 | 0 | 24 | 3 |
| Jamison Crowder | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
| Chris Thompson | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 1 | 12 | 1 |
| Alex Smith | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Alfred Morris | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TEAM | 31 | 365 | 11.8 | 4 | 28 | 46 |
| FUM | LOST | REC | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Bradford | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Zach Ertz | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Darren Sproles | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Brent Celek | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Jason Kelce | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| TEAM | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| TACKLES | MISC | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOT | SOLO | SACKS | TFL | PD | QB HTS | TD | |
| Kiko Alonso | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fletcher Cox | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Malcolm Jenkins | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ed Reynolds | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Beau Allen | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DeMeco Ryans | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E.J. Biggers | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Mychal Kendricks | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Connor Barwin | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Eric Rowe | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandon Bair | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Walter Thurmond III | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cedric Thornton | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bryan Braman | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Najee Goode | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jaylen Watkins | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jonathan Krause | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nelson Agholor | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandon Graham | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Taylor Hart | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vinny Curry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| TEAM | 62 | 48 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 0 |
| TACKLES | MISC | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOT | SOLO | SACKS | TFL | PD | QB HTS | TD | |
| Dashon Goldson | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Will Compton | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Kyshoen Jarrett | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mason Foster | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DeAngelo Hall | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Preston Smith | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Will Blackmon | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Kerrigan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bashaud Breeland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ricky Jean Francois | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Terrance Knighton | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Quinton Dunbar | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Deshazor Everett | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Baker | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Trent Murphy | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dashaun Phillips | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carlos Fields | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Houston Bates | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jason Hatcher | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Keenan Robinson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM | 64 | 56 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
No bail-out from our special teams this time around… no big turnovers from our defense, even when errant passes hit DB’s right in the hands. It was all left up to an Eagles offense with a line that could not get much push. I think I counted at least 12 QB hits on Bradford. I lost count. The low point for me was observing Bradford following his orders to run up-tempo in the 3rd quarter and I saw emergency left tackle Dennis “Hagrid” Kelly limping to keep pace and get up to the line. Maybe I’m being too dramatic, but I realized at that moment we are our own worst enemy. We are beating ourselves with a combination of poor offensive scheme and poor physical execution on the plays which should be made. Then our defense with its obvious deficiencies at ILB and pass-pressure is hung out to dry.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
