Game Thread: Week 1: Eagles @ Redskins

[SoCalWizFan]

If you don't understand 24 million in QB contracts, then you are a fucking moron. They don't get paid in order of how good they are. They get paid if they are good enough and their contract comes up. Nobody gives a shit if you like it or you think it should be different.

Fuck Josh Rosen.

He is a moron. This clown was also talking about the Redskins using much of the upcoming draft to upgrade the LB position. Give me a break. The LBs were - hands down - the best part of the team yesterday & show a ton of potential for this season & the years ahead.

 

[gkekoa]

You are not looking at the whole picture. Sure Cousins should play better & he needs to do so to be viewed as the franchise QB. However - Wentz is also a franchise QB. Good God - he was selected #2 overall & the Eagles traded a ton to get him. He is now in year 2 after playing all of last year so you simply can't view him as this young guy who should not accomplish anything.

I see that some folks here are giving the Redskins D a hard time about some of the Eagles 3rd down conversions. However you need to give credit to the other guys. Several of those throws were simply great plays by Wentz & I am pretty sure that quite a few NFL defenses would not be able to stop the Eagles in those situations. People need to stop simply ragging on everyone on the Redskins & take time to look at the actual issues as well as the play for the other team.

True; however, the Eagles were over 50% yesterday, many of which were long yardage situations, and that brings back memories of last season. That being said, I was happy with the D overall yesterday.

 

[skinsdad62]

the defense played well enough to win . poor execution on offense cost us today

 

[skinsdad62]

Analysis
Five observations from the Redskins’ Week 1 loss to the Eagles




By Mike Jones September 11 at 1:31 PM
losing to the Philadelphia Eagles, 30-17.

As Coach Jay Gruden said, “Four turnovers, 0-for-2 in the red zone, 3-for-10 on third down. They were 8-for-13 on the third down. You don’t have to look at the stat sheet for very long to see who won and lost” — and why.

[Boswell: One game shows us Redskins’ bar of expectation needs to be lowered]

Here are some of the key areas that stood out in the loss to Philadelphia.

1. Pass game struggles: We already went over the drops. But there’s more to the passing struggles.

One of the more perplexing areas of Sunday’s outing involved the offensive line’s inability to hold off Philadelphia’s pass rush. Yes, the Eagles are good, but the Redskins made them look better than they were. The Eagles registered four sacks and another 11 hits on the quarterback. Kirk Cousins — sacked four times just once last season — found himself under pressure numerous other times, as well. It’s no wonder the quarterback completed just 57 percent of his passes (fourth worst of his tenure as a full-time starter since 2015) and a passer rating of 72.9 (his ninth-lowest as a starter).

For a quarterback, confidence is just about everything. If he can’t get comfortable in the pocket, it hinders his poise, his decision-making, his fundamentals and execution. That’s why we saw Cousins throwing balls off his back foot as he tried to make something happen with the rush coming, or force balls into double coverage (like the near interception in the first quarter), or overthrow receivers (like the goal line interception). At times, Cousins couldn’t step into throws because of oncoming pressure. Other times, the pressure wasn’t there, but the rattled quarterback still didn’t give himself time to use the proper technique. As was the case in the preseason, the protection issues can’t be pinned on one particular area or player. Some plays, right tackle Morgan Moses got overwhelmed by the rush and surrendered pressure or a sack. Other times, it was a rush up the middle that either center Spencer Long didn’t pick up because he was helping Brandon Scherff, only for Shawn Lauvao to fall down while trying to slide over to that spot. It was more disjointed play from the line again and again.

There was a stretch in the middle of the third quarter where the Redskins looked close to their best because Jay Gruden dialed up a series of quick-hitters which enabled Cousins to get the ball out quickly and keep the pass rush at bay. But things eventually bogged down again. Of course, there were times when the Redskins did have opportunities, but receivers dropped passes to kill drives. That’s why Gruden summed up the passing game this way: “It’s frustrating. I think we’re better than that up front. We’re better than that at receiver — dropping balls — and we’re better than that at quarterback. We all had our hand in it — play-callers, offensively, it wasn’t good enough obviously.”

[Week 1 performance by Redskins’ receivers serves as a reminder of what they lost]

2. Run blocking: Everyone always wants to kill the offensive line when the run game isn’t working. But those five weren’t solely at fault Sunday.

Running backs Rob Kelley and Chris Thompson combined for 34 rushing yards on 13 attempts for a 2.6-yard average. Kelley had a long of six yards and Thompson a long of four. It was Cousins who led the team in rushing with four carries for 30 yards, some on broken plays and a couple on designed runs (and he took some hits you definitely don’t want your quarterback taking, so that wasn’t good).

Yes, linemen missed blocks at times, but on five of the 13 running back runs, tight ends Vernon Davis and/or Jordan Reed struggled, missing blocks, which led to stops for a loss or minimal gains. Davis is generally an effective blocker, but wasn’t on point Sunday, and had some struggles in the preseason, as well. Reed has improved some here, but needs improvement. Another run got foiled because wide receiver Terrelle Pryor couldn’t nail his assignment.

Another interesting factor in the run game struggles involved play design. Gruden and offensive line coach Bill Callahan decide on the run plays, and they routinely opted for power runs, which proved ineffective. Some of Kelley’s better runs came on stretch zone plays. Kelley picked up yards to the outside, or by hitting the cutback lanes. But those such plays were few on Sunday. Another curious decision involved Niles Paul’s involvement in only five plays. The tight end/fullback possibly could have helped either as a lead blocker for the running backs, or as an end-line blocker in place of Reed or Davis. Lastly, Cousins has talked about wanting to use his legs more to hurt defenses. But for the sake of everyone involved, the Redskins have to get better execution and perhaps better play design in the rushing attack.

narrowly missed out on interceptions that they couldn’t quite hang onto. Carson Wentz proved too slippery for both Jonathan Allen and Preston Smith on the play that resulted in the first-quarter touchdown pass.

But as a whole, Washington’s defense showed promise. Zach Brown makes a difference. With 12 tackles (two for a loss), a would-be sack (a penalty negated it), he led the defensive charge. The Redskins received strong play as a whole from their linebackers: Kerrigan, of course, with his interception, but he also had a hand in a sack and had three tackles; Preston Smith had a sack and four tackles; Mason Foster had nine tackles and a fumble recovery. That fumble was caused by Fuller, who had probably his best outing as a pro both against the run and the pass. He recorded five tackles (one for a loss) and a pass breakup. Safety D.J. Swearinger appeared to get turned around in pass coverage a couple of times. But he made up for it on other plays as he came over the top to provide support, breaking up passes or making a touchdown-saving tackle.

4. Third downs: But despite all those positives from the defense, the Redskins needed more from the unit. Washington allowed the Eagles to convert on eight of 14 third downs. Philadelphia had 19 first downs (17 passing), which is entirely too many. What’s worse, five of those third down conversions came with the Eagles facing difficult situations, needing 12, 10 (three times) and seven yards to pick up first downs. That can’t happen. Better pressure, and better coverage will make the difference.

Meanwhile, third downs also proved problematic for the offense. The Redskins converted only three of 11 third downs for first downs. A big reason for this problem was ineffectiveness on first and second downs. Seven different times the Redskins needed nine yards or more to pick up a first down. Meanwhile, the team had only one third-down situation that required less than six yards for a first down. Turnovers came on two of the third downs. It’s such a small margin for error. Say the Redskins get the sack to prevent the touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor, and Cousins makes a touchdown throw instead of interception on third-and-6, this game could’ve ended very differently.

[Brewer: Upon further review, the Redskins’ offense has issues to address]

5. Preparation: The Redskins can’t panic, but they do indeed need a greater sense of urgency. It’s a long season, but as Kerrigan said, “You can’t lose at home, Week 1 to your division rival.” Now the Redskins fly west for a meeting with Sean McVay and the Rams, before a home game against the Raiders and a road trip to face the Chiefs. So, the going is rather tough.

Gruden and his assistants have to figure out what about their approach isn’t working, because the same problems that the coach and players dismissed in preseason, attributing to a lack of game-planning, all still remain. Gruden & Co. talked about having more up-tempo practices, and really focusing on details, but for whatever reason, that work didn’t carry over into Sunday’s game. Something isn’t clicking.

The Redskins are indeed typically slow starters. Although players talked often this week about the message that they needed a fast start, that remained just talk.

This week, however, as they prepare to face a coaching staff that knows just about everything they want to do both offensively and defensively, the Redskins have no margin for error.

 

[skinsdad62]

1. Pass game struggles: We already went over the drops. But there’s more to the passing struggles.

One of the more perplexing areas of Sunday’s outing involved the offensive line’s inability to hold off Philadelphia’s pass rush. Yes, the Eagles are good, but the Redskins made them look better than they were. The Eagles registered four sacks and another 11 hits on the quarterback. Kirk Cousins — sacked four times just once last season — found himself under pressure numerous other times, as well. It’s no wonder the quarterback completed just 57 percent of his passes (fourth worst of his tenure as a full-time starter since 2015) and a passer rating of 72.9 (his ninth-lowest as a starter).

For a quarterback, confidence is just about everything. If he can’t get comfortable in the pocket, it hinders his poise, his decision-making, his fundamentals and execution. That’s why we saw Cousins throwing balls off his back foot as he tried to make something happen with the rush coming, or force balls into double coverage (like the near interception in the first quarter), or overthrow receivers (like the goal line interception). At times, Cousins couldn’t step into throws because of oncoming pressure. Other times, the pressure wasn’t there, but the rattled quarterback still didn’t give himself time to use the proper technique. As was the case in the preseason, the protection issues can’t be pinned on one particular area or player. Some plays, right tackle Morgan Moses got overwhelmed by the rush and surrendered pressure or a sack. Other times, it was a rush up the middle that either center Spencer Long didn’t pick up because he was helping Brandon Scherff, only for Shawn Lauvao to fall down while trying to slide over to that spot. It was more disjointed play from the line again and again.

There was a stretch in the middle of the third quarter where the Redskins looked close to their best because Jay Gruden dialed up a series of quick-hitters which enabled Cousins to get the ball out quickly and keep the pass rush at bay. But things eventually bogged down again. Of course, there were times when the Redskins did have opportunities, but receivers dropped passes to kill drives. That’s why Gruden summed up the passing game this way: “It’s frustrating. I think we’re better than that up front. We’re better than that at receiver — dropping balls — and we’re better than that at quarterback. We all had our hand in it — play-callers, offensively, it wasn’t good enough obviously.”

read this dean with emphasis on the 2nd paragraph

 

[SoCalWizFan]

True; however, the Eagles were over 50% yesterday, many of which were long yardage situations, and that brings back memories of last season. That being said, I was happy with the D overall yesterday.

Part of that was Wentz buying time by scrambling around till he found an open receiver - he is good at that. Moving forward the Redskins need to work on that since they face other mobile QBs this season. We will see.

 

[Breed]

No eating then?

Oh no, they gotta eat. We can replace that second 32 ounce porterhouse smothered in gravy with some collard greens and neck bones though. The iron and other minerals in the greens should help combat that lackadaisical tidal wave that apparently washed over Moses and Schreff at precisely the same time yestewrday. Perhaps due in part to the amount of undigested red meat that has been polluting their bodies for years.

 

[SoCalWizFan]

Oh no, they gotta eat. We can replace that second 32 ounce porterhouse smothered in gravy with some collard greens and neck bones though. The iron and other minerals in the greens should help combat that lackadaisical tidal wave that apparently washed over Moses and Schreff at precisely the same time yestewrday. Perhaps due in part to the amount of undigested red meat that has been polluting their bodies for years.

Cousins went on a radical diet this offseason. Thus far has not appeared to do a lot of good for him.