So I expected a comfortable win this week but not that comfortable. Frankly, it was as important a win for Shanny as there could be as he really needed to show that this team is making progress and a loss to a reeling Eagles team would have been devastating. We had a lot reasons to believe we would win that include:
1. Eagles starting a rookie at QB.
2. Eagles O line is decimated.
3. We were at home.
4. We were coming off of a bye week.
5. We got Garcon and Meriweather back.
All of that came together and it was a solid all around game. Here are my grades:
Offense: A. Led by RG3 who was razor sharp again. He completed 14 of 15 passes (93%) for 200 yards, including touchdown passes of 6, 49, 61 and 17 -- one in each quarter. His numbers resulted in his first perfect passer rating of 158.3. He also ran 12 times for 84 yards and was again serenaded with chants of "RG3." Give credit to the WRs for this as well. I like Aldrick Robinson and would actually like to see more of him. Moss made an incredible catch on the 61 yard TD pass as he jumped between two defenders stealing the all away for a TD. Morris was solid again in the run game picking up 76 yards. I will say that I am not a real big fan of the pitch and would rather see the stretch run play. Still, solid ground game.
Defense: A. The defense got three takeaways and four sacks and had Foles under pressure for much of the game. Meriweather was huge in his first game back as he got 7 tackles and an INT in basically a half as he hurt his right knee early in the third quarter. I'm not saying he is the cure all for our secondary but he certainly was a difference maker yesterday as he laid out some huge hits that not only jarred the ball loose and sent Eagles receivers to their sidelines but he helped to pump up the defense and the crowd with his play. Hopefully his injury isn't serious and he is able to play on Thursday night. Still, the entire defense was much better. Coverage was solid and again we stopped their ground game limiting McCoy to 45 yards on 15 rushes. It was a very good performance for this struggling defense.
Special Teams: B. Solid. Nothing special. I do like Forbath as he is now 9 for 9 on FGs since coming to the Skins. The only negative about this group is that Forbath really needs to do better on kickoffs. He admittedly has a strong leg on FGs but struggles on kickoffs and it shows. Strange that that is the case but I can live with the short kickoffs as long as he is making the FGs.
Coaching: A-. Not much went wrong yesterday. Game plan seemed sound. The only two things that got me were, as mentioned, wasn't a fan of the pitch run plays especially the RG3 option runs as those don't work well at the professional level. That said, I do like that RG3 seems much more careful about getting rid of the ball and getting to the sidelines. On the defensive side, there were a couple of times where we showed the zero blitz thing which I am not a fan of and we didn't back out of the blitz and it hurt us. There have been enough times now where that play has hurt us much more than helped us and I would like to see it removed from the play book. I did like that we showed it a few times and backed out of it and I also liked sending in a corner or a safety for a blitz. This is MUCH better coaching. Josh Wilson had a good corner blitz resulting in a sack and a Foles fumble (recovered by the Eagles). D. Hall also applied pressure on Foles on I believe the Eagles opening drive that helped. This is more of what I would like to see from Haslett and the defense. I don't want to see vanilla type of defense or an all out rush as this is WAY too predictable.
Again, a strong performance by the entire team. The first one we have seen all season. Again, hopefully we get Meriweather back as, while I don't think he is the cure all, I truly believe he makes the defense much better.
On to Dallas on Thanksgiving.
HTTR!!!
4 comments:
Good Deadskin win. The bye came at a good time to let Bob rest and recover. He looked great (although I didn't actually watch the game).
This was the kind of game that I would expect from the Deadskins - one that shows real improvement. There will still be a few clunkers down the road but these wins show that the team has some promise in the future.
I think the bigger story is that the Eagles are totally reeling. They need major change. Andy Reid will be gone after the year.
Yeah, RG3 was pretty much unstoppable. His passes were sharp. His arm strength was incredible. His running was fantastic. There was one run on I believe a third and long and he ran towards the sideline and some Eagle guy came diving at him and RG3 put on a little move and the guy missed him and went flying out of bounds. RG3 just turned and looked at him like "you weren't even close, dude."
This guy is amazing and again proves week in/week out that he is well worth the price paid. You cannot help but enjoy this guy on and off the field.
Justin Tuck said after the Giants game that he was upset that RG3 was in the NFC East as he will be a problem for opposing teams for years. Yesterday another NFC East exec said the same thing.
Yes, I agree that this is the game that was very important to show that we are making improvements. We really needed to beat a team that is struggling like the Eagles so it was good that we were able to do that.
Agree that if you are an Eagles fan, you have to be pretty demoralized right now. Going into last season, they were considered the "dream team" making all of their high priced acquisitions (Vick, Jenkins, Asomgha, etc.). Last season was a failure and this season has been even worse. Problem is that it will be a while before they get better as they have these high priced players who are either underperforming or not performing well together. It's time to blow it up, starting with Reid, and start over.
I agree with Brian Billick yesterday in that Reid is a great coach but his time is up in Philly. It's time for both parties to go their separate ways as I think Reid's voice has grown old in Philly and the players their need someone else to shake things up and Reid needs to start fresh. There will be jobs available next season (San Diego, KC, possibly Buffalo, NY Jets, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Dallas, Cleveland). Will be interesting to see where he ends up.
RG3 is really amazing. While I don't think I'll be convinced that the price paid will be justified, he is playing outstanding. That was a great performance from him and the Redskins overall. Handled their business against a poor eagirls team. Still though they dont pick their opponents and showed that they can beat up on a beaten and demoralized team. Something the skins could not do in recent years. Skins win on thursday and a Packers win over the giants will really make things interesting.
As for Andy. I like Andy Reid. Hes from the Holmgren family of coaches. Hes a winner and i don't think he's magically lost the ability to do what he's been doing the past 14 years. His son just died at the beginning of the season. They have massive injuries on the offensive line and Vick is out. Defensively they haven't been able to replace Jim Johnson leading to them firing Castillo mid season. It's just a bad combination of things resulting in a poor season. The Eagirls would be dumb to fire Andy Reid to go into uncertainty with a new coach inheriting a bunch of overpaid superstars that either he'd cut and take massive losses (hindering the rebuilding process) or wouldn't begin a rebuilding period and try to win with what he has (much like shannys first year) . Reid is the only sure winner on that team . Four Nfc championship game appearances. A super bowl appearance. good/great win loss ratio.
RG3 has already shown me that he is worth the price paid. He is a true superstar and a true difference maker. You can't say that about many guys. I know you say other rookies are nearly the same as RG3 but no way would I compare RG3 with Tannehill, Weeden, or Wilson.
You also have to consider RG3's leadership qualities. If you hear him speak, he is just as impressive as his play. Honestly, this guy is almost too good to be true.
As far as Andy, it's time for him to go. I don't disagree that the guy can coach but his voice isn't being heard in Philly any more and it's time for both sides to part ways.
I get his son passing away. That's unfortunate but if he wasn't ready to coach, he should have taken a break. He owes that to himself, his family, his players, and his owners. Him coming back showed that he was ready to coach so that is no excuse. As far as injuries, that's part of the game. The Skins have their fair share of injuires this year (Orakpo, Kerrigan, Meriweather, Garcon, Brown, etc.) that is no excuse for the poor play of the Eagles.
I like Reid. I agree he can coach. However, it's time for both sides to move on.
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