PostGame Thoughts: Redskins 23, Eagles 17
Man oh man…where on Earth do I start?! I think first and foremost… the Redskins deserve a HUGE pat on the back. Number one, they are officially finished playing their division rivals on the road for the season with an NFC East record of 3-1. Number two, I was watching Chris Bermman on ESPN’s The Blitz yesterday and he was literally tongue tied and pretty much speechless because he, like all NFL analysts at this point, are in disbelief in terms of the Redskins success. This team is truly a force to be reckoned with.
I believe I speak for the majority of us when I say the opening of the game was a bit nerve wrecking. Brian Westbrook scored running up the middle at the beginning of the game, followed by rookie DeSean Jackson’s kickoff return for a touchdown (that block in the back 100% should have been accepted by the way), leaving us at a 14 point defecit with 7:47 left to go in the first quarter! The play by play guys started saying we looked like the Redskins who lost in our first game versus the Giants. Little did they know.
Second quarter was the Shaun Suisham show, where he kicked for 41, 48 and 50 yard field goals which took us into half time down by 5, score 14-9. And this Redskins defense came out ready to fight in the third quarter, causing Donovan Mcnabb and his Eagles to go 3-and-out three times in a row, and going nearly 30 minutes without a first down.
Meanwhile on the other side of the ball, the Redskins were being productive as well. College quarterback turned receiver, Anwaan Randle El threw TE Chris Cooley his first touchdown of the year, giving Washington the lead, 16-14. At the start of the fourth quarter, RB Clinton Portis literally walked into the end zone, adding to the lead and the Redskins 23 unanswered points since Jackson’s kickoff returned TD halfway through the first quarter.
The Eagles marched down the field and made it to the 2 yard line, but then Brian Westbrook took a loss of 3 yards and Acker’s had to come in to kick a field goal. Washington went on to get the W with the final score being 23-17.
So…how come this number one defense against the rush decided not to show up yesterday? Because Clinton Portis AND Ladell Betts got their man yesterday with 200+ yards!! Not to mention Jason Campbell and the Redskins converted on third down 11 of 19 attempts. He adapted to reading the blitz effectively and our offensive line gave the Eagles a run for their money. And how about Brian Westbrook..? He had just 33 yards on the ground, granted he got the TD early, but where was he at after that?
As opposed to my initial thoughts at the beginning of the game, our Skins have really broken out of their shell. And as if the defeat of the Cowboys last week wasn’t reason enough, we are certainly the talk among the league right now. We’re the only team in the league who has yet to have an offensive turnover for goodness sake!! Sure, the Giants remain undefeated, but who the heck have they really played so far? And there are a couple of teams with only one loss…most of which I would say deserve to be 4-1 or 3-1. But I am a firm believer that we’ve had the toughest schedule. But that being said, we are now going into the easiest part of the season, facing the Rams, Browns and Lions who are 1-11 respectively. Our biggest challenge at the time, in my opinion, would be to NOT get cocky and prepare for these games the same we have thus far.
Oh yeah, and wait, how on EARTH are the Tennessee Titans really 5-0 right now? That’s the best record in the league!! What’s going on?!
Okay…so we’re a quarter of the way through the season going into this week, folks. Notably, the Redskins opened the season in an ugly way versus the Super Bowl Champs. However, I think the more important factor in our 3-1 record would be our win over the undefeated Cowboys last week. IN DALLAS! So considering we’re in second place in the division right now, we’re in a good position going into Philadelphia to take on another NFC East rival.
