Likes:
1. McLaurin looks like he has a bright future in the NFL. His speed is noticeable and his hands were reliable on short and intermediate routes. 5 catches for 125 yards and a TD is a darn good start, and it could have been 200 plus yards if Keenum hadn't overthrown Terry on that second bomb.
2. Guice is the team's first two way back in re rushing and receiving in some time. If he stays healthy we won't in the future have to carry a third down specialist to catch the ball because our primary rusher is known as only a two down threat.
3. Vernon Davis can still run at 35 and has helped to cover up for Reed's absences for the past couple of years.
4. Jonathan Allen must be even more important to the defense than even I thought going in. When he came out of the game it appeared the entire complexion of the defense changed. It didn't all cascade down at once but over the next drives to halftime and then Quarter 3 the Eagles were able to block Tim Settle, Matt Ioannidis fairly easily when they were inside at DT. More on them below. In addition to the physical loss of a DL that requires a double team it seems Allen's leadership is such that with him off the field these guys really started to question themselves. Perhaps he more than Trent Williams is really the ‘must have' player on this club.
5. The Redskins have excellent specialists in Tress Way and Dustin Hopkins and will rely heavily on them to win games in 2019.
Dislikes:
1. The coaching staff here does not run a program that is long on physicality and mental toughness. One could blame the Redskins collapse after building a 17-0 lead and 20-7 halftime on simply the number of rookies and younger players facing a fired up team on the road who were embarrassed by their early performance.
But then again we have seen this movie before in previous years with Gruden. The Redskins get punched in the mouth after having an opponent on the ropes and seem to fall apart. Guys miss assignments they were meeting earlier, the number of penalties on both sides of the ball increase exponentially. The coaches game plan remains stuck in what WAS working two quarters earlier.
2. On defense, the Redskins were totally outfoxed by Pederson. To start the third quarter he came out with 35 year old Darren Sproles at RB and with a 20-7 deficit the Redskins prepared to drop and defend the pass. Instead the Eagles ran the ball. And then decided to keep running the same two plays to move all the way down the field as Washington never countered what the Eagles were doing and Philly was able to score what I look at as a ‘gift' touchdown.
On later drives the Eagles were able to consistently get DJAX one on one coverage against Nicholson or a rookie like Moreland while the Redskins were instead focused on defensing Alshon Jeffery. But Jeffery was not going to beat the Redskins on his own. Jackson with his 4.32 speed was able to erase the Redskins advantage and give the Eagles the lead before the Redskins had time to exhale. But we have seen this movie before too. The Redskins often seem to ignore the rule about not giving up the quick score. If a team wants to try and move 80 yards in 12 plays fine. But don't give Wentz a clear win with Jackson against a single defender deep.
3. The offense was a mixed bag. Again I thought McLaurin, Davis and the younger receivers played well for the most part. Guice showed a bit of what he can do.
Keenum didn't turn the ball over and he hit on most of the obvious throws early. He missed McLaurin deep on the second pass and failed to see Davis alone down the sideline on what might have been a big play to stem the tide in the third quarter.
But Gruden didn't do him any favors after the half. That expansive playbook had no adjustments for an Eagle defense that learned quickly that stunts had the Redskins OL confused and that by concentrating on attacking Ereck Flowers in pass pro they could get middle pressure and prevent Keenum from stepping up.
Is it just me or is Morgan Moses a penalty machine? I can see Flowers holding because he is playing out of position and may not have the talent to make it as a starter in the NFL. But Moses? He seems to be one of those guys that REALLY feels the pressure in tight games and can't maintain his focus in key situations.
Trent Williams return will help but Flowers needs to be replaced with Martin. If Ereck is going to give us rookie level performances we might as well get a rookie with 45 college starts at LG into these contests.
4. Half-time adjustments remain a big Achilles heel for this team.
After taking a decent lead against the Eagles and surprising them with the quick passes, McLaurin deep and the early accent on Guice and Davis as a receiver, we needed to recognize that Philly would find counters to those plays and present them with some change-ups.
Moving away from running on first downs would also have helped at various points of the game, even early on.
Pederson couldn't have come up with better adjustments to attack the Allen-less Washington defense in the second half.
He used Sproles to run the ball and then put in Sanders when he threw deep. Manusky and Co. we're still reading off the first half keys in the backfield where Sproles meant pass and Sanders meant run.
As mentioned deciding NOT to double cover Jackson was a mistake with a 13 point lead after their first TD. Jeffery and Agholor are good receivers but they are not the quick strike threats that Jackson has been.
5. Montez Sweat has a long way to go. Any thoughts his size and speed were going to make an early impact were perhaps too optimistic. When he came in for more reps after Allen departed, Sweat appeared to be easily blocked by the Eagles. He seemed to play upright and a bit stiff, never good for a rusher.
6. Ryan Anderson still looks to me like a middle backer in the 3-4. He's a good straight up tackler and runs well laterally but he has ZERO pass rush moves and doesn't play with leverage around the end.
We won't be playing teams as deep as the Eagles each week but a number of these things in re the coaching, adjustments and utilization of certain players has you shaking your head.
1. McLaurin looks like he has a bright future in the NFL. His speed is noticeable and his hands were reliable on short and intermediate routes. 5 catches for 125 yards and a TD is a darn good start, and it could have been 200 plus yards if Keenum hadn't overthrown Terry on that second bomb.
2. Guice is the team's first two way back in re rushing and receiving in some time. If he stays healthy we won't in the future have to carry a third down specialist to catch the ball because our primary rusher is known as only a two down threat.
3. Vernon Davis can still run at 35 and has helped to cover up for Reed's absences for the past couple of years.
4. Jonathan Allen must be even more important to the defense than even I thought going in. When he came out of the game it appeared the entire complexion of the defense changed. It didn't all cascade down at once but over the next drives to halftime and then Quarter 3 the Eagles were able to block Tim Settle, Matt Ioannidis fairly easily when they were inside at DT. More on them below. In addition to the physical loss of a DL that requires a double team it seems Allen's leadership is such that with him off the field these guys really started to question themselves. Perhaps he more than Trent Williams is really the ‘must have' player on this club.
5. The Redskins have excellent specialists in Tress Way and Dustin Hopkins and will rely heavily on them to win games in 2019.
Dislikes:
1. The coaching staff here does not run a program that is long on physicality and mental toughness. One could blame the Redskins collapse after building a 17-0 lead and 20-7 halftime on simply the number of rookies and younger players facing a fired up team on the road who were embarrassed by their early performance.
But then again we have seen this movie before in previous years with Gruden. The Redskins get punched in the mouth after having an opponent on the ropes and seem to fall apart. Guys miss assignments they were meeting earlier, the number of penalties on both sides of the ball increase exponentially. The coaches game plan remains stuck in what WAS working two quarters earlier.
2. On defense, the Redskins were totally outfoxed by Pederson. To start the third quarter he came out with 35 year old Darren Sproles at RB and with a 20-7 deficit the Redskins prepared to drop and defend the pass. Instead the Eagles ran the ball. And then decided to keep running the same two plays to move all the way down the field as Washington never countered what the Eagles were doing and Philly was able to score what I look at as a ‘gift' touchdown.
On later drives the Eagles were able to consistently get DJAX one on one coverage against Nicholson or a rookie like Moreland while the Redskins were instead focused on defensing Alshon Jeffery. But Jeffery was not going to beat the Redskins on his own. Jackson with his 4.32 speed was able to erase the Redskins advantage and give the Eagles the lead before the Redskins had time to exhale. But we have seen this movie before too. The Redskins often seem to ignore the rule about not giving up the quick score. If a team wants to try and move 80 yards in 12 plays fine. But don't give Wentz a clear win with Jackson against a single defender deep.
3. The offense was a mixed bag. Again I thought McLaurin, Davis and the younger receivers played well for the most part. Guice showed a bit of what he can do.
Keenum didn't turn the ball over and he hit on most of the obvious throws early. He missed McLaurin deep on the second pass and failed to see Davis alone down the sideline on what might have been a big play to stem the tide in the third quarter.
But Gruden didn't do him any favors after the half. That expansive playbook had no adjustments for an Eagle defense that learned quickly that stunts had the Redskins OL confused and that by concentrating on attacking Ereck Flowers in pass pro they could get middle pressure and prevent Keenum from stepping up.
Is it just me or is Morgan Moses a penalty machine? I can see Flowers holding because he is playing out of position and may not have the talent to make it as a starter in the NFL. But Moses? He seems to be one of those guys that REALLY feels the pressure in tight games and can't maintain his focus in key situations.
Trent Williams return will help but Flowers needs to be replaced with Martin. If Ereck is going to give us rookie level performances we might as well get a rookie with 45 college starts at LG into these contests.
4. Half-time adjustments remain a big Achilles heel for this team.
After taking a decent lead against the Eagles and surprising them with the quick passes, McLaurin deep and the early accent on Guice and Davis as a receiver, we needed to recognize that Philly would find counters to those plays and present them with some change-ups.
Moving away from running on first downs would also have helped at various points of the game, even early on.
Pederson couldn't have come up with better adjustments to attack the Allen-less Washington defense in the second half.
He used Sproles to run the ball and then put in Sanders when he threw deep. Manusky and Co. we're still reading off the first half keys in the backfield where Sproles meant pass and Sanders meant run.
As mentioned deciding NOT to double cover Jackson was a mistake with a 13 point lead after their first TD. Jeffery and Agholor are good receivers but they are not the quick strike threats that Jackson has been.
5. Montez Sweat has a long way to go. Any thoughts his size and speed were going to make an early impact were perhaps too optimistic. When he came in for more reps after Allen departed, Sweat appeared to be easily blocked by the Eagles. He seemed to play upright and a bit stiff, never good for a rusher.
6. Ryan Anderson still looks to me like a middle backer in the 3-4. He's a good straight up tackler and runs well laterally but he has ZERO pass rush moves and doesn't play with leverage around the end.
We won't be playing teams as deep as the Eagles each week but a number of these things in re the coaching, adjustments and utilization of certain players has you shaking your head.