Silver Linings

Okay...after spending a couple hours getting over my disappointment, I saw some real positives today.

1. Kirk Cousins. Kirk didn't do a 'good job'. He wasn't 'okay', or 'serviceable'. Kirk was fantastic for most of today's game. How often has a Redskins QB - ANY Redskins QB - thrown for 400+ yards? Kirk completed 62.5% of his passes, finished with a QB rating above 100, and threw 3 touchdown passes, with a lone INT marring a damn near perfect performance. Yeah, he made a couple of poor throws late and could not pull out the win, but come on - the guy did more than enough to earn the confidence of Redskins fans.

2. The O-Line. I know - you don't want to hear it. But the Redskins OL did not allow a single sack of Kirk Cousins despite the Redskins going all Don Coryell on the Eagles (48 total passing attempts). The pass protection was good enough today. And we should give the OL credit for it.

3. Almo. Morris had a knee sprain for most of the game, but despite that and some pretty tough run coverage by the Eagles, managed to average 3.35 yards per carry for a total of 77 yards.

4. Redskins WRs. Nearly all the Redskins WRs got in on the action today, but Pierre Garcon had an incredible day, racking up 138 yards recieving on a whopping 11 receptions, one of them for a TD. DeSean Jackson was also impressive, with 117 yards on 5 catches, with 80 of them coming on his 'in you face' TD bomb. And Niles Paul, although he dropped a crucial third down pass, was still an impact player with 6 catches for 68 yards. The Redskins may have one of the most talented wide receiving corps in the league.

5. Kick returns. It may seem like unearned praise, but I really like what I'm seeing from Andre Roberts on kick return duties. Roberts makes good decisions, averaged 18 yards per return with a long of 23 yards today. Having a reliable returner is something we've lacked for a number of years. I look for Roberts to only get better in that role.

6. Jay Gruden. The playcalling today, save a handful of plays, was superb. Gruden had the Redskins offense humming and it was the Eagles who struggled to keep pace with a high octane offense today. Gruden's got to get better at playcalling in the late 4th quarter of games, but he did a great job today and had the Redskins in position to win it in the closing seconds.


We all need to remember that this is a team coming off a 3-13 season, playing with it's backup quarterback, and a totally new offensive scheme and head coach. There is no 'quit' in this team. Numerous folks in the game day chat today gave the Redskins no chance to win when they were down 10 late. That's unfortunate because our players clearly did not give up so easily. From that perspective, I think we should be encouraged, not deflated, by what we're seeing. I only hope the injury bug which has already taken a major bite out of this team, can be kept under control so we can see the development of some key players.

Yeah, I was encouraged by a lot of things today.

I am pleased with the performance as well. Very glad to see a few of things...

I think Kirk Cousins can be better than Andy Dalton in this offense. Dalton has some weapons, but Kirk has more, I think.

Josh LeRiebus came in when Lavauo went down and performed well in the run and pass protection.

I was glad to see the screen to Helu run at the perfect time. That was exactly when that screen needed to be called.

Another positive, the run defense. Lesean McCoy had 22 yards on 19 carries for an awesome 1.2 yards per carry. This is a guy who rushed for 1600+ yards last year at a 5 ypc. A great job by the run defense today. If only the pass defense could improve.

Redskins looked awesome on offense today and the Eagles should be scared. They were the home team. The missed 30yd fg, their kick return for a td, us not running to get inside the 40 to kick a fg late, not one holding call on their OL, PI called wrong on Robinson for 50+ yards, the BS call on Baker when Foles was blocking.

We should have won in their house and they know it.

Boone,

Great insights and thanks for shedding some positive light on an otherwise depressing evening for me.

At the end of the day, it still stings knowing we had a chance to bury an elite team in their own backyard and didn't capitalize.

It was a two game swing in the sense that we could have been leading the division, and instead are now two full games back of the division leaders, only three games into the season.

I realize that this season isn't necessarily about winning the division, nor is that even a realistic goal for the most part; however, the most concerning aspect of today's game was the fact that we still can't seem to get over the hump and make plays at the most crucial times in games. This has been a trend we haven't been able to shake for the better part of the last 23 years and it's extremely frustrating as a fan watching it come to fruition time and time again.

I agree, there is a lot to be positive about, but it isn't going to be enough if we can't dig deep and find ways to win these types of ball games. It's games like today that go a long way to developing a winner's mentality, and we lost out on a great opportunity.

Kel Varnsen said:

Another positive, the run defense. Lesean McCoy had 22 yards on 19 carries for an awesome 1.2 yards per carry. This is a guy who rushed for 1600+ yards last year at a 5 ypc. A great job by the run defense today. If only the pass defense could improve.

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I read or heard somewhere that that's the lowest average he's had so far in his career.

I said it before the game and I'll say it now. If the Skins kept it close and didn't make stupid mistakes, I would feel better about this team. They certainly did that today.

Thanks for the silver lining!

tr1 said:

Did he only have one INT?

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Yes. Just 1. Malcolm Jenkins (safety) nabbed one that he shouldn't have thrown.

Boone said:

Yes. Just 1. Malcolm Jenkins (safety) nabbed one that he shouldn't have thrown.

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Yeah, that was a horrible decision and throw. He had some other inaccurate throws, but that was the one bad decision that really stuck out. I'm sure he had some other bad decisions, but it's good that I can only think of one. Because I could think of several by Foles today.

To be fair on the McCoy performance...the guy clearly wasn't the same after his concussion (no way he'd have been playing if I was coach, that was boneheaded). So praise the run D but recognize Shady was a shadow of his former self after that hit.

The ONE bright spot for me on D was the pressure. One or no sacks but they pounded and harassed Foles all day. That HAS gotten better, but in and of itself isn't enough to make this D even average.

From what i heard (couldnt watch the game as i was driving) was that Breeland had a decent game. The major breakdowns in the secondary came from Meriweather. I know Breeland missed the pick, but I think I remember him forcing a fumble? Hall is going to be done for the season so Breeland might get a chance to play and earn a legit spot here.

Boone said:

6. Jay Gruden. The playcalling today, save a handful of plays, was superb. Gruden had the Redskins offense humming and it was the Eagles who struggled to keep pace with a high octane offense today. Gruden's got to get better at playcalling in the late 4th quarter of games, but he did a great job today and had the Redskins in position to win it in the closing seconds.

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Also, I didn't notice this during the game, but on 980 this morning, Larry Michael relayed that Kirk said that McVay did some of the offensive playcalling too. So, Gruden is trusting McVay to be more involved directly on game-days too...

It was hard to stomach the loss, after being sooooooo close to snagging the W on the road, but there were good signs. I think it's also good to remember that these Skins are not a finished product. Jay is still getting things going as a HC and this collection of talent and other coaches are still figuring things out. It's not like they are an entrenched team that has been playing together in the same system awhile. So, I think good things are still to come.

And with the short week - lets get the bad taste out of our mouths and curb-stomp the Midgets!!

Seeing how I'm going to this one, that's fine by me.

Many of us and the media didn't think the skins could do much this year. I was hoping Cousins would show what he has, that's we're not a one trick pony and we're not a 3-13 dumpster fire.

I was able to hold my head high after the game knowing that no one gave us a chance and we almost stole one.

Disappointed in how the penalties, injuries and fight marred such a good performance but kudos to the qb, OL and offensive coaches.

Oh yeah, and DY. Already one of the best Fullbacks out there (if not the best), now all the man does is score TDs. Baller.

Enforcer said:

Oh yeah, and DY. Already one of the best Fullbacks out there (if not the best), now all the man does is score TDs. Baller.

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shades of Mike Sellars man...

Tress Way....

Another thing I've noticed this year more then in years past is how quickly our guys will come to defend and help up teammates off the turf.

Cousins and the offense put up enough points to win the game. Special teams cost us 10 points. The Eagles offense had their share of yardage. Our rush and pass defense had a bad day.

At least do feel better about our direction. They showed continued strong play after Jags game.