Official Game Thread - Week 11 - TNF Edition - Commanders @ Eagles

not when it comes to being a elite wide receiver. Elite doesn’t go MIA cause the other team is good.

I like terry. I think he’s good. I’m glad he’s in our team.

But this is why he’s not elite.
Terry has elite hands.

He does not have elite speed or size. Not really close on either count. So, he can be shut down in the right circumstances. The playcalling today, combined with playing a team with a lot of good DBs, did him in. I think with better playcalling, he gets more catches. I don't think he or they cared though, and that's how it should be.

I have to say, though, there isn't this magical receiver you think there is, who always shows up in every stat line.
They ran the ball 28 times and threw it 32 times, and many of those passes were in garbage time when you always pass a lot. That is a pretty high run to pass ratio in today's game. No if anything I thought the play calling was too conservative, they never looked much past the line of scrimage with their passes much like the opener. That tells me the team thought Jayden and the OL were injured going into the game and it played out that way.

As for the defense they held up very well considering the offense failed to give them a break with long drives. They were just put on the field far too many times and eventually the Eagles offense scored points. But for most of the game the defense held up it's end.
I know they ran the ball a bit but even in that drive they ran (McNichols). They had a lot of meaningless BRob runs at bad times.

2nd and 1, 3rd and 1, 4th. All count as runs I believe. So the stats look balanced.

There is a flow to a game and playcalling. The balance in the stat sheet is not indicative of the timing.

If you watched the last two games you saw two teams who run the ball and leave the other team both tired and confused at the end, hence long backbreaking drives. It was like watching a rerun although the Eagles marched more effectively and their Kicker hurt them a lot.

On the Commanders side, we become very predictable. Playcalling was conservative because with 16 BRob rushes, they were too predictable and unable to impose at all; those 2nd and 3rd down were made by a team being too predictable at that time (in a great drive) and unable to impose but trying to impose. The best OCs can read that situation better, I think. I could be wrong. It just looked off.

The defense made some plays throughout but 10 points through 3.8 quarters? Hm.

Also last point: 2 games, the opposing team had multiple drives where they run 2-3 runs in a row, different types. I don’t think we can say the same, except probably in that first TD drive. Playcalling has a flow, and when the flow (and scheme) is right guys get open. I am not trying to lay it all on Kliff, but the flow looked very off to me and both the Eagles and Steelers were teams ready to run all game long. Didn’t have that feeling for the Commanders; they were ready to run in small stretches and specific situations which I tended to disagree with. OCs who are known for second half collapses tend to be OCs who develop tendencies and are slow to change. That is how it felt.

It is what it is. Hopefully Kliff can figure it out and the team can get the rest it needs.
 
RH's 3 Fers

Good
  • Defense - did enough to win. Luvu taking names. AJ held in check. Dictated calling fire blitzes over and over which contained Hurts and made him uncomfortable for the most part.
  • Gonzalez - Solid kicks but miffed why he didn't get to kick on 4th down.
  • Ertz - in case anyone wonders why Sinnott isnt getting many reps - he is clearly a trusted target for 5. That 2pt toe tap.
Bad
  • JD5 - can't step into throws and looks much slower than earlier this year. Run yards are way down since tearing up his ribs. Had an INT. Took too many heavy hits. Were the feet throws, throwaways?? Held ball took sacks couldnt escape.
  • Kliff - Play calls. I hated the QB Draw and delayed handoffs in short yardage - at Carter of course. Zero deep balls called? No hail mary to end the first half??? Ribs you say? Then why the designed runs. Kept trying Wylie chips on Jalen Carter. Dyami drops - dont call his number. Troubling he couldnt get Terry targets. Got desperate and tried to feature Bates lol.
  • Quinn - Timeouts and of course telling Gonzo No. Thinking a QB sweep on 4th down with Noah blocking 3 guys instead of the simple FG was best. That suddenly our offense would convert a 4th on a day JD5 was flat.
Mehgly
  • OL - Borderline bad but we were in this game vs a stout D on road. Until some boneheaded coaching decisions ended our night.
  • Run D - Did good until the 4th quarter collapse when Whitt was likely gambling after trying to bail out Quinn and Kliffs terrible calls.
  • RBs - overall they did good but Ekeler had a drop and 3.3 avg is just meh.
Interesting play call by the Eagles to start the game. Fed Jahan to make Whitt think they may feature him to haunt us. All my fantasy follows were all over Jahan Over on reception yards, and it paid on the first play.
 
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I went into the game with low expectations because the Eagles are simply a good team and we're still a ways off from that. But something that bothered me about the 3rd and 4th and 1 was lining up in singleback formation with 1 WR split out. I've seen just about every coaching staff do it since the Gruden days, but I don't understand why the team doesn't send more players out wide. The O-Line was not dominating. JD has been down since the rib injuries, but has still been willing to run. With a single yard to go, get the defense spread out as much as possible. It's easy to say now that the game is over, but even on the Commanders' best days, willing the team forward on a one yard run that everyone in the stadium is expecting hasn't been the team's strength, especially last night.
 
We've been in every game we've lost this season, so the "we're just not there yet" mantra doesn't hit like it should (even if it's true). Yes, we absolutely need a few more pieces to push us over the top, but we had opportunities to beat Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Philly. Those losses weren't blowouts.

These last 2 games our offense simply wasn't as crip and electric. I'm sure a lot of it revolves around Jayden and the injury. Just shows how much he WAS our offense early on.
 
Ben Sinnott had 6 snaps on offense last night. I guess that’s what led to John Bates being a focal point of the passing game.
 
Ben Sinnott had 6 snaps on offense last night. I guess that’s what led to John Bates being a focal point of the passing game.
So basically Joe Whitt is more willing to give a young player a chance than Kliff is.
 
I agree the defense has been playing much better. Sainristil played exceptionally well vs. AJ Brown tonight! I think they were gassed by the 4th quarter because our offense couldn't stay on the field.
Sainristil is killing it, I’m super impressed with him. And he’s doing it all - plays vs Smith and Brown, playing downhill vs runs/screens - while playing a position he’s not accustomed to. Crazy.
 
could not watch the game,but from what i read sanristil was the highlight of the defense.
 
Newton and Sinnott have not made the impact one would expect of second round picks.

Newton plays at 295 so his game is quickness and leverage, he doesn’t have the girth to clog up the middle and sit on guys the way Dave Butz did back in the day.

This team unfortunately after all the resources spent there STILL needs a run stopping DT.

Sinnott just seems like he was overdrafted. He has made some key mistakes on the field at the wrong time when he has played and hasn’t really busted the door down to make coaches play him with the first team offense.

Pre-draft bios had Sinnott rated as a mid #3 to early #4 pick.

And viewed through that lens seems to be a typical mid round rookie.

But he isn’t flashing elite skills or natural instincts to beat coverages and get open the way top TEs do coming into the league.

The mounting injuries were going to be a major probable for this team because of the lack of depth, which is normal for a team in its first year of a rebuild.

That said the injuries couldn’t have come at worse places.

Robinson, offensive line, etc. These were the positions that helped Daniels to get off to a fast start.

If Brian Robinson and Lattimore could get on the field and be close to 100% perhaps we don’t see the loss last week.

But the team knew going in that the player we traded for at the deadline has had a hamstring that has bothered him the whole season to date.

There is a chance we won’t see a real return on Lattimore until next year, and that’s a big blow to a defense that desperately needs the help.
 
Newton and Sinnott have not made the impact one would expect of second round picks.

Newton plays at 295 so his game is quickness and leverage, he doesn’t have the girth to clog up the middle and sit on guys the way Dave Butz did back in the day.

This team unfortunately after all the resources spent there STILL needs a run stopping DT.

Sinnott just seems like he was overdrafted. He has made some key mistakes on the field at the wrong time when he has played and hasn’t really busted the door down to make coaches play him with the first team offense.

Pre-draft bios had Sinnott rated as a mid #3 to early #4 pick.

And viewed through that lens seems to be a typical mid round rookie.

But he isn’t flashing elite skills or natural instincts to beat coverages and get open the way top TEs do coming into the league.

The mounting injuries were going to be a major probable for this team because of the lack of depth, which is normal for a team in its first year of a rebuild.

That said the injuries couldn’t have come at worse places.

Robinson, offensive line, etc. These were the positions that helped Daniels to get off to a fast start.

If Brian Robinson and Lattimore could get on the field and be close to 100% perhaps we don’t see the loss last week.

But the team knew going in that the player we traded for at the deadline has had a hamstring that has bothered him the whole season to date.

There is a chance we won’t see a real return on Lattimore until next year, and that’s a big blow to a defense that desperately needs the help.
Looking at the history of rookie tight ends it's clear very few ate productive their first year. I'm unconcerned.

I'm glad you mentioned Newton. Still waiting on him.
 
Something is definitely off with O and JD.
He looks every inch a rookie the last couple of games. Bad decisions, inaccurate throws.... Makes me wander if he has another inj they are not talking about or if teams figured out our O. Most likely some combination of that plus just playing very good Ds over the last 2 wks tells us that we are far short on O difference makers to compete with top NFL Ds.
Positive takeaways.. Def is getting better every game. Sainristil is looking solid on the outside and coaches should leave him there to pair with Latimore.
 
Yeah, this is pretty much how I saw it.

I’d been reading an article last week saying how our o-line was one of the highest ranked in the league, and I think we’d all been pleasantly surprised by how they had done so far this year. But the injury report was super concerning the last week or two. We don’t have the depth to sustain quality when injuries happen. We were ‘forced’ to play starters who were very much not 100%. Meanwhile the Eagles (I think) had only 1 player on their IR.

JD was under pressure and there were missed blocks galore both in the pass protection and the run game. Eagles players often blew up our plays behind the LoS. Case in point that 2nd and inches, that became a 3rd and 1, then a 4th and 2 as we kept trying to run it and got stymied every time.

Mistakes like that come from fatigue. We held up early while we had energy, but our tanks ran dry long before the Eagles did.

Daniels just looks tired. Every time we saw him on the bench he looked drained. Not the spark plug he had been previously. Injury + Rookie wall.

Also consider the Eagles have had it pretty easy since their bye. They’ve yet to play the top tier teams we have, and while we got into a slugfest with Pittsburgh on Sunday, they walloped Dallas enough to rest starters late in the game.

I think if we’d have faced them on even terms we could have won. As it was, the scheduling had made this a lopsided affair before the first snap.

I’m reserving judgment on any other speculation till we see if the team rebounds with a bit of rest.
Saaaaaaaame here. I think context matters. With Pitt, I think if we had half less drops, or that last spot was a 1st down, we win.

THIS game, I think was the world's worst timing. Coming off our most physical game, and go on the road to play Philly, who are coming off of a cupcake game, was a tall task. All our offense is really banged up. But even then, still in it. I think if we played a SORRY team this week, we'd have won, even if with a subpar offensive effort -- since the defense came to play.... so, I think the mini bye will allow some healing up and Kliff and Co to really re-evaluate.
 
Something is definitely off with O and JD.
He looks every inch a rookie the last couple of games. Bad decisions, inaccurate throws.... Makes me wander if he has another inj they are not talking about or if teams figured out our O. Most likely some combination of that plus just playing very good Ds over the last 2 wks tells us that we are far short on O difference makers to compete with top NFL Ds.
Positive takeaways.. Def is getting better every game. Sainristil is looking solid on the outside and coaches should leave him there to pair with Latimore.
I feel lucky that JD5 survived last night. He got hit damn hard in the 1st quarter by #98 and of course took many other hits including that disasterous 4th down getting pummeled out of bounds. That QB draw was a disaster.

I cannot recall EVER seeing a team not attempt a hail mary at the 50 yard line at the end of the first half. A huge tell something is not right with Kliffs play calling or our beloved QB.
 
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