Eagles vs Redskins: Philadelphia Grades, Notes & Quotes
The Philadelphia Eagles failed to complete a second-half comeback as the Washington Redskins scored late to win 23-20 at FedExField on Sunday.
The Redskins took over trailing four points with just over six minutes remaining in the game. Needing a touchdown, Kirk Cousins led his team on a 90-yard scoring drive that took 15 plays and over five minutes. Washington took the lead with under 30 seconds remaining on a four-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon.
Cousins managed the game well and finished 31-of-46 for 290 yards with both a passing and rushing touchdown. The former Michigan State quarterback also finished the game without a turnover.
The Eagles started the game slow yet again and now fall to to 1-3 on the season. Philadelphia failed to move the ball on offense in the first half. Once again, the defense kept the Eagles in the game with their bend-but-don't-break defense, as they went into half trailing by 13 points.
The Washington Redskins drove down the field moving the ball 78 yards on 13 plays, but they could not get into the end zone. Philadelphia's defense stopped Matt Jones on third down to force Washington to settle for a field goal.
The worst part of the first drive for Philadelphia was the loss of two starters due to injury. Mychal Kendricks' hamstring flared up again and Byron Maxwell left with a quad injury. Neither player returned in the game.
Maxwell's injury thrust Eric Rowe into the game as a replacement. Rowe filled in on the outside of the defense, and the Redskins quickly worked on him. In the second quarter, Rowe grabbed the arm of the receiver on a deep pass and the referees flagged the second-round pick on a pass interference call. With the ball on the 1-yard line following the penalty, Cousins kept the ball after a fumbled snap and got into the end zone for a touchdown. This was the first rushing touchdown the Eagles surrendered so far this season.
Philadelphia went into the half trailing by 13 points after Caleb Sturgis missed a 33-yard field goal as the clock ran out at the end of the first half.
Similar to Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia came out of halftime looking like a completely different team. Sam Bradford got the offense rolling with a 62-yard touchdown pass to Riley Cooper.
The defense forced a three-and-out on the very next drive to get the ball back to Philadlephia's offense. Bradford gained confidence and took more chances down field. He avoided a sack in the red zone and delivered a pass to Brent Celek for a touchdown to tie the game at 13-13.
Philadelphia's defense continued to fight and limited the Redskins to just a field goal in the third quarter.
Trailing by three points, Philadelphia's defense came up with a big play to give the offense a short field. Brandon Graham stripped tight end Jordan Reed, and Jordan Hicks recovered the fumble. On the ensuing possession, Bradford hit Miles Austin in stride for a 39-yard touchdown pass to give the Eagles a four-point lead.
Despite the lead, Philadelphia could not run the ball effectively on its next drive. Due to their inability to run the clock down, the Redskins and Cousins got the ball with plenty of time to mount their winning touchdown drive.
Position Grades for Philadelphia
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| Position | Grade |
| QB | B+ |
| RB | C+ |
| WR/TE | B- |
| OL | C- |
| DL | B |
| LB | A- |
| DB | C+ |
| Special Teams | C- |
| Coaching | C- |
Quarterback
Sam Bradford looked like an entirely different player in the second half as he threw the ball with confidence down the field. The quarterback finished the game 15-for-28 with 270 yards and three touchdowns.
Bradford looked confident in the second half as he picked apart Washington's injured secondary. However, he had yet another poor first half with three punts and a missed field goal. The offense needs to start the game strong rather than digging themselves such a large hole.
Running Backs
Philadelphia's running game continues to be inconsistent as it finished with only 18 carries for 87 yards. Last week, the ground attack carried the team to victory over the New York Jets, and this week the Eagles could barely get anything going on the ground.
DeMarco Murray returned to the field after missing a week with a hamstring injury. The prized offseason signing rattled off a 30-yard run but managed only 36 yards on eight carries for the whole game. Philadelphia needs more production out of its running backs in order to maintain offensive balance.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
This is the first week this season that a receiver not named Jordan Matthews had an impact on the game for the Eagles. This week, Bradford completed passes to seven different players, and four receivers finished with 50 yards or more.
Riley Cooper jump started the offense by hauling in a 62-yard touchdown pass at the start of the second half. Miles Austin and Brent Celek also got on the board with their first touchdowns of the season. Zach Ertz also caught a touchdown pass in the first half, but it was called back as Nelson Agholor lined up illegally.
Despite a strong performance, the wide receivers failed to bring in some catches that were behind them or when they got hit. The receivers need to help out their quarterback, especially in key third-down situations.
Offensive Line
The offensive line continues to be a problem for the Philadelphia Eagles. The line failed to get a push all day to help establish holes for the running attack. The offensive line played inconsistently at best this week.
Washington hit Bradford eight times on Sunday and sacked him five times. Lane Johnson gave up two consecutive sacks on the last drive when the team trailed by three and needed to get into field-goal range.
Defensive Line
The defensive line and linebackers worked in unison to slow down one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL. Washington gained 127 yards on 32 carries, but 45 of those yards came on a third-down carry on the first drive of the game.
The defensive line was without Cedric Thornton for the second week in a row, and both Beau Allen and Fletcher Cox missed parts of the game due to injury. As a whole, players stepped up and filled their gaps on running plays all game.
Linebackers
Mychal Kendricks started the game for the Eagles but left the field on the very first drive of the game after aggravating his hamstring injury. In his place, Jordan Hicks continued to shine alongside DeMeco Ryans.
In the second half, the linebackers forced the only turnover of the game by either team. Brandon Graham stripped Jordan Reed on his way to the ground, and Hicks continued to be a ball magnet as he recovered the fumble.
Defensive Backs
Byron Maxwell's quad injury left the Eagles thin at the cornerback position, and Eric Rowe left a lot to be desired as his replacement. Rowe committed a pass interference penalty in the first half that led to a touchdown. Rowe was also flagged for unnecessary roughness in the second half for riding a player out of bounds.
The secondary did a good job of limiting the big plays with quality tackling. Malcolm Jenkins and E.J. Biggers continually met receivers at the point of the catch with hard hits.
Special Teams
In his first game with the Eagles, Caleb Sturgis missed both a 33-yard field goal and an extra point. In a game that Philadelphia lost by three points, the four points that Sturgis failed to contribute meant a lot.
Donnie Jones helped Philadelphia in the field position battle as he pinned the Redskins inside their own 20-yard line twice on Sunday.
Coaching
Philadelphia's coaching staff needs to find a way to get the offense in a rhythm early. The first half consisted of three punts and a missed field goal for the Eagles. After Agholor caught a 45-yard pass and Philadelphia had a chance to gain some momentum, Kelly went with a trick play on the very next step. Agholor fumbled the exchange from Ryan Mathews and Washington recovered the ball.
Falling behind early in the game forced Kelly to abandon the running game. Philadelphia only ran the ball 18 times on the day and could not sustain a drive late in the game to run the clock down.
Important Note No. 1: Offensive Line Depth
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Injuries continue to pile up for a struggling offensive line that already lacks depth. Andrew Gardner landed on injured reserve this week, and Jason Peters left the game in the first quarter with a right quad injury.
With the holes on the offensive line, Matt Tobin slid over to left tackle to replace Peters and Dennis Kelly stepped into right guard. With the latest injuries, today's offensive line only featured two starters from last year's starting five.
The front line struggled to create holes for the running backs and allowed free rushers into the face of Bradford on several occasions. With all of the changes on the line, the players look disjointed and guys do not know their blocking assignments. Even returning starter Lane Johnson was blown by twice on the final drive resulting in sacks.
The offensive line allowed Bradford to be hit eight times on the day. Washington got through the line and sacked Bradford five times for 37 yards on Sunday.
As the injuries continue to mount, the prospects for the offensive line do not look good for Philadelphia. On top of that, Kelly did not draft an offensive lineman this offseason.
Important Note No. 2: Time of Possession
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Philadelphia's defense gave up a game-winning touchdown on a 15-play, 90-yard drive that took nearly six minutes off the clock. The defense could not make a play and looked a step behind on the drive as their tired legs began to show.
Washington dominated the time of possession on Sunday as Philadelphia's offense was on the field for under 19 minutes and the defense had to work for over 41 minutes. With injuries thinning the personnel rotations, the defense fought hard all game, but the offense did not help them out with time-consuming drives.
Chip Kelly may not care about the time of possession, but his offense is predicated around running as many plays as possible. On Sunday, the Redskins ran 79 plays and the Eagles only got off 51.
As the season progresses, the cumulative workload will only wear down this Philadelphia defense more and more.
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Quote No. 1: Sam Bradford
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"You guys act like we don't want to throw the ball downfield, but I think we saw something we could take advantage of this week," Sam Bradford said, per 97.5 The Fanatic's Tim McManus.
The second half of Sunday's game was the best regular-season performance by Bradford in a Philadelphia Eagles uniform as he connected for three touchdown passes in the second half. A large part of his success came from the passing game not being as predictable.
Philadelphia had not completed a pass of 40 yards or longer coming into Sunday, but that changed after Bradford hit Agholor for a 45-yard gain in the second quarter.
Philadelphia found a weakness in Washington's injury-riddled secondary. Chris Culliver played through a knee injury but could not keep up with Eagles receivers on deep patterns. Philadelphia saw this weakness and exploited it continually as Bradford hit Riley Cooper for a 62-yard touchdown and Miles Austin for a 39-yard score.
Bradford gained confidence from these long completions and looked more comfortable throwing the ball. On the touchdown to Austin, Bradford just let it fly and hit him perfectly in the hands. In the past weeks, Bradford looked like he was trying to aim the ball and was consistently inaccurate.
Washington's struggling secondary may have helped Bradford pull the trigger, but the threat of a deep pass will help keep opposing defenses honest moving forward.
Quote No. 2: DeMarco Murray
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"No, I'm not. I don't think I am," DeMarco Murray said about whether he thought he is getting enough touches, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer's Zach Berman.
DeMarco Murray's career in Philadelphia has gotten off to a rough start, and the running back was inactive for the only win of the season so far.
Murray's frustration is clearly showing, as the running back finished another unproductive day with only 10 touches on eight carries and two receptions. The running back clearly does not think he is being featured enough.
The fewest carries Murray had last year with the Dallas Cowboys was 19, and this year with Philadelphia the most times he has carried the ball in a game is 13. Additionally, Murray led the NFL averaging over 28 touches a game last season.
However, the running back's production this season is not living up to what his resume would project. Murray finished the day with eight rushes for 36 yards. The tailback burst downfield for 30 yards on one carry, but then only six yards total on his other seven attempts.
Despite Murray's mixed success, Philadelphia needs to commit to the running game more. As a whole, Murray, Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles only carried the ball 17 times for 73 yards in the loss to the Redskins. In their only victory of the season, the Eagles ran the ball 38 times for 123 yards and a touchdown against the New York Jets.
Quote No. 3: Kelly on Caleb Sturgis
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"He was fine in practice. There's a difference between a practice and a game," Chip Kelly said about kicker Caleb Sturgis, per Berman.
There will be many players to blame for Philadelphia's loss to the Washington Redskins, but it is hard to look past Caleb Sturgis in his Eagles debut.
In a game decided by three points, Sturgis missed a 33-yard field goal and an extra point. If the former Miami Dolphin would have converted his opportunities, the Eagles hypothetically would have came out on top by one point.
Philadelphia signed its new kicker after the team shut down Cody Parkey for the rest of the season because of tears to his groin. Sturgis found himself on the free-agent market after losing his job to rookie Andrew Franks during Miami's training camp.
Coming into the game, there was not a lot of confidence surrounding the fifth-round draft choice from Florida. Since coming into the league, Sturgis made just 77.5 percent of his field goals, and less than half of his attempts from beyond 50 yards.
With Sturgis' less-than-inspiring track record and disastrous debut, Kelly and the Eagles front office may continue to examine the market for a new kicker.
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