Washington Redskins: From 0-6 To 2-0 in the NFC East

Good morning Redskins Nation, how does it feel to be atop the NFC East?

I'll answer that: It feels damn good.

With that said, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. There are still 12 games to go, and the team is only 2-2. 

They could easily be 4-0 but were also two plays away from 0-4.

Last week I wrote an article after the loss to St. Louis telling Skins fans that it wasn't the end of the world and that even though the powers that be claim the "future is now" let's not kid ourselves that with a new coaching staff and quarterback, this is still a rebuilding year.

With that said, let's not get too carried away with this win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

The 17-12 win wasn't the prettiest of wins, but once again on national television, this team showed their guts, and in the end, they bent a little but didn't break.

The first quarter started out right.  The 'Skins forced the Eagles to punt on consecutive drives, and put up 14 points in response.

Even though he missed a wide open Fred Davis, Donovan McNabb (returning to Philly for the first time since being traded) looked sharp out there for the first half, and Ryan Torain showed some power running that made him a good compliment to Clinton Portis.

The Redskins defense (which still is a question mark in my mind) looked good against Michael Vick.  For the most part they contained him.  His only big run was sprung because of blatant holding by the Eagles line and was called back.

To add injury to insult, Vick was hurt on the play, with an apparent cracked rib or collar bone.

Now I know a lot of Eagles apologists are going to crow that if Vick doesn't get hurt the Eagles would have won the game.

First off, I don't play "what ifs."  Vick got hurt and we saw the results of the man who McNabb was shipped out in favor of.

Secondly the Redskins had a great game plan for Vick and LaRon Landry was all over him on third downs and when Vick did scramble Landry made sure to put a lick on him.

And third, it looked to me that the Redskins knew that Kevin Kolb couldn't beat them, so instead of risking the big play they went into cruise control.

It would have been nice to see them step on the Eagles' throat but a win is a win, and Kevin Kolb, a.k.a Captain Check-down, wasn't going to rally the clearly-beaten Eagles.

Also a note to all the analysts out there: Please keep saying the Redskins have no weapons. I think teams out there believe you.

Brandon Banks is going to break a few punt returns for touchdowns before the season is over with, and maybe prove to be a receiving threat.

And Anthony Armstrong is getting better each week.  He should have scored a touchdown on that 56-yard pass play on the Redskins' third drive, and if it wasn't for the wind carrying the ball out of bounds in the fourth quarter he would have had another big reception (in or out of bounds, that was a hell of a catch).

His break away speed is going to wreak havoc on secondaries this year.

With all that said, this team has got to learn to finish games.

This was almost another game that the team lead big at the half and almost let get away.

Hopefully Trent Williams can go next week against the Green Bay Packers—Stephon Heyer is terrible.

It seems like he is either missing a key block or commits a penalty at the most inopportune times.

His two holding calls killed two drives, with one probably costing the team a possible touchdown, and his false start on the last drive (3rd-and-2) gave the Eagles offense one last chance.

Seriously, the crowd was completely out of it, with many heading for the exits.  There was no excuse for jumping offsides.

Also, and I may catch some hate for this, but Brian Orakpo has got to get to the quarterback.

LaVar Arington said it on the post-game show: "You don't get elected to the Pro Bowl or Defensive Player of the Year by drawing holding calls."

And LaVar is right.  Holding can be called on almost every play (and a lot of the time it's more noticeable with Orakpo rushing), but the elite rushers in the NFL fight through the holds and get to the quarterback.

I'm not trying to knock Orakpo, the guy is a beast but holding calls, like the one that ended the Dallas game, aren't always going to be called and he needs to get through them.

Also, and I say this every week it seems, but can someone please teach Carlos Rodgers how to catch?

On that last drive, that was a weakly thrown ball that hit him in the the hands like it was intended for him.  Game over right there, but no, once again he dropped one.

Honestly I was prepared for the Skins to lose.  After the Heyer false start that killed the drive, and then the dropped pick it was looking like the team was finding a way to give the game to the Eagles.

However the defense didn't give up a last-ditch touchdown like they didn't against Houston and the Skins sit atop the NFC East as the only team to have a divisional win; two to be exact.

A big test lays ahead of the Skins this Sunday against Green Bay.

However the Redskins have a couple of things in their favor going into this game.

The Packers seem to have almost abandoned the running game.  That means Orakpo and the defensive line can pin their ears back and go after Aaron Rogers. 

However, Aaron Rogers can sling that ball around so the secondary needs to be ready, and just to keep them honest Landry needs to put some good licks on any receiver coming across the middle.

Also, the Shaun Hill-led Lions almost dropped the Packers to 2-2 (much like they almost did against the Vick-led Eagles), so the Skins should be able to put up points against them.

And lastly, the Redskins may have found their running attack with Portis and Torain.  I say may, because the Eagles going into yesterday's game had given up an average of 128 yards per game rushing so that wasn't the best test for the Skins.

So once again Redskin Nation, let's celebrate another big NFC East win, but not get carried away.  We've got two big weeks ahead of us with Green Bay and then Indy, but the team is starting to look like they are finding their identity and if Armstrong and Banks keep making plays the offense might just start putting up 28-42 points a game.

Until next time loyal reader, follow me on Twitter for more Redskins talk (@jomac006) especially on Sundays, and Go Skins.