Week 10 Wrap Up

 

In this Week 10 rivalry match up between the Eagles and the Redskins, both teams felt as though they had something to prove. The Redskins were coming off an emotional and dramatic win against the Cowboys and the Eagles were coming off a bye with a three game losing streak on their shoulders. With lots of rain on the way in Philadelphia, an early start would be crucial for both teams. The Eagles would draw first blood when David Akers connected on a 42 yard FG. After a stalled drive by Washington, the Eagles were backed up to their 15 yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, WR Donte Stallworth made an incredible double move to burn Sean Taylor leaving him wide open for an 85 yard catch and run giving the Eagles a 10-0 lead. The fireworks would not end there as towards the end of the half, the rain picked up. After completing a pass to Reggie Brown, Brown was hit only to see the ball pop right into the hands of Correll Buckhalter, who ran it into the endzone giving the Birds the early start lead they so desperately needed. The Eagles defense was solid the whole game, holding the Redskins to 3 points the whole game. Powerful running back Clinton Portis of the Redskins would leave the game with a broken hand. Despite struggling on offense in the second half, the Eagles added to their lead with a David Akers FG and a 70 yard INT return for a TD by Sheldon Brown. With the Eagles holding a commanding 27-3 lead, the Eagles effectively managed the clock in the final 8 minutes of the game, running the clock down and not even giving the Redskins a chance. It was a rainy, muddy, miserable afternoon in Southeast Pennsylvania, but the Eagles gave their fans something to smile about as they improved to 5-4 and dominated on all cylinders.

 

Post Game Positives

 

Defense

All around today, this Eagles defense was suffocating. Even more impressive was that they did it without registering a sack against the mobile Redskins QB Mark Brunell. They were effective however in rushing him and getting penetration on screen passes. Every player on defense looked solid, even players that The Eagle Report has criticized in past weeks (Dhani Jones, Michael Lewis, etc.). Part of this defensive effort can be attributed to a poor offensive effort by the Redskins, but the Eagles D made key stops when they needed to and get a take away to drive a nail into the coffin when they needed it. The bye week definitely helped this unit and lets hope they can build on this game.

 

Donte Stallworth

In our pre-game, we noted that the Eagles receiver needed to start performing immediately if the Eagles were going to win games in the second half of the year. Stallworth definitely made good on this. Only 4 people caught balls for the Eagles today with Stallworth leading the pack by far with 6 catches for 139 yards and 1 TD. Stallworth made catches when he needed to and put a great move on Sean Taylor to get in the endzone for the longest TD of his career. It was great to see production out of Donte and we hope to see more of this in the future from #18.

 

Clock Management

This is kind of a double edged sword. The Eagles clock management towards the end of the 1^st half is overlooked mainly because the Redskins time management was even worse. That said, the Eagles at the end of this game did a great job at keeping the clock moving. Despite being dominated in the time of possession battle most of the game, the Eagles, in particular Brian Westbrook were able to keep the ball moving and drain the clock to remove any doubt of the Redskins getting a chance to get back on the field. Clock management is often the weakest part of Andy Reid’s coaching, but he did a good job with it today against the Redskins. The Eagles won the T.O.P. battle for the first time all year.

 

Post Game Negatives

 

Penalties

The Eagles were obviously fired up for this one and were anxious to make a statement. That said, they need to make sure they don’t commit dumb penalties, in particular ones that give the other team lots of free yards. The Eagles had an issue with personal fouls today in particular grabbing a facemask in what ultimately resulted as 7 penalties for 65 yards. The Eagles have to cut down on the personal fouls if the Eagles are to win games in the future.

 

Punting

There was some vicious wind today in Philadelphia, but that doesn’t excuse a poor punting effort by Dirk Johnson. Dirk’s game has always been just okay. It’s not bad enough to criticize a lot, but it’s not good enough to make one pleased. That said,  Johnson averaged 37.5 yards on 5 punts throughout the day. Football is a battle of field position and Johnson’s punts have to have more leg on them if the Eagles are to win that battle.

 

Playcalling

 

Towards the end of the 1^st half, some of the playcalling by Andy Reid was atrocious. After being handed a first down on the Redskins’ 2 yard line, the Eagles proved unable to punch the ball into the endzone and had to settle for a FG. Every point does matter and the plays called were questionable to say the least. With the Eagles struggling running the ball in the red zone on 1^st and 2^nd down, Reid called for the run again on 3^rd down only to see Correll Buckhalter get stuffed for a 2 yard loss. The playcalling in that aspect of the game has to improve.

 

Closing Remarks

 

If you are an Eagles fan you have to be happy with how this game turned out. The Eagles dominated in every aspect of the game. Every single member of this team has a lot to be proud of today in particular the players who have struggled and/or been hurt in the first half. This is a big game in that the Eagles were able to win a game they should have won, and improve to 2-1 within the NFC East. Also, it was exciting to see what kind of results Donte Stallworth can give the offense when he is healthy. It was also fun to see Brian Westbrook have a good day on the ground. The Eagles defense missed a few tackles but for the most part did what they had to do to wrestle down some very good Washington Redskins players and get key plays when needed. All in all, a great win on a lousy day for the Birds. The Eagles improve to 5-4 with another home game coming up against Vince Young and the Tennessee Titans. For the Redskins, they drop to 3-6 and are basically eliminated from playoff contention.

 

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