Post Game Analysis – Eagles vs Redskins

After last night’s victory, the Eagles improve their record to 4-2 and prepare for a big battle with the New York Giants on Sunday. It wasn’t the prettiest win, but it wasn’t the Oakland game either. The Eagles showed us some good things but at the same time some not so good things. The Giants are coming off two straight losses and they know they really want to come to Philly and beat us up. With the way we’ve looked in the last two weeks, this is a real possibility. However, I know the Birds will get up for this game because I know everyone realizes the importance. With that said, let’s take a look at some of the positives and negatives of last night’s victory.

Positives:
Will Witherspoon – What a great debut for this guy. An interception for a touchdown and a forced fumble. We all heard this guy could make plays and he proved it right away. Defending him against the run isn’t the best target when you make plays like you did, you tend to overlook it. It wasn’t terrible, but you can tell that the boy’s natural position isn’t in the middle. In general, I am satisfied with the way he played.

DeSean Jackson: We’ve come to expect big plays from this guy and he seems to consistently deliver. The great playing ability of him is just insane. He definitely didn’t expect him to go this far in that regard, but that’s the kind of talent he is. His double move for that second touchdown was also very good.

Defensive Pressure: These guys were getting at Jason Campbell all night and you could tell towards the end when he got knocked down he just didn’t want to get back up. Trent Cole has been a monster all year and had two sacks last night while the defense as a whole had six. Sean McDermott decided to bomb Campbell and it was quite effective. If Campbell didn’t dodge Sean Jones when he popped up the middle, he might not have finished that game. This is exactly the kind of pressure the defense needs to put on Eli Manning next week, because we all know that when he starts to get nervous he makes dumb mistakes.

Negatives:
Offensive Line – For the second week in a row I was disappointed in the line play. Their protection just wasn’t where it should be and they really need to be together as they face a really talented front seven next week.

Donovan McNabb – He hasn’t been looking good lately. He only completed 15 passes last night and it showed us a lot of his tendencies to throw the ball on the ground. I think the guy can play at a very high level, he just isn’t right now. It may have to do with the lack of protection he’s getting, but I feel like even when he has protection, he’s not delivering the ball very well. He has to squeeze it.

Brian Westbrook: He obviously wasn’t trying to get hurt, but the fact that this guy can never seem to stay healthy is extremely frustrating. If it is not one thing, it appears to be another. Westbrook is the type of player the Eagles can’t afford to lose right now, especially with their upcoming schedule.

LeSean McCoy: He was catapulted into a bigger role than expected due to Westbrook’s injury, but he’s not playing at the level he needs to. Once again, he was missing blocking assignments and scared me to death with the way he carried the ball. If he keeps carrying the ball like that, he’s going to flip it. It’s that easy. The coaching staff really needs to emphasize protecting the ball with him before he makes a big mistake.

Michael Vick: Does anyone else feel like this is just a huge waste of time? The guy hasn’t done anything. I know he doesn’t get a lot of chances every game, but when he gets put up, I start to wonder why. Sure it was nice to see him complete a 5-yard pass and a 9-yard run, but it seems like who cares. I hope they have something up their sleeve with this guy and can get him to support the movement again, but at this point it seems silly.

Tight End Coverage: It annoys me that I have to list this every week, but here we are again. Chris Cooley came out on the first series and immediately started catching balls and then had to leave the game due to injury. It seemed like this would be beneficial for the Birds, but sure enough, his replacement, Fred Davis, comes into the game and just keeps up the pace. I don’t even know what to say anymore.

Offensive Production: Do you score on two 50+ yard plays, but other than that, you can only make two field goals against the Washington Redskins? That’s sad. They were terrible on third downs again going just 4-15. They just aren’t running at the level they should. They have so many weapons on this team and they just can’t seem to pull it off.

I feel like I’ve been ranting a lot here, but despite winning the game, the Eagles didn’t put in much of an effort. Not the kind of confidence you’re looking for to take on the team that’s at the top of your division. The Eagles have a short week now and they need to watch a lot of video and figure out how they can execute at a higher level.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *