Redskins Recap: Offense struggles, lacks the look of a contender

The Redskins fell 30-17 at home against the Eagles. The score reflects how they played. The team has a lot of work to do next week.

The Eagles were clearly the better team on Sunday. That was very much apparent. And while the Redskins made attempts to fool fans, their true colors showed in the end. Where do we start?

The Redskins offense was entirely one-dimensional against the Eagles. Kirk Cousins led the team with 30 rushing yards. That tells you all you need to know. The passing game obviously struggled from the lack of versatility. The Eagles’ defense had their way with the burgundy and gold for most of the game.

The Redskins rallied in the second quarter after a slow start, and for a minute, they had the lead on the Eagles. But that would never last. The Eagles manhandled the Redskins offense throughout the second half. On offense, Kirk Cousins was troubling in his ineptitude, and he capped off a disappointing debut with an ugly red zone interception and two lost fumbles in the pocket.

The offensive line, often the saving grace of this sorry team, was far from that on Sunday. Morgan Moses, in particular, got beat time and time again on the edge. Recently signed to a multi-year extension, Moses needs to pick it up next week, or the Redskins will feel stuck to a subpar player, just like Lauvao, who also surrendered a sack.

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The defense, contrary to last year, was the unit that kept the Redskins in the game. In particular, Ryan Kerrigan, Josh Norman, and Bashaud Breeland all had impressive games, while Kendall Fuller and Zach Brown joined them on the winners’ stat sheet. However, while the Redskins often got pressure, they rarely came away with sacks, and in several instances, their inability to bring down Carson Wentz resulted in big plays.

Overall, sloppy play and sluggishness on offense made the Redskins lose this game. And these issues were pervasive in preseason. For the Redskins, hopefully this serves as a wake-up call. They just lost by double digits to a division rival against whom they’d won five of their last six games. While the score may be deceiving, as the Redskins were in the game until the final minutes, the Redskins were clearly the lesser team. They have a lot of work to do.

It wasn’t all bad. Chris Thompson had a monster touchdown. And Ryan Kerrigan had a day to remember. But the team consistently gained too little, and the Eagles were the obvious winners through all four quarters.

In the coming weeks, look for Cousins to continue to work on his chemistry with his receivers. But while chemistry may have been a factor today, Cousins himself was off. There’s no other way to describe it. He doesn’t look like a signal caller worthy of $24 million, or even $20 million a year. He has fifteen games to change that. And the Redskins have time to rebound. But to lose this badly at home, in the first game of the season, is embarrassing. This is a game that will hurt them down the road.

Next: Redskins Halftime Takeaways: Team rallies late, down by 2

The Redskins play the Los Angeles Rams next week in California. Improvement is a must before that matchup.

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