Redskins Recap: Injuries pile up in loss to the Eagles

The Washington Redskins were unable to emerge victorious in a Monday night game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Their defense failed them after the first quarter and injuries decimated their team.

The Washington Redskins had a chance to beat the Eagles. Or so it seemed in the first quarter. After putting a lot of heat on Carson Wentz in the first half, the team was unable to keep pace on defense with the Eagles. The young quarterback was able to pick apart the Redskins defense in the second half, and the Eagles pulled away from Washington. The Eagles emerged victorious 34-24.

By the end of the game, it was very clear that the Redskins had very little chance to compete. The team’s offensive line was in shambles. Both Morgan Moses and Trent Williams were not 100 percent, and Brandon Scherff left the game with a knee injury. The offensive line and protection were poor as a result, and Kirk Cousins was under pressure for most of the second half. That prevented him from moving the ball as he had in the first half, and the offense became virtually non-existent.

Part of the problem was the team couldn’t establish a run game. The Eagles once again were able to shut out Rob Kelley and Chris Thompson, and the team only totaled 75 yards on the day. It hurt the team as they looked to established a balanced offense.

More from Riggo's Rag

Of course, it didn’t help that the Redskins receivers didn’t perform well. Terrelle Pryor barely saw the field and he suffered yet another bad drop. His only meaningful production came in garbage time. Josh Doctson had a decent performance, but he still didn’t do well enough to exploit the shoddy Eagles secondary.

The Redskins were too often tasked with converting third and longs in the second half and had to resort to using screen plays a lot to move the ball. The pass catchers need to step up if they want to win at any point in the future.

On defense, the Washington secondary was banged up and the Eagles found a way to beat them with their receiving matchups. The pass rush wasn’t as effective in the second half because Wentz used his mobility to escape sacks, and also Doug Pederson adjusted to add quicker throws to the game plan.

The one bright spot for the game was that the Redskins did perform well in pass rushing situations. Despite missing Jonathan Allen, the team was still able to get pressure on the quarterback thanks to Ryan Kerrigan and Matt Ioannidis. Hopefully that will carry over to future games.

Next: Kirk Cousins succeeding despite being set up to regress

Overall, the Redskins need to improve from this performance. After a promising start, they completely floundered and lost control of the game. They need to get healthy, and getting Josh Norman back will help. The team desperately needs Ty Nsekhe back too so Williams and Moses can get some rest. The Redskins need to learn from this contest and gear up for what is now a crucial Week 8 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys.

Home/Commanders News