Redskins: Studs and duds from the team’s Week 1 loss to the Eagles

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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins leaves the field following the Redskins lose to the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on September 08, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

Dud: HC Jay Gruden

Though the Redskins offense looked very good in the first half, Jay Gruden still deserves a good chunk of the blame for how this one shook out. After all, his squad did blow a 17-point lead and a golden chance for him to slow down the chatter that is currently surrounding his hot seat.

But it wasn’t just the result of the game. It was about the way that the Redskins lost. They looked so good out of the gate. They held a 20-7 halftime lead. Yet they let that slip away almost immediately and weren’t able to gain any momentum coming out of the halftime locker room.

The Redskins simply failed to adjust to the Eagles adjustments. Sure, they were a bit shorthanded by some injuries to their defensive players (notably Jonathan Allen) but there were ways that they could have at least limited the Eagles offense.

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Even worse than that, the offense barely was able to do anything in the second half. After humming along in the first half, they weren’t able to generate any sort of push until a garbage-time fourth-quarter touchdown. The play-calling was uninspired and the team wasn’t able to spark the run game in any way, shape or form. And even if they couldn’t do that, they could’ve at least tried to work the short passing game to jumpstart some drives.

Alas, that didn’t happen. And that’s part of the reason they lost.

Gruden’s on-field coaching isn’t the only area in which he was lacking on Sunday. The decision to make Adrian Peterson a healthy scratch made little sense for the squad. While Peterson doesn’t do much on special teams, he is a team leader and a great backup runner. Having him available to contribute in the running game certainly would’ve been nice given that the run game had a tough time getting going. But instead, he wore street clothes.

This wasn’t the worst game of Gruden’s Redskins tenure by a long shot. But it certainly isn’t one that he’s going to point to on any future coaching resume that he may need.

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