Ashburn, Va. – Until the Washington Redskins can return the whupping they received at the hands of NFC-East-Division-rival Philadelphia Eagles in 2013, any game against this team is going to be must-win. In the first Monday Night Football game of the 2013 season, the Eagles surprised the NFL world with then-brand-new head coach Chip Kelly’s high-octane offense when they came to town and beat Washington 33-27 (the score was not indicative of how badly they beat the Redskins). The second time the two teams met up last year, Philly beat Washington up at Lincoln Financial Field 24-16 and snapped a 413-day-at-home-losing-streak (since they defeated the New York Giants in in September of 2012).
So far this week, a lot of the focus has been on finding a way to contain the Eagles offensive weapons. But Philadelphia’s defense is tied for tenth in the NFL and it has some major play-makers on the roster (they rank 20th in the run and 11th in the pass). Let it be said here and now that finding a way to move the chains this Sunday against the Eagles’ could be as much of a challenge to quarterback Kirk Cousins and Co. as finding a way to stop their up-tempo offense.
In 2013, Philly brought in a new defensive coordinator, Bill Davis. Even with the switch from the 4-3 to the 3-4 scheme, the defense ended the year tied for third best by holding their opponents to 21 points or less in 12 games and taking the ball away from opponents 31 times. Davis is a defensive guru, having worked with coaches the likes of Dom Capers, Bill Cowher, Dick LeBeau, Mike Nolan, Wade Phillips and Marvin Lewis in his 21-year coaching career. That was time well spent because the Eagles’ defense is pretty good.
With nose tackle Bennie Logan (6’2”, 315 lbs.) fighting to keep rookie Beau Allen (6’2”, 333 lbs.) from taking his job, he is a motivated player. Even when the Indianapolis Colts’ offense made a point of playing a ball-control game last week, there were times when Logan held Colts’ running back Ahmad Bradshaw to one-yard runs; manhandling the right guard when Bradshaw tried to run through his gaps.
The Redskins are going to have to work hard to keep (the very large) defensive lineman, Fletcher Cox* (6’4”, 300 lbs.), out of their backfield. Last week against the Colts, he spent a lot of time back there and once, caused running back Trent Richardson to fumble the ball after Cox had gotten around the lead blocker on the play (FB/TE Jack Doyle). After Eagles’ linebacker Trent Cole sacked the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Chad Henne and stripped the ball the week before, Cox recovered it and ran it into the end zone for a score.
Speaking of Trent Cole (6’3”, 270 lbs.), this is a man the Redskins’ offense is really going to have to keep in their sights every time they are on the field. Having to deal with the Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt was a good test for the Redskin offensive line because Cole will put enormous pressure on them. A two-time Pro Bowler, he ranks second on the Eagles’ all-time list in sacks (79), just behind Hall of Famer Reggie White. He has 19 career multi-sack games and can stop the run just as well as he can rush the passer. An avid hunter, it is said that Cole tracks down quarterbacks with as much skill and determination as he takes to the woods. A few past and current Redskins quarterbacks (Robert Griffin, III, Rex Grossman, Jason Campbell) have been victims of the linebacker’s sacks… it’s going to be tough to keep Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins from getting added to that list this Sunday.
Linebacker DeMeco Ryans (6’1”, 247 lbs.), another Pro Bowler, led the Eagles in tackles in 2012 and 2013. It was this nine-year vet that got hold of a fumble that Cox caused last week to set up Eagles’ running back Darren Sproles’ 19-yard rushing touchdown. Originally drafted in the second round by the Houston Texans, Ryan gave Colts’ quarterback Andrew Luck fits last week. He was never sacked but Ryans was one of the guys who made Luck have to hurry through throws without planting his feet or getting the best look. He also spent some time in the backfield in that game; stuffing Trent Richardson for a one-yard loss during Philadelphia’s second half come-back to win that game.
Third-year defensive end Cedric Thornton (6’4”, 309 lbs.) led the Eagles’ defensive line with 78 tackles (five for a loss) in 2013 in his first year as a starter. His head coach praises the fact that he seems to always be around the ball whether the play is a run or pass.
“He is a real technician and has really bought into what we are doing as he continues to develop and is very tenacious,” Kelly said about this defensive player. “On a consistent basis, Cedric has done a really nice job for us up front.”
The Eagles’ starting defensive backfield is made up of safeties Malcolm Jenkins* (6’0, 204 lbs.) and Nate Allen (6’1”, 210 lbs.); and cornerbacks Bradley Fletcher (6’0”, 200 lbs.) and Cary Williams* (6’1”, 190 lbs.).
Jenkins had a key interception last week against the Colts that set up the Eagles’ tying touchdown and almost had another earlier in the game. He continues to have to work on his fundamentals discipline however, biting on play action and screens at times. But he is a bit of a hybrid safety and tight end Niles Paul will need to keep an eye out for him as much as any of the Redskins receivers. The six-year man is becoming a leader in the locker room and was the defensive captain for the New Orleans Saints in 2012 and 2013.
Nate Allen sacked Jaguars’ Henne in Week One and caused him to fumble the ball out of bounds. An intelligent and athletic safety, Allen “emerged as a physical and steadying force in the Eagles secondary in 2013.” While he doesn’t put up highlight reel numbers and isn’t a big hitter, the strong safety feels good about his new defensive coordinator’s scheme and is playing pretty well.
The cornerbacks Fletcher and Williams are both veterans that came to the Eagles last season after starting their careers with other teams. Fletcher is a physical corner who started 13 games for the Eagles in 2013 with two interceptions. Williams is also very physical, starting for the 2012 Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl team. He knows what it takes to win. Last season — his first with the Eagles — he had three interceptions and deflected 15 passes.
The Eagles are 2-0 so far in 2014 and feel like they’re on a roll. Kelly is happy with how his defense is playing under Bill Davis.
“I’ve been pleased with our defense,” Kelly said during a conference call with the media yesterday. “I thought in the first two weeks they’ve really improved. I’m excited about the direction that they’re heading. But we’ve got another huge challenge again this week because of the balance that the Redskins have — one of the top [running] backs with Alfred Morris and then what [quarterback] Kirk [Cousins] did when he got in there, throwing the ball; and the talent they have with [Pierre] Garçon and the rest of those receivers. When you play balanced football teams, you just can’t gang up on one aspect where they throw it every down and now we can just play really, really good pass defense or they run it every down and we’ve got to play really good run defense. When you play teams that are balanced, I think that’s the big challenge and I think that’s what our defense has. That’s the big issue for us going into this game.”
Before the season began, the first notion would have been that there was no way that the Redskins could beat the Eagles. It will be a tough match up, no doubt. But Washington has a lot of offensive weapons that will challenge Philadelphia’s defense and a former receiver from its roster in DeSean Jackson — who will, of course, tell his bosses everything he knows about his former teammates’ tendencies and the scheme, etc.
Three-receiver offensive sets with the wide outs that the Redskins’ have on the roster (Garçon, Jackson and Andre Roberts for instance) would be hard for any defense to cover as long as Cousins is getting the protection he needs. If Washington can stay balanced with a good dose of the run being a major footprint of the scheme; and if the Redskins’ number one defense can keep up with the Eagles’ number-one-high-octane-read-option offense, fly to the ball and gang-tackle the way they have been doing, there is every possibility that Washington will, at least, stay in this game. It’s hard to conceive of the Redskins actually beating Philadelphia but, honestly… one never knows in the NFL, right?
Hail.
*Note: Cary Williams was limited in practice today per Wednesday’s Injury Report. Fletcher Cox and Malcolm Jenkins participated fully.