‘Skins go halfway before Philly puts them in their place
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By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
PHILADELPHIA – Washington got off to a fast start Sunday in its season opener against Philadelphia. The home team took a while to get in gear, perhaps due to excessive confidence and insufficient motivation against a division foe predicted to dwell in the cellar.
But by afternoon’s end at Lincoln Financial Field, normalcy had returned. Philly resembled a Super Bowl contender and the ‘Skins looked like candidates for the No.1 draft pick. The Eagles put Washington in its place and coasted to a 32-27 victory.
The difference between the first 30 minutes and latter 30 minutes was stark, highlighting the gulf that separates these teams. In a sense, it mirrored last season, when Washington started 6-3 but won just once down the stretch.
The culprits in 2018 were an injury at quarterback and a collapse by the defense. On Sunday, starting QB Case Keenum escaped unscathed but defensive end Jonathan Allen was hurt in the first quarter and didn’t return, while both sides of the ball caved during a second half dominated by Philly.
Of their seven possessions after Allen departed with a sprained left knee, the Eagles scored five times. Making matters worse, backup defensive end Caleb Brantley suffered an ankle injury that ended his day, too, leaving the D-line with just three healthy players.
“They took our bulls off the field,” cornerback Josh Norman said. “When you don’t have that surge up front, (Eagles QB Carson) Wentz is just back their freaking and extending drives.”
For a squad among the league’s most injured in recent seasons, and a medical/training staff facing internal and external criticism, this was a most inauspicious start. But the ‘Skins did themselves no favor with self-inflicted wounds like penalties and blown coverages, pillars of losing that are all too familiar.
No one was imagining a defeat when Washington went up 17-0 early in the second quarter. Keenum was gashing the Eagles defense, finding wide-open receivers or hurdling tight ends. The latter was Vernon Davis. He leaped over a would-be tackler en route to a 48-yard touchdown on the game’s opening possession, then was overcome by emotion and thoughts of his grandfather, who passed away on Saturday.
Keenum’s beauty of a 69-yard bomb to rookie Terry McLaurin, and a pair of Dustin Hopkins field goals gave Washington four scores in its first six possessions. They looked like the Maryland Terrapins for a while but couldn’t sustain it once Philly realized that the regular season was underway.
“The game is 60 minutes,” Philly defensive tackle Fletcher Cox said. “We started kind of flat but got a wake-up call when we were down 17-0.”
The Eagles executed a sleeper hold after intermission. They maintained possession for 21 of the second half’s initial 27 minutes. Washington was limited to 10 snaps while watching its 20-7 lead deteriorate into a 32-20 deficit. Penalties on offensive linemen doomed the Skins’ first three drives of the second half, none of which included a first down.
Truthfully, the end result was pretty as much expected, although Washington’s TD with a half-dozen seconds left allowed it to cover the spread (despite the inability to cover DeSean Jackson). There was plenty of reason for optimism in the ‘Skins’ locker room – typical for 0-1 teams that enjoyed modicums of success – but the ‘Skins have been selling confidence and positivity for a long time without much to show for it.
“I think there’s a lot to like about the offensive performance with Case Keenum and the young receivers,” coach Jay Gruden said. “But defensively, we have too good of personnel to play like that.”
You certainly couldn’t tell by the 436 total yards allowed, 123 on the ground. You couldn’t tell by Wentz’s 72 percent completion rate and 313 passing yards, or Jackson’s eight catches for 154 yards with a pair of long touchdowns.
You could almost hear the Eagles saying, in Dennis Green fashion, “the ‘Skins are who we thought they were!”
But unlike Green’s Arizona Cardinals, who in 2006 blew a winnable game against a superior Chicago Bears team, the Eagles handled their business as anticipated. The final score is as much a mirage as Washington’s early lead turned out to be.
“I think the 17-0 kind of woke us up, and we knew what we had to do,” Philly coach Doug Pederson said. “We had to just kind of stay within our game plan.”
For the ‘Skins, it’s back to the drawing board and they have a tough task ahead. Trading places with elite teams like Philly won’t be easy.
And it can’t be done halfway, either.
— Brooklyn-born and Howard-educated, Deron Snyder writes his award-winning column for The Washington Times on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Follow him on Twitter @DeronSnyder.
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GRUDEN
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SKINS @ EAGLES
WAS 14:54
1-10-20 29 run 5y
2-5-25 8 cmp 87 8y
1-10-33 29 run 3y
2-7-36 8 cmp 29 8y
1-10-44 29 run 1y
2-9-45 8 cmp 7y
3-2-P48 8 cmp 85 TD! 10:54 hurdles 21, breaks 42
7p 80y 4:06
WAS, 7-0
PHI 10:54
1-10-25 11 inc 86
2-10-25 11 cmp 10 11y
1-10-36 26 run 2y
2-8-38 8 run 8y phi 10 unsptmlike conduct v23; 15yp
3-17-29 11 inc 13
4-17-29 punt
WAS 8:43
1-10-20 8 cmp 13 21y
1-10-41 29 run 1y
2-9-42 25 run 1y
3-8-43 8 cmp 10 17y w-open
1-10-P40 25 run 76 10yp holding
1-20-50 8 inc 85 near pick 25
2-20-50 8 cmp 17 13y
3-7-P37 8 cmp 18 14y
1-10-23 29 run 4y
2-6-19 8 inc 10
3-6-19 8 cmp 85 -4y
4-10- 3 fga 41y GOOD! 2:48
11p 57y 5:55
WAS, 10-0
PHI 2:48
1-10-25 43 run 4y
2-6-29 11 cmp 86 5y
3-1-34 11 run 2y w93 injured; left knee questionable
1-10-36 26 run -2y
2-12-34 W52 offsides 5yp
END FIRST QUARTER XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
2-7-39 43 run 4y
3-3-43 11 cmp 10 9y
1-10-48 11 cmp 24 5y
2-5-W43 24 run 6y hurry
1-10-37 24 run 6y hurry
2-4-31 11 cmp 10 -3y
3-7-34 11 cmp 43 -5y
4-2-29 11 inc pass batted W94
WAS 10:49
1-10-29 29 run 1y
2-9-30 8 cmp 17 TD! 9:57 beat DB badly w-open, beautiful ball w/air
2p 70y 0:52
WAS, 17-0
PHI 9:57
1-10-25 11 cmp 26 2y
2-8-27 11 cmp 13 7y
3-1-34 43 run -2y
4-3-32 punt
WAS 8:02
1-10-14 29 run W18 holding half-distance 7y
1-17-7 29 run 5y
2-12-12 11 cmp 29 5y
3-7-17 11 inc 25
4- punt 57y
PHI 5:47
1-10-38 26 run 0y
2-10-38 11 cmp 17 11y
1-10-49 11 inc 13
2-10-49 11 inc b-u W35
3-10-49 11 cmp 10 TD! 4:19 beats W24 deep, catches at goaline
5p 62y 1:28
WAS, 17-7
WAS 4:19
1-10-25 8 inc
2-10-25 25 run 7y
3-3-32 25 run 2y direct snap
4-1-34 punt W10yp holding
4-11-24 punt 57y
PHI 2:27
1-10-18 11 sack 58 0y 2-min warning
2-10-18 11 inc 17 b-u W24
3-10-18 11 cmp 10 6y Wash last timeout
4-5-23 punt 18 48y fair catch
WAS 1:41
1-10-29 8 cmp 10 6y
2-4-35 8 inc
3-4-35 8 cmp 10 6y
1-10-41 8 inc 10
2-10-41 8 cmp 85 6y Philly timeout
3-4-47 8 cmp 17 22y back shoulder
1-10-P31 Wash delay 5yp
1-15-36 8 sack -10y
2-25- 8 cmp
3- Phi offside
3-9-30 3 fga 48y GOOD!
9p 41y 1:41
WAS, 20-7
HALFTIME XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
PHI 15:00
1-10-25 43 run 3y
2-7-28 26 run 2y
3-5-30 43 run 4y
4-1-34 11 run 2y
1-10-36 11 cmp 17 12y
1-10-48 11 cmp 17 5y W23 shaken
2-5-W47 43 run 8y
1-10-39 43 run 17y gaping hole up middle
1-10-22 26 run 19y gaping hole up middle W45 shaken
1-G-3 26 run 0y
2-G-3 26 run -2y
3-G-5 11 cmp 17 TD! 7:50
12p 75y 7:10
WAS, 20-14
WAS 7:50
1-10-25 29 run 0y
2-10-25 W76 false start 5yp
2-15-20 29 run -5y
3-20-15 8 cmp 25 11y
4-9-26 5 punt 43 43y 16y ret
PHI 5:22
1-10-47 11 inc
2-10-47 11 inc 86
3-10-47 11 cmp 10 TD! w-open, busted coverage, caught inside 5
3p 53y 0:15
PHI, 21-20
WAS 5:02
1-10-27 8 inc 17 overthrow, w-open behind defense
2-10-27 8 inc 10 drop
3-10-27 8 inc 85
4-10-27 5 punt 43
PHI 4:36
1-10-29 11 cmp 86 5y
2-5-34 26 run -4y
3-9-30 11 cmp 10 19y
1-10-49 11 cmp 13 4y
2-6-W47 43 run
3-4-43 11 cmp 10 9y
1-10-36 26 run 8y
2-2-28 11 cmp 26y
END OF THIRD QUARTER XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
1-G-2 17 run TD! 14:55 lateral, bounces hoff hit and falls in
9p 71y 4:42
PHI, 29-20, Sproles run 2pt
WAS
1-10
2-16- 8 cmp 25
3-10-21 W72 false start 5yp
3-15-16 8 cmp 85 9y
4-6-25 5 punt 43
PHI 12:05
1-10-22 26 run -5y
2-15-17 11 inc 13
3-15-17 11 cmp 86 16y
1-10-33 11 cmp 88 9y
2-1-42 11 inc 26
3-1-42 11 cmp 86 2y
1-10-44 43 run P72 holding 10yp
1-20-34 24 run 9y
2-11-43 run 17y
1-10-W40 24 run 3y
2-7-37 11 inc
3-7-37 11 cmp 17 16y 11 escape pocket
1-10-21 run 7y holding wipes out TD
1-13-24 11 cmp 88 7y
2-6-17 43 run 5y
3-1-12 11 run 2y
1-G-10 24 run
4- fga 22y GOOD!
19p 74y 8:55
PHI, 32-20
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