LESEAN MCCOY RUNS FOR 184 YARDS AS EAGLES BUILD 33-7 THIRD QUARTER LEAD
The Washington Redskins were completely overwhelmed by the Philadelphia Eagles new fast-break, zone-read offense in the first half, as they fell behind by as much as 26 points before finding some semblance of offense themselves to cut the gap to a respectable six points in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for those of the capacity crowd that stuck around that long, that’s where the comeback ended as the Eagles wrested a 33-27 victory from their division rivals on both team’s opening night of the 2013 season.
In Robert Griffin III’s return from major knee surgery, the playmaker showed plenty of rust from missing the entire preseason, but eventually found some rhythm in the second half of the game to inspire thoughts of better days ahead for this Redskins team.
“We couldn’t get a lot going offensively,” head coach Mike Shanahan said after the game. “Anytime you have three first downs in the half, you are putting your defense out there quite a bit. I thought defensively we put them in a heck of a jam. We did have a couple of missed assignments and missed tackles. But at the end of the day, it’s over and we have to get ready [for Green Bay] in a short week.”
Except for one spectacular freak play, the first quarter could not have gone any worse of the Washington Redskins.
Upon taking the opening kickoff, the Eagles – led by quarterback Michael Vick and running back LeSean McCoy — walked down the field without opposition, employing new head coach Chip Kelly’s no huddle, zone-read offense. They marched 70 yards on 11 plays until Vick tried to throw a swing pass to McCoy in the right flank. Vick’s pass was a lateral, and it turned into a loose ball when Ryan Kerrigan (sack, seven tackles) got a paw up in the air and batted the ball down.
Everyone on the field stopped, except DeAngelo Hall, who scooped up the bouncing ball and trotted 75 yards to the end zone of an apparent touchdown. After official review, the play stood and the Skins held a 7-0 lead without the offense stepping on the field.
That was the Skins lone first half highlight.
The Eagles drove 51 yards on ten plays with the ensuing kickoff and settled for a field goal. Then, on the first play following a touchback on the kickoff, Alfred Morris fumbled giving the Eagles a short field. On their second play, Vick found wideout DeSean Jackson alone in the back of the end zone to make it 10-7.
On the following drive, Griffin tried to force a pass into heavy coverage and was intercepted by Brandon Boykin. The Skins defense forced a punt and Washington took over on their own five yard line after rookie returned Chris Thompson executed a fair catch deep in his own territory. Griffin threw an incomplete pass on first down, then attempted a pitch-sweep to Morris. The pitch was too far forward for Morris to handle cleanly, and the only option was for the back to fall on it for a safety, making it 12-7 Eagles.
Vick led the Eagles on two more touchdown drives in the opening half, while the Redskins offense sputtered behind an obviously rusty Griffin and overly concerned Morris.
The Skins first possession in the second half resulted in Griffin’s second pick of the night, as Cory Williams made a spectacular play, cutting in front of Pierre Garcon to make a diving catch to end Washington’s possession at their own 30. Two plays later, McCoy bolted up the middle and through the Skins defense for 34 yards to make it 33-7.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the blow out. The Eagles took their foot off the gas a little. The Redskins finally started to find their timing. And the defense stood up to the Eagles a bit. Late in the quarter, the Skins forced a punt, assisted by Eagles tight end Brent Celek’s personal foul penalty. On the ensuing drive, they marched 66 yards in 10 plays, resulting in Morris’ five yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 33-14 to end the quarter.
On the next Eagles possession, veteran defensive back Josh Wilson forced a fumble from Eagles wide receiver Jason Avant, and Griffin needed three complete passes, the last to Leonard Hankerson for 10 yards, to clip another seven points off the deficit. The Skins next possession ended in a turnover on downs, but they still weren’t done. With 3:42 remaining, Griffin led the Redskins on a 10-play, 89-yard drive, culminating with Hankerson’s second touchdown of the night.
Unfortunately, Washington could not recover the onside kick, and the comeback ended at 33-27.