The 2014 Eagles season is a nice reminder how quickly the NFL pendulum can swing. Walking off the field on Thanksgiving after embarrassing the Cowboys in Dallas on national TV, Philly looked locked for the postseason. Three weeks later they’re clinging to a thread of hope after a mistake-filled effort in a 27-24 loss to the Redskins.
The final few minutes of their Saturday night game are a nice microcosm for that theory too. Philly was driving down the field with Zach Ertz walking around with a feedbag attached to his face, gobbling up targets like he was at a Golden Corral buffet. It really was some Madden-level stuff; Washington refused to defend him and Mark Sanchez/Chip Kelly were not going away from him. Then Sanchez did something all too Sanchezian.
That pick wasn’t some pathetic back-breaker of a turnover (i.e. he didn’t run face-first into someone’s butt and cough the ball up) but this was a really bad time for an interception. Add in Sanchez’ fumble and he’s got 13 turnovers since Week 9, the most in the NFL.
Turnovers have long been part of Sanchez’ modus operandi so nothing new here. But it flipped the script on an otherwise pretty outstanding game for the former first-round pick. He went from posting a career-high total for yardage in a game (374) and developing a serious rapport with Ertz to suddenly coughing up the game up.
It’s part of why Nick Foles returning was never really out of play if he got healthy (and part of why people will trade for Jay Cutler; Sanchez is likely the top free-agent quarterback this offseason). Kelly’s offense can make an average quarterback look like star. At times Sanchez has looked really good.
The last three weeks, though, he’s been decidedly average. It’s correlated with the Eagles record (0-3) and it’s probably going to mean Philly misses the postseason.
2. Season Ender?
Brutal loss for the Eagles. You can’t lose that game. Good for the Skins for coming out with passion in what was looking like a lost season. But Philly knew the stakes and couldn’t come through when it mattered.
The Lions clinch a playoff spot meaning the Cardinals and Lions are the first two teams locked for the NFC in what has to be ever.
The Cowboys (home against the Colts), Seahawks (at the Cardinals) and Packers (at the Buccaneers) can wrap up Philly’s season on Sunday, as each of the NFC contenders now faces a win-and-you’re-in scenario this week. All three teams are favored and while the football gods often like to give us Tony Romo, Jason Garrett and a butt-puckering Week 17 scenario, it’s entirely plausible the Eagles are eliminated by the time they wake up on Monday morning.
An absolute whirlwind three weeks that likely saw them spiral out of the postseason.
3. Let ‘Em Score
Chip Kelly’s a smart, cutting-edge type guy. He embraces aggressive coaching techniques, but failed to do so on Saturday. After Sanchez’ interception, the Redskins got the ball back with 1:31 left. After a 23-yard completion and a brutal roughing the passer penalty on Vinny Curry, the Redskins were set up extremely close to the goal line.
After a Connor Barwin offsides penalty the next play was followed up by a 7-yard run for Alfred Morris, they were even closer. Like ‘let ‘em score’ close: Washington had a 1st and 8 on the 8-yard line with 1:09 left and Kelly elected to actually play defense even though he was down a timeout. The Redskins predictably ran the ball three times, melted the clock and kicked a field goal.
Philly got one more attempt at a Hail Mary but only because Washington literally screwed [up] the pooch. As Cam Newton always notes, hindsight is 50/50, but it was pretty clear at the time Kelly should’ve let the Redskins score and gotten a shot to use his offense to keep hope alive.
4. The Deep Ball
No one’s ever doubted Robert Griffin III’s ability to throw a deep ball. (And if they did, they weren’t watching his game.) One throw on Saturday stood out in particular for looking like a vintage RG3 throw. For whatever reason the Eagles put Bradley Fletcher on an island against DeSean Jackson. Griffin wisely recognized it and put the ball up deep.
This wasn’t a *perfect* throw — Jackson ended up having to make a really nice adjustment outside on it — but it was pretty darn good by Griffin to push the rock down the field. It looked like he — gasp! — went through some progressions too.
Added bonus: it set up the next play, a beautiful, one-cut, 28-yard touchdown run by Alfred Morris.
For whatever reason the Eagles decided to leave Fletcher on Jackson later in the game too. The Redskins wisely took advantage.
P.S. Not to be a jerk here but the throws weren’t perfect, especially the second one. Horrible coverage and nice adjustments by Jackson.
5. Big Swings
Huge break by the Redskins on the opening series of the second half. Andre Roberts fumbled away the opening kickoff, leading many to believe it might be goodnight, Irene for Washington with a quick Eagles score. Instead the Redskins defense buckled down and kept Philly out of the red zone.
One shocking, short (34 yards) Cody Parkey missed field goal later and Washington’s defense somehow managed to get off the field without any damage being done.
It was just Parkey’s third miss of the entire season (second in the 30-39 yard range) and a massive break for the Redskins.
Parkey missed another kick too, meaning the Redskins winning by 3 is kind of a big deal, huh?
6. Reliable Like a Mazda
Watching Alfred Morris score on the above 28-yard touchdown, it occurred to me … will he get paid? Morris might be the nicest guy in all of football; he’s a quiet, humble kid who came out of nowhere to succeed. It’s impossible to imagine him making any noise about a contract situation. But he’s been really good for the Redskins, the only truly consistent guy on the roster over the past three years.
He makes a measly $660,000 next season and only got $2.23 million on his rookie contract. A free agent in 2016, Morris isn’t a perfect back because he’s mostly one-dimensional in terms of running versus receiving. And he’s a better fit for a particular scheme perhaps. But the dude just churns out 1,000-yard seasons.
7. Ertz So Good
All year long we waited for the Zach Ertz breakout game. It finally happened but it doesn’t help anyone who owned him in fantasy (the sub head was actually my team name this year, sigh) unless you were stubborn enough to hold onto him into the finals.
If you did that you’re quite happy.
It was comical how the Eagles were feeding him at one point and totally getting away with it. It wasn't until they finally stopped going at him that the Redskins picked the ball off and won.
8. "Bye Bye"
DeSean Jackson extracted a significant chunk of revenge on his old team Saturday night. For the year he's got 9 catches, 243 yards and a score. You gotta think he considers this 4-win season a success.
9. Redskins Moving Forward
This win hurts Washington's draft position but it's a pretty huge win in terms of giving them a boost of confidence moving forward. And it's going to make things REAL interesting when it comes to the quarterback position.
RG3 looked substantially better than he has over the course of the season on Saturday night but let's be real here: he's still got a long way to go.
He missed the deep throws that he "hit" to Jackson and he largely struggled to manage the game perfectly. He also doesn't have the same burst he's had earlier in his career; he couldn't evade defenders at any point.
And goodness gracious, please learn how to slide RG3. But at least there's hope of a future for Griffin and Gruden in D.C.