Washington Football Team Vs. Philadelphia Eagles – Studs and Duds

Playoff? PLAYOFFS???

Looks like that ship has sailed – and in all honesty, we are really not a playoff team. Forget about the COVID ward we had set up outside of Ashburn during the past week, or the carrousel that has been our offensive line…this team will not achieve sustained success until we get “That Guy” under center (and maybe that wouldn’t have even mattered last night anyways – because “That Guy” could have wound up with COVID too).

Tuesday’s game against the Eagles was a disaster before it even started. The drama during the week leading up to this game was an obstacle even the great Bill Belichick wouldn’t have been able to overcome. We were out-manned and over-matched – and to expect anything other than yesterday’s results would have been a fantasy.

Below are my Studs and Duds of the game, followed by some notes.

Studs:

Montez Sweat – Sweat returned from a fractured jaw and COVID this week, and made his presence felt early on. He had three total tackles, a sack and forced a fumble on Jalen Hurts that Landon Collins recovered.

Landon Collins – Collins had the benefit of being in the right place at the right time Tuesday night. He had an interception (that bounced off the heel of Goedert right into his hands), and a fumble recovery that Montez Sweat forced on a sack of Hurts that he returned for a nice gain. He had six tackles (four solo), on the evening.

Jonathan Allen – The captain collected seven tackles (five solo), a sack (he now has eight and a half), a stuff and multiple pressures on the evening.

Tress Way – Way punted five times, averaging 48 yards per boot, with a long of 60.

Duds:

The Offensive Line – This patchwork unit was abused by the Eagles front, allowing pressures on almost every drop-back by Gilbert, and not being able to generate much push at all in the run game. Sam Cosmi looked VERY rusty in his return, and Saahdiq Charles and Keith Ismael were human turnstiles most of the game.

The Linebacking Corps – The group, led by Cole Holcomb and Jamin Davis, was getting pushed around all evening. When you look at the box score, you’ll see 10 total tackles for each player, but that doesn’t come close to telling the story. This defensive line was getting creased all evening, and the linebackers were making tackles sometimes 10 yards downfield! And forget about trying to cover a tight end…

Dyami Brown – At this point, why is he even on the field? He’s done SQUAT. Let Cam Sims or Dax Milne see more time. Maybe 2022 will be better for the speedster.

Notes:

– Gilbert, given the circumstances, played pretty well. He took a few downfield shots, but generally used his checkdowns and outlets well. You can’t expect much more from a guy who was signed on Friday of the previous week.

– Terry McLaurin was targeted just four times on the evening, hauling in two of them for 51 yards, but the Eagles game-planned against him, so he wasn’t getting much single coverage.

– Antonio Gibson never got it going on the ground, gaining just 26 yards on 15 carries, but he did find his way into the endzone early in the game by going up and over the line from one yard out. He chipped in six receptions for 39 yards. Also to note, he didn’t fumble!

– Humphries dropped a touchdown that Gilbert threw to him early in the game. The ball literally hit him right in the chest!

– Jeremy Reaves saw his first extensive action of the season, and his performance was really a mixed bag. He led the team in tackles with 12 (nine solo), but was abused a few times in coverage and gave up a touchdown to Ward (in which his coverage was actually pretty good).