The Takeaways, Week 15 Edition: Eagles at Redskins
December 17, 2019
by Steve Thomas
The Redskins dropped a tough, hard-fought game against the Eagles on Sunday, thereby allowing the division championship hopes of the City of Hate to fester for one more week, and extending Washington’s losing streak to this awful franchise to six games. I’ve often said on the air that closely covering the Redskins week after week for years like we have for this site has the effect of limiting the high and lows of fandome somewhat, but I can’t lie: this game was a tough one to watch. My burning hatred and contempt for the city and people of Philadelphia causes me to become emotionally invested in the Eagles games in a way that I don’t for some other games. So while this contest made for some quality takeaways, this was a difficult loss. Regardless, let’s get into The Takeaways for week 15.
Dwayne Haskins played his most complete game of the season
We’ve all wondered for several weeks when and if we were going to see a complete game from Haskins, with decent yardage, multiple touchdowns, and few mistakes. Well, folks, this was that week. Haskins passed for 261 yards at a 67.9% completion percentage, with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. This was a major step forward for the young rookie, in a tough divisional game against a quality defense. He looked like a different player in this Eagles game than the tentative, unsure quarterback that we saw back in preseason. Clearly, it won’t be this good every week, but this game represented that Haskins is capable of getting to the level of a high-quality quarterback someday. It wasn’t an elite, Drew Brees-like performance, but it was a legitimately good game. If nothing else, Haskins showed that he just needs experience, time with his receivers, and a relatively clean pocket. If you weren’t encouraged by Dwayne’s performance here, you weren’t paying attention.
The gameplan was exactly what Haskins needed
I advocated from early on in training camp that the 2019 Redskins needed to principally be a running team, but I never meant that Bill Callahan should return the team to 1975. The gameplan for the Eagles was a nice, creative mix of run and pass, and it frequently called for Haskins to get rid of the ball quickly on short 3 step drops, which has been one of his biggest problems this season. The team even called pass plays on first down (gasp!). We also saw the read option, which Haskins and Peterson ran to perfection. This sort of plan – particularly the shorter drops and quick reads – is something that he can build on and use to improve his overall performance. Congratulations, Bill Callahan and/or Kevin O’Connell, on a job well done. The offense didn’t deserve to have the defense pathetically surrender and cost them the game like they did. And this leads me to the next takeaway….
The Redskins secondary needs major overhaul
It’s time to admit that the Redskins secondary mostly stinks and needs a big overhaul. Granted, the injuries were significant, particularly with Quinton Dunbar inactive, but we’ve seen major, inexcusable coverage busts about 500 times too many this season. The Redskins need a new starting outside corner and free safety, at least, and I think the book is still unwritten as to the potential for both Fabian Moreau and Jimmy Moreland. The secondary coach, Ray Horton, doesn’t seem to be getting the most out of this group or coaching the players to the point that they aren’t making idiotic mistakes. The idea of leaving one of the most talented tight ends in the entire league uncovered in the end zone because the players were fooled and confused – again – by a pick play near the goal line is inexcusable. Also, while I didn’t think Montae Nicholson’s hit on Zach Ertz early in the game that resulted in an unnecessary roughing penalty was nearly as bad as the refs and Ertz himself did (#flopper), Nicholson nonetheless has been mediocre at best as a starter. His knuckleheaded tendencies are only worth putting up with if he’s a quality starter, and he just isn’t right now. Overall, this was yet another poor performance by a group which has filled the season with quite a bit of bad film.
The defensive front seven continues to underperform expectations
The Eagles’ rookie running back Miles Sanders was able to average 6.4 yards per carry against the Redskins front seven. Running backs have been having these types of games against the Redskins all year. This group isn’t nearly as good against the run as we expected them to be. Yes, they have a decent number of sacks this year, although not today, but all of those sacks for the most part haven’t resulted slowing down too many offenses. I think this group is overrated and either not as talented as we all thought they were, or suffering from poor coaching, or both (ding ding ding). Way too many opposing running backs, in particular, have had great days this season for me to continue to believe in this bunch too much. Miles Sanders isn’t Barry Sanders, but the Redskins’ defensive line and linebacker corps made him look like it. I’m not saying that the team needs to dump their defensive line, because the group of Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, and Matthew Ioannidis, in particular, are the future, but they need to do better. The inside linebackers are obviously more unsettled on a long-term basis. Regardless, the entire front seven needs a big step up in results.
The core group of rookie wide receivers continues to get better
Steven Sims, Jr., had a tough day in many respects. By my count, he dropped three passes that he should’ve caught and he cost the Redskins a critical first down in a key drive late in the fourth quarter by not just taking the north-south yardage available. Sims is an undrafted free agent rookie, though, and by those standards he’s been a revelation, despite the bad plays today. Kelvin Harmon had a quiet game, but he has all of the talent in the world and will only get better with time. And as far as Terry McLaurin goes, what else needs to be said? The fact that McLaurin is already as good as he is in just his first professional season is downright incredible. The Redskins receiver corps has a bright future together. Now they just need a tight end to go along with them.
That’s it for The Takeaways for this week. The Redskins face the New York Giants in the final home game of the season next Sunday.