Zone Read: Eagles-Washington, the Day After
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GAME BALL OFFENSE: JEREMY MACLIN
This one could have gone to two people: Foles or Maclin. We gave love to Foles in the first section, so Maclin gets the nod. The Eagles wide receiver turned in an eight-catch, 154-yard performance. He had a 27-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, but Maclin’s biggest catch came earlier on the same drive.
With the score tied at 27, the Eagles faced a 3rd-and-8 from the Washington 48. Maclin’s route took him to the sideline, and he did a terrific job of getting his knee down in bounds while making a sliding grab for 17 yards. The play was originally ruled incomplete (I know, you’re shocked), but ended up being overturned.
Two plays later, Maclin caught a strike down the seam from Foles, and the Eagles went up, 34-27.
Earlier in the game, Maclin took a screen 80 yards for a touchdown, but Jason Kelce was called for an illegal block in the back, and it ended up being a 50-yard gain.
Maclin had opportunities for big plays in the first two games, but he and Foles couldn’t get on the same page. That changed Sunday against Washington.
GAME BALL DEFENSE: MALCOLM JENKINS
This was a tough one because the defense was terrible for most of the game as Cousins lit the Eagles up for 427 yards on 30-of-48 passing.
But we’ll give it to Jenkins for another timely interception – his second in a row in the fourth quarter. Washington had the ball at its own 20, down 34-27, with 7:34 left. Cousins was looking for the tight end down the right seam, but Ryans had good coverage.
The throw was off, and Jenkins swooped in for the pick, giving the Eagles’ offense the ball at the Washington 35. They only picked up 2 yards, but Cody Parkey hit a 51-yard field goal to make it a two-possession game.
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THAT’S WHAT HE SAID
“I didn’t realize this rivalry was that intense. I mean, c’mon. We had Michigan-Michigan State, Michigan-Ohio State. Those are supposed to be the biggest rivalries in the country, and it’s not like THAT. No way. That was a brawl. That wasn’t a game. That was a mess.” – DAVID MOLK
The Eagles’ backup center seemed genuinely shocked at what he had just been a part of on the football field.
In an era where players share agents and managers, it was nice to see two teams that appeared to genuinely dislike each other. Let’s do it again on Dec. 20, shall we?
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FIVE THOUGHTS AND LEFTOVERS
1. I will have to go back and count targets, but Washington was employing the ’24 Offense’ in the first half: Find No. 24 and throw at him.
Fletcher had a nightmarish game, allowing two touchdowns, a 37-yard completion and a 19-yard completion. He was also whistled for a third-down penalty that extended a Washington drive.
It didn’t help that the Eagles were unable to generate any kind of pass-rush, but the issues in the secondary were glaring. In addition to Fletcher’s struggles, it looked like Nate Allen bit on an underneath route, allowing space for Jackson to get free on the post for an 81-yard touchdown.
There were a lot of good things that came out of Sunday’s game, but the defense was not one of them.
2. Special teams deserve a shoutout for this victory. Chris Polk got the Eagles on the board with his 102-yard return early on. He later took the ball out of the end zone and returned it 36 yards, setting the offense up with good field position. Polk battled through a hamstring injury in August and was unsure whether he was going to make the squad.
He’s been active the past two games, and while this was only one game, the Eagles may have found a way to get the ball in his hands.
“It was real hard,” Polk said. “Being hurt was tough. It messed with my mentality. They believed in me and I was dying to get out there. I saw my teammates playing their hearts out and having great success. I just wanted to contribute and get hit again. I haven’t been hit in awhile. Being out there, I felt like I was me again.”
In addition to Polk’s return, Parkey’s 51-yard field goal was huge. Given that Washington drove 80 yards with ease on the ensuing possession, the kick ended up being the difference in the game.
3. Eagles first-round pick Marcus Smith II saw his first action of the season. Strangely enough, the snaps came at inside linebacker, not outside linebacker, the position where was drafted.
“I think I did OK,” he said. “I was out there just trying to play real hard, just trying to go out there and make a play. But I think it’ll come as the weeks go by. I think I’ll start getting more action and just keep playing hard and I’ll start making plays at a position that I barely know. But it’s getting better.”
The plan was to rotate Smith in at inside linebacker, along with Acho and Casey Matthews. Smith was part of the sub package on passing downs.
“I wasn’t sure how much I was gonna play, but I knew I was gonna be playing on long distance downs, like second and long, third and long,” he said. “So every time when Boykin went in there, I went in there too. Sometimes the ball’s coming out real fast. But next week hopefully we can go out there and make more plays.”
4. With the Eagles needing a first down to end the game, Kelly dialed up a pass on 2nd-and-11. Foles rolled to his left and found James Casey open for a 19-yard gain.
“I think everybody saw we tried to run it the drive before and we weren’t really gaining anything,” Kelly said. “My decision was: Let’s put the ball in Nick’s hands. I thought he’d make a real good decision with it. I thought we had Coop [Riley Cooper] early, but their linebacker did a great job of recognizing it, coming out and grabbing Coop, and it was a run-pass option. Does Nick get a chance to run it?
“The only thing we were hoping we didn’t get in that situation was an incomplete pass because that stops the clock. But if we get to the edge, want to get him away from everything inside, there were so many people in there. If we can get him to the edge and everybody is covered, maybe he can run for a couple yards and then get down. At least we’re working the clock a little bit. But he made a big play, and James just has a unique way. It happened last year in the Green Bay game at the end of the game when we needed a big play. Sometimes James just kind of seems to be around when we need a big play, so it was huge for us.”
Casey offered his perspective.
“I was in a wing set with Brent [Celek],” he said. “Both of us were together on the same side. We had been running the ball a lot out of that set previously last year and in this game. It’s one of those plays that’s designed to look like a run play, and then Nick boots out. He’s got a couple options. I was running a flag route. I think Riley was in the flat. Brent did a really good job of sealing the edge and blocking, so he had plenty of time to throw it. I just found a little hole and he made a great throw.”
My two cents: I love that Kelly called this play on second down. On third down, the defense is at least thinking pass is a possibility. Calling it one play earlier paid off for the Eagles.
5. We surveyed the Eagles locker room and asked if players thought the Baker hit was dirty. Here’s what they said.
Ertz: “Oh yeah. I don’t know if it’s legal. I guess they called illegal contact, so in that sense it was dirty.”
Fletcher Cox: “I think it was. It’s proven. It’s on tape. I think it was dirty. I don’t think it was professional at all, but we’re all grown-ups.”
Connor Barwin: “I didn’t see the play, but I heard about it. Dirty shot. J.P. reacted, hopefully how most of the guys on this team reacted when you see a guy take a dirty shot on any of your teammates, especially your quarterback. We know the rules in this league now. …You know you cannot really blindside anybody in this league anymore. You know you can’t blindside quarterbacks. It’s like on a kick return, you can’t hit the kicker too hard, you can’t hit the quarterback too hard. That’s just the league we live in right now. If you hit any quarterback, you’re gonna have to deal with the left tackle.”
Ryans: “Yeah, I mean it’s uncalled for. Everyone understands that who plays this game. …It was a crazy play, but we’re on our home field. We’re not gonna take any crap off of anybody in our own house.”
Casey: “I thought that was really just kind of a cheap play that everyone knows you can’t go after the quarterback like that. They’re very important to every team, to every offense. They’re very important to the NFL and you can’t just go after the quarterback when there’s an interception like that, especially after the fact.”
McCoy: “It was obviously dirty. That kind of charged us up a bit. It fired us up, especially the offensive linemen.”
Maclin: “Yeah. I think 92 had a cheap shot. I think J.P. did what he should have done. You protect your quarterback. But there is no place in this game for that and he [Baker] knows that so he got kicked out and we will see what happens.”