I Goofed

Redskins 17 - Eagles 12  

Andy does it again with his wonderful clock management skills.  What does he have to say for himself this time?  I goofed.  Oh, okay Andy you goofed.  I forgive you.  Let's resign you for another 12 years!  

From the opening kick off, the Redskins just seemed to want it more.  They hit harder, had more energy, and were much more disciplined.  I attribute that to coaching.  Andy didn't have his team ready to play or his team isn't willing to lay themselves on the line for the win.  Take your pick, but when I read quotes from DeSean Jackson saying he was telling Mike Vick not to take those kinds of hits, it makes me think about how he has played these past few weeks.  Yes, Jackson is very explosive and he makes big plays, but his body language on the field shows me he wants no contact with the defense what so ever.  The Redskins came into our house and bullied us around and knocked players out of the game.  Mikell was run over for the skins first touchdown and the defense had 2 blown coverages, one of which, McNabb missed a wide open Fred Davis, and Cooley scored on the other.  

The Eagles defense was so bad in this game that it's surprising they only gave up 17 points.  Shannahan was playing for the win.  He knew McNabb and the passing game was a liability, so they played a very smart and safe game by limiting the passing attempts.  Even when McNabb threw our defense the ball we struggled to make the interceptions.  McNabb gift-wrapped the one for Nate Allen, which I assumed was intentional at the time to give us a chance to get back in the game.  If I'm not mistaken we went three and out on that drive.  

Kolb looked scared and he certainly looked like a bad rookie QB.  He threw almost 3 or 4 balls that should have gotten picked off, but were dropped and the only passes he was completing were screen passes or dump passes to the FB or McCoy.  McCoy had 12 catches and played with broken ribs.  Of all the players on the offense he seemed to be the only person playing with heart.  It was a shame that he ended up fumbling the ball away on a potential scoring drive.  Regardless, we beat ourselves in that game.  Dropped passes (not to throw Avant under the bus), penalties, clock management, and missed tackles paved the way to our 2nd loss.  The 49ers are not a bad team and with us playing in San Francisco, that doesn't bode well for our record.  I hope I'm wrong, but the Birds will lose badly to the 49ers and everyone will want to see Kolb back on the bench.