E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!! Birds - Washington '23 1st game thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
Rivera will get that question for sure. Given the run of the game (and benefit of hindsight), going for 2 was viable.
Then again, Wash got the ball first in OT. They had their chance to win it outright with a hot hand in Howell.
wow, that game was exhausting in the stands. And we were in the sun for most of it, so that also took something out of you.
I'll have to watch the DVR of the game to check, but the video replays they showed in the stadium confirmed (at least to most of the fans, including me) that some of the calls by the refs were absolutely brutal.
A win is a win, and the Birds are 4-0. I'll take it.
Concerns with the team ... where do I start?
- the vaunted DLine was pretty ineffective. They gave up too many rushing yards. And while Washington was throwing the ball quickly on many plays, even when they didn't throw it quickly the DEs and the DTs rarely got to the QB
- the offensive play calling continues to baffle me. Washington has a good DLine, so I questioned how frequently the Birds would rush it. But they seemed to have a lot of success with Swift, not so much with Gainwell, and went away from the run too frequently
- Hurts is tough to figure out. His pass along the sidelines to AJ Brown, probably the TD at the end to AJ, and one in the middle of the field to Goedert were things of beauty. But some of his decisions were terrible. The pass attempt to Brown when he was rolling out was terrible (should have been an INT). Another throw to AJ near the end zone in the 1st half, were forced passes when there were better options available
- Hurts is also not as effective scrambling this season. he had one scamper for @ 24 yards that was decisive (with a great cut), but the rest of his scrambles, RPOs, or designed runs were pretty poor
- Quez Watkins being out is hurting them at WR, and Sydney Brown being out hurts them at Safety
- the D played better in the 2nd half, but could not stop Washington on the drive to end the 2nd half. Their play in the 1st half was atrocious, especially in situations where they had them in 3rd & long
Enough grumbling/complaining. I need to relax a bit, then read this thread, then watch the game.
I'll have to watch the DVR of the game to check, but the video replays they showed in the stadium confirmed (at least to most of the fans, including me) that some of the calls by the refs were absolutely brutal.
A win is a win, and the Birds are 4-0. I'll take it.
Concerns with the team ... where do I start?
- the vaunted DLine was pretty ineffective. They gave up too many rushing yards. And while Washington was throwing the ball quickly on many plays, even when they didn't throw it quickly the DEs and the DTs rarely got to the QB
- the offensive play calling continues to baffle me. Washington has a good DLine, so I questioned how frequently the Birds would rush it. But they seemed to have a lot of success with Swift, not so much with Gainwell, and went away from the run too frequently
- Hurts is tough to figure out. His pass along the sidelines to AJ Brown, probably the TD at the end to AJ, and one in the middle of the field to Goedert were things of beauty. But some of his decisions were terrible. The pass attempt to Brown when he was rolling out was terrible (should have been an INT). Another throw to AJ near the end zone in the 1st half, were forced passes when there were better options available
- Hurts is also not as effective scrambling this season. he had one scamper for @ 24 yards that was decisive (with a great cut), but the rest of his scrambles, RPOs, or designed runs were pretty poor
- Quez Watkins being out is hurting them at WR, and Sydney Brown being out hurts them at Safety
- the D played better in the 2nd half, but could not stop Washington on the drive to end the 2nd half. Their play in the 1st half was atrocious, especially in situations where they had them in 3rd & long
Enough grumbling/complaining. I need to relax a bit, then read this thread, then watch the game.
The Eagles had 5 sacks in that game, so there was pressure on Howell. My gripe with the DL was losing contain on Howell on 3rd and long. They got burned a few times for huge scramble conversions. Frustrating.
Injuries are definitely a factor right now. The play calling isn’t right and hasn’t been all season. That may be one of the reason for Hurts’ inconsistency. That said, #1 seemed better in the pocket today. Still not 2022 good, but moving in that direction.
The DL only has 6 sacks in 4 games. Yeah, that’s not great so far. Reddick and Sweat have started slow. Hopefully, they crank it up here.
Nice win. Elliot big time weapon.
That said it was completely idiotic to throw a pass to the end zone for the last eagles td.
They were at the 28 second and 4. You run once or twice to try to pick up the first down and then run the clock and kick the game winner with no time left
That said it was completely idiotic to throw a pass to the end zone for the last eagles td.
They were at the 28 second and 4. You run once or twice to try to pick up the first down and then run the clock and kick the game winner with no time left
The Eagles O scored 31 points in regulation. That has to be enough to beat Washington. Fans should not second guess the offense. They should focus on the D which was abysmal for the most part.
The Washington coaches prepared well. The Washington O needed a complete overhaul after the Buffalo curb stomping and the Eagles were facing an offense they hadn't seen on film. Howell was very disciplined with getting the ball out quickly, good job there, plus he made a couple of big balls plays in getting out of sacks. As it played out, Howell played a damn good game.
I give Washington a ton of credit. They played lights out on offense, but the Eagles killed themselves with bad penalties, soft coverages underneath (they had some key DBs out) and by allowing Howell to break contain and scramble for a few very long 3rd down conversions.
Time will tell how well Washington sustains what they did yesterday. My hunch is it will prove more of an Eagles defensive egg.
Two things: One, after Buffalo routed Miami yesterday, I felt a lot better about Washington’s game last week. Two, the Washington O really came back strong yesterday, very promising. How often are the Commanders going to play Buffalo or Philadelphia? For all we know, they’re done with two of their toughest three games (the third being the other Philly game, this is at FedEx Field). I liked what I saw yesterday. No quit, good coaching. (The D was very disciplined in trying to control Hurts). Washington did make the playoffs last year. Maybe saying that Philadelphia took a good team’s best shot is a good takeaway. Washington could hardly have played better yesterday than they actually did.
Mike Schmidt said about playing in Philly...
the thrill of victory...
and the agony of reading about it the next day in the press!
I was somewhat impressed with their O, and somewhat disappointed with the Birds' D. As @WestSideLion indicated, it will take time to determine which was more off their norm.
In terms of tough games, the Commanders have more than just the remaining match with the Birds. They have 2 with Dallas, 1 with the 49ers, 1 with the Rams, 1 with the Seahawks, and 1 with the Patriots. The 49ers and 1 of the Cowboys games are their last 2 on the schedule. In some years those end-of-season games can be easy as the playoff team rests starters. That may yet happen, but I suspect that the NFC teams will be battling till the end for home field advantage, those 2 games may feature the two opponents going all-out to win.
That’s what it comes down to for me. Washington played an A game. They definitely came prepared and executed. Can they get up like that each week? Time will tell. Them making the playoffs would not surprise me. I think NY will take a step back this year.
Sure, but it’s possible that Buffalo and Philadelphia are the two best teams Washington will face this year, better than the others you mentioned. Well, maybe not better than the Patriots
Ver surprised Riverboat Ron didn’t go for 2 at the end of the game especially on the road.
He's going to get that question a lot. I think Washington was so surprised to be in the position that it skewed their thought process. His other explanations don't make sense. No way was the offense more gassed than the Eagles D at that point.
Yet they just stopped Seattle on 4th down in the red zone and can still win this game! Plus, I have Daniel Jones in FFL and need a few more points to win. Haha.
Bad throw by Smith on 4th down. He threw it behind the receiver, which gave the defender a play on the ball.
There’s been lots of focus on Rivers’s not going for 2 at the end of regulation. What about Siriani’s decision to go for 2 after the first Hurts to Brown TD?
An XP puts them up 20-17 rather than 21-17. That point wound up keeping the game tied and sent it to overtime. Sure, they could have gone for two after the second Hurts to Brown TD, but it was good coaching that wound up being key to grinding out a win.
An XP puts them up 20-17 rather than 21-17. That point wound up keeping the game tied and sent it to overtime. Sure, they could have gone for two after the second Hurts to Brown TD, but it was good coaching that wound up being key to grinding out a win.
Howell isn’t a “two point conversion with no time left to win the game” qb. Too shaky.
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