Washington Redskins: Eagles Have Been “Haynesworth-ed” by Diane Chesebrough

Are you a Redskins fan? Is watching the “Dream Team” Philadelphia Eagles’ self-destruction giving you déjà vu?  Do you remember Redskins owner Dan Snyder spending a lot of money on big-name free agents only to lose and lose big?

Eagles’ head coach Andy Reid has “Haynesworth-ed” his team. He has brought in huge-name free agents, paid them big bucks and they are not living up to the hype.

The Philadelphia Eagles are a dangerous team however.

Even so, the Redskins’ next opponent is looking so nightmarish that it almost makes me want to pat some of them on the back.

“There, there.” I’ll say. “It’s going to be okay…” (NOT!) “It’s not the end of the world….” (No, it’s the end of your season!) “You still have your salary.” (Well, that’s true.)

I actually feel like gloating.

I know, that’s not taking the high road but, come on. Don’t you want to smirk?  Even just a little?

When I heard that Philadelphia had acquired cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, I thought, “Oh wow. Bad for the Redskins.”  But then they signed guys like cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, defensive end Jason Babin, tackle Cullen Jenkins and safety Jarrad Page and, not only did I think, “Gee, now this looks familiar,” I knew they were in for trouble. The national media focused on all that talent together on one team.

But Redskins fans knew the chances of the season working out the way experts said it would were slim. Wouldn’t anyone think that Eagles’ cornerback Asante Samuel would have a bit of a problem with the new roster?  Had I been able to talk to Reid myself, I would have told him to look no further than his own division opponent (Washington) over the last decade (before this season) to get a glimpse of the future: all kinds of talent, no chemistry, minimal motivation.

The offensive successes of the Eagles’ opponents – with the money they have invested in their defense – boggles the mind. For instance, a couple of weeks ago Philadelphia was actually leading the San Francisco 49ers 20-3 at the half.  The 49ers had the ball in the third quarter and quarterback Alex Smith threw a pass to receiver Josh Morgan. As Morgan sailed into the end zone for a score, he waltzed first past rookie linebacker Brian Rolle, who, as a rookie gets a bit of a pass. But worse than that, he then flew past safety Nate Allen and then past Asante Samuel.

Bad tackling is a problem for the Eagles’ defense.

Granted, 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree is young and talented, but, later in the game, for Smith to throw to him and have Philly linebacker Jamar Chaney and Nnamdi Asomugha both get beaten by the wide-open Crabtree is bad. To add insult to injury, Jarrad Page went for the highlight hit by trying to knock the receiver out-of-bounds and only glanced him. Next both Chaney & Asomugha attempted sloppy and unsuccessful tackles and finally Chaney wrapped up Crabtree to bring him down.  It was a 38-yard gain for the wide out and the 49rs scored again within two plays.

On a touchdown run by Frank Gore, cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie had him at the 4-yard-line.  Gore dragged him over the goal line with him for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown.

This bad defense was not isolated to the 49er game.

During the Giants game on September 26, Giants’ receiver Victor Cruz caught a pass out of the shotgun, ran straight into Eagles safety Kurt Coleman and just kept on running.  I’m not saying this definitely happened, but it looked like Asante Samuel didn’t put much effort into stopping Cruz as he continued past him into the end zone. I guess he figured that Cruz’s momentum was too high to bother, right?

The Eagles have a huge problem with their run defense but with the high-priced secondary they’ve got, you’d think no one would be able to pass against them.  Not so. Shoddy tackling and unfocused play seem to be infecting their squad.  The locker room can’t be a happy place right now.

In addition to the defensive problems, the Eagles have too many turnovers (quarterback Michael Vick has thrown seven interceptions so far). He is not getting the protection he needs and that is one area of strength for the Redskins that can help them win this game. If Washington linebackers Ryan Kerrigan and Brian Orakpo can get to Vick – and I will admit, that’s a tall order even with Philadelphia’s issues – they can harass him into throwing some bad passes. Then the Redskins can get the ball back, unleash running backs Ryan Torain, Roy Helu, Jr. and Tim Hightower (if his shoulder allows it) and set up the play action.

As much as I’d love to state unequivocally that the Redskins are absolutely going to win this Sunday when the Eagles come to FEDEX Field, I wouldn’t necessarily count on it. While Washington is in a great place at 3-1, Vick and his 1-4 teammates are professionals. If anything, they are more dangerous now than if they were 3-2 or 4-1.  They are desperate. They feel cornered. This is pretty much a must-win game for them. Even in their loss to the Buffalo Bills this past week, you can still see their offensive talent and explosiveness. (For what it’s worth, I do think Vick deserves more penalty flags thrown on the hits he takes.) Wide out DeSean Jackson has amazing speed and elusiveness and Vick can make a play where there is none. If the Redskins get complacent, they could easily lose this game.

Fortunately, neither Redskins coaches nor the players are paying attention to the recent talk of the “Dream Team” having become a nightmare.  They know the Eagles are just as dangerous as they ever were, if not more so now.  With the talent on that team, were they to get it together, Philadelphia could go the rest of the season without a loss.

The Eagles players might privately all want to get together and jump off of a cliff (the Redskins could give them the tap they need to send them on over by beating them this week as well) but Reid is a good coach and will work hard to rally the troops. He most certainly will have a good game plan.

If the Redskins can score early, kick the Eagles when they’re down and not do anything silly to let Philly stay in the game; it’s possible that Redskins fans could wave as the Eagles go over that ledge.

Can you imagine Washington at 4-1 and having beaten both the Giants AND the Eagles this early is the season?

Washington head coach Mike Shanahan will have a good game plan as well and will rally his troops. He won’t need to remind them of last year’s debacle: a nationally televised route where the Eagles beat the Redskins 59-28. The veterans will help keep the rookies focused.

I see a Redskins’ win in the future and it should be this week against the Eagles.

Hail.