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When Chip Kelly took over as the Philadelphia Eagles head coach in 2013, his insanely fast-paced tempo took the NFL by storm. Defenses struggled and then-quarterback Michael Vick ended the season with amazing stats.
It was unfortunate for the Washington Redskins that the first glimpse that the nation had of this was on national television during their season opener on Monday Night Football. The final score was 33-27 and in that game, the Eagles ran 53 plays in the first half alone and by the third quarter were 26 points ahead. The Redskins defense had a hard time getting off the field and their offense had a hard time staying on it. Starting QB (at the time) Robert Griffin III and the offense turned the ball over twice in the first two possessions (and a third time later) and didn’t score at all until late in the third quarter.
This Sunday the Redskins host Kelly’s Eagles for the two teams’ first meeting in 2015 and, even though Philly quarterback Sam Bradford has not yet proven he’s the QB Kelly envisioned, that ball club will likely eventually hit their stride… possibly this weekend. If Washington wants to win this contest, the team is going to have to do it at a pace much faster than the one used against the New York Giants last Thursday.
Much went wrong for Washington during that 32-21 loss up at MetLife Stadium last week: drive-killing penalties, special teams gaffes and turnovers.
To be fair, some things went right. Quarterback Kirk Cousins matched career highs in passing attempts (49) and completions (30) for 316 yards in that game and continued to distribute the ball quickly and avoid sacks. Twice the defense caused the Giants to go three-and-out with big stops.
One of the noticeable issues in that New York game — to this set of eyes anyway — was the Redskins lack of speed and intensity in getting in and out of the offensive huddle. This will not do if they are going to beat the Eagles. Cousins is an efficient passer much of the time but he needs to be more of a field general between the end of any given play and the next snap.
On the Redskins seventh play of their last drive of the first half, there was 4:13 left to play. A completed pass to wide out Jamison Crowder was nicely executed by all involved (excluding the holding penalty by center Kory Lichtensteiger) and the Redskins had a nice gain that was unfortunately killed by the penalty. Cousins made up for it with two consecutive completions to wide out Pierre Garçon for 11 and 19 yards but during this important series, they neglected to run any no huddle until the play after the second Garçon completion at the 2:32 mark.
Up until that point, it was hard to detect much intensity.
At the two-minute warning, Cousins threw an incomplete pass to receiver Andre Roberts. Even after this, with the little bit of time left on the clock, there was no evidence of real determination by the offense. This could be seen from the press box and seemed even worse on the television broadcast.
After the play, 17-20 seconds went by while Jim Nantz and Phil Simms discussed things; the cameras going from shots of Redskins head coach Jay Gruden to Giants QB Eli Manning and, all the while, Cousins and the players showed no sense of real urgency. Cousins did work a quick three-finger “come hither” motion to his teammates but should have been more like, “GET OVER HERE!”
Perhaps this was just a function of the incompletion stopping the clock but, with the score already 15-3 at this point, there should have been more will displayed. Hurry-up offense here would have, at the very minimum, kept the New York defense more on their toes. And a TD here would have gone long way to motivate the players going into the half rather than the field goal with which they ended up.
In the Redskins first possession of the fourth quarter, they had the ball for an outstanding 10+ minutes. In that time, to their credit, at least they were in no huddle for three of the 15 plays of that series.
That drive by the Redskins was pretty impressive and it’s unfortunate that it was killed by RB Matt Jones’ fumble in the end zone. It might have turned out differently had the Giants defense been put off-balance a bit by the Redskins moving at a higher tempo.
After Washington’s defense caused the Giants to go three-and-out, the Redskins scored on their next possession. Unfortunately, the ensuing on-side kick was nabbed by New York who proceeded to go quickly down the field from the Washington 45-yard-line and score another touchdown.
But Redskins receiver Rashad Ross had that nice 103-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The play fired up the Redskins defense and they responded by getting on and off the field again in just three downs.
This is where the intensity of the Redskins should have really ramped up. Unfortunately, what the offense came back with too little too late and the final score is on the books.
When a team doesn’t have all of the talent it needs to be really good, other things have to come into play in order for it to win games. Tight discipline (to cut down on the drive-killing penalties) is required and, even if not especially stellar on special teams, at least blocked punts/kicks must be avoided and return coverage adequate. The kickoff return for a touchdown by receiver Ross was encouraging in that it’s been five years since Washington has had one. And new kicker Dustin Hopkins showed that perhaps the release of Kai Forbath was a good move after all. So there’s that. But more consistency is required in these areas.
The Eagles have one of the best run defenses in the league with defensive tackle Fletcher Cox leading the way. This fourth-year player will be Redskins second-year offensive lineman Spencer Long’s headache to bear Sunday with veteran left guard Shawn Lauvao on IR now. It’s going to be important to tire Cox and the other big men on the line out. A hurry-up offense at times would help.
A fast pace offense would also make it a bit harder for the Eagles’ to blitz — something they do well. The blitz has been a factor in Cousins’ turnovers in the past.
The Eagles linebacking corps — especially Mychal Kendricks and Jordan Hicks (Kiko Alonso is hurt) — have been stellar against tight ends this season. Hicks covers like a cornerback and a quick tempo by Washington is but one of several ways to keep these guys off balance.
The Redskins defense will have their hands full themselves fighting the tempo of Kelly’s offense so it’s important that Gruden find a way for Cousins and his unit to stay on the field.
With regard to Philly’s fast-paced offense, Washington cornerback Will Blackmon said the other day in the locker room that the challenge will not so much be the physical endurance required to keep up with the Eagles. It will actually be the mental endurance they’ll need to recognize what’s happening on the field and communicate it to each other quickly enough.
If the defense succeeds in this and Washington’s offensive group can put Cox, Kendricks, cornerback Nolan Carroll and safety Malcolm Jenkins & Company on their heels a bit; as well as limit the turnovers and keep return specialist Darren Sproles contained, there’s a chance the Burgundy and Gold could win this important NFC East matchup.
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