Even though it would be easy to just throw in the towel and say ‘whatever’, the fact is the Washington Redskins season will continue despite taking a 59-28 beating from Philadelphia Eagles Monday night at FedEx Field.
The Eagles quarterback Michael Vick was obviously “on.” He came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, ending the night with 20 completions out of 28 attempts for 333 yards and four touchdowns. He rushed eight times for 80 yards and two touchdowns. It’s amazing but Vick has now past Steve Young in the record books and is now second in NFL history for yards rushing by a quarterback.
A lot will be said about how the offense didn’t do what they needed to do. There were passes that bounced off of receiver’s shoulders or hand or, in some cases, receivers not finishing their routes. Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb was sacked twice and hurried more times than has been counted yet.
But the question has to be asked, ‘where was the defense?’ Granted the offensive line had a lot to contend with in Trent Cole but Michael Vick had his way with the Redskins tonight. He is good, but he’s still a football player and after those first couple of series, it was as if the Redskins defense just was not up to the Eagles intensity.
The second half began with the score 45-14 after a stunning first half. Fortunately, the Redskins opened the second half with a score. Washington tight end Chris Cooley caught a seven-yard pass and then fullback Mike Sellers caught a pass for 28 yards. Later in the drive, the Redskins took a chance on fourth and four on the Eagles 15-yard line and won the contest. A few plays later, Keiland Williams ran the ball in four yards for the score and it was 45-21.
On the following drive, Vick passes a few times for completions, rushed at one point for 13 yards and then connected with Eagles receiver Jason Avant for a three-yard touchdown to make the score 52-21.
The Redskins didn’t score again in the fourth quarter when, after moving the ball down the field on a Roydell Williams pass for one yard and a Keiland Williams run for 16 yards they found themselves in a reasonable yardage situation. Williams scored on a 32-yard run to make the score 59-28 which was the closing game score.
Throughout the game it seemed the Eagles and Vick could score at will. The Redskins defense had no answer for Vick out of the pocket or to open receivers. The offense did what they could but it was too little, too late.
That was the Redskins motto throughout the game… Too little, too late.
