Penalties hurt as Wentz, Eagles take another step backward

Spreading 30 carries over three running backs, the Washington Redskins rushed for 230 yards in Sunday’s 27-20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. He took the Eagles on two drives for field goals in the fourth quarter when they needed touchdowns. “He was caged and ready to come out, and I’ve been trying to unleash him every week, and that’s what that was”. That’s his choice. If that’s what he thought he saw on film, that Vaitai wasn’t as horrifying as it seemed, then he was right to draw that conclusion, even if it will be unpopular. “This is his fifth start and we are expecting the world out of him”.

Washington Redskins players and coaches say their turnaround from 0-2 to 4-2 is a matter of resilience.

With results like they had against the Eagles, the Redskins will continue to pound the ground game, with Jones leading the way.

Washington’s pass rush sacked Wentz five times, knocked him down six times and forced 11 hurries. Philly also was penalized a whopping 13 times for 114 yards. Bad tackling, poor blocking and a lack of discipline did.

The head coach countered by asserting there’s always a risk because football, inherently, is a risky game. “When we really become a dominant front and we really cancel the run and be able to get after the passer, we’re gonna be a unsafe defense”.

This is a recipe for success, and along with a pass rush that has picked up steam, the defense has a chance to move up the National Football League rankings. The penalties and the self-inflicted things. “We’re not that good, where we can just go out there and show up”, safety Malcolm Jenkins said, “and just think we’re going to have success because of what we’ve done in the past”. The one-hour and 16-minute long break in real time kept the Redskins defense fresh and gassed the Eagles defense. Sunday, former Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford and the undefeated Minnesota Vikings come to town. It doesn’t get much easier after that, with games at division rivals Dallas and the Giants, and then games against a trio of the NFC’s elite: Atlanta, Seattle and Green Bay. He also slipped in some Andyisms along the way.

“My focus is to get V ready to go”, Pederson said. “We have to learn from this”. “You put pressure on somebody, the game plan you’ve already got scripted goes out the window”. “I misread some things, I have to get back and watch the tape, though”. “That starts with me”. That brought the score to 14-14 and has given the Eagles life.

Eagles head coach Doug Pederson studied it and dissected it and has reached a conclusion about his right tackle: Halapoulivaati Vaitai will remain his starting right tackle.

In a 24-23 loss in Detroit the previous week, the Eagles’ final drive ended when Wentz’s long pass to Nelson Agholor was intercepted with 1:17 left. The Redskins and quarterback Kirk Cousins were driving down the field and looked like they were going to score for a third time on the day.

That had a major impact as Smallwood caught the ball at the 14 and returned it 86 yards for a touchdown to get the Eagles on the board.

Mills, however, was only part of the problem defensively.

After surrendering 38 second-half points through an 0-2 start, Washington has since permitted just 15 – all field goals.

“The offense and the way I read the field, I think we get the ball out to different people, but having a talented tight end in Vernon Davis did help in terms of being able to just keep going without Jordan”, he said, “because Vernon does some things with his speed and his athleticism, his experience, his blocking, where we were able to keep going and still be productive as an offense without one of our best players on the field”.

Center Jason Kelce has plantar fasciitis and his practice reps will be taken by Wisniewski.