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Philadelphia Eagles Week 1 vs. Washington Redskins: Recap and Reactions

11 September 2017 Eagles News


Many predicted that the first game of the regular season for the Eagles would be one of the hardest to battle. A five game losing streak to the division rival Redskins added extra pressure in addition to the game being held on the Redskins home turf in Washington. However, through the ups and downs of the games’ momentum, the Eagles came out on top 30-17. Here are the takeaways and things to look into down the road:

 

Darby’s injury: Early on in the game Ronald Darby sustained what is believed to be a dislocated right ankle. An MRI on Monday will confirm how long the timetable is for Darby’s return. For a team that was already weak at the cornerback position, the loss of Darby is huge. The speedy No. 1 corner for the Eagles will need to be replaced soon. It may be time for third round choice Rasul Douglas to suit up quicker than expected.

 

Zach Ertz’s impact: Ertz led the Eagles receiving corps with 8 receptions and 93 receiving yards. The fifth year tight end has been criticized in the past for “coming alive” only in the final games of the season. No fancy yards after the catch yet, but there’s no denying his safety net performance on Sunday. By the looks of it early on, Ertz is Wentz’s #1 target since the team traded away Jordan Matthews.

 

Nelson turning heads quickly: Don’t deny it. Nelson Agholor has been the laughing stock of the Eagles for two years for not living to his first round selection potential. This past offseason, though, Agholor improved not only physically, but mentally. Nelson showed his big play potential after Wentz scrambled (for what seemed to be days) and threw a 58-yard bomb for the Eagles first touchdown of the day.

 

Offensive line is shaky: Now first of all, I’m not saying that the Eagles offensive line was falling all over the place. What I AM saying is that the Eagles offensive line was “shook” at times. The Eagles have one of the better offensive lines in the NFL, but they’re not perfect. Lane Johnson got beat and allowed pressure from Ryan Kerrigan a couple of times. Jason Peters had to leave the game due to an injury which placed Big V at left tackle. Mistakes were made that can always be learned from, but one mistake can lead to an injured franchise QB.

 

OMG the play calling: Oh my goodness the play calling was atrocious. Pederson chose to throw bubble screens and wide receiver screens in times that were unnecessary and other times running the ball looked like a sin. Wentz threw the ball 39 times on Sunday. That needs to change. With the running committee the Eagles have built, the run game needs to be established early on to ease some pressure off of Wentz.

 

So here are the biggest questions coming out of Sunday’s game: When will Darby return? Who will fill his place? Do the Eagles trade for a cornerback again? And is Sidney Jones a “must start” once he is declared healthy?”

 

Stay tuned for my periscope talk on Thursday @ 12pmET where I will go further into detail about how the Eagles will settle their cornerback woes.  (Live steam will go live on my twitter @BWalkerNFL)

 

#FlyEaglesFly


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