It’s a good thing the Redskins celebrated Donovan McNabb’s contract extension before the game. Not a soul was in the mood to celebrate afterward. Not after a game in which the first play went for an 88-yard score by Philadelphia – and then got worse.
The Eagles never stopped. The Redskins never really threatened – unless getting within three touchdowns is considered a threat – and the rain that fell in the second half summed up the night.
Philadelphia dominated the Redskins, 59-28, in a game that was every bit as lopsided as the score indicates. It’s the third most points allowed in franchise history. Eagles quarterback Michael Vick became the first player in history to pass for at least 300 yards, run for at least 50, pass for four or more touchdowns and run for two or more scores. Vick completed 20 of 28 passes for 333 yards and four touchdowns; he finished with a 150.7 passer rating. The Eagles finished with a franchise-record 592 yards.
“We got embarrassed from start to finish,” Redskins corner DeAngelo Hall said. “It felt like someone was playing a video game out there. I don’t think they did anything we weren’t prepared for; you can’t prepare for Michael Vick.”
“This game,” linebacker London Fletcher said, “was a total butt-whipping.”
But it was McNabb who received the five-year, $78-million extension before the game. He did little until the game was already out of hand as he finished the first quarter with a 2.8 passer rating.
The loss dropped the Redskins to 4-5 and exposed them as a team still in need of major parts if they want to become a serious playoff contender, let alone one that wants to win its division. Though the Redskins only trail Philadelphia and New York by two games in the NFC East, it suddenly seems like the distance is even greater.
The Eagles have big-play talent; the Redskins, at least on offense, do not. At least not enough to consistently scare teams, which is what the Eagles do. In the Redskins 17-12 win on Oct. 3 at Philadelphia, they held the Eagles to one play for more than 20 yards.
The Eagles surpassed that total on their first two series. And 10 of the first 15 plays went for 11 yards or more as the Eagles rolled up 425 total yards. In the first half alone.
“We got outplayed and outcoached in every area,” Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said.
Philadelphia scored 28 first-quarter points and, save for a brief flurry in which Washington cut the lead to 35-14, the game was devoid of drama.
The Eagles did an excellent job of getting the Redskins’ defense to slide one way only to hit them back on the other. It’s how they scored their first touchdown on a deep post by DeSean Jackson. He raced inside LaRon Landry as Michael Vick rolled to his left and threw back to the middle for an 88-yard touchdown on the first play.
It got worse from there. On the Eagles’ next 14 plays, they scored three touchdowns. Four of those plays were for 15 yards or more.
“That’s one play, there’s still a lot of football left,” Fletcher said. “You think, we can recover from this. Then when it happened again and again and again and again, you’re like, ‘Whoa.’ You just don’t think it’s going to continue to happen.”
The Redskins’ defense had played well in the first meeting, though Vick only played one quarter. Still, in the quarter he did play he managed just 66 total yards. They were physical with the wideouts, jamming them often. However, they got too many clean releases Monday night. Four players, and three receivers, had receptions of at least 27 yards.
“They were leaving guys by themselves, spreading the whole offense,” corner Carlos Rogers said. “A lot of times we got double jams on guys last time because they had gusy tight in. This time they didn’t allow us to double-jam them. It was jam them one on one and turn them over to the safety.”
