Game #7: Philadelphia

The Eagles’ stalwarts circa 1961 in their Mt. Rushmore pose: Sonny Jurgensen, Pete Retzlaff, Timmy Brown, and Tommy McDonald pose without their facemask bars. By then nearly all players used them including all four pictured. Sonny and McDonald would go on to the Hall of Fame. Both were gone from Philadelphia by 1964. After winning the League Championship over Green Bay and 2nd-year Head Coach Vince Lombardi in 1960 the Eagles would go some 47-years before winning another in 2017. During that time span Washington won 3-Super Bowls.

The human mind tries constantly to reduce the complex equations of things to a simple digital format; up or down, yes or no, etc. In the case of this football game no mental gymnastics are required. This situation is purely digital from the outset: Win or enter the portal designated as “Irrelevant.” A win brings hope. As hard as it is to believe after this hellish start to the season a win puts them in the mix to win this beleaguered Division. A loss throws them straight into a sell-off at the trading deadline just a week away. And, of course, that opens the door for a potential downward spiral that results in all sorts of organizational upheaval. Yes, it’s either win or brace yourself for what’s behind Door #2.

Tale of Two Cities

“It was the best of times…” Scratch that. It has not been the best of times for either of these two old franchises. Washington has apparently tapped into some strange curse. How else to explain that it couldn’t survive a Bye Week without a significant injury? In this case it was Daron Payne fracturing his foot in practice. Practice is what sidelined All-Pro Left Tackle Laremy Tunsil for most of, if not all of the season. We all know the injuries, the mistakes, and the timing of both that has led Washington to this precipice.

The Eagles took a different route to get here. But, their situation is no less dire. The perception is that Washington is in better position, despite being a half-game behind in the standings. That’s because Jayden Daniels is on his feet, for now, while Jalen Hurts is lost for the season due to dangerous blood clots in both lungs. Their journey to obscurity started with trading away AJ Brown. He’s not doing a thing in his new digs. But, he was Hurts’ Linus Blanket. When the year started Hurts was only targeting Tight End Dallas Goedert with regularity. He was briefly hurt. The re-designated DeVonta Smith is a nice target. But, he’s not the Go-To when things are tough. Now he’s out. Finally, Dontayvion Wicks began to emerge as a serious threat. He’s also out now.

Well, when Philly had passing game problems in the past the answer was to run the ball with Saquon. That’s not working either. Right now Saquon has all of 244-yards in 5-games for the season. By way of comparison, in 4-games during the playoff run Barkley ran for 499-yards. And, he’s gimping around with a barking hamstring. Make no mistake, Saquon is a fierce competitor with a bit of Culo Rojo for Washington. When he went to Free Agency Washington didn’t pursue him. It was taken personally. He will try to go today. The more prudent course may be to sit him until healed. Philly is looking for a life line, however. It’s name is Saquon Barkley. Forget schemes. Stop #26 because Philly has little else.

Waypoint

As noted above this is a game marked on the trail map as a Waypoint. Washington may well win this game only to go on to an unsatisfying finish. But, if there is to be any hope of even that then this game is a MUST WIN. They should be playing with real desperation…as should Philly. Given that, this must be their best performance of the season so far. It simply has to be. Or else the noise next week will be unbearable.

About Flexes

If you were one of many thinking this game would be “Flexed” out of Sunday Night Football, it was with good reason. These teams have records a mother couldn’t love. And, there were three compelling games sitting there on the schedule: Cleveland/Pittsburgh; Minnesota/Detroit; and Kansas City/Denver. Any of those would have been a more attractive option than this WAS/PHI matchup. But, there was a problem that was insurmountable.

Each Division team faces each other twice during a season. The Networks have rights to one of those games aligned with their territory. Fox has the NFC while CBS has the AFC. So, for the WAS/PHI game Fox has already carried the first game. Tonight is the other matchup so it was available to NBC for Sunday Night, ESPN for Monday Night, or Amazon for Thursday Night. Unfortunately for the League the other three desirable games are all either the second matchup of the season or that matchup is already scheduled for prime time. CLE/PIT played on Thursday Night, Week 4. KC/DEN played on Monday Night, Week 1. MIN/DET play on Sunday Night, Week 15. So, in order to Flex WAS/PHI out of this Sunday Night affair either Fox or CBS would have to give up their rights to the other Divisional matchup. Neither was willing to do so. The MIN/DET is a strong 1pm game for Fox. They are sending their #1 announcing crew. The CLE/PIT game is CBS’ answer to the Fox game at 1:00pm. The KC/DEN game gets CBS’ top crew. No way would one of the Networks give one of those away for this less appetizing game.

More Flexes

So, the game itself did not get flexed out. But, the Referee and his crew did. Last week the officiating crew of Alex Moore presided over a hot mess of a game in Green Bay vs Detroit. The final numbers don’t look awful: 13-penalties combined for 131-yards. That’s pretty much in line with the League averages of 14.6-penalties per game for 120-yards combined. But, the flags themselves were sketchy. There was no holding back by some players. Green Bay Safety Xavier McKinney used the old barnyard fertilizer descriptor for the officiating in general. Surprisingly he’s not on the list of 22-players fined this week. Have no fear, though. He was fined $25,000 for airing out his frustration. The League must keep some other Fines List for those bad-mouthing the Referees.

Speaking of dissing referees, Eagles’ Coach Nick Sirianni was fined $250,000 for his interactions with Officials. It’s being held in abeyance like a hammer over his head should he have a repeat occurrence.

Using the word “Optics” as a basis the League re-assigned Moore’s crew to the New England/Miami game. For the national audience Washington game the League is trotting out their pretty boy Shawn Hochuli. You know him. He’s the guy at the Karaoke Bar who gets the microphone and won’t let go of it. He’s no fave in the DMV either having mashed up more than his share of officiating opportunities with the Burgundy and Gold. Remember he was going to gift the Eagles a Touchdown in the Championship Game if Frankie Luvu flew over the Tush Push on the Goal Line just one more time. That guy. Yes. He’s the supposed upgrade.

Xs and Os

This is a pretty simple game plan. On Defense; first commit to stopping Saquon. He’s not right to begin with. And, if he can’t get going then Philly is in real trouble. Then keep Sonny Styles on Goedert. Philly has no good options at Wide Receiver. No one out there needs to be bracketed. So, the Tight Ends, a problem for Washington, and the Running Backs are going to be primary options for their QB Tanner McKee. Last year Bobby Wagner couldn’t cover a Wheel Route from Running Backs. This year that problem has been mostly solved. The Tight End thing hasn’t. Barkley and Goedert are their only weapons. Neutralize them.

On Offense, the Running Game is still lagging. It doesn’t help that Jacory Croskey-Merritt is on the Injured List. The Philly Defensive front isn’t playing like back in the Championship run. It’s 27th in yards allowed by running. It isn’t much better on Pass Defense either coming in at 26th in yards allowed. Why is Vic Fangio’s Defense so lackluster? One reason is that the Line is not playing up to capabilities. Another is that the team is so poor on Offense (31st) that the Eagles seldom play with a lead. One game where they did have a lead was against the Rams. They gacked that up in the 4th-Quarter. When playing with a lead opposing teams are more apt to run than attack Fangio’s largely Quarters-based Defense. But, when teams do attack it they know where to go: Cooper DeJean. The opposite Corner is Quinyon Mitchell and he’s Kryptonite. DeJean is not a slouch by any means. But, he’s seriously an easier option than Quinyon. David Blough went after him the first game of the season. So have most of the Offensive Coordinators since. Expect more of it tonight.

Hold onto the ball. Take the ball away. Take full advantage of opportunities.

Simple formula. It just comes down to execution.

Win. Or…