The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

vote and discuss

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

I dont see anything to vote on

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

I think it was the Defense this time. The loss of ST really hurt them and Philly took advantage of our misfortune.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

Penalties directly led to a score that would have at least kept this game tied.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

Personally I thought the penalties were the main culprit. Too many crucial penalties that extended drives for Philly. And then Cooley's killer false start down near the goal line that pushed us to 3rd and 7 instead of 3rd and 2.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

Cooley's false start directly cost us 4 points (ARE was open in the flat... great designed play) and Fletcher's interference led to 7pts (and confidence) in the 1st quarter. Not to mention the 3 illegal contact penalties that kept Eagles drives alive.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

I don't know, there are so many reasons. Smoot's penalty on 3rd down led to Philly eating up the clock and scoring 7 points. Suisham's missed extra point essentially cost us 3 points (1 missed Xp, 1 failed 2 point conversion, and Philly going for the 2 point conversion which they wouldn't have had we had the aforementioned extra 2 points). Those 10 points alone that we needlessly gave up cost us the game.

Then again, I love what the offense did, but they've got to score more points in the redzone. Two drives should not stall inside of the 10 yard line like that. It's good that the offense was moving the ball, but moving the ball doesn't matter too much if they're not scoring 7 points. Those 8 missed points cost us the game.

The Redskins' defense just totally fell apart in the 4th quarter. A lot of it had to do with players being in position to make plays and not making them (e.g., Godfrey dropping 2 INTs, Pierson being in position to break-up or intercept the pass to Reggie Brown and instead allowing a TD, missed tackles on Westbrook, etc.). Some of it had to do with playcalling (e.g., essentially playing the prevent zone all day).

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

I voted on playcalling but its a combination of all 3.Penalties killed us,I'm sick of these ticky tack illegal touches penalties,this is not the first game its bailed out a team we've played.The Cooley penalty on the goal line was a killer,it looked like Thrash would have been wide open for the td.The only problem I had with the def was the westbrook td,P.P. was in position on the long td,it was just a good catch.But now that I've thought about it,I want to change my vote to penalties instead of red zone playcalling,it was the other playcalling and clock manegement I had a problem with but that wasnt there to vote on.
I actually though the redzone playcalling was ok,we should have been able to punch it in and we couldnt,then when we didnt pass on 3rd down that was crit·i·cized,but if I'm remebering correctly it was 3rd down on the play before that was going to be a pass but Cooley was flagged and we repeated 3rd down and a draw was called,eagles looked like they were going to blitz,I was ok with that call.
I have more of a problem with the not knowing how to use timeouts,besides the one with the fg,everybody is forgetting about the one before halftime,with 2:08 they call timeout when the eagles are going to punt,then after they punt the 2 minute warning has already passed so they gained nothing,that was a terrible descision and it happens week after week,these are rookie mistakes,theres no excuse for them.
Then when we get the ball back with 3 minutes to play,were in fucking panic mode again,even though we had no timeouts,there was plenty of time to mix run with pass,which had been working great previously,but instead we come out with shotgun mode on every down,it just seemed to rushed and panicky

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

If it were ONLY this one game I would say the defensive penalties that extended drives for the Eagles which resulted in scores.

But that is only the surface issue. The real problem (and I hate to point this out) is dating back to last season it is something like 7 out of 9 last games where Washington had the lead at halftime, they ended up losing those games.

Is it halftime adjustments? Possibly. But there is a definite problem when you are leading at halftime of so many games and do not win those games.

As a caveat I would say the organization has to take a more proactive approach to conditioning as well. There are just way too many injuries for it to be "just bad luck". A player who is conditioned properly greatly reduces the risk of injury due to conditioning. I am not saying the team is out of shape. But with so many injuries, the conditioning program needs to be re-evaluated to see what can be done to reduce those nagging injuries that cost playing time.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

I want to go with "Other". It all started with Sellers trying to launch his 284 lb body into orbit 6 miles behind the line of scrimmage and failing to pick up the first down. I'm pretty sure I saw those wavy, gravitional flux lines pulling at his heels when he left the turf.

Seriously, the first Eagles drive with all of those penalties was killer. Philly goes up 7 to start the game and achieves an overall high sense of offensive confidence.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

There's no "right" answer to this poll. I went with the defense just because they got carved almost all day. I really thought we should have tried to bring some pressure. Of the teams we face, I'd rather try to 1v1 the Eagles WRs and hit McNabb all day than having our safeties 20 yards back.

A change on any of the options could have saved the game. Running 7 times inside the 10 and not scoring. Overall, I thought the offense played pretty well. I'd still like to see us use the middle of the field a bit more in the passing attack. Seems like defenses are trying to take away the sidelines at this point.

And penalties.. ugh. Especially that first drive.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

I agree this was maybe the hardest poll up in a while and there really is no "right answer", that being said I voted penalties because that first Eagles drive kept moving due to our penalties and I believe there were a couple other drives for the Eagles were our penalties kept it alive.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

I went with the D and big plays because I count their penalties as part of the big plays.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

How about "All of the above?" Seriously, if I had to pick only one it would be the penalties. Aside form the obvious blunders (i.e.-Cooley's jumping off side on the goal line, etc.), it's almost automatic that the 'Skins will get penalized on a punt or kick-off.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

[QUOTE=Sheriff Gonna Getcha;377113]I don't know, there are so many reasons. Smoot's penalty on 3rd down led to Philly eating up the clock and scoring 7 points. [B]Suisham's missed extra point essentially cost us 3 points (1 missed Xp[/B], 1 failed 2 point conversion, and Philly going for the 2 point conversion which they wouldn't have had we had the aforementioned extra 2 points). Those 10 points alone that we needlessly gave up cost us the game...[/QUOTE]

Maybe not the "main" reason we lost yesterday, but that [I][B]really[/B][/I] bothered me. I know he was money against the Jets, but damn, you just don't miss those chip shots. I sure hope this doesn't become a trend.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

The most obvious reason is that we're just not a good football team.

Why we aren't a good football team is more difficult to answer.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

[QUOTE=rypper11;377109]Cooley's false start directly cost us 4 points (ARE was open in the flat... great designed play) and Fletcher's interference led to 7pts (and confidence) in the 1st quarter. Not to mention the 3 illegal contact penalties that kept Eagles drives alive.[/QUOTE]

Dude Cooley's false start sucked big time for sure. BUT...WTF was the damn call for a draw play from that far out from the goal line!?? That call made me go nuts! Friggin Al Saunders i guarantee it!
JC was throwing good all day...why not give him a chance to go to Cooley or even a bootleg! I mean JC is NOT slow! DAMN!

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

Defense, which incorporates the stupid defensive penalties that extended Philly drives. The D had the 9-point lead to protect and went to sleep. I know injuries hurt, so to speak, but someone needed to step up. No one did, and now maybe Gregg should step down - or at least shut up.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

I agree with SGG, that there are a lot of reasons, and changing only one would have resulted in a win.

I do believe one reason is more right than the others, and it's got to be the big plays on the defense. For those to be touchdowns, multiple players had to have total breakdowns. That simply can't happen often to an NFL football team, and for us, it happened twice in the same quarter.

Goal line play calling? Yeah but...it's not like any other call guarantees success. Penalties? Yeah, but...that's part of the game. A good defense, especially one that plays it's safeties so far from everything should be able to prevent the big play, and we gave up two too many.

If your defense isn't going to try to play aggressive and force mistakes because as your coordinator reasons it, you have to prevent the big play at all costs, and then you give up not one but TWO huge plays in the same quarter, it's very obvious where the blame falls.

I'm tired of watching Gregg Williams drop 7-8 on every play and not cover the short routes. For him to give up any big plays this season playing that kind of coverage is completely inexcusable. This scheme sucks, and needs incredible talent to make it work.

It worked early because our DL was playing incredibly well, but now that it's only playing at it's talent level, we can't stop anybody anymore.

It's OK though. Next year, we won't draft any help on the Defensive Line and this BS will happen again.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

I don't think you can rely on defense to win games every week. The offense needs to win games when given the chance. The offense had the chance to win the game this week and just didn't do it.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

[quote=warriorzpath;377236]I don't think you can rely on defense to win games every week. The offense needs to win games when given the chance. The offense had the chance to win the game this week and just didn't do it.[/quote]Ugh.

But you have to rely on both units to pull their weight. The offense missed pefection by a little bit yesterday down in the red zone twice, but the defense was awful all day.

I think you have to rely on your defense to not be total and utter crap every week, and in the event that it is, then you have to call a spade a spade, not make excuses for it, and move on.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

For anyone that still does not understand why I gave the Skins D a C grade last week please rewatch yesterday's game.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

All three played a factor, but I would argue that the penalties were the biggest reason. Penalties extended Philly's opening TD drive, and gave them new life right before the bomb to Reggie Brown for another TD. And all that before Cooley's gaffe - the biggest mistake of the game. You just can't false start inside the 10 yard line at home, yet the Skins manage to make mistakes like that repeatedly. That IS NOT coaching. Coaches had a perfect call before Cooley jumped. So we blame the playcalling for that? My only beef with Gibbs/Saunders was the draw on 3rd and 7. For the rest of this terrible loss, I put it squarely on the players making stupid penalties at crucial moments.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

[quote=GTripp0012;377239]Ugh.

But you have to rely on both units to pull their weight. The offense missed pefection by a little bit yesterday down in the red zone twice, but the defense was awful all day.

I think you have to rely on your defense to not be total and utter crap every week, and in the event that it is, then you have to call a spade a spade, not make excuses for it, and move on.[/quote]

The defense hasn't played like crap every week. The redskins defense has probably been one of the top defenses this year. Look at the entire league, for some reason (maybe - rules, offensive trends, whatever) there seems to have been more games dominated by offenses than by defenses compared to past seasons.

The defense have pulled their weight this season and won a few games on their own. The offense needs to do the same regardless of how the defense is playing. And I think the offense is far from perfect, especially at the end of games - when they tend to fall apart. I am always scared when the redskins are down (even by only one) at around 6 minutes to go- and it's not because of the defense.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

[quote=warriorzpath;377253]The defense hasn't played like crap every week. The redskins defense has probably been one of the top defenses this year. Look at the entire league, for some reason (maybe - rules, offensive trends, whatever) there seems to have been more games dominated by offenses than by defenses compared to past seasons.

The defense have pulled their weight this season and won a few games on their own. The offense needs to do the same regardless of how the defense is playing. And I think the offense is far from perfect, especially at the end of games - when they tend to fall apart. I am always scared when the redskins are down (even by only one) at around 6 minutes to go- and it's not because of the defense.[/quote]The defense [I]was [/I]pulling it's weight and we were winning.

The offense has pulled it's weight the last two games and we are losing. Why? Because the defense has fallen to well below average.

And yes, the passing games have dominated this season. Our's has not, and that is a problem. But on Sunday, it's hard to blame the offense for anything considering their overall performance.

Either credit the Eagles offense, or blame the Redskins defense, but those are the units that changed this game, not the Eagles defense or Redskins offense.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

And to me, it's harder to win games defensively (especially at the end of games) rather than winning it by the offense. You just have more control over the score on offense.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

I understand the defense did not play well yesterday, but bottomline - the offense had a chance to win the game and just didn't.

For a good confident offensive team, that's all you can ask for. The offense just isn't good or confident enough right now.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

we have NO F$$%^$# Heart!!!!
The Patriots showed us how to do it with a lead and we cant mimick that attitude.
We have had a lead in almost EVERY game at the half. NO KILLER INSTINCT!!!!

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

[quote=warriorzpath;377259]And to me, it's harder to win games defensively (especially at the end of games) rather than winning it by the offense. You just have more control over the score on offense.[/quote]That's definitely true, but we put up 25 points on only 8 drives yesterday.

Point is, if a team loses a shootout, you still have to look at the defense for not stopping the other offense. Obviously in a loss, neither unit was perfect, but if one is close, and one is nowhere near close, which unit needs to be corrected first?

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

[quote=GTripp0012;377266]That's definitely true, but we put up 25 points on only 8 drives yesterday.

Point is, if a team loses a shootout, you still have to look at the defense for not stopping the other offense. Obviously in a loss, neither unit was perfect, but if one is close, and one is nowhere near close, which unit needs to be corrected first?[/quote]

I don't disagree that the defense didn't play well yesterday, but at some point, the offense needs to win the game without the luxury of the defense playing lights out. Even with the defense making several mistakes, they managed at least one big play (forced fumble) and kept the game within range.

Just look at the eyes of the offensive players at the end of the game - does that look like fire, hunger, and confidence in their eyes? The only player that may have that look is Portis right now.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

[quote=warriorzpath;377271]I don't disagree that the defense didn't play well yesterday, but at some point, the offense needs to win the game without the luxury of the defense playing lights out. Even with the defense making several mistakes, they managed at least one big play (forced fumble) and kept the game within range.

Just look at the eyes of the offensive players at the end of the game - does that look like fire, hunger, and confidence in their eyes? The only player that may have that look is Portis right now.[/quote]A 5 point lead with 4 mins to go should hold if your defense is [B]any good [/B]whatsoever. One of the biggest advantages you have is that FG range is eliminated from the consideration. As they get closer to the end zone, it gets tougher and tougher to score.

You just have to HAVE to stop the big play. The game was calculated PERFECTLY until that point. GW made the wrong call, the players made a bad play and we lost, just like that.

The execution just has to be better.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

[quote=GTripp0012;377274]A 5 point lead with 4 mins to go should hold if your defense is [B]any good [/B]whatsoever. One of the biggest advantages you have is that FG range is eliminated from the consideration. As they get closer to the end zone, it gets tougher and tougher to score.

You just have to HAVE to stop the big play. The game was calculated PERFECTLY until that point. GW made the wrong call, the players made a bad play and we lost, just like that.

The execution just has to be better.[/quote]

Like I said, of course the defense didn't play well. And I know there's no convincing you, but there has to be a point where the offense just wins the game when given the chance. You can't rely on the defense at the end of the game to hold the other team, especially the way they were playing yesterday.

I think the expectation for the offense to just score enough points to get by and let the defense win the game is bullshit. For all the yards and points the offense scored yesterday - it doesn't mean shit until it can actually win a damn game. The frustation comes from patiently waiting half of a season without seeing that.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

Of course the redskins are playing to win, but they just don't have (and I know it's an old cliche, but true) enough heart at the end, specifically the offense. An offense without heart at the end of a close game is a liability.

And I know I shouldn't be sticking up for a defense that allowed McNabb and Westbrook to burn them, but at least they made a big play(McNabb's fumble) near the end of the game and have been making big plays all season.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

[QUOTE=warriorzpath;377277]I think the expectation for the offense to just score enough points to get by and let the defense win the game is bullshit. For all the yards and points the offense scored yesterday - it doesn't mean shit until it can actually win a damn game. The frustation comes from patiently waiting half of a season without seeing that.[/QUOTE]

We scored 25 points yesterday. There are only 5 teams in the entire NFL who average more than that per game. If you can't win with 25 points, it's DEFINITELY the defense's fault. No question.

For the record, I voted Penalties. I disagree with other posters who said, "its part of the game." In my opinion, there is never an excuse for a penalty.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

[quote=GhettoDogAllStars;377316]We scored 25 points yesterday. There are only 5 teams in the entire NFL who average more than that per game. If you can't win with 25 points, it's DEFINITELY the defense's fault. No question.

For the record, I voted Penalties. I disagree with other posters who said, "its part of the game." In my opinion, there is never an excuse for a penalty.[/quote]

It's so black and white with some of the fans. The defense have stepped up, made big plays, and won games this season- that's something I can't say about the offense. The offense have actually lost at least one game for the redskins. So the offense puts up so-so number of points, so what.. it's not the first team to 25 that wins the game.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

Two words here:

Time - - - Management


After wasting two timeouts to prevent delay of game penalties - - in THEIR OWN STADIUM - - the braintrust on the sidelines decided to spend the last timeout challenging a call that was so obviously not going to be overturned. Who was up in the booth looking at replays telling Joe Gibbs to toss that red flag on the field? Stevie Wonder?

All the options presented here contributed to this embarrassing - and unnecesssary - loss. But you have to add Time Management to the equation too.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

A lot of the big plays that the defense gave up were the penalties.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

[QUOTE=warriorzpath;377321]It's so black and white with some of the fans. The defense have stepped up, made big plays, and won games this season- that's something I can't say about the offense. The offense have actually lost at least one game for the redskins. So the offense puts up so-so number of points, so what.. it's not first to 25 that wins.[/QUOTE]

I'm talking about yesterday -- not the other previous games we played. Yesterday's loss was totally on the defense.

You call 25 points, "so-so," but there are only 5 teams out of 32 who average more than that per game. That is 15% of the league. The Redskins have to produce more than 85% of the league on offensive in order to be better than "so-so"?

You're right, it's not first to 25 that wins. However, you are saying more points would win. So, is it first to 35 that wins? Bottomline: if you can't win with 25 points, your defense isn't doing it's job -- [B]for that game[/B]. Don't bring up the other games where the defense played well, in an effort to blame the offense for yesterday's loss.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

We lost to the Eagles simply because the coaches are so indecisive that it's pitiful, and not coming up with quick decisions gets transferred onto the playing field. I don't see a logical game plan after the first half of any game, and this has been going on for four years. Gibbs needs to be called on the carpet and held accountable. Gibbs is a nice guy, but he's not the same person who coached the Redskins to three Superbowl wins.

Re: The main reason the Skins lost to the Eagles?
 

[quote=GhettoDogAllStars;377328]I'm talking about yesterday -- not the other previous games we played. Yesterday's loss was totally on the defense.

You call 25 points, "so-so," but there are only 5 teams out of 32 who average more than that per game. That is 15% of the league. The Redskins have to produce more than 85% of the league on offensive in order to be better than "so-so"?

You're right, it's not first to 25 that wins. However, you are saying more points would win. So, is it first to 35 that wins? Bottomline: if you can't win with 25 points, your defense isn't doing it's job -- [B]for that game[/B]. Don't bring up the other games where the defense played well, in an effort to blame the offense for yesterday's loss.[/quote]

Whatever, the offense doesn't play their plays in a vacuum - and the same for the defense. I don't want a math formula to figure out games. All I know was the offense had 2 chances at the end to win the game and didn't. There were already a few times this season that the defense stepped up - even in this game with the forced fumble. How do you throw a defense like that under the proverbial bus?

The expectations for the offense are so low and the defense too high. It's time for the offense to step up.