Five reasons why the Eagles lost to the Redskins
WHO'LL STOP THE RUN?
Last week, the Lions gashed the Eagles for 77 first-half rushing yards. Jim Schwartz made a few halftime adjustments and the Lions gained just three more yards on the ground the rest of the game.
On Sunday, Schwartz wasn't able to fix his unit's problems against the run. A Redskins offense that had been averaging just 19 carries and 86.4 rushing yards per game, rushed for 230 yards against the Eagles.
The Eagles were repeatedly victimized by their own aggressiveness. They overpursued. They didn't stay in their gaps. And yes, quite often, they just got their butts kicked by the Redskins' offensive line.
A second-quarter groin injury to defensive tackle Bennie Logan didn't help. But the Eagles already were struggling against the run before Logan got hurt.
The Redskins had seven runs of 10 yards or more, including a 45-yarder by Robert Kelley that helped give them an early 14-0 lead, and a 57-yarder through the right side of the Eagles' defense on third-and-seven with a minute-and-a-half left that killed any chance of an Eagles comeback.
3RD AND UNMANAGEABLE
The Eagles are tied for 28th in the league in third-down efficiency. They've converted just 33.3 percent of their third-down opportunities. A big reason for that is too many third-and-longs.
A league-low seven of the Eagles' 63 third-down opportunities have been three yards or less. On Sunday, eight of their 12 third-down situations were nine yards or more. They converted just 4 of 12 third-down chances against the Redskins.
The Eagles averaged just 4.6 yards per play on first down. Gained four or fewer yards on 12 of 21 first-down plays. Second down was even worse. They averaged just 1.5 yards per second-down play. Three of Carson Wentz's five sacks came on second down. That's why they were in so many third-and-longs.
FLYING FLAGS
A week after their undisciplined 14-penalty, 111-yard performance against the Lions, the Eagles drew 13 more flags for 114 more yards against the Redskins.
Center Jason Kelce was called for holding not once, but twice, giving him a league-high four already. One was on a second-and-four, the other on first down.
Fletcher Cox picked up a roughing-the-passer penalty on a third-and-four incompletion in the second quarter that would've forced the Redskins to settle for a field goal. Instead, the automatic first down opened the door for a Washington touchdown.
An illegal block by rookie running back Wendell Smallwood in the third quarter wiped out a 38-yard Carson Wentz completion to Dorial Green-Beckham that would have given the Eagles a first down at the Washington 27.
Eight-time Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters was flagged for a false start on a third-and-nine in the fourth quarter. Safety Rodney McLeod inexplicably lined up offsides on a second-and-four, giving the Redskins a first down that gave them just enough yards for a 50-yard Dustin Hopkins field goal.
And let's not forget right guard Brandon Brooks' false start on a third-and-four at the Washington 5 with just under six minutes left in the game.
MISSING LANE
It would've been a nice little story Sunday if fifth-round rookie Halapoulivaati Vaitai, with his parents in the FedEx Field stands watching, had stepped in for PED-disgraced right tackle Lane Johnson and done a bang-up job against the Redskins in his NFL debut.
But that didn't happen. Vaitai had a very rough day against Redskins linebacker Ryan Kerrigan. With the 6-6, 320-pount Vaitai surrendering ground way too easily, Kerrigan beat him for a sack on the fifth play of the game, then beat him for another sack early in the second quarter, turning a hopeful second-and-three situation into one of too many Eagles third-and-longs.
The Eagles made adjustments to help Vaitai. That worked to a certain degree. But it created other problems, both with the rest of the line and with the passing game.
One of the solutions was to keep tight end Zach Ertz in for blocking help on pass plays. That helped Vaitai. Trouble is, it took away one of Carson Wentz's most dangerous receivers.
On Sunday, Ertz, who had 13 catches against the Redskins last December, was targeted just three times and had only one catch for 22 yards.
That's the fewest receptions Ertz has had in a game since November 27, 2014 when he was shut out in that 33-10 Thanksgiving Day win over Dallas. But Ertz played just 20 snaps that day. He played 46 on Sunday.
One possible solution would've been to use more two- and three-tight end sets. But the Eagles only did that on nine of their 48 offensve plays.
They used "12'' personnel (two tight ends) five times. Ran the ball four of those times (for eight yards) and threw an incompletion on the fifth. Used "13" (three tight ends) four times. Ran it three times for 20 yards. The other one was on the Eagles' first play of the game, when Brent Celek lined up next to Vaitai. Wentz was sacked on that play.
NO RUSH
The staple of Jim Schwartz's wide-nine defense is the pass rush. The Eagles went into Sunday's game ranked second in the league in sacks per pass play. They had decked the quarterback 14 times in their first four games. That's a 56-sack pace.
But they met their match down in D.C. The Redskins have a solid, underrated offensive line that is ranked second in sacks allowed per pass play. Quarterback Kirk Cousins has been sacked just eight times in 226 attempts.
None of those eight sacks came Sunday. The Eagles' pass rushers seldom got close to Cousins. The one time they did, a frustrated Fletcher Cox drilled him late on a third-and-four play. The roughing-the-passer penalty he drew kept alive a second-quarter touchdown drive.
It was the first time in 22 games that the Eagles have failed to register at least one sack.