Two guys, WR Pierre Garcon & Safety Brandon Merriweather, were back in action Sunday for the Redskins. Boy, has the Redskins missed these guys. The Redskins were playing a ‘must win’ game against the lowly Philadelphia Eagfles, losers of five straight.

The Redskins started quick versus the Eagles getting an early interception off a tipped ball on the Eagles first drive which the Redskins quickly turned into six points. It was very evident in the first half just how much of a difference Brandon Merriweather makes on our defense. The man was flying all over the field.

A little later on the Eagles next drive, Brandon Merriweather intercepted Quarterback Nick Folks. With Merriweather finally able to play, the Redskins were swarming all over the field with a renewed vigor I haven’t seen in several games. The Redskins couldn’t do much on offense in the first quarter as the Eagles has the ball for around 12:00 of the quarter.

First quarter ended 7-0 Redskins.

In the second quarter, the Eagles drove down and got a field goal. The Redskins were victimized by a couple of long screens on the drive and had trouble with the Eagles screen plays most of the game. The Redskins marched quickly down field scoring on a 49 yard bomb from RGIII to Aldrick Robinson. The Eagles couldn’t do much for the rest of the second quarter. Toward the end of the quarter, the Eagles had the ball deep in their own end when Eagles RB LeSean McCoy fumbled. The Redskins couldn’t do much with the opportunity and had to settle for a short field goal from K Kai Forbath (who hasn’t missed yet BTW).

At the end of the half, it was 17-3 Redskins.

NOTE(S): The Redskins haven’t look crisp at all in their offense in the first half most especially, coming out of the huddle. The Redskins will get the ball to start the second half but, will they be able to put the game away?

The Redskins offense had a lot of trouble starting the second half and had to punt from their deep in the own territory. On the Eagles next series, Brandon Merriweather got hurt helping to drop Eagles RB LeSean McCoy for a loss. Let’s hope that Merriweather doesn’t miss too much more time as he really is a difference maker of defense. The Eagles got another long field goal as the Redskins D stiffened a little later in the drive. The play by the Redskins D has been much better than of late. A case of Brandon Merriweather returning or are the Eagles just that bad?

On the Redskins next series, Redskins QB Robert Griffin III, on a 3rd and 15 provided much more elusiveness by gaining 23 after being flushed out of the pocket. A little while later, RGIII connected with WR Santana Moss on a 61 yard bomb made possible by a great play on the ball by Moss.

Third quarter in the books – Redskins 24 Eagles 6.

After some back and forth and some questionable play calling from Kyle Shanahan (4th and 1 pitch), the Redskins found themselves deep in the Eagles territory where RGIII connected with TE Logan Paulsen on a beautifully thrown 17 yard TD pass. Paulsen then fought his way into the end zone for the score.

Final score – Redskins 31 Eagles 6.

The Redskins looked quite out of sync on offense virtually the entire day. They also didn’t have much open down field save the throws to Robinson, Moss, Paulsen, and a nice catch by Josh Morgan over the middle. As I mentioned to my brother during the fourth quarter, much of the game was the RGIII & Alfred Morris show. The other Redskins on offense are going to need to play better if we want to beat the Giants & Cowboys.

Last but not least, STOP the penalties. How many false starts did we have on offense??

Related articles

• #PHIvsWAS: Third Quarter Thoughts (redskins.com)
• Redskins vs Cowboys: Bold Predictions, Fantasy Preview for NFL Thanksgiving 2012 (bleacherreport.com)
• Eagles vs Redskins final score: Eagles crushed 31-6 at FedEx Field (bleedinggreennation.com)