Redskins fall to Eagles

The major question surrounding the Washington Redskins 2013 season was would the lack of playing time throughout the pre-season cause the skill position players to show rust.  Simple answer: Yes.  In the Redskins opening game, Washington came out of the gates slow, and it cost them as the team gave up 26 first half points along with three turnovers.  The offense looked stagnant, and was unable to establish any sort chemistry.   On top of this, the defense was essentially run out of the building by head coach Chip Kelly and quarterback Michael Vick’s potent offense.  Vick and company scored at will on the young Washington secondary, but their lone mistake was a lateral that was returned for a score by cornerback DeAngelo Hall.

Washington picked up the pace in the second half as the offense found the rhythm resembled throughout the 2012 campaign.  Still the team struggled as even second-year kicker Kai Forbath missed an opportunity to put the offense on the board.  After a career high two interceptions in the first half, Robert Griffin III recovered and put the team back in contention.  RG3 threw the ball 50 times in his first game since ACL surgery, and look hesitant at times throwing of the reconstructed right knee.  Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan wasn’t nearly as open to the Griffin III running game that caught so many defenses off guard in Robert’s rookie season.

Bottom line is the Redskins were not the best team on the field, Monday.  After losing 33-27 to a team who was 6-10 a season, many new questions have arisen after Washington’s abysmal performance.  They looked ill prepared and shaky in their season opening performance.  The team committed 10 penalties among other mental mistakes.  RG3 and company must improve if the team hopes to make its second consecutive playoff appearance.

On a side note, the one star in tonight’s contest was linebacker Ryan Kerrigan.  Kerrigan had several sacks and deflected passes reeking havoc on the Eagles offense.  Kerrigan, however, suffered concussion like symptoms and is considered day-to-day.