Tony McGee On Philadelphia Eagles

[Gmanc711]

Hello all,
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed all the football & food. I know I did!

My overall thoughts on the game @ Philadelphia, is that it is another game in which the Redskins should have won, which is now two weeks in a row. They played well enough to win, but also did enough to lose. In terms of the actual game play, I thought they were really good, and the last two games are games that they had and let slip away. Furthermore, with the way the NFC East is shaking out right now, those two games would have had the Redskins right back in the thick of things in the NFC East. However, now at 3-8 the season is really over. I do like how the Redskins have played overall since halftime of the Atlanta game.

Who has impressed me the most out of our young players the last few weeks?

Brian Orakpo has impressed me all year long. That’s not much of a surprise with the accolades that he had coming out of Texas, he has made a big impact this year, and out of the young talent he is the most impressive. This is a guy who could be a guy who terrorizes defenses for years to come. Looking, however at some of the more unusual suspects, I think Fred Davis is really sticking out as a guy who has come along. While I think Kelly & Thomas have looked much better the past couple of weeks, Fred Davis has become Jason Campbell’s go to guy with the absence of Chris Cooley. I still would like to see more of Marko Mitchell on the field, but when you have these young, HUNGRY guys on the field, you can just see a major difference in the tempo of the Redskins.

Why is it that the Redskins can’t hang onto a lead in the 4th quarter?

Well even when they were down 8 points, you didn’t really have a great feeling about the game. Once they had the interception and settled for three points with the chance to put the game away, you began to have a low feeling about the game. I’d be surprised if some of that doesn’t ring down on the players as well, in a “here we go again” type sense. The only way they’ll break that stigma is to bring a good lead into the fourth and then put a team away. I wonder if it’s just the general feeling of wanting to hang on and win, instead of going out and forcing a win which is the problem. That is something we’ve seen regularly the last 6 seasons.

Thoughts on play-calling including the amount of screens we ran?

Looking at the play calling overall, I think that the Skins’ have become a little bit more innovative the last 4-5 games, and they’re definitely headed in the right direction overall in that department. Again, they’re working with a very make-shift offensive line and have injuries all over the place, so they only have so much to work with. In terms of the amount of screens they run…I wouldn’t say I have a problem with it, I dislike the WR screen more then the ones they have tried to set up for the running backs. Anytime something doesn’t work, it will be scrutinized, but with the amount of time Jason Campbell has at certain points in the game, sometimes it’s the way to go to take advantage of the pass rush.

What do I think of Edwin Williams at guard?

I actually like him as a player, but his size might hold him back overall. I think they’re going to go back to Mike Williams this week at guard, so we’ll see if he improves over how E. Williams did. However, I saw Edwin Williams out there scraping and really putting fourth a solid effort. However, he is a little bit of a smaller guy on the football field, which is something that opponents can take advantage of with certain matchups, but overall I thought he played well.

What’s my grade of the defense without Albert Haynesworth?

I’d say it’s a C – C+. They have given up some big runs up the middle, but I think overall the problems on the defense are in the secondary. It’s a really weird situation, because I still believe that they are ranked #1 in the league against the pass, but I just don’t think they’ve played well. They miss too many assignments and give up too many big plays. If they don’t give up the big plays, they likely would have swept the Eagles this year, but because of the big plays that were given up, the Eagles swept the Redskins.

I said a few weeks ago I thought the Saints were going to be a team that tailed off and would start to struggle, but that opinion is now null and void. They played a great game last week against New England, one of the biggest wins in that franchises history. I still think the possibility of an upset is there for the Redskins, but they are going to have to play a nearly perfect game to have a chance, and will probably need a little help from the Saints.

Thanks Everyone, I’ll talk to everyone next week.

-Tony

[GMScud]

Nice. I agree with his thoughts on Edwin Williams. Love that he's a local product, love his fire and work ethic. I think Edwin, much like some other players getting time due to injury, is getting good experience for the future. It's important to have guys on your depth chart that have started some games. But moving forward I don't think he's much more than a backup for us.

[tryfuhl]

Thanks again Tony! I definitely have to agree about the offense improving and the defense "regressing" without big Al in there.

[53Fan]

Originally Posted by tryfuhl

Thanks again Tony! I definitely have to agree about the offense improving and the defense "regressing" without big Al in there.

No doubt. Haynesworth makes a HUGE difference. (No pun intended). The young guys on offense have added some spirit and fight. Just what this team needs. Thanks Tony!

[mlmdub130]

isn't edwin williams true position center? maybe i'm wo=rong but i thought thats what he played at md so if he moved to center size wouldn't be as much of an issue

[53Fan]

Yup. He played center.