With The First Pick
Fansided

Washington Redskins: Pluses and Minuses – Week 1

By Maurice Barksdale

LANDOVER, MD - SEPTEMBER 03: A detailed view of a Washington Redskins helmet before the Washington Redskins play the Jacksonville Jaguars at FedExField on September 3, 2015 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - SEPTEMBER 03: A detailed view of a Washington Redskins helmet before the Washington Redskins play the Jacksonville Jaguars at FedExField on September 3, 2015 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Washington Redskins lost at home to the Philadelphia Eagles 30-17 in week one.  Here are the pluses and minuses from the opening week loss.

The Pluses

Zach Brown:

He was a late signing during free agent, but Washington Redskins inside linebacker Zach Brown showed he was worth it.  Brown was making plays all over the field against the Philadelphia Eagles in week one.

Registering 12 tackles and looking good against the run and blitzing as well, Brown was a difference maker.  However, Browns’ performance wasn’t enough and tackling needs to improve on defense.

Only two penalties:

The Redskins committed only two penalties for just 15 yards in the game where the Eagles committed eight penalties for 76 yards. So, this is one aspect of the game where the Redskins had the advantage.

Terrelle Pryor’s potential:

Pryor’s week 1 performance was a plus and minus in and of itself.  Yes, he had a game altering drop, but Terrelle Pryor also showed that when he finally gets in sync with quarterback Kirk Cousins, they could form an explosive combination in the Redskins passing game.

The Minuses

Offensive line play:

The Washington Redskins offensive line wasn’t very good to say the least.  While it’s true that Kirk Cousins held on to the ball too long on a few occasions, Morgan Moses looked below average in pass protection.

The running game wasn’t good as the Skins could only muster 64 yards rushing and thirty of it came from quarterback Kirk Cousins on scrambles.  So not a good look for the Redskins offense.

4 Turnovers:

This more than anything is what lost the Washington Redskins the game.  Poor pass protection ended up resulting in the two Cousins fumbles.  The typically sure handed Jamison Crowder muffed a punt and Kirk Cousins threw a horrible red zone interception in the fourth quarter.

The Redskins defense forced two turnovers themselves, which is a plus.  But when you commit four turnovers it wipes out any positives.

Too many missed tackles: 

The particularly came against Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz.  Yes, great efforts by Wentz, but if Redskins defenders could have just gotten Wentz to the ground on just a few plays it could have won them the game.

More from With the First Pick

Instead Wentz’s ability to evade sacks and turn something into nothing was the difference in the Eagles getting the win and the Redskins taking the loss.

Kirk Cousins:

This game is just more evidence that Kirk Cousins should have signed that long-term deal that the Redskins offered him.  Because the whole season he’ll be trying to justify why he deserves more.

Bad offensive line play and drop by receivers didn’t help him.  But Cousins late interception shows that while can get you a lot of yards, he’s still not a money player when the game is on the line.  Cousins got outplayed by a younger Carson Wentz.

Home/NFL News