The Washington Redskins’ defense can’t merely play well to provide a decent chance at winning. Given the ineffectual offense, it essentially has to be perfect.
This is not exactly a realistic expectation, especially with explosive Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson ready, willing and more than able to exploit any opportunity.
For much of their Monday night game against the Eagles at FedEx Field, the Redskins played up to their No. 7 defensive ranking in the NFL. They controlled quarterback Donovan McNabb and stifled the ground game, especially after running back Brian Westbrook left with a concussion in the first quarter.
But two big plays by Jackson, nearly half of the Eagles’ offensive production, were enough to compromise the Redskins’ scant margin of error on defense and help the Eagles to a 27-17 victory.
“Those two plays beat us, man,” cornerback DeAngelo Hall said.
Said fellow cornerback Carlos Rogers: “It’s really that simple.”
Fans anxious to see the debut of Sherm Lewis, the Redskins’ new play caller, had to wait. Washington won the toss and deferred, putting its defense immediately on the field. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but like so many things for the Redskins this season, the decision took a wrong turn.
After two runs and a short pass got the Eagles a first down, Jackson sprinted 67 yards on an end-around for a touchdown, putting Philadelphia ahead 7-0 before two minutes had elapsed.
On a single play, the Eagles gained the exact same yardage on the ground as they did during their surprising 13-9 loss to the Oakland Raiders last week. With the Redskins’ offense yet to show any life this year, which resulted in Lewis replacing coach Jim Zorn as the play caller, it was not the best of signs.
Some of the Redskins bit on a fake to Westbrook and others went with their assigned receivers, allowing Jackson to turn the corner ahead of safety LaRon Landry and Hall. All it took was a brush block by rookie receiver Jeremy Maclin on Rogers to send Jackson unthreatened to the end zone.
“I can’t say they caught us off-guard,” Rogers said. “They had the blockers for it. [Maclin] took me downfield. By the time I looked up, I saw DeSean running downfield.”
Said Hall: “It was blocked up pretty nice. We were in man-to-man coverage, as well, and they tried to run each of us off. If you want to run that play, you want to run it against man-to-man. They picked the right time.”
While the offense continued to sputtered, the defense settled down, a job made easier when Westbrook left the game. And when Washington finally scored a touchdown to make it 17-7, it appeared it might yet be a game.
But after Antwaan Randle-El muffed a punt and the Eagles kicked another field goal, Jackson struck again to put the game out of reach.
This time it was a pass. Split wide to the left, Jackson sprinted up the field, faked inside, then cut back up and got behind Rogers and late-arriving safety Chris Horton. Both appeared to be in zone coverage. Jackson was so open at about the Washington 15 that he had time to field McNabb’s airy throw like a punt, gather it in and take it to the end zone. The 57-yard play made it 27-7 late in the second quarter.
“Double move,” Rogers said. “I don’t care what you’re in, man or zone, the double move is hard to stick.”
But Horton assumed the responsibility.
“It was just one of those things where it was bad miscommunication on the back end,” he said. “I just tried to run him down once I saw he was wide open.”
Jackson’s touchdowns accounted for 124 of the Eagles’ 262 yards.
“We try to eliminate the big plays from those guys, and they had two tonight,” Horton said. “Those two definitely put us behind, but after that I thought we got refocused and finished the game a little better than we started. But we still didn’t get the ’W.’ ”
*Staff writer Tim Lemke contributed to this report.
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