Redskins at Eagles: No Cover In Cover Three

Washington Redskins (1-0) at Philadelphia Eagles (0-1)
8:30 p.m. Lincoln Financial Field
The Redskins are 1-0, so everyone in the D.C. area is happy. That doesn’t change the fact that the Redskins won a very ugly game that should never have been that ugly. Miami isn’t going to win more than six games this season, and the Skins should have been two or more scores better than them in the opener. There is no way this game should ever have reached overtime.

Let’s look at the positives first. Obviously, the Skins being 1-0 is the best thing that came out of the game. A win is a win. Shaun Suisham looks like he can be the stud kicker the Redskins have been without since the Chip Lohmiller days. Clinton Portis looks like he’s healthy (that groan you heard was from the rest of the NFC East defensive coordinators). Antwaan Randle El finally stepped up as a worthy number two receiver. The rushing defense was stout all game against a team that normally loves to run. Even the loss of Jon Jansen, which in itself is not a positive, showed that the Redskins have more depth than originally thought on the offensive line. Stephon Heyer, who I thought was a waste of a roster space a couple of weeks ago, replaced Jansen and played perfectly against one of the NFL’s best defensive front sevens. The talk around town is the start at right tackle will go to Todd Wade (who wasn’t active last week) because the coaching staff doesn’t think Heyer can duplicate his performance. I’d at least give him a chance to do so before putting Wade in at tackle.

Now for the negative. I’ll start with Jason Campbell. From the local media to the fans at the stadium to some of my friends that I work with, everyone was gushing over his game. Did I watch the same game everyone else did? He looked bad. I want a Redskin fan to write in and tell me what was so great about Campbell’s performance. He forced two passes that resulted in picks. Most of the deep passes he threw to Randle El went for big plays only because El made terrific plays on the ball. All his quick, short routes were thrown behind his receivers. He missed a wide-open Santana Moss at least twice for big gains on third down. He only looked to Chris Cooley twice the entire game. His feet were never set. He didn’t look comfortable in the pocket. He didn’t look comfortable rolling out of the pocket. He just didn’t look good. Period.

The passing defense was similar to last season’s. In fact, it looked like a carbon copy of last year’s opening game. The Skins were facing a former Redskins quarterback, who was way too old to move well, completed 10-12 yard passes all day long and was only sidetracked by numerous dropped balls. This cover three defense is not working. I know that the typical fan is quick to blame Carlos Rogers and Fred Smoot. But they’re playing exactly how they are coached to. The cover three allows the Redskins to put eight in the box by making LaRon Landry a de facto linebacker. They basically present a 4-4 defensive front to the opposition. As a result of bringing Landry up for the run, Rogers and Smoot are forced to give 10-yard cushions to their receivers because only Sean Taylor is behind them to provide some help. Teams are aware of this and are attacking with short hitch or slant passes which are picking up 10 yards a pop. Even Miami, a team that ran the ball a ton last season, a team with a 37-year-old quarterback, threw 38 passes. Most of those were short passes over the middle or out patterns to the sideline. This is where the cover three is weak, and the opposition knows it.

Against the Eagles’ West Coast Offense, the cover three really stands no chance. The very points where the cover three is weak, are the positions that the WCO was created to exploit. In other words, Gregg Williams better have a Plan B. And a good Plan B at that. Donovan McNabb and his backup dancers, when not under any pressure from a good pass rush, will pick you apart. It’s not that McNabb is anything really special. He isn’t. But somehow, year after year, this offense as a whole is better than the sum of their parts. I just don’t get it. How can an offense, with a terribly inaccurate quarterback, no receivers and a makeshift offensive line, keep putting up solid numbers (last week’s loss to Green Bay not withstanding)?

Well, as I explained here last week, the WCO covers up a lot of McNabb’s inefficiencies. The playbook calls for nickel-and-dime passes to the receivers, screens to Brian Westbrook and stretch running plays. Then after about a quarter or two of that, the offensive coordinator always seems to know when to take one or two shots downfield. And the receivers always end up wide open. This offense may not be great, but the play-calling is.

Another factor into the offensive success is all this crappy hype that follows McHernia around (despite the fact that he’s either quit on his team, or been hurt, in each of the last three seasons). All week we hear about McNabb this and McNabb that. “How great is Donovan McNabb” proclaims ESPN. If you don’t know, they’ll tell you. The defensive coordinators hear the same garbage everyone else does. It gets in their heads. They game plan for McNabb as if he’s the real threat in this offense. And he isn’t. The real key to this offense is Westbrook. I’ve said it so many times. You stop him, you stop this offense. If you put the load on McNabb, he will fail. No time was that more apparent than the Sunday Night Football game two years ago at FedEx Field. Westbrook did next to nothing. McNabb tossed two late interceptions, including one that cost the Eagles a chance to tie the game in the final minute. Not coincidently, it was one of the few times the Redskins have beaten the Eagles in the past five years.

Now, stopping Westbrook is not easy. The Eagles use him in so many ways. They love to get him around the edges on the ground and into the flats for the passing game. Again, this cover three is built so Westbrook can succeed. The cover three can stop the run and stop the deep ball (if played correctly). It can’t stop mid-range passes, short passes to the flat and pitches to the outside of the tackles. Which is all the Eagles do. They rarely run and only go deep at the opportune moment. So I beg and plead of Gregg Williams to try something else. Instead of bringing Landry up into the box, have him spy Westbrook into the flats. In past years that could create trouble, because McNabb could beat you with his legs up the middle, but he’s still nowhere near 100% following his knee surgery last year. His running ability is limited

Look, we all know that Gregg Williams isn’t going to change his scheme. He didn’t do it last year even when it became apparent to everyone but clueless Vinny Cerrato that it wasn’t working. The Redskins will have to limit big plays, and in these games with the Eagles, it always seems like they hit on at least one or two.

It will be up to the offense to put points on the board and keep up with Westbrook and company. If Campbell has another game like last week, this one won’t be close. But, if the Redskins run the ball exactly like they did against the Dolphins (41 carries compared to only 21 pass attempts…that’s what I like to see) and hit a couple of clutch passes, then this game will be interesting.

The good news is, for the third straight season, the Redskins get to play one of their toughest games early in the season and get it over and done with. The last two years they played at Dallas (on Monday Night) in week 2. Beating Miami means that this game is less crucial. Sure it’s a division game. Sure I would love nothing more than to go into Philly, in front of that disgusting fan base, and help the Eagles to a winless start. But a loss isn’t the end of the world. Last season, the Redskins were trying to avoid an 0-2 hole, in the division, on the road. This season, even if they lose, they’ll be .500, only a game out of 1st, with a home game against the Eagles later in the season and a beat up Giants team waiting for them back in Landover next week. Could certainly be a lot worse. It could be 2006.