September 10, 2017
For the sixth time in seven years, the Philadelphia Eagles will start their season off at 1-0, after they went into Maryland and beat the Washington Redskins. As always, win or lose, we hand out 10 awards.
Graham has never had more than 6.5 sacks in any season, and yet, he's easily one of the best players on the team. Graham's contributions often don't show up in the stat sheet, but he is a great defensive end, both against the run and the pass. On Sunday, Graham registered two sacks, two additional tackles for loss, and the forced fumble that Fletcher Cox scooped and scored on to put the game away. Beast.
Congratulations to me, as I get to tweet this the rest of the season whenever Jernigan gets a sack.
If you have a strong stomach, you can see Darby's injury here. I personally don't want to look at it, so I'm not posting it.
The Eagles cannot afford to be without Darby, as their corners are highly suspect to begin with, and they gave up the high price of Jordan Matthews and a third-round pick to acquire him.
Early reports are that Darby did not suffer any broken bones, as it's merely a dislocation. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, he'll have an MRI to see if there is any tendon or ligament damage.
Sources: #Eagles CB Ronald Darby has suffered a dislocated right ankle. X-Rays were negative. MRI to check for ligament & tendon damage.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 10, 2017
If there isn't tendon or ligament damage (it's hard to imagine there isn't), Darby could conceivably return and play this season.
Peters tried to play through a groin injury in the second half, but could not go. Peters said he'll play next week in Kansas City, although it should be noted that players always project quick recoveries. We'll see.
That was a hell of a clutch punt with under seven minutes to play that Donnie placed on the one-yard line. Donnie J'owns.
Mills had his first career interception, and played well for most of the day. Wag it proudly, Jalen.
Wentz had good moments and bad today, but one thing that is undeniable is that he is capable of making really impressive plays.
Alshon Jeffery (and many others) compared Wentz to Aaron Rodgers on this play.
— Matt Mullin (@matt_mullin) September 10, 2017
But it immediately reminded me of this @donovanjmcnabb play: pic.twitter.com/HpcluKNNgR
The Eagles lost five straight to the Redskins before finally taking care of business on Sunday. Two of those losses came because the Eagles could not stop Redskins game-winning drives with under two minutes to go. This time around the defense made a huge play and ended it.
It seemed (to me, anyway) that the Brandon Graham sack/fumble was going to be overturned. In fact, even the Eagles themselves thought it would be overturned, as they kept their defense on the field while somebody in New York reviewed the play. As it turned out, the play stood as called, which put the game out of reach.
Fletcher Cox thought his own touchdown would be overturned: https://t.co/ZSpn6gD0Y1 pic.twitter.com/wgWWoW88O5
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) September 10, 2017
The Eagles were on the wrong end of a lot of bad calls throughout the day, but that one more than made up for it.
Doug did not coach a great game against the Redskins, but he had to feel great getting a win after facing harsh scrutiny all week that kind of came from out of nowhere. After the game, he was treated to a Gatorade bath from his players. Soak up the W, Doug...
...but also coach better.
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