The Eagles made enough plays Sunday night to secure a solid 20-13 victory over the Washington Redskins. Tonight’s win ended the Eagles’ four game losing streak and closed week 6 on a positive note as the team enters their bye week.
“I’m proud of my guys — coaches and players — for the job they did,” said Eagles coach Andy Reid. “They sucked it up and played, particularly at the end. I thought our defense rallied to the ball the whole game.
“We’ve got to do a better job in the second half, offensively.”
In the second half Redskins tried to get back in the game by switching quarter backs, from starter Rex Grossman to John Beck.
Eagles safety Kurt Coleman made some big plays tonight intercepting Grossman three times.
“It was just a matter of guys getting used to a couple of things we do,” Reid said of the defensive improvement. “They’ve worked so hard at it that somewhere there it had to click for them. I think it did in the second half of our last game against Buffalo, and they just kind of built on that.”
Reid was referring to his players understanding the new defensive scheme introduced by Eagles defensive coordinator Juan Castillo.
“We played as a team. I felt like everybody was doing the job,” he continued. “We stopped the run, which is something we hadn’t been able to do all year, and that’s what really pushed them to throw the ball. We put emphasis this whole week on stopping the run, controlling the gaps and making the plays.”
Michael Vick was happy to win and recognized there is still room for improvement and believes they “absolutely” have a shot at the NFC East title.
For now Vick says, “We’re going to enjoy this victory and this bye week and start the season all over again. We definitely feel good about where we are right now. Obviously, there’s a lot of work to be done. We’re committed to getting that done.”
On the Redskins side, coach Michael Shanahan is tasked with deciding whether to start Grossman or John Beck in next week’s match against the Panthers.
When asked for his thoughts on that Shanahan said, “I would never announce that right after a game,” he said. “We’ll make a decision after looking at the film.”
“We needed a spark,” he said of the switch. “John has been practicing very well, and with four turnovers there, we thought it was time to make a change and give John an opportunity to show us what he could do.”
“I want to play,” Beck told Comcast SportsNet’s Kelli Johnson. “I want to be the quarterback. But I’m not the one that makes that decision, it’s coach, and they’ll make the best decision for the team….What’s gonna happen next, I don’t know. But I’ll just do everything I can to be prepared if my number is called.”
Grossman and Beck have had a good relationship throughout the season and Grossman said Sunday he isn’t concerned about losing his starting job just playing better football.
As we move into week 7, both the Eagles and the Redskins are focused on improving.
