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Matchup Breakdown: Redskins vs. Eagles

Today, we look at the 12 key head to head matchups between the Philadelphia Eagles, and your Washington Redskins.

For the last half decade, this rivalry always seems to produce good games. The Redskins and Eagles are 3-3 against each other since 2005. Let’s take a preview at what will happen when these NFC East teams meet again this season.

Matchup #1: Jason Campbell vs. Asante Samuel, Sheldon Brown, and Lito Sheppard

Philadelphia has always made finding quality corners a staple of their defense; and when a defense likes to attack as much as Philadelphia’s does, the corners will have their work cut out for them. That’s why, despite having two above average cornerbacks, the Eagles went into the offseason looking to upgrade at the CB position, and they did just that, making Asante Samuel their new 60 million dollar man.

With Samuel on board, the Eagles openly shopped Lito Sheppard to see if they could get good value for him. When no one bit, the Eagles announced they would be keeping Sheppard. Naturally, Lito was a bit more than a little pissed off about the whole ordeal, but it’s in the past and Sheppard will have every shot to win the No. 2 CB job in camp.

Anyway, any of these three guys could start for any NFC team, and though Samuel is probably a bit overrated–maybe not worth 9.5 million a year–, his defensive metrics are still impressive. This is a big edge to the Eagles.

Matchup #2: Donovan McNabb vs. Shawn Springs, Fred Smoot, and Carlos Rogers

Springs, Smoot, and Rogers probably aren’t going to be quite the trio they were last season, but to say Donovan McNabb struggled against this Redskins CB trio might be the understatement of the year. In the Week Two matchup in Philadelphia, a 20-12 Redskins victory, McNabb threw a season high 46 times for only 240 yards of offense (5.2 Y/A)

McNabb was much better the second time around, even when you subtract the game winning screen pass that Brian Westbrook turned into a 48 yd TD pass. Of course, that was a Redskins team that was without Carlos Rogers and Sean Taylor in the second half of that one.

Slight edge to the Redskins, but a push in September without Rogers.

Matchup #3: Clinton Portis vs. Omar Gaither, Stewart Bradley, and Chris Gocong

From top to bottom, the Eagles build their team as thorough as any other in the NFL. However, one position where they might trust their scouting department to a fault is at the linebacker position. A year ago, they released run stuffer Jeremiah Trotter, a liability vs. the pass after they acquired playmaking LB Takeo Spikes from Buffalo via trade. The post-Trotter results were predictable: the Eagles LB’s improved vs. the pass, and struggled at times vs. the run.

This offseason, Spikes was kicked to the curb. He’ll be replaced by 2006 3rd rounder Chris Gocong, a college DE making the transition to LB at the next level. The Eagles are hoping that Gocong can fill the hole at OLB, but because of his limited experience covering TEs (more on this later) and slot receivers, the Eagles must be confident he can handle himself against the run.

Either way, these linebackers, Gocong, Bradley, and Omar Gaither, probably won’t be able to handle a healthy Clinton Portis. Advantage Redskins.

Matchup #4: Brian Westbrook vs. Marcus Washington, London Fletcher, and Rocky McIntosh

For the last two years, the best running back in the NFC has not been Clinton Portis, Steven Jackson, Frank Gore, Adrian Peterson, or Marion Barber. No, the best running back in the NFC, by yards per play (rush and receiving) is Brian Westbrook, and it isn’t even close. Put simply, Westbrook is capable of all the accomplishments of LaDainian Tomlinson, should he inherit a similar workload.

The Redskins have little depth after their first three LBs, so there could be a matchup issue here if someone gets hurt. As it stands, the Redskins LBs are among the best in the NFL when healthy, but you can only contain Brian Westbrook for so long…as the Redskins found out last November, the guy will beat you when you least expect it.

Advantage Eagles.

Matchup #5: Santana Moss, Malcolm Kelly, and Antwaan Randle El vs. Brian Dawkins and Quentin Mikell

Since Jason Campbell took over at Quarterback for Mark Brunell, one of the biggest area’s where the Redskins have struggled is picking up yards after the catch. Campbell hasn’t yet learned to lead his receivers into the best possible spots to pick up yardage after the catch.

Meanwhile, the Eagles have one of the very best at preventing big plays in Brian Dawkins, who even now well into his thirties, figures to be the sideline to sideline threat the Eagles need in their secondary. The Eagles issue here is the other safety, Mikell is the starter because Sean Considine played his way out of the starting job. The Eagles aren’t going to put a lot of resources into finding a guy to play with Dawkins: they’ll save them to find Dawkins’ eventual replacement, but they did draft Quentin Demps from UTEP to help the issue.

Moss and Randle El don’t receive enough credit for their ability to turn medium passes into long gains, but against the Eagles, those gains never seem to be there to be had.

This one is a very small advantage to the Eagles.

Matchup #6: Kevin Curtis, Reggie Brown, and Hank Baskett vs. LaRon Landry and Reed Doughty

For the casual Redskins fan, this appears to be a decisive advantage for the Redskins. A lot of casual fans don’t even know who Kevin Curtis, or Reggie Brown are.

A look deeper shows that Kevin Curtis has been a legitimate number one NFL receiver for the last three years now. He’s got run after the catch ability, and gets open pretty well. Last year, one of Reggie Brown’s closest statistical compatibles based on his first two NFL seasons was some dude named “Terrell Owens”. Brown didn’t break out last year, but he figures to continue his development.

Still, LaRon Landry is a budding superstar, and Reed Doughty is a hard nosed safety who figures to make his biggest impact against a west coast offense like the one Andy Reid runs in Philly, so the advantage goes to the Redskins here.

Matchup #7: Chris Cooley and Mike Sellers vs. Bradley, Gaither, and Mikell

Um, right. As I alluded to above, I don’t think the most diehard of Eagles fans would argue that they have the edge here. This one isn’t close.

Matchup # 8: LJ Smith and Kris Wilson vs. Washington, Fletcher, and Doughty

When the Eagles come out in two TE sets, the Redskins probably don’t have the personnel to match up with them. Rocky McIntosh is athletic enough to cover NFL TE’s, but he’s playing on the weakside. Certainly, you’d have to think that Marcus Washington can hold his own against LJ Smith, but TEs on LBs are supposed to be mismatches. Reed Doughty probably isn’t good enough to handle a TE one on one.

Thusly, the Eagles earn a small advantage here with the Kris Wilson signing, even though the Redskins seem to be able to contain Smith historically.

Matchup #9: Randy Thomas vs. Mike Patterson

Patterson is on the smaller side, and though he hasn’t been a bust of a pick thus far (he was once a first round selection, albiet right at the end of the first), the Eagles were probably hoping for a little bit more with his selection.

Thomas is aging, but when he’s healthy he’s one of the top right guards in the game. He can handle Patterson in most isolated situations.

Advantage Redskins.

Matchup #10: Shawn Andrews vs. Cornelius Griffin

Though Cornelius Griffin is still a top lineman when healthy, Andrews is a top lineman — always. He’s a perennial pro bowler for good reason, was a top draft pick back in 2005, and is the leader-to-be of the Eagles offensive line. Big edge for the Eagles.

Matchup #11: Chris Samuels and Jon Jansen vs. Trent Cole, Darren Howard, and Chris Clemons

All Clemons has done since 2005 is play very well for the Redskins, get injured and released, and sack the passer eight times last year for the Raiders. The Eagles signed him to bolster their pass rush, and he should do just that. At this point in Darren Howard’s career, the K-State product is pretty much a situational run stopping end. Cole has been a very good player for the Eagles, registering 12.5 sacks a year ago.

This is a pretty fierce pass rushing group for the Eagles, but Chris Samuels is one of the top tackles in the game, and with Orlando Pace and Walter Jones on the retirement bubble and Jon Ogden hanging it up, I could make a solid case for Samuels being the best lineman in the game today. When Jon Jansen is on the field he gives the Redskins an excellent bookend at the tackles and an advantage against even the fierce Eagles rush. Small edge to the Redskins.

Matchup #12: Tra (formerly William (formerly Tra)) Thomas and Jon Runyan vs. Andre Carter and Phillip Daniels

Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan may be just as old as the Redskins’ top Tackles, and they are also probably just as good. Whatever advantage Samuels has over Thomas is probably covered by Runyan over Jansen.

The difference here is that Cole and Clemons are probably a bigger pass rushing threat than Carter and Daniels. If Cole had a career year last year at 12.5 sacks, then Carter certainly did under the same logic at 10.5 sacks. Daniels might be able to pressure quarterbacks, but he certainly can’t get to them like Clemons can.

Solid advantage for the Eagles here.

Redskins/Eagles Final Verdict

Whereas the Redskins and Cowboys are close in skill, with the Cowboys have the slight edge, the Redskins are giving a talent edge to the Eagles at a great many matchups. When the Redskins have an edge, it seemed to always be a close call for me (save Cooley). But when I was doing a matchup and the Eagles got the edge, I just imagined how the Redskins could really struggle in the real game against the Eagles.

For these reasons, I have to think the Redskins are going to struggle more against the Eagles this year than the 3-3 record over the last three seasons would indicate. Does this mean I’m picking the Eagles to sweep the Redskins? Not necessarily. I would be very surprised if the Redskins swept the Eagles however, compared to only being mildly surprise if the Eagles swept the Redskins.

I do think the most likely outcome is a split: but when is that not true? What’s clear through this breakdown is not that the Redskins are totally overmatched and don’t belong on the same field as the Philadelphia club, it’s that the Eagles, on paper, have a clear edge in June.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 at 8:53 pm and is filed under Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.