What The Redskins Have To Do To Beat The Eagles

The Washington Redskins have finally won back to back games for the first time this year and now have a .500 record. The crazy thing is, they lead the division with a 7-7 record. The NFC East really is a bad division. However, they haven't clinched a playoff spot yet. The Giants and Eagles are both only one game behind. This weekend, the Skins play the Philadelphia Eagles, a division rival. A win would clinch the playoffs for the Skins. A loss would make things a lot more interesting in this crazy division. I am going to tell you three things that the Skins have to do to get a win this weekend against the Eagles.

1. The Washington defense has been playing well, making plays, sacking the opposing quarterback, but also giving up big plays. For example, last week against the Bills, they gave up a 60 yard rush for a touchdown. The week before they gave up a 50 yard pass to Alshon Jeffery that put the Bears into field goal range. And this week, the Eagles offense could cause a lot of trouble for the Skins on defense. They have a bunch of weapons like Jordan Mathews and Ryan Mathews in the backfield. In special teams, the Eagles have Darren Sproles, the return specialist, who could give them big plays. The Skins defense can't give up big plays.

2. On offense, Kirk Cousins and the Skins are on fire. In two straight games, Kirk Cousins has thrown for 300 or more passing yards and his turnovers have been going down. If he can play the way he has been playing in the last couple games, the Redskins could take this game easily.

3. Also on offense, Kirk Cousins has to get the ball to his play makers. For example, Desean Jackson, Jordan Reed, and Pierre Garcon. The Eagles secondary won't be able to handle all of those elite play makers. I also suggest that the Skins run the ball a number of times too. The Eagles give up a lot of rushing yards to opposing teams. So, fantasy owners, if you don't have them already, find Alfred Morris or Matt Jones on waivers.

Are The Washington Redskins a Playoff Team?

After beating the Chicago Bears on the road, 24-21, the question remains the same. Are the Washington Redskins a playoff team? That question depends on what you think about the Skins if you want an answer. It mostly all depends on Kirk Cousins and if he plays efficient or not. It also depends on if their defense gives up big plays. It also depends on if they are playing on the road or at home. Two out of the three upcoming games for them are on the road so that is not good. But I have seen improvement by Kirk Cousins on the road and he has been progressing.                                           

 Most people aren't giving the Skins nearly as much credit as they should be getting. They have had to handle a bunch of adversity with some devastating losses. One of those kinds of games was a 19-16 loss against the Dallas Cowboys. The game after that they played the Bears on the road and to everybody's surprise, they beat them, 24-21. 

Like a couple of other teams, the Skins just have to keep finishing off games. They almost got too careless when they played the Bears but got lucky when Robbie Gould missed a 50 yard field  goal late in the game that would have tied it up. 

If you're keeping track of who has the easiest schedule, for the last three games to tell you who would make the playoffs in the NFC East, the Skins would be the winner in that category. All of there upcoming games are winnable. Here is their schedule [ the Skins are 6-7 right now ] :

Week 15: Bills

Week 16: Eagles

Week 17: Cowboys

Here is the Eagles Schedule [ they are 6-7 right now] : 

Week 15: Cardinals

Week 16: Redskins

Week 17: Giants

Here is the Giants schedule [ they are 6-7 right now ] :

Week 15: Panthers

Week 16: Vikings

Week 17: Eagles

Here is the Cowboys schedule [ they are 4-9 right now ] 

Week 15: Jets 

Week 16: Bills

Week 17: Redskins

Redskins vs Bears Post Game Analysis

Coming into this game, the Redskins weren't sure if they could win a game on the road. But they ended up making a statement and beating the Chicago Bears on the road. I'm going to tell you what they did well, and what they need to improve on.

Kirk Cousins did a good job of protecting the ball overall. He did throw one interception, but that wasn't entirely his fault. Cousins probably didn't see Kyle Fuller and Fuller made a good play. Other than that, Cousins played a pretty good game. He threw for 300 yards, a passing touchdown and running touchdown, and of course the interception. He also had one pass where he was scrambling around and it looked like his pass was initially intended for Jordan Reed but bounced out of his hands and into the hands of running back Matt Jones. 

The Skins defense played pretty well overall but gave up some big plays that put them in a bad position. One of them was late in the game when Jay Cutler threw a 50 yard pass to Alshon Jeffery that put them in position to kick the 50 yard field goal that they missed. The Redskins secondary has to stop giving up huge plays because their playing the Bills next weekend and they can't afford to give up big plays to Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins. Also, DeAngelo Hall needs to work on his coverage. A couple times he left Alshon Jeffery and Zach Miller wide open. 

3 Things The Redskins Have To Do To Get a Win

The Washington Redskins are 5-7. They could have easily had a much better record if they had won a bunch of games that they were leading in until late in games. They're still at the top of the division but only by a tiebreaker. So they basically have to win this game. Here are three things that they will have to do.

1. The Skins have to run the ball efficiently. There last few games their running game hasn't been that efficient. Matt Jones is improving with his fumbling issue but Alfred Morris is not getting involved at all. A lot of the pressure is going to Kirk Cousins who is playing well but you shouldn't have to rely on him only.

2. Secondly, the Skins defense has to stay at it's best like they were against Dallas causing three turnovers all being fumbles. Today they are going to be facing Jay Cutler and the Bears offense with a bunch of guys to worry about like both running backs Jeremy Langford and Matt Forte.

3. Lastly, Desean Jackson has to get involved more. I don't know how many times I saw Desean Jackson wide open and Kirk Cousins didn't pass the ball to him. He is the best play maker on the team. Kirk Cousins has to throw the ball to him.

If the Skins do all those things, they can easily get a win. The only thing standing in their way is themselves.