This goes out to all the Philly people out there reading WMD. I don't think anyone expected this win less than we did. Not saying that we won't brag about it anyway, just saying we didn't see it coming. Anyway, here are our 2 main lessons from tonight.
Michael Vick is Still Good (when played the right way):
It's no secret the Eagles O-line is pretty horrible. Which is why last year when they were missing their Pro Bowl left tackle, Jason Peters, Mike Vick got hit a lot more than usual. And he usually gets hit a lot. So while Andy Reid's "throw downfield literally every play" strategy left him unprotected against a full pass rush on most plays, he played badly. Not really a shocker.
So Chip Kelly and his genius math brain did the logical thing and tailored an offense filled with quick passes and multiple quickly developing options. Today showed that offense will play to Vick's strengths and allow him to be a good quarterback again instead of, you know, having to drag his crushed, lifeless legs off the field after being sacked 3 times in a row.
The New Offense Tires Everyone Out:
Literally everyone. During the first half the Redskins took turns faking injuries just to give their defense a breather and actually cramping up because they couldn't keep up with the pace of the Eagles offense.
However, the second half was another story. The Eagles looked just as tired as the Redskins did in the first half which lead to general shittiness. If this team is going to have success this year, they're going to need to balance the tempo to keep the other team guessing while being able to bring 60 minutes of intensity.
1-0 Baby:
Overall, not a convincing win but an encouraging one. Both the offense and the defense played well for most of the game. They also played really really poorly for some of it as well. So we'll see which team shows up for the rest of the season, I guess.