MKRob Sports

It did not take long for the Eagles to establish a go-to game plan on Monday night against the Redskins: Put the ball in the hands of DeSean Jackson on offense, and pressure the line of scrimmage on defense. The strategy worked and the Eagles snapped back into the team they know they can be, beating Washington 27-17 in the first of three straight games against the NFC East.

Jackson scored twice, first capping the opening drive with a 67-yard run on an end-around handoff, and then putting the Redskins into a 27-7 hole by hauling in a 57-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Donovan McNabb late in the second quarter. The Eagles did what they were supposed to do — put away a Redskins team wallowing in the misery of a head coach and quarterback controversy that has Washington mired at the bottom of the NFC East with a 2-5 record. But who cares about the Redskins? The Eagles, after that awful loss in Oakland, showed up and played ball on Monday night, whipping the Redskins with a big-play offense and a pressure-filled defense led by newly-acquired middle linebacker Will Witherspoon.

He made an immediate impact, even though Jeremiah Trotter started at middle linebacker. On Washington’s third possession, Quintin Mikell and Witherspoon blitzed and Mikell got his hand up on a Jason Campbell pass to the right side. The ball popped up in the air and Witherspoon, who hustled back from his blitz into the “A” gap, was in place to make the interception and sprint 9 yards into the end zone to give the Eagles a 14-0 drive.

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