Riverboat Ron Turns Darkness Into Light in a Week 1 Upset of the Philadelphia Eagles

A beautiful day for football started more like a storm that brings tornado warnings with it.

The Washington Football Team was giving up big plays to tight end Dallas Goedert and Zach Ertz over the middle. Both tight ends combined for 70 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns on 6 receptions. Wide receiver Jalen Reagor showed off his explosive speed on a 3rd-and-22 play, reeling in a 55-yard reception against cornerback Ronald Darby.

The pass rush showed up with Ryan Kerrigan leading the way in the first half with his franchise tying 91st career sack. But not much else was working. Washington’s defense seemed undisciplined, leading to 4 penalties for 40 yards. Busted coverages and bad communication didn’t help either.

Washington’s offensive line was inconsistent and was missing for most of the first half, not allowing quarterback Dwayne Haskins to have time to set his feet. Passes were going high, bouncing into the ground, and just not good.

Then Fabian Moreau happened.

Starting in place of the injured Kendall Fuller, Moreau jumped a route and picked off Carson Wentz with 1:37 left in the first half. The offense went into hurry up mode and capitalized. Dwayne Haskins connected with tight end Logan Thomas to put Washington on the board, down 17-7, and inject some life into the team heading into halftime.

Second half adjustments are not something that Washington fans are used to seeing. Under a Jay Gruden coached team, this would have been a 35-7 Eagles win. Not under Riverboat Ron Rivera.

Then the ominous skies started to change, and the tornado warning lifted.

HOT READ: Washington Wins in Rivera & Chase Young's Debut

On the Eagles' first play of their second drive of the second half, Jimmy Moreland jumped the route and picked off Wentz and returned it to Philadelphia’s 20-yard line.

The offensive line started to find itself and Dwayne Haskins got more comfortable, leading to a Peyton Barber one-yard touchdown run. And Washington never looked back. Haskins started to spread the ball around more, finding wide receiver Dontrelle Inman, tight end Logan Thomas, and wide receiver Terry McLaurin on various routes. Mixing things up and keeping the Eagles defense off balance was the objective in the second half.

After starting 3 for 12, Haskins' final line was 17 for 31 for 178 passing yards and one passing touchdown. Haskins also added 17 yards rushing on 7 carries.

Rivera made sure that his team took advantage of the momentum by going for it on a 4th and 1 with 7:26 left in the 4th quarter on Philadelphia’s 4-yard line. Barber rushing to the right side instead of up the middle kept the drive going and led to him finishing it off with his second touchdown two plays later.

Washington’s defense kept the pressure on. Kerrigan continued to lead the way and broke Dexter Manley’s franchise sack record while Chase Young, Matt Ioannidis, and company were pit bulls with their ears pinned back. And they smelled blood. The secondary did what was needed to not let receivers get behind them and stay in the hip pockets of everyone that went out on a route.

Washington’s defense finished with eight team sacks and 14 quarterback hits. It is clear that until the offense can be more consistent, the defense will have to keep them in it. Something that we anticipated coming into 2020.

Now with his first win under his belt, and the first home opener win in five years, Ron Rivera and company look ahead to Arizona next week. And it will be clear skies for at least this week.

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Alan Lepore joins "Washington Football" on SI.com, while still doing outstanding work as an editor/writer at FullPressCoverage.com or @FPC_Redskins. You can follow him on Twitter @AlanLepore or on instagram @leporealan. Alan is a Villanova University MPA Nonprofit Management candidate and is a fundraising/development professional.