Vincent Orange, fighting Kwame Brown for Gray’s seat, went with a smaller Cadillac SUV than his competitor. What, he couldn’t afford an orange paint job?

After the ‘Skins’ win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 15, fans knew that their team was capable of winning without Robert Griffin III. Rookie quarterback Kirk Cousins filled in admirably for RGIII, leading the ‘Skins to the top of the NFC East, with renewed hopes of taking the division title for the first time since 1999. Whether these hopes will be realized depend on how the team fares against two divisional opponents to finish out the season.

First up, the Philadelphia Eagles. What to say of the Eagles? Never mind the Mayan calendar, the Eagles’ season has been the real apocalypse. First Mitt Romney, now Eagles coach Andy Reid; there haven’t been public floggings of Mormons as bad as this since 1846. Reid will be voted in the 2012 yearbook as “Most Likely to Be Fired.” Lincoln Financial Field was going to get ugly for this match.

‘Skins coach Mike Shanahan tried to be coy about who would start at quarterback last week against the Browns. This week, he made it as clear as he could given the circumstances. Griffin would start, “unless something crazy happened”.

Now 28th in the league in yards allowed, this game was a perfect opportunity for the Washington defense to redeem itself. This opportunity was squandered on the first drive. Rookie quarterback Nick Foles led the Eagles to the end zone in eleven plays, the first strike in what eventually became 411 yards the ‘Skins’ defense surrendered over the course of this game. That’s not to say there weren’t playmakers. The ageless linebacker London Fletcher snagged an interception. The younger linebacker Ryan Kerrigan was perhaps the star of this game, with two sacks and a forced fumble.

But what about the big question? How did Griffin look returning from injury? Wearing a knee brace, Griffin ran the ball twice for four yards. He performed a little better in the air, completing 16 of his 24 pass attempts for 198 yards. He threw one interception and two touchdowns. He moved gingerly throughout, but the cautious approach was a welcome one for the fans weary of seeing their star rookie quarterback with medical staff on the sideline.

After their first initial successful drive, the Eagles demonstrated what brought them 10 losses so far this season: raw ineptitude. The fumble Kerrigan induced led to a Kai Forbath field goal. The Eagles responded with a three-and-out punt, leading to another kick from Forbath. Fletcher’s interception gave way to a couple long strides from rookie rusher Alfred Morris and passes from Griffin en route to the ‘Skins’ first touchdown of the day. The ‘Skins entered halftime with a 13-10 lead.

With another 91 yards yesterday, Morris now ranks fourth in franchise history for rushing yards in a season. He led off the second half with a rushing touchdown. But just when the game was looking like it would be a blow-out, the ‘Skins defense did everything it could to let the Eagles claw their way back into a close game.

Down 27-20, Foles was given the chance to drive his team to the 5-yard line. With eight seconds left in the game, he rolled off to his left. Under duress, he threw the ball away. Unfortunately for the Iggles, Foles’ lob didn’t even make it back to the line of scrimmage. With the referees’ intentional grounding penalty including a 10-second clock runoff, the birds were as good as cooked.

With their win against the Eagles, the ‘Skins now look to clinch their first division title since 1999 at home next Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.

Filed Under: alfred morris, andy reid, london fletcher, philadelphia eagles, Robert Griffin III, washington 'skins,