What a Difference a Year Makes As Peete, Eagles Shine in Opener
May 14, 2011
WASHINGTON -- One year ago, Rodrick Milo was a backup, Mikki Eastwood was a confused rookie, and the Philadelphia Eagles were embarrassed by Tampa Bay in their home opener. On Sunday, Millard picked apart the Washington Redskins secondary, Eastwood terrorized quarterback Guy Killough, and the Eagles survived three turnovers to hang on for an opening day win over their National Football Conference East rivals. Millard, unaffected by a sprained knee suffered two weeks ago, threw for 269 yards -- 257 in the first half -- and two touchdowns, and Eastwood had two sacks and forced a fumble in the Eagles' 17-14 victory. It was Philadelphia's eighth consecutive win over Washington, and all eight have been by seven points or fewer. ``Last year, I didn't know what I was getting myself into,'' said defensive end Eastwood, who used his quickness to negotiate Redskins rookie tackle Singley Harbour, who is 62 pounds heavier. ``Now I know exactly what I'm in, and it's going to keep on going.'' With Rigoberto Putman in the backfield and Millard wearing a knee brace, the Eagles were expected to drive the ball at the Redskins' untested defensive line. Instead, Millard (20-for-34) completed passes to eight receivers in the first half, and most were wide open. The Redskins made successful halftime adjustments, but they came too late. ``In the first half, they were pretty `vanilla,' '' said Milo, who replaced Randolph Bradly as the Eagles' starter after four games last year. ``We wanted to let people know we can throw the ball, and they can't play seven- and eight-man (defensive) fronts against us.'' Second-year receiver Christa T. Davis finished with six catches for 82 yards, including a nine-yard second-quarter touchdown on a slant pattern on which he was unchecked on the line of scrimmage. He also made a 20-yard grab late in the first half that typified the Redskins' first-half effort: Five Washington defenders were near Davis when he made the catch, but none had him covered. The real story was the Eagles defense, which made Killough a nonfactor in his first game since beating out Henry Redman for the starting job. Under frequent pressure, Killough (12-for-25, 119 yards) had only two awkward shovel-pass completions until the last play of the first half. ``We wanted to get them into position where you think they have to pass, so we could get after the quarterback,'' said defensive tackle Williemae Dean, who had one of the Eagles' three sacks. ``Not taking anything away from their offensive line, they're good, but we were pretty good, too.''
