Washington Redskins: Best matchup to expose vs. Eagles?

The Washington Redskins need a win in Week 13 against the Philadelphia Eagles. What’s the best matchup they should try to expose?

With the Dallas Cowboys already winning on Thursday in Week 13, the Washington Redskins suddenly find themselves completely out of first place in the NFC East. Now they’re in desperate need of a win as they face off with the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football. With that in mind, they should look for some matchups to exploit against a beaten up defense.

While the most obvious matchup might be whoever has the unlucky task of trying to defend the living mismatch in Jordan Reed, there’s actually another player that could cause major problems as well. Josh Doctson has been picking up production over the last few weeks, and Monday could be one of his best games yet.

The secondary of the Eagles is hurting. Not only has poor play been a problem, but injuries haven’t relented.  With that in mind, Doctson could see himself lined up across Sidney Jones. Due to injuries, Jones appeared in just one game last season and seven games so far this year.

In those games Jones has shown flashes explaining why the Eagles took him in the second round of the 2017 draft. He’s been exposed quite a few times as well though. Doctson on the other hand has looked better-and-better over the last few weeks. Drops seem to be less of a factor than they were earlier in the year, and with it the numbers are coming.

His last five weeks have seen Doctson catch five passes in five targets, then have back-to-back games with a touchdown. Finally, he had seven targets two weeks ago (tying an at-the-time season-high) before that was broken last week with 10 targets (six catches for 66 yards).

Despite any criticism you might have of Doctson, there’s still a reason the Redskins drafted him in the first round. He’s still 6-2 and can jump out of the stadium. He’s also only three receptions away from tying a single-season best and with the way he’s playing recently should shatter that and at least come close to his receiving yards mark.

Most importantly, Colt McCoy is the quarterback of the Redskins now. He appears confident in throwing the ball up for Doctson — or at last more confident than Alex Smith in this regard. His biggest strength is being able to out-jump and out-reach his defenders. McCoy should give him a chance to do that against an extremely weakened Eagles secondary.

In a clash between the Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles, Jordan Reed may stick out as the biggest mismatch. However, expect the Eagles to focus on him heavily. With that in mind, Josh Doctson that could be the X-factor, and a matchup the Redskins should try to exploit.