Washington’s season remained in a tailspin on Monday night and the chances of pulling out of it in time to salvage a 5-2 start don’t look too good.
The Cowboys have taken over sole possession of first place in the NFC East and Washington is down to Mark Sanchez at quarterback. Sanchez signed a couple of weeks ago to back up Colt McCoy after Alex Smith broke his leg and said he had no reps with the first team before taking the field in the first half last night.
While Sanchez did take things full circle in his storied career by recovering a fumble by tucking it against his butt, it was a rough outing overall. Adrian Peterson ran for a 90-yard touchdown on his first snap, but the offense would gain just 89 yards the rest of the way in a 28-13 Eagles win.
“It was a tall task, no doubt,” Sanchez said. “But there’s no excuses to make, you just do your very best and I’m grateful for the opportunity. I was praying for an opportunity and I thank God for the opportunity, you just never want it under these circumstances. So with respect to Alex and Colt, I have to do my very best to play well, help rally this team and figure out a way to win. That’s the ultimate form of respect, I think, for those guys because your heart definitely breaks for them. They’re great competitors and great people. So you never want it under those circumstances, like I said, but you go out and you do your very best.”
Sanchez went on to say that he thinks “we’ll be just fine.” That’s sure to be a minority opinion, but Sanchez will get his chance to show he’s correct.