Much has been made about how many starts Case Keenum will get for the Redskins this season, considering he has a gifted first-round rookie looming behind him on the depth chart.

Well, if Keenum is largely able to replicate how he played on Sunday against the Eagles over the coming weeks, then he won't have to worry about ceding the job to Dwayne Haskins anytime soon.

The veteran's final numbers in Week 1's loss to Philadelphia were certainly padded thanks to a late touchdown drive that didn't do much except make the 32-27 final score look a little better for Washington. Still, going 30-for-44 for 380 yards and three scores is terrific production out of the 31-year-old.

"I thought he was efficient with the ball," Jay Gruden said of Keenum after in his presser. "Made some good decisions, made some good pure progression reads, threw the ball accurately. ... I thought he played an excellent game for the first time in a Redskins jersey."

Keenum was truly dealing in the first half, orchestrating two possessions that ended in end zone trips, including one where he found Terry McLaurin for a majestic 70-yard deep ball. He was an enormous reason why the visitors jumped out to a 20-7 halftime advantage.

Unfortunately, the offense completely stalled in the third and fourth quarters, stacking three-and-outs that, when coupled with endless Eagles marches, doomed any hope for a Burgundy and Gold upset. It was quite a drop-off, and it happened because the unit stopped handling the details.

"We made some mistakes," Keenum said. "Shot ourselves in the foot, had a couple of penalties. Against this defense, just how tough they are, you can't go backwards."

Aside from those crucial errors, the second half also featured Keenum's biggest regret. No. 8 had a chance to connect with McLaurin again, as the rookie wideout got behind Philly's secondary for a second time and was primed for another game-changing TD. Unfortunately, Keenum overthrew him by a step.

"I'd like it back," he said. "I just let it go probably a hair too soon."

That was a major miss, one that very well could've revived the Redskins. Yet even with that misstep, Gruden told reporters that there was "a lot to like about the offense's performance," which is true.

Keenum not only had instant chemistry with McLaurin, he also spread the ball around to Paul Richardson, Trey Quinn, Kelvin Harmon and the team's running backs. He was aggressive in spots and located the checkdown option when needed in others. He also only took one sack.

Remember, too, he did all of that without Jordan Reed or a functional running game. Adding those two factors into Week 2's matchup with the Cowboys could lead to even more success for the signal caller.

None of that immediately mattered to Keenum, however. When asked if he was pleased with the effort "results aside" — which he, Gruden and Kevin O'Connell likely should be — he wasn't in any mood to try and find some solace.

"It's so hard for me to say, 'Results aside.' It's about winning. So, we're disappointed with that. There's some positives, and stuff we're going to learn from the film, but we've got to win. Up 17-0, we've got to win."

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