3 Yards and a Cloud of Dust

As a guy living on the East coast, count me as one of those who is not a fan of Monday Night Football games that include your favorite team. When I’m watching the Redskins play, it’s impossible for me to just watch casually. I am amped-up to the point where it’s almost at the same level as if I was playing in the game myself. Krissy says that I am so intense during Skins games that it actually is a little scary, and if they lose or play badly, Krissy is so sheepish (as if she had anything to do with it) that she can’t help but apologize repeatedly. All of that doesn’t bode well for me when the Skins are playing during primetime…by the time last night’s game ended it was close to midnight. I probably would have slept a little easier had they won, but losing in the fashion they did made me replay different moments throughout the game over and over in my head, and that just compounded the problem! It all adds up to a terrible night of sleep, and it has been like “Night of the Living Dead” for me at work today.

Anybody catch the game last night?

Woulda-shoulda-couldas are a dime a dozen in sports, but last night’s game really was a game the Redskins should have won. And in the great scheme of things it probably wasn’t a terrible loss (on the road against a divisional rival who is probably better than you on paper anyway). In fact, when rational Skins fans went through the regular season schedule back when the schedules were first made public for this season, most of them probably marked this game as a loss…but it was right there for the taking. Really, the Cowboys all but gift-wrapped this win and a 3-0 start for Washington. After a tough 2 game start, Dallas entered week 3 minus their best receiver in Miles Austin, and with a banged-up Dez Bryant, Felix Jones, and, most importantly, Tony Romo. Umm, along with tight end Jason Witten those are all of the Cowboys’ starting offensive skill position players. For most of the game at least, Jones showed little interest in running inside for tough yards with his dinged shoulder, and prior to a huge catch on a 3rd-and-a-mile play late in the 4th quarter, Bryant didn’t seem to get many balls thrown his way. On top of all that, Romo (who actually wasn’t roughed-up all that much from my point of view) winced in pain from his busted ribs anytime a Redskin defender even got close enough to breathe on him, and the Cowboys’ center kept trying to snap the ball to Romo when he wasn’t looking. (As it happened 3 or 4 times, it was one of the more bizarre things I can remember from watching an NFL game.)

The sad part is that I think the players actually played their butts off…well, except for “Me”-Angelo Hall, who continues to be overrated as a coverage guy, tackle like a girl, and then whined that it was his coordinator’s fault when he got beat in coverage 1-on-1.

Me-Angelo: still my least favorite Redskin of all time.

All the columns I read on ESPN.com and at The Washington Post website blamed Grossman, the offensive line’s play at the end of the game, the kicking woes, or the lack of a running game, but I didn’t read anyone blame the guy who I was cursing through the TV screen last night…Kyle Shanahan. No, the running game wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire last night. I mean, Dallas’ run D is pretty tough as it is, and it didn’t help that Hightower and Helu seemed to lose their footing on nearly every cutback they attempted. Washington finished the game with 65 rushing yards on 22 carries as a team…a little under 3 yards per carry. But that wasn’t much different than the per carry average they had against the Giants (74yards on 26 carries, 2.8 yards per clip). In that game though, the Skins controlled the clock (32:36 time of possession compared to 28:24 last night), shortened the game, and kept their defense off the field and fresh. Those couple more rushing attempts also gave the offense more manageable down and distance for the whole game, resulting in them being slightly better on 3rd down (5/14 in the opener compared to 3/12 last night) and Sexy Rexy looking better as well. Last night, Grossman threw more passes (37 to 34), completed a lower percentage (59% to 62%), and had a QB rating over 30 points lower (77.5 to 110.5) than week 1. Small differences I know, but the difference between winning and losing perhaps as well. So, the moral of the story: if you run the ball (even if you’re getting stuffed every other play), good things will happen. Even half-decent Madden players know this…why can’t a professional playcaller figure it out?

The numbers only tell half the story though, as it was the timing of the abandonment of the running game that really hurt. Midway through the 3rd quarter last night, the Skins drove 76 yards in 9 plays for their only touchdown of the game. The drive chewed up 5 and a half minutes, and 5 of the 9 plays were runs. They scored on a play action pass at the goal line to Hightower. The fast, yet smaller, Dallas defensive line seemed like they were getting worn down. The running game, which didn’t yield much in the 1st half, seemed to start taking its toll on Dallas’ D. So, what does the boy genius offensive coordinator dial up the next series (which started with about a minute left in the 3rd quarter and continued into the 4th)? 3 plays, 3 incomplete passes…3 and out. After punting the ball away, Washington’s D, which played great the whole night up to that point, forced Dallas to punt the ball back to the Redskins after a short drive stalled. This Skins drive started slightly more promising. A 1st down throw of 15 yards and then a run off tackle for 3 yards. For me, this was the first critical play of the game for the Skins. 2nd and 7…if they ran the ball again, even if they only got 2 or 3 yards, it would have set up a very makeable 3rd and 4 or 5. Instead, 2 incomplete passes…time to punt.

A young Bill Walsh you are not, sir.

After punting the ball back to Dallas, it’s clear that Washington’s D is starting to get fatigued. Everyone’s hands are on their hips. Brian Orakpo kept having to go in and out of the game to receive treatment for cramps. The offense hadn’t done the D any favors that last few drives; however, they bent but didn’t break, holding Dallas to just a field goal after a 9 play drive, and preserving the lead. The following drive also started out somewhat promising, as they used a screen pass to move the chains on 1st down, and then got another 1st down after 2 short passes. Good ol’ Kyle apparently decided to mix in 1 running play just for the heck of it, but it only gained 1 yard. This is where critical play of the game #2 happened…apparently infatuated with his ability to dial up a couple of “stupendous” passing plays in a row combined with gaining only 1 stinky yard on the 1 running play he had called in the past 6 offensive plays, Boy Genius called for another passing play. Grossman was subsequently sacked by DeMarcus Ware, lucky to have not fumbled the ball away… after failing to convert on 3rd down, it was time to punt again.

At this point, the Skins’ D is clearly gassed. After the ridiculous 3rd down conversion mentioned earlier, the D eventually yielded the go-ahead field goal. The offense still got the ball back with over 2 minutes left in the game, 2 timeouts remaining, and only needing a field goal to retake the lead...even in a hostile environment against a good defense, perfectly within the realm of possibilities. The game was effectively over after the sack-fumble of Grossman, but it never should have gotten to that point because if the Redskins had stuck to their running game in the 2nd half after it looked like it finally had started to work, they probably could have salted the game away (or at the very least allowed their D a precious few extra minutes to hit-up the oxygen masks). You could argue that it also should have never gotten to that point because the Skins botched the hold of a field goal earlier in the game and struggled to finish drives with touchdowns rather than field goals, but even after all that they had the lead at 16-9 midway through the 3rd quarter and momentum on their side. Stick to your guns, and you had the game in hand. Try to be a little too cute with your passing game, and, well…that happens. Sorry, dude…Rex Grossman is not John Elway. And that is not an indictment of Rexy in any way (I thought he played ok last night, good enough to win at least), but you (I’m talking to you Shanahan Junior) had an opportunity to put your team in the best position possible to win, and you blew it. 3-0 is a distant memory now…hello, 8-8…here we come.