Washington Blow Lead, Fall to Titans, 25-22
If Washington fans have a shred of playoff hope left to hold onto, it's only because after seeming to hit bottom last year, the Redskins went on an improbably winning streak and got just about everybody else who needed to lose to go ahead and do so. Having thus acquitted themselves last year, there was every hope that Washington would take the next step this season. But with only one win over a quality team so far this season and now a home loss to the awful, winless Tennessee Titans, it's pretty clear that Washington has mainly regressed since the end of last season. In their remaining games, Washington will play ten teams--nine of which have winning records--who total a scintillating combined record of 36-19.
That's not a pretty future for a team that just handed out a win to the winless.
So, just WTF is going on with the Skins? In the first place, the defensive squad has fallen from the heights they hit over the past two seasons, back when it seemed like Gregg Williams could coach up the average grandmother on Tuesday to land at least a half a sack on Sunday. There's been precious little pass rush to speak of, and Williams has been loathe to run big blitzes knowing he has guys like Mike Rumph in his defensive backfield. The return of Shawn Springs seemed to help a little--Washington recorded four sacks on the day--but not a lot: Young posted his best start as a rookie, generating numbers that were at least as good as his counterpart Brunell.
And if you've wondered where Carlos Rogers found the time to become such a good tackler this season, it's because he's had to do a whole lot more tackling. Injuries along the Washington defensive front, coupled with diminishing returns from the linebacker position, have led more and more opponents to stake their claim with their ground attack. Yesterday, Washington managed to make some dude named Travis Henry look like Gale Sayers. Washington gave up 178 yards to Travis Henry, and looked for all the world like they would have allowed Travis Morrison to gain at least a hundred.
But, Washington's defensive strategy yesterday should have been a purely academic affair. Let's not forget that at one point, Washington had a 14-3 lead on the Titans. What on earth happened? We'll point out that from the moment Washington took an eleven point lead on the Titans--who had, coming into the game, one of the worst run defenses in the league--the Washington Redskins called only fourteen running plays and handed the ball to Clinton Portis only ten times after the second quarter. Portis didn't even get to touch the ball after the game clock ticked below nine minutes. On Washington's last meaningful drive--which began with 5:19 to play, the Redskins down only three and holding two timeouts--Washington called three straight pass plays, all of which ended as incomplete passes.
Offensive guru Al Saunders was bent on leaving his stamp on the game. He called screen passes as if they were the chief means by which angels obtain wings, and the only Washingtonian who ran more reverses this week was Dennis Hastert. It was enough to remind fans precisely why this guy didn't win a whole lot of big games in Kansas City. We've heard an awful lot about Al Saunder's vaunted playbook, said to be a veritable Talmud of offensive brilliance. But the only page that's thus far put wins on the board is the one titled: "Give the ball to Clinton Portis." Maybe Portis should go to his Thursday afternoon presser dressed as "Cliff Notes."
Washington next plays Indianapolis, and if there was ever a better reason to break out a clock-eating, gut-pounding running game, playing the high-octane offense of the Saint Vitus Dancing Peyton Manning would still rank pretty highly. Washington will take their bye week the following Sunday.