Game Recap: Redskins Over Dallas, 20-17
October 22, 2018
by Sean Conte
The Redskins beat the Cowboys on Sunday in a game that never should have been as close as it was. I’m grateful for the victory and a little resentful over the stress it put on my heart. But I’ve also gotten used to this feeling.
Through seven weeks, the Redskins have shown a tendency to serve a side dish of “bad” in even their best performances, and this was no different. On the one hand, the Redskins played with a lead for the entire game. On the other hand, they stubbornly let Dallas hang around and gain nearly enough late-game momentum to steal the game. On the one hand, Adrian Peterson played like an all-star. On the other, the offense struggled otherwise and Alex Smith still can’t throw a second-half touchdown.
The devil on my shoulder is whispering all kinds of awful things, like “that was lucky” and “they never would have survived overtime” and “they’ll never keep up with a high production offense”. I see the traces of truth in that. After all, it’s a little frustrating that the game was saved by a ticky-tack pre-snap infraction by Dallas long snapper L.P. Ladouceur. The penalty forced Dallas, lined up to kick an overtime-clinching field goal, back far enough for kicker Brett Maher to boink the left upright on the next snap.
The word out today is that Redskins special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica observed Ladouceur commit the infraction previously, and alerted Jay Gruden, who in turn alerted Sunday’s referees. If that’s the case, it’s a sign of good preparation and attention to detail, and I have no problem with it (Ladouceur, for his part, claims he’s never before been penalized for moving the ball), but it’s sort of a shame that it was the deciding factor.
It shouldn’t have been. The Redskins held the lead for all four quarters. The defense played “lights out”. The reality again this week is that the offense didn’t do enough to win this game, and that’s a point of concern. They generated 13 points. They scored one touchdown off a Kapri Bibbs screen pass in the first quarter, and then…punt, punt, punt, turnover on downs, field goal, punt, field goal, punt, punt. Don’t get me wrong, controlling the clock is great. Winning TOP is great. First downs are great. But all pale in comparison to scoring points, and that’s where Washington ranks 26th in the league. That isn’t going to work. It didn’t work in the 3-hour Drew Brees advertisement we suffered through a few weeks ago, and it won’t work against a team like Atlanta that regularly puts up 30 or more points.
I love what Adrian Peterson is doing just as much as the next guy. He truly was ” AP all day” all day yesterday, but if that doesn’t lead to points I don’t know what the use is. Jay Gruden has shown some great creativity with Peterson, whether it’s college-style option plays or all kinds of wild runs from shotgun, but they don’t seem to work when the opposing defense has their backs up against the wall. We need Alex Smith to show up and present a substantial red zone threat.
Now, it’s true that Crowder and Richardson were both out yesterday, but frankly Smith’s numbers weren’t any different. It’s possible their presence might have forced alternate defensive looks from Dallas. It’s possible they could have earned us another 50 yards or so. But it’s not clear whether the scoreboard would have been any different with them in the game. Unfortunately, nothing about this game clarifies the potential we have in Smith or our stable of receivers. Expect the two to muddy the waters on each other for the rest of the season.
Defensively, things were much better. Great, even. This unit is post-season caliber (oh, hush with your laments about it being too early for post-season talk…that’s why we’re all here). Ryan Kerrigan‘s stripsack fumble touchdown electrified the stadium and proved to be the deciding factor in the game. Don’t make the mistake of thinking Kerrigan’s been silent this year; he’s been effective even when that isn’t reflected in the numbers. I have no doubts about this team’s ability to generate pressure. Its there. It’s real. We’ve reached a critical mass of young talent in the defensive front. This could be a foundation for years to come.
This team can stop the run, too. Ezekiel Elliott generated a total of 30-some yards yesterday and turned in his worst performance of the season. There’s a fantastic gif floating around of Matt Ioannidis tossing Elliott into the backfield that really says it all. I have no complaints.
Things were a little more inconsistent in the defensive backfield, but nothing went terribly wrong until the fourth quarter when Washington’s defense inexplicably softened and Dallas started marching. It’s tough to say whether Dallas “got it together” or Washington reverted too early into a conservative defensive gameplan, but I think it was a little bit of both.
The Redskins are now 4-2 atop the NFC East with a slate of winnable games looming. That’s not the case for our division rivals. We have the opportunity to gain a substantial lead here in the middle of the season, and we must take it. The defense is ready. It’s the perfect time for someone other than Adrian Peterson to show up.