The Takeaways – Week 10, Vikings vs Redskins
November 14, 2017
By Steve Thomas
The Redskins – Vikings game this week was not what I’d define as a good time. One week after one of the better wins of the past several seasons against the Seahawks, the Redskins proceeded to lay an egg, allowing the Vikings to dominate offensively, putting up big numbers and allowing quarterback Case Keenum to have one of the best games of his career. To be fair, Washington scored at a healthy rate, even considering the interception by D.J. Swearinger that gave the Redskins the ball on the Minnesota 2 yard line, but all in all, not a good effort by the home team in general, at any level. Fortunately, though, Takeaways can always be found, even in games that don’t go as planned. Here are my “watercooler talk” points for Week 10. Let’s hope these are more positive after next week’s contest.
The Defensive line was consistently beaten at the point of attack
The first issue that was immediately apparent to even the most casual observer was that the bruised and battered Redskins defensive line was largely manhandled by the Vikings offensive line in both the run game and in pass protection. Sadly, the Redskins 32 game sack streak was finally broken. Washington’s entire front 7, in fact, was continually beaten at the point of attack all day, getting pushed off the ball and giving Keenum plenty of time to throw, while also letting the Vikings running back hit holes throughout the game. It was abundantly clear in this game, unlike during some of the previous games, that the Redskins desperately miss rookie defensive tackle Jonathan Allen and the surprisingly capable Matt Ioannidis.
Josh Norman and Bashaud Breeland had bad days
There’s no doubt that Josh Norman has largely performed as advertised since he arrived in D.C. – a true #1 level corner. Like every player who’s ever played any sport at any level, he’s had his occasional failings, but this week’s game was an aberration from his usually lofty standards. Both Norman and his counterpart, Bashaud Breeland, were repeatedly beaten by the Vikings wide receivers, in particular Adam Theilen (166 yards on the day) and the always dangerous Stefon Diggs. It was an unusually bad day, for sure, as Norman, Breeland, and the rest of the secondary not named Swearinger suffered repeated blown coverages that left Theilen and company wide open. Further, Norman dropped yet another sure interception, something that has happened repeatedly this season. Couple those issues with the aforementioned poor defensive line play, and it was a recipe for, well, what viewers saw – disaster.
Rob Kelley was unproductive, then injured
I have repeatedly championed Robert Kelley both on The Hog Sty and in print, and I still think he has talent, but the fact of the matter is that Kelley has not been productive this year in his role as the Redskins starting running back. This week was no exception, with just 10 yards gained on 4 carries despite the existence of better running lanes provided by the much healthier starting offensive line. Now, he’s suffered another knee and ankle injury that will keep him out for multiple weeks, at a minimum, and sent to IR at the worst. The point is, though, that injury notwithstanding, the Redskins need more out of their running game than what their lead back has provided thusfar. Rookie Samaje Perine had a decent day, by his standards, but still only averaged 3.9 yards per carry on 35 yards and hasn’t exactly proven that he’s the answer either, mind you. One way or the other, the Redskins must find some semblance of a running game outside of Chris Thompson in order to field a competitive and consistently good team. I’m not sure that is going to happen in 2017.
Maurice Harris proved that he belongs
Approximately one week ago, I casually tried to start a #freeMauriceHarris hashtag campaign. Little did I know that this effort would be directly responsible for Maurice being given his chance to shine on the active game day roster. You’re welcome, Maurice. Seriously, though, Harris proved that the talent that some of us saw last season was no fluke. His 38 yard touchdown pass was a thing of beauty, surely one of the best catches of the 2017 season. Cousins stated during his post-game comments that Maurice has made those kinds of circus catches in practice, so neither he nor most likely his other teammates were surprised. Ryan Grant was placed in the concussion protocol yesterday, and Brian Quick is still in the protocol from the Seattle game, so it is almost a certainty that the Redskins will feature Harris to a much greater degree against the Saints. Get ready for the Maurice Harris show, kids.
This wasn’t Jay Gruden’s best effort
I’d like to say upfront that Jay is a good head coach. He’s produced better results than his predecessor, Mike Shanahan, and has led the team to the playoffs and back-to-back winning records, which when you’re the 21st century Washington Redskins are major accomplishments. Gruden is justifiably criticized on occasion for abandoning the run game too quickly and for calling passing plays at inopportune moments. Against the Vikings, however, Jay called an inside run to Chris Thompson on an important third and short late in the game that seemed destined for failure, and then a stretch run to the right on 4th and 1, featuring a very deep handoff, to Thompson. Running the ball in this situation was a good idea, but the play calls in both situations were poor. Back to the drawing board, Jay. Perhaps more importantly, though, it appeared as though the players weren’t well prepared – D.J. Swearinger said as much in his postgame comments. It must be said that he didn’t blame the coaching staff, but he nonetheless stated that they “weren’t ready to play”. Fault for this must lie at least in part on the head coach.
That’s it for The Takeaways for this week. With this loss, the Redskins have essentially backed themselves into a corner and have forced a must-win game on the road against the resurgent Saints. We’ll be back next week for another edition after that game.