Washington Redskins
Three To Focus On: Redskins @ Giants, Week 15
The Latest NFC East showdown finds the 4-9 Washington Redskins going on the road to take on the 7-6 New York Giants. Different year, same story for these two squads: the Redskins are out of playoff contention with three games left, while the Giants still have a shot at playing in January and beyond.
The Giants are coming off a clutch victory over the divisional rival Dallas Cowboys in which Eli Manning once again led a comeback, this time from a 12-point deficit late in the fourth quarter. The Redskins are coming off a similar close, high-scoring game with the New England Patriots, but the end result was different as Rex Grossman’s red zone pass late in the fourth quarter bounced out of Santana Moss’s grasp, and into Jerod Mayo’s hands.
The Redskins haven’t had much success against Eli’s crew–winning only once against them since 2007–and their opening day 28-14 victory this season was far closer than the score suggested. Take a look at some key matchups in this very important game for the Giants. Read the rest of this entry »
Re-Focused: Patriots @ Redskins, Week 14
The game came down to the wire as the Washington Redskins drove down the field facing only a seven-point deficit against the heavily-favored New England Patriots. Linebacker Jerod Mayo thwarted the comeback attempt by intercepting quarterback Rex Grossman and we were left wondering if Redskins Head Coach Mike Shanahan would have gone for two, and the win, had they scored a touchdown.
The Patriots move to 10-3 on the season to maintain the four way tie atop the AFC, but this game did nothing to quell the weekly fears of Patriots fans who wonder if the defense is good enough for a playoff push. Though quarterback Tom Brady’s sideline shouting match with offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien was probably overblown, one has to wonder if he, too, is feeling the pressure of carrying the defense every week.
Despite a promising 3-1 start to the season, the Redskins fall to 4-9, good for sole possession of last place in the NFC East. They showed a lot of heart in this game, especially considering the absence of their leading receiver and starting offensive tackles. They have exciting young players in running back Roy Helu and linebacker Brian Orakpo, but at this point of the season, Redskins fans have their eyes fixed on a Top 10 pick in the draft.
Let’s take a look at the performances that defined the game. Read the rest of this entry »
Three to Focus on: Patriots @ Redskins, Week 14
The 9-3 New England Patriots travel to the Nation’s Capital to face their final NFC East opponent on the year, the 4-8 Washington Redskins. For these two teams, it’s the same old song: the Patriots are poised to secure a top seed in the AFC, while the Redskins have already lost any postseason dreams in another underwhelming and drama-filled season. Bill Belichick and company are coming off a 31-24 win at home over the dreadful Colts which was, at one point, 31-3 before they let up. The Redskins lost 34-19 at home to the New York Jets despite the score being tied at 13 at the end of the third quarter.
The last time these two met was in 2007 when New England went 18-1 and Washington made its most recent trip to the playoffs. The result was a 52-7 beat-down in Foxborough. Several of the Redskins remain from that team and will be determined to avoid a similar embarrassment. Anything can happen on any given Sunday and the Patriots have been far more vulnerable on the road where they’ve lost twice. It will still take great efforts from nearly every Redskin to pull off the upset, though.
Re-Focused: Jets @ Redskins, Week 13
For those of you who follow me on Twitter (and if you don’t why not?) you’ll remember I mentioned that I turned down analysis on the Broncos at Vikings game this week. I’d seen so much option the last few weeks I thought I’d somehow time-slipped a day and been watching games on Saturday by accident. Well after watching these two quarterbacks define a standard of ineptitude I thought neither of which was capable; I’m seeing Tim Tebow in a completely new light.
To be fair, the Jets won not just because Mark Sanchez was less awful than Rex Grossman (he would certainly have had to have gone some to be even on a par), but because their offensive line looked to be gelling for the first time this year and their defense yet again made up for their deficiencies rushing the passer with sound run defense and excellent coverage. Indeed, what looked like one of the Redskins’ major advantages in the encounter, their pass rush, floundered against the Jets’ offensive line, to the tune of only two hits and three hurries.
Three to Focus on: Jets @ Redskins, Week 13
The 6-5 New York Jets travel to the nation’s capital to take on the 4-7 Washington Redskins. Both field quarterbacks who are as likely to amaze as they are to horrify, and both are coming off close wins.
The Jets saved their postseason hopes with a comeback against the divisional rival Buffalo Bills, who were previously viewed as contenders themselves before falling into a losing streak. Meanwhile, the Redskins, despite being all but out of playoff contention, managed to beat the Seattle Seahawks and their infamous “12th man” home field advantage with a fourth-quarter rally.
The only meeting between these two teams for the next four years has several interesting storylines. Several of them are illustrated below, but it’s also worth noting that Washington CB DeAngelo Hall and Jets’ Head Coach Rex Ryan have a little bit of history. Read the rest of this entry »
Re-Focused: Redskins @ Seahawks, Week 12
With the Washington Redskins down by 10 in the fourth quarter, it looked like Mike Shanahan was going into unchartered territory with a seventh straight defeat. Tarvaris Jackson had just thrown a strike of a touchdown, and made it 17 unanswered points to further rub in the woes of a Washington team that had been unable to turndominance into points.
But then something happened. Working off a slightly shorter field because of a Golden Tate penalty after his touchdown grab, the as ever inconsistent Rex Grossman marched his team down the field with four consecutive completions, before a gutsy call to run the ball on third down resulted in a highlight reel touchdown run by Roy Helu that swung the momentum in the Redskins favor. They would never surrender it.
Three to Focus on: Redskins @ Seahawks, Week 12
Riding a two-game winning streak that included a surprise victory over the Ravens, Seattle is coming into this game with a growing confidence. They have a slate of very winnable games over the next few weeks and their players are still clinging to playoff hopes.
For the Redskins, mired in a painful six-game skid, those hopes have long evaporated. The team is now simply looking to finish out the season positive note and start over again in 2012.
So, in this game fueled largely by slim hopes and professional pride, here are three matchups that will be key in deciding the outcome.
Re-Focused: Cowboys @ Redskins, Week 11
These ancient NFC East rivals usually play close, competitive games no matter their records and this latest battle was no different. The 5-4 Dallas Cowboys came into this game with a revitalized rushing attack in the form of rookie DeMarco Murray having laid a 44-7 beatdown on the Buffalo Bills, who were a contender for at least the first half of the season.
The 3-6 Washington Redskins were coming off their fifth straight loss at the hands of a Miami Dolphins squad that had only won once. Clearly, the Cowboys were the favorites here yet the Redskins showed plenty of fight, taking this contest into overtime. Two missed field goals and some blown coverages, however, led to the Redskins coming away with a sixth consecutive loss after their promising 3-1 start. Read the rest of this entry »
Three to Focus on: Cowboys @ Redskins, Week 11
This ancient NFC East rivalry continues this week at FedEx field with the Dallas Cowboys looking capable of winning the division and the Washington Redskins once again the bottom-dweller. While the Cowboy’s 5-4 record makes it seem likely that they’ll beat the 3-6 Redskins, these two squads play each other tough more often than not, so an opposite result wouldn’t be too surprising.
This game is actually a rematch of the close 18-16 Cowboys win over the Redskins in Week 3 on Monday Night Football. In that contest, QB Tony Romo was playing just a week after suffering a rib injury and, while unable to get in the end zone, was able to lead six field-goal drives which proved to be just enough to give their arch rivals their first loss of the season. Rex Grossman had been solid for Washington up to that point despite having turnovers in the first two games, but two more giveaways in that one proved too costly. The Redskins have only won once since, and that was against the struggling St. Louis Rams.
Re-Focused – Redskins @ Dolphins, Week 10
In one of the less publicized Week 10 matchups, two struggling teams played a competitive game that ended with one continuing a sudden winning streak and the other continuing its now-predictable losing streak.
It’s hard to believe that the Rex Grossman-led Washington Redskins were viewed as possible contenders a month into the season. Coming in at 3-5, they haven’t won a game since, and the 1-7 Miami Dolphins did not oblige. Despite Mike Shanahan switching dink-and-dunk minded John Beck with Rex, the offensive problems continued, as Miami’s defense held them to three field goals and forced two turnovers. The Dolphins also turned the ball over twice, but Matt Moore and the running game were still able to produce enough plays to get their second victory of the season.
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