While the Washington Redskins came away from the win over the Pittsburgh Steelers (24-13) last night battered and bruised, they came away indicating that they are a team that will do what needs to be done to win. The defense, causing two fumbles and an interception, has improved from their first outing in the preseason win over Titans 22-21. In that first preseason game, there were neither of each and the Titans moved the ball much more easily against the Redskins than the Steelers did last night.
The Washington defense blew out of the starting gate, pushing, shoving and fighting. Eager to make a better showing of stopping the run, they accomplished that goal for the most part. The first three Steelers’ series, the run game was a non-event for Pittsburgh. Even given the gift of a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on linebacker London Fletcher, they had to punt. In those plays a bunch of guys got in on the stops: linebackers Perry Riley, Ryan Kerrigan and Darryl Tapp, lineman Stephen Bowen, safety DeJon Gomes and, of course, Fletcher. Pittsburgh running back, Le’Veon Bell, could go nowhere. The Steelers’ offensive line was unable to keep any sort of pocket stable for quarterback Ben Rothlisberger.
In his second series, Rothlisberger was sacked for a six-yard loss by defensive end Kedric Golston and nose tackle Barry Cofield and right after that, came Kerrigan’s heads up interception for a touchdown. The third-year linebacker actually bobbled the ball for a step before getting control and running for the score. He is such a smart player and showed great concentration on that play. With teammate Brian Orakpo back on the other side of the line, plays like this should become more commonplace should both remain healthy.
“[I didn’t get control of the ball] until probably seven yards after I initially picked it,” Kerrigan said about the play. “I thought I was going to drop it. I was terrified I was going to drop it, but thank goodness I didn’t.”
The first two series of Redskins defense showed the level of intensity and focus that fans didn’t see until the final games of the 2012 season. Last night’s success is an indication that the system is working. The guys drafted this past offseason are icing on the cake.
“You always want to start fast,” Golston said after the game. “I think guys did a great job of honing in. Obviously breaking camp a couple days ago, but staying focused and understanding that we still had to prepare for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I’m definitely excited about the mentality of this football team and the preparation everyone goes through day in and day out.”
Pittsburgh didn’t score until the second quarter when they snagged a field goal after finally being able to move the ball against Washington using short passes. This they were able to do — even after incurring two 10-yard penalties — by targeting rookie David Amerson. The cornerback pushed Steelers’ wide out Emmanuel Sanders out of bounds after a 10-yard pass, preventing him from scoring. Pittsburgh had gotten a holding call on that play fortunately, and had to settle for a field goal after not being able to make up the yards lost.
Later in the game, rookie safety Bacarri Rambo was burned on a few pass plays though he did cause running back Jonathan Dwyer to fumble in Steelers’ backup quarterback Brad Gradkowski’s second series. Overall however, the Redskins defense did what they had to do to keep the Steelers from getting into the end zone. Both Cofield and Fletcher recovered fumbles and they held Pittsburgh’s starters to field goals.
It wasn’t until most of the first team had finished for the night that Pittsburgh actually moved the ball very well. Neither team scored in the third quarter and both the Steelers and the Redskins each scored a touchdown in the fourth.
While the Steelers might not admit that the Redskins’ defense manhandled their starting offensive line — especially the extremely talented young Pittsburgh center, Maurkice Pouncey — Washington did just that. Steelers’ offensive tackle, Mike Adams was asked after the game whether or not Washington’s defense gave them any trouble.
“No, I would say we did a good job of messing it up on our own” Adams said. “I don’t think they did anything special. I just think we have to execute better and get better.”
Right. You keep telling yourself that.
Hail.