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For the third year in a row the Washington Redskins, lost their home opener. This year it was to the Miami Dolphins at home, 17-10. Even though it was a loss, there are positives that can be gleaned from it. No one really wants to say it was a moral victory but, with the advent of the [General Manager Scot] McCloughan Project, there were noticeable changes for the better from the past few years. That said, this team needs to learn to put their feet on the neck of the opponent if/when they get ahead and finish out games.
Washington’s offense came out throwing blows, putting together a 12-play drive that used up over seven minutes. Despite the successes in the drive, they finished it with only a field goal. The offensive line set the tone in the game by being physical with that Miami defensive front. Rookie right guard Brandon Scherff and second year right tackle Morgan Moses put together impressive performances against the Dolphins dynamic duo of defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, and defensive end Cameron Wake.
”Like I said before, I think we had a pretty good plan going in and to execute the plan, our right side had to step up against two very good players, and I think they did that for the most part,” Head Coach Jay Gruden said about the young players. “So, I was impressed with the way Brandon played, I really was. For his first game, he performed extremely well I think. There’s some things that he can improve on obviously, and of course, Morgan. I think he had the false start or a holding penalty maybe, but for the most part Morgan played pretty well also. So for those guys being — Morgan in his second year and Brandon in his first year — to go out there and perform in their first game together on the right side against Cameron Wake and Suh… I was impressed. And it’s going to have to continue to get better because we play a very good front this week and it’s going to be another great challenge for them. Then the following week, we play on Thursday night against the Giants. So, it’s just a never ending story for these offensive linemen. They have to continue to step up and get better. I like where they are in their progression.”
No doubt the extra work that these guys have been putting in after practice with offensive line coach Bill Callahan has been paying off.
“We were just playing football,” Moses — who only played 12 percent of all the Redskins offensive snaps last season as a rookie — said after the game “He happened to be in the position where we could get some cuts on him and try to slow him down a little bit and that’s the way we executed. [Coach] Callahan gave us a plan earlier in the week, and you know, it’s our job to come in and execute it on Sundays.”
They pounded Suh with double-teams and cut blocks, especially early in the first half of the ball game. The Redskins offense ran the ball in the direction of the Pro Bowler and Wake just twice in the first half. Quarterback Kirk Cousins was sacked just once for an eight-yard loss on the opening drive. This offensive line blew open holes that helped the team’s workhorse-of-a-running-back, Alfred Morris, log 121 yards on 25 carries.
Collectively, this offensive unit averaged 4.4 yards per carry and finished the game with 161 yards rushing.
Defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s transformed defense started the game with a nasty attitude and took it out on the Dolphins offense. Washington’s defensive front dominated the point of attack, stuffing the run and the secondary laid the smack down on the Miami wide receivers early. Knowing the Dolphins would bring a solid young quarterback in Ryan Tannehill paired with an impressive running back in Lamar Miller, the Redskins’ defense proved to be well-prepared and up to the task against their opponent right from the start.
Washington shut down Miami in their first three drives, holding them to a total of 32 yards in that time. They also forced two punts and a turnover on downs in Redskins territory. In the second half, Washington’s defense began to give a little bit, allowing Dolphins run game to gain enough momentum for Tannehill to take advantage of the pass in the middle of the field. Despite that, the defense remained strong in the red zone, forcing Tannehill out of the pocket with the option of either throwing the ball away or running into the arms of waiting defenders.
In total the Redskins allowed 74 rushing yards and 226 passing yards, the majority of them coming in the second half.
Washington’s downfall was its inability to remain disciplined and finish what they started. Mental miscues would bring the quest for a win to a screeching halt. Cousins, who had a pretty good day overall, was intercepted twice. The team committed 11 penalties… penalties that killed potential scoring drives.
”We have to clean up the penalties, no question,” Gruden said. “We can send some into the league that we don’t think were penalties or that were called, whatever… but they were called. That’s something we have to clean up. We had way too many first-and-20’s, second-and-25’s. We had a couple opportunities there to really change field position or get points and we didn’t because of the penalties. We’ve got to clean up our hands at receiver and tight end. We had two by tight ends I believe, one by an offensive lineman. We’ve just got to continue to clean them up.”
The most critical and deflating miscue of them all came with the game tied early in the fourth quarter. Miami’s Jarvis Landry took a punt up the middle for 69 yards for a touchdown. That put the Dolphins in the lead at 17-10, and was the dagger in the heart of the Redskins.
“It is deflating,” the head coach said. “I’m not going to stand up here… you look around the league, a lot of those happened throughout the league that I saw. It’s just something we have to continue to work on. We’ve got to flip that script. We have to get some of those. We have to change the momentum in our favor. Seems like the last couple years, the kickoff returns have gone against us, the punt returns have gone against us, the blocked punts have gone against us. We have to start doing that ourselves, blocking some punts, returning some kicks. It’s going to take work and these guys have got to come out and buy into what they’re doing on special teams. I think we’re coaching them up well. We’ve got to coach better and we obviously have got to play better. But we have got to do better on special teams.”
It seem as if we are always talking about the “If’s” and But’s when it comes to the Washington Redskins. After all this fan base has been threw in the last 20 years that’s the last thing that people want to hear.
“I’m not looking for moral victories at this point,” Redskins tackle Trent Williams said. “We lost. Our objective is to be better. Of course the team is way different than last year. It doesn’t matter if we’re losing. Nothing else really matters.”
Hearing the positives stressed in yet another loss can become a bit trying and something that my wear your patients thin. Trust me ladies and gentlemen there is a difference in this team and when you are building a team the right way with the right pieces patents is something that is needed. I know there we go with the word patients again….The Redskins showed signs of a very successful team that has taken on the personality of it General Manager Scot McCloughan.
If they build off of it and take this gut wrenching loss as even more motivation to beat St. Louis in Week 2. All of these will be a thing of the past. The only way many will be convinced is for wins to follow the positive signs.
You can fly around and play fast, you can be physical and nasty and impose your well on the opponent but you must finish the job sticking that dagger in the hearts of your opponents that’s how you WIN.
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