Game Notes: Washington Redskins Lose To Miami Dolphins, 17-10

The Washington Redskins (0-1) fell to the Miami Dolphins (1-0) Sunday losing 17-10 in a game they should’ve won. Washington beat themselves early and often in this game by not finishing long drives, turning over the football and playing undisciplined football.

Below are our post-game notes separated by good and bad.

The Good:

• Both RG Brandon Scherff and RT Morgan Moses had themselves a very good game against two of the more dominant defensive players in the league — Ndamukong Suh and Cameron Wake. Offensive Line Coach Bill Callahan has probably been Washington’s best coaching hire since the Joe Gibbs days. His coaching is paying dividends already. Scherff and Moses work well together.

• RB Alfred Morris had himself a great day running for 121 yards on 25 carriers. Attribute some of that to Washington’s OL who pretty much dominated in the run game. While rookie RB Matt Jones is a good player, Morris isn’t giving up his job easily. He also proved for one of the first times in his career that he can play exceptionally well without RGIII at helm.

• TE Jordan Reed had a good game (7 catches for 63 yards and a TD) creating yards after the catch and converting third downs. He’s a pro-bowl talent, if he can stay healthy. I must note, however, on Washington’s final drive — Reed took himself out the game prior to that crucial fourth down. The Redskins ended up calling a timeout and he returned. But, according to Gruden, on that fourth down Reed didn’t make the right read vs cover zero. Jay Gruden, basically calling out Reed, said he should’ve crossed the safety’s face but didn’t.

• Redskins run defense played well. They only allowed 74 rushing yards, although, Miami only ran the ball 18 times. Washington’s run defense did stuff Miami several times on third down.

• WR Pierre Garcon had a pretty good game doing what he does best — catching intermediate to short routes and creating YAC. Garcon had 6 catches for 74 yards.

• I’m not certain how many times rookie OLB Preston Smith entered the game (snap count isn’t available yet) but of the five times I saw him — he created pressure three of those times. Smith ended up with a nice strip sack as well. I’m not sure why he isn’t starting. Smith has looked competent vs the run. Not to mention, he’s a good pass rusher. He’s still raw, of course. But his raw talent is still great.

• Trent Williams is the best player on the team and it isn’t very close at all. Totally deserves to the big money Washington just rewarded him with.

The Bad:

• Penalties hurt the Redskins today. They had 11 penalties that equated to the loss of 88 yards.

• Not finishing long drives: the Redskins had several long drives in this game that equated to nothing on the scoreboard. You simply can’t have that. They also missed a huge opportunity to capitalize on the Preston Smith strip-sack.

• CB Chris Culliver was the best corner for the Redskins today, however, he missed a huge opportunity to catch what would’ve been a game-changing pick-six.

• On the final drive of the first half, DeAngelo Hall left the game with an injury and the Dolphins went on to abuse his replacement — David Amerson.

• The bend-not-break approach by Defensive Coordinator Joe Barry worked for the most part (defense only allowed one TD) but I think it’s going to soon bite him. It actually could’ve bit him at times in this game — but Miami missed a few wide open balls. I have to go back and watch, but I don’t recall the Redskins blitzing at all.

• Injuries: the Redskins could have a couple crucial injuries with DeSean Jackson (hamstring) and Duke Ihenacho (fractured/dislocated wrist).  The Redskins clearly missed Jackson’s downfield ability in this game. Ihenacho was missed as well. It’s a good thing the Redskins didn’t cut Rashad Ross. This is why they needed to keep him. You cannot depend on Jackson staying healthy and he’s your lone WR who can actually stretch the field.

• The Special Teams allowed Jarvis Landry to waltz his way into the endzone on a crucial punt return.

• I’m not going to knock Jay Gruden’s playcalling today. But it’s something worth monitoring. I liked the bang eights he called. But there continues to be  no rhyme or reason for some his playcalls. He never really sets up plays well, with exception of the run to play action calls.

• Sure you can say the Redskins beat themselves. They could have easily won this game. However, that’s been the story of the Washington Redskins for years now. These excuses are for losers.

• Kai Forbath missed a 46 yarder. Say what you want, he isn’t the most dependable guy in this regard. But somehow he continues to make the team.

More:

Kirk Cousins needs his own category because his day was somewhere in-between good and bad. He was efficient on the short and intermediate passes. He really wasn’t asked to do too much. But he had an early bad interception is which he forced the ball. The good news is he rebounded and came right back to score a touchdown after a long drive. But he also had another costly interception on a deep ball to Pierre Garcon. The ball just floated, as many of his deep balls tend to do. It was a great defensive play for sure. But the ball could’ve been thrown better. Cousins is what Gruden wants — a game manager. But game managers are only considered valuable when they make plays when that are needed to be made. That’s what separates guys like Russell Wilson from the pack.

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