Game Notes: Washington Redskins Lose To Atlanta Falcons, 25-19

The Washington Redskins lost a heart breaker to the Atlanta Falcons after nailing a 52-yard field goal to take the game into overtime. It was a sloppy game for both teams on offense. But the Redskins had opportunities to win the game and just couldn’t  seal-the-deal.

Below are our game notes separated by the good and bad.

Good:

• The Washington Redskins pass defense did their job for the most part Sunday. They’re a bend not break, soft zone defense and for the most part — did not allow big plays through the air. They even forced a few turnovers. That’s really all you can ask for when playing the Falcons. QB Matt Ryan’s accuracy was pretty terrible throughout the day and he missed some big throws. But either way, for the most part, Washington’s pass defense gave the Redskins a chance to win this football game. I appreciate the fact Washington has a philosophy as a defense and doesn’t deviate from it. That can be a good and bad thing. But it helps the secondary with consistency — something they lacked in 2014.

•  With both starting outside cornerbacks out injured, Bashuad Breeland stepped up late in the game showing some clutch ability. His interception helped put the Redskins offense in great position late in the game (we’ll talk about that later). Breeland is starting to get a little comfortable in this zone defense. He’s a press corner, but he’s starting to settle in the scheme.

• Jamison Crowder is going to be a really good player. He was the top target for the team today, and has been for three consecutive weeks now. He’s a sure handed receiver who makes plays after the catch.

• Ryan Kerrigan had his best game of the season with two sacks. He looked more explosive Sunday and was able to generate good pass rush. Speaking of pass rush, Chris Baker is surprising me. So far this year, he’s played as if he’s the best defensive lineman in Washington.

• I really like Derek Carrier and wish the Redskins would use him more. He’s a big target who they finally used in the redzone. They could’ve thrown to him more. He’s not the same athlete that Jordan Reed is, but he’s pretty athletic. He is also capable of beating man coverage and finding zones in defenses.

Bad:

• In my opinion, Jay Gruden struggled to make good decisions with this football team Sunday. Early in the game he decided to be aggressive in the redzone by going for it on fourth down. It payed off — Washington ended up getting a touchdown. At that moment, I thought Gruden turned a new page as a coach — showing more aggression in key spots. However, he missed an opportunity to be aggressive late in the game after the Bashaud Breeland interception.  With 2:49 remaining in the game, Washington had a third down with six yards to go for a touchdown. The Redskins decided to go with a screen to Crowder that ended up losing four yards. It was a horrible call. With Washington up by a point, they should have taken an endzone shot. At least try to make it an eight point game in that situation. Instead the team had to settle for three points. For a second there, Gruden dodged another bullet on the Falcons’ final drive. The touchdown that was negated would’ve been partly blamed on Gruden. At least I would’ve partly blamed it on him. With three timeouts left, on third and two —  the best player on the field Sunday (DeVonta Freeman) went out-wide and ended up being matched with LB Will Compton. That’s the ultimate mismatch. Any competent Head Coach in that situation calls a timeout to make sure his defense is in the best position possible. The call, of course, was reversed and the Falcons scored another TD anyway. But still, it was a close mishap for Gruden.

• Washington’s run defense struggled Sunday. This is typically a strength for the team, but Devonta Freeman had a day against them. I’ll have to watch the film to figure out how exactly the Falcons managed to find success on the ground. But I think a lot of it had to do with backside discipline. Terrance Knighton was negated in this game. That’s something I plan to figure out when watching the film.

• Kirk Cousins had the biggest game of his career last week against the Philadelphia Eagles. He manged to get his first win within the division and orchestrated his first game-winning drive as a starter. It was all daisies and roses. But as we wrote after the game, the next chapter in this Cousins’ book is entitled consistency, or lack thereof. Cousins was unable to string another consecutive solid performance on Sunday. He was pretty inaccurate with the ball — which, if you really pay attention to him — that’s nothing new. Cousins consistently throws those crossing patters behind receivers. Sunday, he threw the ball high several times to Pierre Garcon. A couple of those throws Garcon arguably could’ve caught. You can’t expect every ball to be perfect. However, Cousins has to hit those throws. The final play in overtime will be argued all week. It looked like miscommunication between Cousins and Grant. I’m not sure if Grant ran the wrong route (hitch instead of an out) or Cousins just threw an errant ball. In my opinion, it looked like Cousins rushed the throw. Either way, the DB was sitting on the route. He would’ve undercut that ball even if Grant ran the out route. Cousins wasn’t terrible, but he missed another opportunity to make the plays necessary to help win the ball game. These are the things that separates the great from good and the good from average.

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