Game Notes: Washington Redskins Lose To The Arizona Cardinals 30-20

The Washington Redskins (1-5) lost their seventh straight away game Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals (4-1). Below are our game notes — most of which aren’t good.

Good:

• Redskins LB Ryan Kerrigan continues to prove he’s not only better than Brian Orakpo, but he’s the best player on Washington’s defense. His motor just never stops and he proved big on several third downs Sunday.

• Sure rookie CB Bashaud Breeland was beat several times Sunday, but I saw a lot of effort from him. He wasn’t necessarily beat in coverage. Breeland was just out-fought for the football by a Cardinals Pro-Bowl WR Larry Fitzgerald — who has the best hands in the NFL. I saw a lot of flashes of greatness from Breeland Sunday. He was instinctive and physical in both the pass and run game. He will be a good player — whether he stays at CB or moves to safety.

• Punter Tress Way is having a pro-bowl season. He out-kicked coverage a few times early this season, but he’s getting better at laying off the long straight liners while still averaging nearly 50 yards a punt.

• ILB Will Compton stood out to me — mostly because I made it a point to watch him closely. I’ve been high on him for the past two years now and he finally got an opportunity to play Sunday due to Perry Riley’s injury. I think he did a good job against both the run and pass game. He complemented fellow ILB Keenan Robinson well.

• WR DeSean Jackson continues to display the same rare game breaking ability he had in Philly. DJax has been Washington’s lone spark on offense the past few weeks. He’s something the Redskins have needed for a long time.

• It’s time for RB Roy Helu Jr. to get some credit. He’s one of the best receiving backs in the NFL.

Bad:

•  Say what you want, and I’m not the picky type, but I was not digging Head Coach Jay Gruden’s attire Sunday. He wore a T-Shirt and Khakis. In my opinion, that’s unprofessional. He could have at least wore a team polo shirt. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a professional coach take such a casual approach to his game-day attire. The team was just criticized for not taking things seriously. Some even called them “clowns.” I just feel like he as the head football coach has to present himself better than that.

•  Someone needs to mention it – Alfred Morris has struggled. Yes, run protection isn’t perfect. But for the past few weeks, I’ve seen opportunities to be had and Morris doesn’t take them. Morris will sporadically break a nice 10+ yarder. However, he hasn’t done a good job creating plays. Morris has struggled with fumbles and he hasn’t had much success with QB Robert Griffin III injured. Morris hasn’t even ran for 100 yards this season. To be fair, however, he’s only had 20+ carries in two games (week two and three). But even in those games, he only averaged 3.9 and 3.3 yards per carry. The Washington Redskins need to have more success with their ground game.

• Redskins Defense is bad.

• I’m still not sure why the Redskins decided to hang on to Defensive Coordinator Jim Haslett. He has historically fielded average to below average defense. You can’t use the excuse of “injured players” or “lack of talent” when teams like the Cowboys are beating Super Bowl Champs.

Ugly:

• Brian Orakpo continues to prove how ridiculously crazy the Washington Redskins front office is when it comes to personnel decisions. The team is paying Orakpo over $11 million this year to do nothing but play patty cake with Offensive Tackles. Yeah, he forced a couple holding calls Sunday and created a little pressure. But that’s not enough. Especially for a guy who claims he has nothing to prove. Orakpo is one the most held pass rushers in the league because he literally plays with no hands at the line of scrimmage. He allows LTs to essentially bear hug him every play because he has no fight. He has a limited motor. He has no pass rushing moves. He isn’t worth what he’s getting paid. Orakpo makes absolutely no plays and has no impact. When he does have an opportunity to make a play, he drops the football — as he did Sunday against the Cardinals.

• Kirk Cousins is a great person. He’s a strong character guy who I respect. However, I’ve seen enough of him to know he has no future as a Washington Redskins QB. Kirk Cousins is 1-7 as a starter with 18 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. That’s Kirk Cousins in a nutshell. That’s similar stats to what he had in college. He’s essentially 50/50 when it comes to his TD/interception ratio. Teams have been able to game plan for Cousins a lot more this year and it’s shown negatively for the Washington Redskins. What makes matters worst is, Jay Gruden has tried to mask Cousins’ deficiencies by giving him these dink and dunk passes that’s stunted the Redskins on third down. Cousins panics under pressure — even when the play is well blocked. He doesn’t know how to win. He’s incapable of carrying a football team. The Redskins should make a change at QB, but they probably won’t with RGIII likely returning in a couple weeks.

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