The Washington Redskins failed to seize a major opportunity Monday Night by beating the Dallas Cowboys and earning sole possession of the NFC East lead. Dallas defeated Washington in a nail-bitter, 19-16 and is now back in playoff contention. Washington is in a three way tie with the Eagles and Giants atop the East.
There’s many areas you could blame for the Redskins losing this game. WR DeSean Jackson made a bonehead mistake, with the game knotted at 9-points, to reverse field on a punt return late in the fourth quarter — fumbling the football. Jackson tried to be a hero, but arrogantly overlooked the fact that his personal agenda didn’t mirror the situation Washington was in at that time. Washington would’ve had the ball with a little over a minute left in the game — tied at 9. Even if they didn’t score on that drive, it would’ve prevented Dallas from a cake-walk touchdown. Instead, Darren McFadden was able to capitalize on Jackson’s blunder and give the Cowboys a 16-9 lead.
“Well, it didn’t end up, obviously, the way we wanted to,” said Gruden. It’s DeSean and he’s had a history of making big plays in key situations. I don’t regret that decision one bit. I’ll count on DeSean to make another big play. He ended up getting a touchdown to get us back in the game and tie it. I can live with that. He’s just got to protect the ball, obviously.”
Jackson was able to slightly make up for his blunder by tying the game with a 28 yard touchdown reception on the next drive. But it was a little too late, as Dallas was able to get enough yardage for their Pro Bowl Kicker Dan Bailey to kick the game winner.
The Redskins were smart by trying to get their big-play threat to at least spark the team. But as always, they continue to either wait too late or forget about using him. Jackson was visibly frustrated early and often in the game because opportunities were not going his way. Jackson is a player who should at least see three deep balls a game — whether they’re completed or not. In addition to, other opportunities to get him in space. Washington didn’t do that enough in this game against Dallas. In fact, they’ve rarely used Jackson on a consistent basis since he’s been in Washington. His future with the team is pretty cloudy.
What really has become the underlying issue for this team, in my opinion, is failure to capitalize on turnovers. Washington’s defense has forced three turnovers in each of the team’s last two games. Of those six turnovers, Washington’s offense has only scored three points on the ensuing drive. The Redskins were able to overcome their failure to capitalize on turnovers in Week 12, defeating the New York Giants. However, they were unable to repeat that outcome in Week 13 against the Dallas Cowboys.
In the NFL, if you win the turnover battle, you typically win the game. That didn’t happen against Dallas and it almost didn’t happen against the New York Giants. These failed opportunities are what separates the good from mediocre.
So, the question is why are the Redskins failing to capitalize on turnovers? Part of the problem may be a tendency that I discovered which points to lack of aggression. According to research, only two of those six post-turnover-plays were passes. Meaning, after Washington’s defense creates a turnover, the offense has a strong tendency to run the football on the ensuing play. I’m not saying they should pass the ball every time, but the lack of aggression is alarming. In theory, it shows lack of trust in your QB and offense — whether that’s even the case or not.
The Washington Redskins are such a hard team to comprehend this season. It’s tough to draw a conclusion on them. Washington has not won back-to-back games this season, yet they’ve managed to avoid disaster. Although, I think they stuck a toe in the sea of disaster after this loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
“Consistency — that’s something we have not been able to do,” said Head Coach Jay Gruden. “We’ve shown flashes – good quarters, good games here and there. The great teams, the ones that advance in the playoffs and win Super Bowls, are consistent and we have not been. That’s something that is a challenge for us as a coaching staff and players. We have to find a way to put back-to-back wins together and obviously win on the road.”
Much like their inability to capitalize on turnovers, when the ball is in their court, the Washington Redskins never make the shots. Washington controlled their destiny and seemingly had the best chance of winning the division. Now they have their backs against a wall – on a short week – with an away game against the Chicago Bears in Week 14. Now that’s a recipe for disaster.
“I think guys played hard obviously,” said Jay Gruden. “We just had some unforced errors with the penalties. Hats off to Dallas, Coach Garrett had them ready to play and they played better than us. It is frustrating. We had a chance to take a lead. But now we’re starting the fourth quarter of our season. Go to Chicago and we’ve just got to turn the page and move on.”
Washington has made things more difficult for themselves. Sure, coming into this season, a six or seven win season would’ve been viewed as progress. But not in this situation. With the current state of the NFC East, that shouldn’t be considered progress. That should be considered a failure to capitalize.
While Jackson’s fumble will draw a lot of the blame for Washington’s loss, this game and Washington’s season continues to center around inconsistent play. Not to mention, this team fails to seize the moment and fails to capitalize. Washington could be a playoff team. They could be a competitive playoff team, actually. But their inconsistent play continues to keep them from tasting some level of success.
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