The Pittsburgh Steelers set the tempo on their first drive against the Washington Redskins by scoring a touchdown after orchestrating a 12 play, 76 yard, 7:05 drive. Pittsburgh went on to defeat the Redskins 27-12. The Steelers simply had their way with Washington’s defense and did a great job at dropping the hammer on the Redskins’ potent offense.
The Washington Redskins did a little “dropping” of their own and it all started on a 2nd and 5 deep right throw to Leonard Hankerson that would have been a touchdown had Hankerson caught the football. It was a perfect throw from Robert Griffin III, but that drop triggered a streak of drops, that forced an inefficient day at the office for Washington’s offense.
Mike Shanahan quickly downplayed any notion of the drops being attributed to the weather – “They [Steelers] had the same weather as we did so I definitely don’t attribute it to the weather.”
“You can’t have that many drops that we had and keep drives going,” Shanahan said. “We had some opportunities, had some potential for a number of big plays. You have to make those plays against this type of defense.”
Robert Griffin III wasn’t perfect with his accuracy in the rain today, but he didn’t play as poor as his stats suggest. Mike Shanahan said he doesn’t care where the ball placement is, “as long as it hits your hand, you better catch it or else you won’t be in the National Football League for very long.” Shanahan went on to say that he thought his quarterback played well, but noted that he has to have some help.
“We couldn’t get a feel – the ball was just real wet,” said Leonard Hankerson. “We just put the ball on the ground. No excuses at all, we just have to make our plays.” Santana Moss said that the receivers will get over the fact that they dropped a lot of balls today. “That’s life. That’s football in the NFL. It isn’t always going to be peaches and cream. Fight back and do better next time.” Unfortunately , the Redskins became the first team this season to have 10 drops in one game. In fact, the Redskins had one less drop in this game than they’ve had all season (11).
It’s tough to call it an uncharacteristic day for Washington’s receivers, because these are all guys that’s had issues consistently catching footballs. But it’s inexcusable for a team to post double digit drops (10) in a single game.
What’s also inexcusable is Washington’s horrid defense. It’s becoming a trend each week with opposing offensive players saying they knew what the Redskins were scheming on defense. Is Washington’s defense too predictable or are the players just not executing their assignments? Could the defense’s failure also be attributed to poor scheming/coaching? I think it’s safe to say that all of those question could imply to Washington’s defense.
Washington’s defense hasn’t had a consistent pass rush, they’re lacking a physical mentality, and they couldn’t cover a bed if they tried. “I just want them [defense] to play better and better,” said Mike Shanahan. This team will have a chance to win every game because of Robert Griffin III, but he can’t do it by himself, and the team knows that.
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