1. Robert Griffin III Cost Us The Game
I've been continuously saying that by Week 8 RG3 will be back to his normal self. For the first half I thought he was. He moved like his old self, moved well in and out of the pocket, and had the offense moving down the field. More importantly he was running with the quickness we haven't seen since 2012. He finished with 77 yards on 9 carriers for a solid average of 8.6 yards. Those are RG3 numbers from last year. So why didn't the Redskins beat the Cowboys for the third straight time in a row? Inconsistency. RG3 fumbled twice in the game, losing one inside our own 5 yard line and costing us a score. Not only that, he had the team driving down the field only to throw an ugly interception on what appeared to be a miscommunication between Santana Moss and RG3. That pick sealed the game and the Cowboys were able to close it out with three minutes left.
RG3 was also making some very errant throws, missing receivers and throwing it 10 yards over their heads. He threw a couple of ducks and that's something I've never seen from anyone with RG3's arm strength. He didn't set his feet on some throws and he didn't ever looks like he was stepping into his throws either. The zip on a good throw comes from good footwork and from properly shifting your body weight by stepping into the throw. For whatever reason RG3 hasn't been doing that and its been costing him competitions. His pocket awareness is virtually nonexistent. On Sunday night he was moving well in the pocket but he had no sense of when to get rid of the ball. If you are sitting in the pocket for 7 seconds and still can't find an open guy you tuck it and RUN. Plain and simple. Quarterbacks should have a natural time-bomb in their head which should alert them to when the ball should be out by. RG3 seemed to lose sense of how much time he had and took some costly sacks, one of which lead to the aforementioned lost fumble. RG3 needs to be more aware of the pocket, step into his throws, and for heaven's sake stop fumbling. (Of all players since 2012 RG3 has the most fumbles in the entire league)
2. Receivers Did Not Get Open
Props to Dallas' secondary for completely shutting our receivers down when it mattered. No one was able to beat press coverage or take advantage of one of one matchups. It's shameful when the quarterback has over five seconds to throw the football and he can't find a single receiver open. Pierre Garcon can't do it himself, and even he had a couple drops in the game. When the quarterback isn't playing his best the receiving core must step up and help him out.
3. Special Teams was Downright Horrible
I was upset when longtime special teams coach Danny Smith left for Pittsburgh. When he was here special teams weren't a problem. They did what they had to do and got off the field. This year, special teams are costing us games. One missed field goal and two huge punt and kickoff returns set up two easy Dallas touchdowns. The game was close and special teams gaffes gave the Cowboys a comfy lead. And I mean gave, it's one thing if they march down the field and score and earn it, but we just handed it to them on a silver platter. If special teams play doesn't improve we aren't going to be winningmany any more games.
4. Defense was Absolutely SOLID
Let's remember that this Dallas team dropped 48 points on the Denver Broncos last weak and is one of the top offenses in the league. Dallas scored 31 points. One was a special teams touchdown so the defense took no part in that. They essentially gave up 24 points in the game. Which is remarkable considering that on two of those 3 given up touchdowns Dallas STARTED their drives in the redzone. The defense stuffed Dallas's running game holding them to under 40 yards. They held Romo to one touchdown pass and rectified it with an interception. DeAngelo Hall balled out against Dez Bryant and saved a touchdown on a play where his assignment was to cover the flat and let the receiver go. If the defense continues this high level of play we are going to be in good shape.
5. Coaches Need to Embrace the No-Huddle.
If I'm Mike Shanahan I'm spending practice teaching Robert how to run the no-huddle. It's when our offense is at our best and when we can really move the ball. A couple no-huddle drives every half should help inject some life into our low scoring offense.
Bottomline: As much as I'm bashing the team this game was improvement. I thought we were going to comeback until RG3's last pick, unlike previous games when we were done by the 1st half. RG3 needs to stop turning the ball over and start making better throws. Special teams needs to keep returners on their half of the 50 and the defense needs to continue their level of play and we can win games. I'm not even going to bother talking about playoffs.
I've been continuously saying that by Week 8 RG3 will be back to his normal self. For the first half I thought he was. He moved like his old self, moved well in and out of the pocket, and had the offense moving down the field. More importantly he was running with the quickness we haven't seen since 2012. He finished with 77 yards on 9 carriers for a solid average of 8.6 yards. Those are RG3 numbers from last year. So why didn't the Redskins beat the Cowboys for the third straight time in a row? Inconsistency. RG3 fumbled twice in the game, losing one inside our own 5 yard line and costing us a score. Not only that, he had the team driving down the field only to throw an ugly interception on what appeared to be a miscommunication between Santana Moss and RG3. That pick sealed the game and the Cowboys were able to close it out with three minutes left.
RG3 was also making some very errant throws, missing receivers and throwing it 10 yards over their heads. He threw a couple of ducks and that's something I've never seen from anyone with RG3's arm strength. He didn't set his feet on some throws and he didn't ever looks like he was stepping into his throws either. The zip on a good throw comes from good footwork and from properly shifting your body weight by stepping into the throw. For whatever reason RG3 hasn't been doing that and its been costing him competitions. His pocket awareness is virtually nonexistent. On Sunday night he was moving well in the pocket but he had no sense of when to get rid of the ball. If you are sitting in the pocket for 7 seconds and still can't find an open guy you tuck it and RUN. Plain and simple. Quarterbacks should have a natural time-bomb in their head which should alert them to when the ball should be out by. RG3 seemed to lose sense of how much time he had and took some costly sacks, one of which lead to the aforementioned lost fumble. RG3 needs to be more aware of the pocket, step into his throws, and for heaven's sake stop fumbling. (Of all players since 2012 RG3 has the most fumbles in the entire league)
2. Receivers Did Not Get Open
Props to Dallas' secondary for completely shutting our receivers down when it mattered. No one was able to beat press coverage or take advantage of one of one matchups. It's shameful when the quarterback has over five seconds to throw the football and he can't find a single receiver open. Pierre Garcon can't do it himself, and even he had a couple drops in the game. When the quarterback isn't playing his best the receiving core must step up and help him out.
3. Special Teams was Downright Horrible
I was upset when longtime special teams coach Danny Smith left for Pittsburgh. When he was here special teams weren't a problem. They did what they had to do and got off the field. This year, special teams are costing us games. One missed field goal and two huge punt and kickoff returns set up two easy Dallas touchdowns. The game was close and special teams gaffes gave the Cowboys a comfy lead. And I mean gave, it's one thing if they march down the field and score and earn it, but we just handed it to them on a silver platter. If special teams play doesn't improve we aren't going to be winning
4. Defense was Absolutely SOLID
Let's remember that this Dallas team dropped 48 points on the Denver Broncos last weak and is one of the top offenses in the league. Dallas scored 31 points. One was a special teams touchdown so the defense took no part in that. They essentially gave up 24 points in the game. Which is remarkable considering that on two of those 3 given up touchdowns Dallas STARTED their drives in the redzone. The defense stuffed Dallas's running game holding them to under 40 yards. They held Romo to one touchdown pass and rectified it with an interception. DeAngelo Hall balled out against Dez Bryant and saved a touchdown on a play where his assignment was to cover the flat and let the receiver go. If the defense continues this high level of play we are going to be in good shape.
5. Coaches Need to Embrace the No-Huddle.
If I'm Mike Shanahan I'm spending practice teaching Robert how to run the no-huddle. It's when our offense is at our best and when we can really move the ball. A couple no-huddle drives every half should help inject some life into our low scoring offense.
Bottomline: As much as I'm bashing the team this game was improvement. I thought we were going to comeback until RG3's last pick, unlike previous games when we were done by the 1st half. RG3 needs to stop turning the ball over and start making better throws. Special teams needs to keep returners on their half of the 50 and the defense needs to continue their level of play and we can win games. I'm not even going to bother talking about playoffs.
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