Mmm Drop

Always enough to get it done

Takeaway drill: Drops. Drops drops drops. Pass blocking was terrible and there were injuries to the offensive line. Drops. Two receivers are hurting badly and their play is reflecting. Drops. Run defense stood, passing defense gave. Drops. Brett Favre plays sandlot football...and wins.

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Monday walkthrough: The Redskins lose a tough one 17-14 in the rain to the Packers. If Washington had pulled in half the drops on offense and defense the Redskins would have won the game easily even giving the Packers back the two field goals they missed. The Redskins wasted a great defensive performance and all in all not a terrible game to lose and not a terrible way to lose it unless any of the injuries is or are costly.

The first quarter started with a stalled drive by each team then Carlos Rogers failed to wrap up tight end Donald Lee (who is more like a receiver but at 6-4 248 is not a small man to tackle) and in fact sprung him for a 60 yard gain; the shellshocked Redskins gave up a rushing touchdown on the next play. The Redskins responded by moving right down the field with Jason Campbell showing why manlove is in season by scambling six yards for a touchdown. The quarter ended in a 7-7 tie.

In the second quarter it started to get sloppy. Santana let an easy catch go through his arms and Antwaan Randle El and Charles Woodson both grabbed at it and it was awarded to the Packers but they wasted the chance and three and outed. Jason was sacked on the next possession but the drive was kept alive on a Packers penalty before Antwaan dropped a first down catch and the Redskins punted. The half ended with the Redskins marching 63 yards in eight plays to score on a Chris Cooley catch, the Packers then responded with a field goal try but the ball was wide left. The half ended 14-7 Redskins.

Butterfingers were still around in the third quarter when Santana opened the second half with a drop that bounced off his hands out of bounds; it would have been about a 30 yard gain. Sean Taylor finally hauled in a Brett Favre pass after dropping two certain interceptions in the first half but the Redskins could do nothing with it and punted. Brett ran the next drive out of the shotgun and marched the Packers down the field 53 yards for a touchdown that was called back for holding. The Packers settled for a 37 yard field goal. On the second play of the ensuing Redskins drive Santana was stripped on a reverse and Charles Woodson scooped it up and ran 57 yards for a touchdown. The Redskins stalled on the last drive of the quarter, ending 17-14 Packers.

Trailing only by three the Redskins flailed most of their way through the fourth quarter, opening the drive on a three and out that was all Clinton Portis running plays. Carlos Rogers was called for pass interference but it was not costly when the Packers punted. On the next drive Clinton dropped the ball and it was recovered by the Packers but hilariously they could go nowhere and NFL rookie (but CFL veteran) Chris Wilson recorded his first sack, backing the Packers up from the Redskins 8 to the 20. Mason Crosby missed his second field goal (it hit the upright, always amazing to me) and the Redskins recovered in better field position than when Clinton fumbled it.

The Redskins started last gasping at the 9 minute mark and Keenan McCardell got into the game with two quick catches. Unlike the Giants game when Clinton fumbled he returned to carry the ball and Brandon Lloyd came as close as he has all season to making me back off but as usual he dropped it, a pass that would have put the Redskins on the one at worst, skidding untouched to the go ahead score at best. Washington botched the drive with a terrible playcall on fourth and two, a one yard route by Ladell Betts that was stopped easily.

Just when things looked all over Sean Taylor intercepted another Brett Favre pass, showing some nifty footwork to stay in bounds. Sean and Rocky McIntosh tried to get a little too cute with the razzle dazzle and Sean's lateral to Rocky cost the team five yards on the return. All Jason Campbell did with this gift was botch a snap, throw a -4 yard reception and get sacked.

The Packers predictably ran all three times to soak the clock but Washington still got it back with over a minute left. When Stephon Heyer pulled up with what looked like a very painful hamstring pull the officials ran ten seconds off the clock, the rule being that an injury timeout by the offense with under two minutes left in the game costs you a charged timeout unless you do not have one in which case there is a ten second runoff. Pete Kendall then committed a false start, forcing another ten second runoff for the offensive penalty and facing third and 87 with 25 seconds left the team lost, final score 17-14 Packers.

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Soapbox: And so the Redskins blow another halftime lead. I'll have to go back and watch the tape unless I can find it elsewhere (helloo Dillweed) but I think I counted three dropped passes by Santana, one each by Antwaan and Brandon Lloyd and two dropped interceptions by Sean Taylor. I may have missed a couple in there.

I'm sorry but the interception credited to Charles Woodson in the second quarter was a simultaneous catch by Charles and Antwaan Randle El. The ball bounced through Santana's hands and whereas both Charles and Antwaan were heads up on the play you can see clearly from the replay that both of them are cradling the ball in and a tie goes to the offense. I did not understand why this question of possession is not reviewable (Joe Gibbs came over yelling for a review but was rebuffed) when all others (scores, boundaries, catches) are and the 'announcers' did not give us any insight. If I am forced to make a football judgement on that play and not just let it be a homeriffic hometown homefield Lambeau linesman call then Santana just catches the fucking thing and there are no worries.

I mocked the idea that the Packers' defense could be 23rd against the pass and still cause problems for the Redskins. I was wrong. The Packers front four got pressure on Jason Campbell all day and to be honest it looked to me like Jason was expecting a rush, his eyes not downfield but on the pocket. If you expect the pocket to collapse then you will see a collapsing pocket, just ask Patrick Ramsey.

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Chattering class: Tom Boswell at the Washington Post boils it down to one word: squandered. Squandered catches, squandered interceptions, squandered lead, squandered defense.

Once again showing the influence of this Redskins team on the psyche of the Washington DC area, the team gets front page A1 coverage in the Washington Post, this time by Mike Wise, sandwiched between stories on immigration and Iraq.

I agree with Sportz Assassin at Redskins AOL Fanhouse, the team needs to get a handle on clock and game management, a bunch of needless and costly mistakes.

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Omnibus: we have yet to learn the exact extent of the injuries to the offensive line. Todd Wade aka 8 Ball and Casey Rabach aka Casey Ballsach went out with groin injuries (Casey's is potentially serious according to Jason La Canfora op. cit.) and Stephon Heyer, pressed back into duty at the unfamiliar position of right tackle when Todd went down hurt his hamstring. The Redskins may be back in the market for linemen off the street. The team says Todd Yoder would have gone in to play right guard if 8 Ball had not come back out injured to replace Stephon but the announcers said Lorenzo Alexander aka Scarface who dallied with the offensive line in minicamp would have been the emergency tackle.

Look at the line (not this one), the Redskins played a good game: the Redskins shut the Packers down, Packers were 3 of 13 on third down; the Packers only managed 56 yards rushing on a 2.8 ypc average; Brett Favre only averaged 2.7 yards per passing play; the Redskins forced four Packer fumbles but could not recover any of them; the Redskins were two for two in the red zone with two touchdowns; Chris Cooley was there for Jason with nine catches for 105 yards and a TD when Santana and Antwaan could not be.

The Redskins running game is ranked 10th but falling. Santana blames himself for losing the game but I think it's coaching as well, Santana and Antwaan are hurt and the team should have prepared for that, what the hell are they carrying six receivers for anyway?

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Area 51: Sean Taylor helped Brett Favre over another record mark, the most interceptions thrown of all time, beating the legend George Blanda, who played into his 50s. Although Sean dropped two in the first half and a third in the second he tightened up though any of those drops may have changed the game. It is a quirk of history that Brett Favre's first two interceptions, when Brett was with the Falcons, were against the Redskins in 1991 on the road to the Super Bowl.

Freddie Your Cruise Director: Fred Smoot was in and out of the game and was not a huge factor that I can recall. I'll be looking for Loveboat Freddie in my tape review.

Washington Post recap, box score, play by play. NFL recap, box score, full play by play, Gamebook (PDF), photos.


Other recaps: Blog newcomer Jofizz at Redskins FanView, Hogs Haven, The Redskin Report, Hog Heaven, Running Redskins, Covering the Redskins, Redskins Gab. I normally don't link up to one line recaps but I'm making an exception for Riggo's Rag this week.

A tough loss yesterday but there is material here to keep hope alive. Better to lose a game when the Redskins quarterback can hit the receivers on the hands than to lose on wild pitching a la Patrick Ramsey.


Up next, the Arizona Cardinals at home in Washington, a team that was forced to play a quarterback that was signed less than a week ago. Losing the Packers game makes this a must-win to stay on schedule.



Brett Favre: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images from here. Kurt Warner getting hurt: Stephen Dunn / Getty Images from here. Titled with apologies to the Beastie Boys.