The Value of Sean Taylor

Get well get well soon we want you to get well

The Cowboys game came down to six plays and they were all in the second half. Four of them directly reflected the Redskins' weakness without Sean Taylor in center field.

It is not often that football fans get to see in the most literal sense what a player is worth. It is not uncommon for a unit to struggle without a key player but absences can be concealed with schemes and backup players often play well in limited duty when replacing stars.

That did not happen yesterday. The Cowboys already were a deep passing team and Terrell Owens and Tony Romo carved up the Redskins secondary like a honey baked ham.

Shorter Curly R: Sean Taylor is worth every dollar, it's time for the Redskins to tear up his contract and give him that beeg juan he was allegedly not whining about right after the team drafted LaRon Landry in April.

Refer to the play by play for more in context detail:

1. Rocky McIntosh's near interception, 3:51 left third quarter. Rocky jumped a Tony Romo route to Jason Witten and the play was ruled an INT. On review Rocky did not have possession when he hit the ground, ball back to Dallas.

2. On the very next play, 3:47 left third quarter, Reed Doughty committed a pass interference penalty that cost the team 51 yards. Reed never looked back as the ball come down on Patrick Crayton making it an obvious call. Missing Sean Taylor.

3. Three plays later, 2:16 left third quarter, Terrell Owens' second touchdown. London Fletcher got turned around in zone coverage on TO and Tony laid one in perfectly between nickel back Leigh Torrence and safety Reed Doughty. Missing Sean Taylor.

4. The next drive, 0:10 left third quarter, Jason Campbell's intentional grounding. Two plays earlier DeMarcus Ware was called for a questionable roughing the passer penalty but undiscouraged DeMarcus bulled through Chris Samuels on 2nd and 9 from the Cowboys 11 yard line, wrapped up Jason and as Jason was falling slung it out sidearm, it did not even get to the line of scrimmage, intentional grounding, 10 yards and loss of down. The distance to the goal line was doubled, Jason tried to get it all back on the next play and the team had to settle for a field goal.

5. Following drive, 11:39 left fourth quarter, TO's third touchdown. After a false start pushed Dallas back to the Washington 46 Andre Carter got good pressure on Tony from the side, he stepped up in the pocket and tossed it 40 yards in the air to Terrell Owens who had split safeties LaRon Landry and Reed Doughty right down the middle. Missing Sean Taylor.

6. Cowboys' next drive, 7:49 left fourth quarter, TO's fourth touchdown. After the Redskins traded another touchdown for a field goal on the fourth play of the drive Shawn Springs appeared to blow coverage or run a short zone, TO got between Shawn and safety Pierson Prioleau who was not providing enough cover on the sideline. Missing Sean Taylor.


Clearly there is no one on the Redskins roster that can replace Sean Taylor. Reed Doughty is a second year sixth round pick and after watching all last year and getting some playing time this year he was benched in the fourth quarter after getting beat like a drum and Pierson Prioleau is not physical enough and Vernon Fox is not fast enough.

Sean Taylor's rookie contract expires after next season. Give him the extension, let him get his money and do it now.



Image from here.