And Say Goodnight

This river don't go nowhere

Takeaway drill: humiliated before an inferior opponent, unable to affect an offense, let's wrap it up kids, this season is over. You bitched all week and look what it got you.

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Monday Walkthrough: Sloppy play, penalties, questionable decisions and a hangover of team infighting doom Washington against an opponent that was 1-11-1 coming into the game as the Bengals beat the Redskins 20-13 to drop Washington to 7-7, that 6-2 start seems like a long time ago doesn't it?

The Redskins won the toss and elected to receive to start the first quarter, Washington's first possession started in a great way with Rock Cartwright returning the opening kick 32 yards, then went downhill, on third and ten from the Washington 34 Jason Campbell finds Chris Cooley down the right side for a big gain, Bengals safety Chris Crocker dislodges the ball for a fumble, it is recovered by Cincinnati. The Bengals first possession, off the turnover, is running running running, even quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick runs the ball, Kedric Golston gives Cincinnati another five yards on an encroachment penalty, then Ryan runs the ball twice more consecutively, the second time is a naked bootleg around right end for the one yard score, extra point is good and the Bengals take an early 7-0 lead. Washington gets the ball for the second time, another good return for Rock Cartwright, this possession is an up the middle, up the middle Clinton Portis, incomplete to Santana Moss and punt and the Redskins look to have no rhythm. Lucky for Washington, Cincinnati's second possession is no better, a three and out with good swarming defense on the part of the Redskins. The Redskins get the ball for the third time, the highlight of this three and out is a Devin Thomas end around for eight yards on second down, yep on third and two Jason Campbell could not even complete a two yard pass, punt. The Bengals get the ball for the third time, pinned at their own six yard line thanks to a 42 yard punt by Ryan Plackemeier downed by Justin Tryon, after two Cedric Benson runs move the chains, a 23 yard catch by Chad Johnson is nullified by an offensive holding penalty, on second and nineteen from the Cincinnati eight yard line, Ryan Fitzpatrick dumps a short pass to Cedric Benson on the right, he races through the defense 79 yards to the Washington thirteen, Carlos Rogers fought through the block at the end of the play to prevent the touchdown, two plays later Chris Henry gets separation from Carlos Rogers in the left corner of the end zone for the touchdown, extra point good and the Bengals run out to a 14-0 lead. Washington gets the ball for the fourth time, Jim Zorn continues to demonstrate a commitment to the run game which puts the Redskins at third and three, Antwaan Randle El appears to have the first down on a catch but an illegal formation penalty takes it away, on the ensuing third and eight Chris Cooley runs a four yard pattern and the Redskins are punting. The Bengals get two plays in their fourth possession, including a thirteen yard run up the middle by Cedric Benson and that is where the first quarter ends with the Bengals leading 14-0.

Cincinnati's fourth possession continues at midfield into the second quarter, a false start moves them back but no matter as Chad Johnson moves the chains, then Cedric Benson for twelve yards then Cedric for seventeen yards, three plays later the Bengals stall at the Washington fourteen yard line, Shayne Graham lines up for a 32 yard field goal, it is good and the Bengals extend their lead to 17-0. The Redskins get the ball for the fifth time, three passes and a punt, the only complete on this three and out was a six yarder to Clinton Portis, the Redskins continue to look like nothing doing. The Bengals get the ball for the fifth time, a three and out, Cincinnati's second of the game versus two for Washington, the punt gives the Redskins possession at midfield. Washington's sixth possession starts in great field position thanks to a 31 yard Santana Moss punt return, even with the illegal block penalty against Chris Wilson it was still a net 28 yard return, starting the Redskins at the Cincinnati 40 yard line, the drive then commences with five straight runs, four to Clinton Portis and one to Ladell Betts, two plays later on third and four from the Cincinnati ten yard line Jason Campbell drops back and rockets a pass into the back of the end zone to Santana for a touchdown, extra point is good and the Redskins are on the board, 17-7 Bengals. Unfortunately though for Washington, Santana was called for excessive celebration on that touchdown for shining his shoes, the ensuing Washington kickoff from the fifteen went out of bounds giving Cincinnati another fifteen yards less to go in their sixth possession, luckily the Bengals are nearly as inept as the Redskins and can only go two yards in three plays and they punt. The Redskins seventh possession is comparatively long, it features five runs and six passes, only one of the runs was a loss and only one of the passes was incomplete, Santana Moss, Mike Sellers, and Fred Davis all figure into plays over ten yards, the Redskins then stall out at the Cincinnati five yard line, Shaun Suisham lines up for a 23 yard field goal, it is good and the Redskins move to 17-10 Bengals with less than ten seconds left in the half. The Bengals seventh possession should not even count but it does, a one play kneeldown to end the half with the Bengals leading 17-10.

Cincinnati gets the ball to start the third quarter, the Bengals eighth possession, Chris Henry moves the chains once and Cedric Benson has a good carry but they stall at midfield and punt. Washington's eighth drive is long, it starts on their own twelve yard line, once again there is no way to say the Redskins are not committed to the run, Clinton Portis carries six times in the six minute, eleven play drive, Jason Campbell was three of five, including a nice twenty yard pass to Santana Moss on second and seven, Jason also had a seventeen yard scramble on a busted play, on second and goal from the one yard line, Mike Sellers takes the ball in through the middle for a touchdown, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis challenged the score, claiming Mike did not get in the end zone, the play was reversed, canceling the touchdown, on third down the Redskins run EXACTLY the same play, in the struggle of the pile the ball comes loose and is recovered by Cincinnati in the end zone for a touchback, Bengals ball, Jim Zorn and I are unhappy with that result and he throws the red flag, challenging the play, after a challenge that seems much longer than two minutes, Bill Leavy comes back and upholds the play, Cincinnati ball, the Redskins get nothing on a 92 yard drive. The Bengals ninth drive starts on their own twenty yard line after the turnover, they move the chains twice including a 22 yard pass to Chris Henry, from midfield Cincinnati stalls out and they punt, getting nothing from the Redskins turnover. The Redskins ninth possession starts on their own nine yard line, after a fair catch by Antwaan Randle El, in four plays Washington moves to their own 33 yard line, then three straight penalties, a false start on right Jason Fabini, a holding call on Casey Rabach, and a holding call on Mike Green the ensuing punt and the Redskins are looking more and more inept, the punt is the final play of the quarter when ends with the Bengals leading 17-10.

Cincinnati gets the ball for the tenth time to start the fourth quarter, this drive is a three and out punctuated by a Jason Taylor slash London Fletcher sack of Ryan Fitzpatrick on third and three from the Cincinnati 35. The Redskins get the ball for the tenth time, still running the ball with Clinton Portis, on third and two from the Washington nineteen yard line, Clinton fumbles on a two yard gain, it is recovered for another three yards by Antwaan Randle El, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis challenges the play, asserting that Antwaan was down and could not return the ball, Bill Leavy comes back and reverses the fumble, calling Clinton down by contact, from there three plays later the Redskins stall in their own territory and punt. The Bengals eleventh possession is long, the seven minute backbreaker though hard fought, fifteen plays and 41 yards featuring six Cedric Benson runs for nine yards, Ryan Fitzpatrick was six for seven though, including two scrambles, the Bengals stall at the Washington 27 yard line, Shayne Graham sets up for a 45 yard field goal, it is good and the Bengals push their lead to 20-10 with just over two minutes left in regulation. Washington gets the ball for the eleventh and final time, down ten points with two minutes to work with, just when all looks lost Rock Cartwright takes the kickoff back 87 yards to the Cincinnati thirteen yard line, a Clinton Portis run for no gain and two Jason Campbell incompletes and Shaun Suisham sets up for a 36 yard field goal, it is good and the Redskins cut the Bengals lead to 20-13, this drive consumed twenty seconds off the game clock. The Redskins attempt an onsides kick with 1:47 left in regulation, down seven points, the ball is bounced around after contact and goes out of bounds, Bengals ball, three kneeldowns later and time expires, the Redskins lose 20-13 to the Bengals in a festival of ineptitude with no apparent desire to win.

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Soapbox: Well no one can say the Redskins did not commit to the run in this game, tailback Clinton Portis got the ball 23 times, though for only 77 yards, unlike other times when the run was not working, head coach Jim Zorn stuck with it, the running just never broke open: Very minor moral victory.

Pretty much everything else sucked about this game. Bad breaks, lack of discipline, offensive futility, defensive letdowns, poor decisions, wasted opportunities, THIS GAME HAD IT ALL!

Bad Breaks: Mike Sellers not getting in then fumbling; Shaun Suisham dropping a kickoff out of bounds.

Lack of Discipline: Santana Moss incurring an unsportsmanlike penalty for shining his shoes, which led to the short kickoff that was then dropped out of bounds; nine penalties for 75 yards, including three by fill in right guard Jason Fabini.

Offensive Futility: It took the Redskins over 21 minutes of game time to get a first down, for those following the play by play, Washington got their first first down of the game in their sixth possession, in the second quarter.

Defensive Letdowns: No pass rush to speak of, the defense, long the hard part of this team, could not pressure a one win team into making mistakes; the Redskins are establishing a pattern of being unable to stop opponents from closing games out.

Poor Decisions: Can someone perhaps explain why Mike Sellers got the ball not once, but twice at the goal line? That is Clinton Portis territory.

Wasted Opportunities: Rock Cartwright, near the top of league kickoff returns, had his longest kickoff of the season in this game, an 87 yard return in the fourth quarter when the Redskins were down by ten points with two minutes to go, the team could only manage a field goal, then the game was over.

Curly R gamewrap aside: Bengals Stadium is excellent, the people of Cincinnati are welcoming and polite, in all my two days there for this game no one said a mean word to me, after years of suffering douchebag Eagles fans it was nice to be around a crowd of football fans and not have to worry about getting spat on. Also, WhoDey Revolution has a real movement going on (op. cit.), see also the urinal cakes.

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Chattering Class: The Redskins are once again back on page one of the Washington Post, Les Carpenter's gripping story of team public relations officials stewarding all the postgame press availabilities in Cincinnati is sandwiched between a piece on the Iraqi shoe thrower and a story on how post Bailout executive pay curbs for companies on the dole are basically toothless.

Tom Boswell, also at the Washington Post, writes that Jim Zorn is so clearly over his head, he is keeping his chin up and his jaw set, the saddest part of this for me is that I think when all is said and done for Jim Zorn, the establishment will frown and tut-tut and say it is a shame his unorthodox methods did not catch on, too bad he is not one of us.

Mike Wise of the Post, has a very simple question: Can Jim Zorn survive a 6-2 start then a 1-5 slide? Dan Snyder has fired coaches after one season before.

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Omnibus: The traditional Omnibus section of a Curly R gamewrap is constituted from comments culled during the game, I open two text editors, one for the Walkthrough and one for the Omnibus, and just start typing. My Omnibus comments for this game are culled mostly from the photo record of the trip, my recollection and the NFL Gamebook and video.

The Chad Johnson 23 yard catch in the Bengals third possession, first quarter? The one that was called back for offensive holding? Yeah Kareem Moore kah-reamed him, helmet flying and everything. On that same drive, Cedric Benson's 79 yard catch and run benefited from a great screen blocking set up and obviously a defense that was not looking for a play on that side of the field, Rocky McIntosh was the only one with a decent shot at Cedric before he hit open field, carrying at least two downfield blockers.

The touchdown pass from Jason Campbell to Santana Moss in the Redskins sixth possession, second quarter was a bullet, a great example of what Jason Campbell can do, after that score Santana Moss pulled the towel off his waistband and pretended to shine his shoes in celebration, and was called for excessive thereto, I thought that was a bit of an excessive call no pun intended, I was at the stadium, the score happened on my end of the field and even in the replay it does not look offensive, I guess the referees do not like roleplay.

The clusterfuck continued on the next play as Shaun Suisham, already kicking off from his own fifteen as a result of the unsportmanlike conduct penalty on Santana after the score, then kicked the ball out of bounds, giving the Bengals another fifteen yards to midfield, that was a net thirty yard gain of field position for Cincinnati on those two plays, THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF HIDDEN YARDAGE SLOPPY SLOPPY SLOPPY.

Not quite sure what that fourth quarter challenge by Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis was all about, Clinton Portis fumbles and Antwaan Randle El picked it up and carried it another three yards, there was no chance for the possession to be given to the Bengals, so he was challenging... the three yard recovery?

For more insight on this game, check out the Curly R Game Journals: Day One, Day Two.

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Softcore Zorn: Some pretty bad breaks and worse decision making for head coach Jim Zorn, giving the ball to fullback Mike Sellers once on the goal line would have been a bad idea, the guy had all of four carries in the season coming into this game, but then to give it to Mike on the very next play, the same play? Makes no sense to me. I saw the post game press conference (highlights), and coach Zorn is starting to get the thousand yard stare.

Shooter: Quarterback Jason Campbell was certainly not the weak link in this game, he did everything that was asked of him, leaving of course in question the quality of the gameplan around Jason. He was seventeen of 28 for 167 yards and a touchdown, no interceptions, no fumbles. If there had been a real running game these numbers would not look so average.

Coltrolled: THIS SPACE AVAILABLE

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


Next up, Eagles at Redskins Stadium, as ever with this particular Division matchup I will be attending with my game partner lifetime Eagles fan, season ticket holder and Curly R reader/lurker Wilbert Montgomery, this will our nineteenth of the past twenty Eagles-Redskins games played anywhere and my seventeenth in a row. You would think I might get tired of this routine at some point. You would be wrong.



Jason Fabini offering cold comfort to Jason Campbell: Tom Uhlman / AP photo from here.