NEWS
Before the first of two major end-of-season division games, the Redskins made their first major managerial decision during the week last week, firing GM Vinny Cerrato in favor of Bruce Allen.
On Monday night, the Redskins sure didn’t look like they were playing for their jobs, as the New York Giants stormed into FedEx Field and whooped on the ‘Skins, 45-12, in a game that might have been more of a blowout than the final score indicates.
While the Giants drove their first two possessions straight down the field into the end zone, the Redskins couldn’t even muster a first down until their fourth drive of the game.
“You’ve got a new boss to impress,” cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. “This is an audition. These last couple of games is an audition. Bruce Allen pretty much got a head start on evaluating talent. If he looks at what he saw today, he’ll scrap this whole thing.”
On the ‘Skins final drive before the half, with the Giants up 24-0, they finally began moving the ball, only to stall near the Giants’ 25-yard line with :02 seconds left.
Instead of going for the conventional field goal, the ‘Skins made the “nothing-to-lose” play, going for a ridiculous looking fake field goal (where they shifted their entire line to the left side of the field, allowing three Giants to blitz kicker Hunter Smith into the ground). The play shockingly ended with an interception by the Giants.
“I don’t think really this team is that bad. The players ain’t that bad,” said DT Haynesworth, who earned a personal foul by throwing a punch at Giants RB Brandon Jacobs in the fourth quarter. “The score, the record, [they] say that we’re horrible, that we don’t know how to play football. But I’ve been around these guys a lot and I think they know how to play football. I think we’re just all going in different directions, and we need somebody to lead us in the right direction.”
Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 12:23 am by bryan · No Comments
The Washington Redskins have looked like world-beaters for the first three quarters in the past three weeks, as they’ve been leading the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints going into the final 15 minutes of each game.
But just like the last two weeks, the ‘Skins couldn’t close the deal when it counted, and the Saints escaped FedEx Field with a highly improbable win yesterday, with a 33-30 triumph in overtime.
QB Jason Campbell led the ‘Skins offense effectively all day, as they piled up 455 total yards of offense on the beleaguered Saints defense. Campbell had one of his best days as a Redskin, going 30-of-42 for 367 yards and three touchdowns (along with one late interception).
But some fluke plays kept the Saints on life support throughout the game, despite the Redskins’ offensive success. After Kareem Moore picked off Drew Brees’ end-zone pass with the ‘Skins up 17-10, he began running it back… until Saints WR Robert Meachem ripped the ball out of Moore’s hands and ran it back, untouched, for a 44-yard, game-tying score right before halftime.
That wasn’t even the worst of it. Late in the game, with the Redskins up 30-23, Campbell engineered yet another time-consuming drive that brought the ‘Skins to a 23-yard field goal with barely less than two minutes left. Incredibly, kicker Shaun Suisham missed what should have been a “gimme” (and a “gimme” that would have put the ‘Skins up by two scores with two minutes left!), and the rest was history.
Brees hooked up with Meachem less than a minute later for a 55-yard touchdown strike to tie the game, Campbell was picked as he tried to get the Redskins in field goal range in regulation, and fullback Mike Sellers fumbled in overtime and allowed the Saints to kick a game-winning field goal, sending 70,000 depressed fans out to the parking lot.
“I don’t think the best team won today,” Redskins center Casey Rabach said. “We had some bad breaks, some bizarre things happened.”
Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 12:03 am by bryan · No Comments
The Washington Redskins placed TE Chris Cooley on season-ending injured reserve on Tuesday, after a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles dropped them to 3-8 on the season.
“I talked to Jim last week, and he said, ‘Listen, if we win [at Philadelphia] and there’s any thought of a playoff push, if we win a couple of games, we’ll keep you on that thought,’ ” Cooley said. “So then I went in yesterday, he said, ‘You know, we said that if he we won, we’d keep pushing it, but if we lose, IR.’ And that’s probably best for me.”
Cooley broke his ankle in the first game against the Eagles this season, but had been discussed as a possibility to return by the last few games of the season. In his place, TE Fred Davis has filled in admirably, becoming one of QB Jason Campbell’s favorite targets.
Cooley learned last week that he’d still be forced to wear a walking boot for another week, likely shutting down all hopes that he could return to the team this year.
Regarding this year and the Redskins’ uncertain future, Cooley had some interesting insights:
“I don’t know. It feels almost like a transition year,” Cooley said. “Obviously there’s going to be change at the end of the year, but as far as guessing what that change will be, I have no idea.”
Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 10:38 pm by bryan · No Comments
For the second straight week, the Redskins had managed to open up a lead on a superior NFC East rival into the fourth quarter, and appeared on their way to registering a major road upset.
Then, just like last week’s last-minute loss against Dallas, the ‘Skins fell apart late in this one and allowed the Eagles to storm back and steal a win, 27-24, to keep pace with the Cowboys in the NFC East.
The Redskins got an early boost from Eagles coach Andy Reid, who made the dunceheaded decision to open the game with an onside kick. Shockingly, his move backfired, giving the Redskins a painfully short field and allowing them to score a touchdown within two minutes, stunning the home crowd in the process.
The Eagles battled back, taking a 10-7 lead after blown coverage by the Redskins left WR DeSean Jackson wide open in the end zone, but Jason Campbell and the ‘Skins weren’t done yet. The Eagles managed to move the ball between the 20s consistently all day, with ‘Skins DT Albert Haynesworth sidelined, but their much-documented red zone woes continued, as they kicked three short field goals to keep the Redskins in the game.
After a third quarter interception of McNabb by the ‘Skins brought them down to the Eagles 10-yard line, and with a 21-16 lead, it looked like the Redskins might be cruising to a huge divisional victory.
Yet the Eagles battled back in the fourth quarter, with McNabb rallying the offense for a huge fourth quarter drive that ended with RB Eldra Buckley’s first TD (and a 2-point conversion from LeSean McCoy to tie the game). The Eagles defense made a stand, and the Eagles offense moved the team into field goal position to give them the lead for good.
For the Redskins… yet another disappointing loss in a season filled with losses like this.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 11:03 pm by bryan · No Comments
The Washington Redskins’ backfield got even more bad news on Sunday, as backup running back Ladell Betts reportedly tore two ligaments in his knee during the game against the Dallas Cowboys, and will be forced to miss the rest of the season.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, an MRI showed that Betts tore the anterior cruciate ligament and posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Betts was injured in the first quarter of the game against the Cowboys, a game where the Redskins led the whole way… until Dallas punched in the game-winning score with three minutes left.
Betts had gotten the opportunity to start because the ‘Skins normal starter, Clinton Portis, continues to recover from a concussion that he suffered two weeks ago. Portis visited a concussion specialist over the weekend instead of playing, and he has already been ruled out for this week’s upcoming game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
“It’s just one of those things where someone else gets an opportunity,” linebacker London Fletcher said. “They aren’t going to cancel the game in Philadelphia because the Redskins aren’t healthy.”
The Redskins also lost their right guard, Chad Rinehart, for the season, as he broke his right leg early in the third quarter of the loss to Dallas. He had season-ending surgery this morning.
Monday, November 23, 2009 at 6:43 pm by bryan · No Comments
The Redskins ruled RB Clinton Portis out for a key divisional matchup against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
Portis suffered a concussion after a helmet-to-helmet hit that he suffered against the Falcons two weeks ago. He hasn’t been able to return since.
With the NFL’s increased focus on concussions and head injuries to its players this season, there’s reason to believe that the ‘Skins will play the situation with Portis safe rather than sorry.
Ladell Betts will start in place of Portis for the second straight week.
The Redskins may be scared off by what just happened to another divisional rival - as Eagles RB Brian Westbrook suffered a second concussion last Sunday in his first week back, three weeks after his first concussion against the Redskins. While the Eagles haven’t come out and said it, many expect Westbrook to be out for the rest of the season (although doctors do predict a full recovery).
Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 10:57 pm by bryan · No Comments
The Washington Redskins pulled off one of the most unlikely upsets of the season on Sunday, as they handled the Denver Broncos on all sides of the ball, beating them 24-17 at home on Sunday.
The ‘Skins turned the game with a huge momentum-swinging play midway through the second quarter. With fourth-and-20 on the Broncos’ 35, the Redskins lined up with tight end Todd Yoder split wide as a receiver in a field goal formation, clearly advertising a fake, but coach Jim Zorn had to call a timeout because Washington only had 10 men on the field.
Then, they lined up the exact same way, and actually ran the fake. Punter/holder Hunter Smith rolled right, then threw across his body, hitting FB Mike Sellers in stride with a 35-yard game-tying TD that knotted the game at 14.
“The way we play as a team these days, with these close games, you really need momentum-builders and things like that,” said Smith. “I thought it was the right call.”
“They were setting up something — we knew it,” defensive lineman Vonnie Holliday said. “They came back, and I think they may have even yelled out on their sideline, ‘Let’s just punt it. Let’s just punt it.’ And I guess we just bought into it, because we didn’t lock in on the play and what was going on. It seems like it took forever to unfold. You’ve got to know coming into a game like this, with a team like this, to expect it.”
“They definitely got the momentum,” Holliday said, “and, from there on, it seems like we never got the momentum back.”
Washington held Denver scoreless after halftime, as QB Kyle Orton was injured right before the half and did not return in the second, leaving Chris Simms in under center for Denver. While Simms does have NFL starting experience (with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), he hadn’t played at all this season and the rust showed. Simms finished only 3-of-13 for 13 yards, with an interception, and the Redskins D locked the Broncos down to only 36 yards of total offense after halftime.
Monday, November 16, 2009 at 11:32 pm by bryan · No Comments
Clinton Portis will not take the field Sunday when the Washington Redskins take on the Denver Broncos, as Portis continues to recover from a concussion he sustained in last weekend’s loss to Atlanta.
Portis was helmet-to-helmet hit in the first quarter of the Redskins’ 31-17 loss on the road at Atlanta last week and was knocked out of the game. He did not appear at the Redskins’ practice facility on Thursday.
“We kept Clinton at home just to get rest,” Redskins head coach Jim Zorn said. “That was kind of doctor’s orders.”
Portis last missed a game in 2006, when his season was cut short by hand and shoulder injuries. So far this year, Portis has not lived up to the lofty expectations he typically deserves, as he’s only accrued 494 yards rushing over eight games. Instability on the offensive line has made the Redskins’ entire offense stagnant this year, and Portis was unable to escape the curse.
Portis’ absence means that backup RB Ladell Betts will get his first start since 2006, assuming he’s healthy enough to go. He did not practice Thursday, as he’s nursing a sprained ankle, although Zorn expects Betts to be ready by Sunday.
Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 12:31 am by bryan · No Comments
In some rare in-season candid comments, Redskins owner Dan Snyder revealed his disappointment with his team this year and vowed to continue to work to turn it around.
“We feel frustration and are disappointed for our fans,” Snyder told a crowd of fans at an event to celebrate the Redskins’ efforts to improve Maryland high school football fields. “Obviously our performance to date is not what we expected, and we hope to turn that around.”
Later, reporters followed Snyder to the parking lot for more questions, where he began to dodge questions about controversial issues regarding the Redskins lately, including a sign ban at FedEx field.
Instead, Snyder said, “I feel bad for the fans. I feel sorry for the fans, and we’re very, very appreciative of our loyal fan base. We just feel terrible. We’re disappointed. We’re embarrassed, and we hope to get it going soon.”
“It really hurts,” Snyder said. “We are really trying very, very hard, everyone at Redskins Park, the coaches, the players. The organization’s quite frankly held together well, and I think we’ve got an opportunity the rest of the season to hopefully get it going. But to date we’ve let everyone down, including ourselves, and we know that and we’re just apologetic. We’ve blown some games that obviously we think we should have won.”
Snyder did not respond to a reporter’s question about stripping head coach Jim Zorn of his playcalling duties, instead deciding to promptly end the interview there.
Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 8:13 pm by bryan · No Comments
By Bud L. Ellis
With Sherm Lewis and not Jim Zorn calling the plays, the results were woefully the same for the Washington Redskins.
Losing four turnovers to the Eagles and tight end Chris Cooley to an ankle injury, the Redskins’ season of misery marched on Monday night in a 27-17 loss to Philadelphia.
The Eagles scored 13 points off the four Washington miscues, building a 20-point lead that would be far too much for a Washington team that hasn’t scored more than 17 points in a game all season.
Jason Campbell, benched at halftime last week, returned to starting quarterback duties. Campbell didn’t play bad — he completed 29-of-43 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns — but he was sacked six times, and the turnovers put the Washington defense in bad field position most of the night as the Redskins fell to 2-5.
Cooley, a Pro Bowl selection, broke his right ankle in the game. Lewis, hired by the team just weeks ago as a consultant, called the plays for the first time instead of Zorn, the embattled head coach who looks likely to lose his job at some point in the coming weeks.
–30–
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 5:56 am by bud · No Comments
