Five Things Learned from the Redskins’ Loss to the Cardinals
The Washington Redskins squandered an opportunity to take a huge step toward the playoffs, as Kirk Cousins committed two costly turnovers as the Redskins fell 31-23 to the Arizona Cardinals.
The second half saw four lead changes, but a Cousins interception on the final drive of the game sealed Washington’s fate in a week when several other NFC playoff contenders fell, including Minnesota and NFC East rivals Philadelphia and New York.
Although Washington is still very much alive in the playoff hunt, this loss was a missed chance to gain separation from the field. It also allowed Arizona to save its season (and hold a tie-breaker over the Redskins if the two wind up with the same record).
1. The mini-bye paid dividends: The Redskins used the extra preparation time to tweak a couple of things. Three immediately come to mind. First, they changed some of their run-blocking schemes, including some nice gains on a play reminiscent of the old “counter-gap” play from the Joe Gibbs era. Second, they used more tempo plays on offense to keep the Cardinals on their heels. Third, they changed some of their blitz schemes up, sending Josh Norman into the backfield effectively on a couple of occasions.
2. The Redskins have to eliminate the fade: Sean McVay should rip out the page of the playbook with the goal-line fade on it. Then, he should burn it. Continuing to run fades to the end zone after they’ve been unsuccessful all year makes little sense. And running a fade from the one-yard-line to DeSean Jackson, a wide receiver who is under six feet all, makes even less sense.
3. We can cool it with the “Is Hopkins on the hot seat?” talk: In addition to being a touchback machine, as per usual, Hopkins drilled field goals from 47 and 53. He was three-for-three in all, plus two-for-two on PAT. The concerns that have been bubbling under the surface since that overtime miss in Cincy, and which came to the fore last week after he missed two against Dallas, can probably be put to rest for now.
AROUND COVER32
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QB Rankings:: Familiar faces on top
Mailbag:: Is Cousins the real deal?
Kirk In The Drivers Seat: Cousins may have the last laugh in D.C.
“Over The Hill Gang”: Memories of Cards, Washington
4. Calling timeout right before the two-minute warning was a blunder: Yes, allowing a 14-yard run on fourth-and-one was bad. Yes, the holding call on Norman was iffy. But subsequently calling a timeout right before the two-minute warning was a problem entirely of the Redskins’ own creation.
The reason calling a timeout right before the stoppage at two minutes is that it gives the offense the option to run or pass. In other words, since the clock is going to stop anyway, there’s no harm in an incomplete pass. If you call timeout right after the 2:00 warning, the offense is forced to run the ball if its goal is to run the clock out. That failure of strategy burned the Redskins, although the fact that the Cardinals scored so quickly theoretically left Washington in a better position than it would have been if Arizona had been able to run the clock down. Ultimately, it didn’t matter.
The Redskins have to regroup immediately: After rolling for almost two months, Washington now faces some adversity. The Redskins have lost two in a row. They could have won both games, and should have won at least one of the two. They’re currently on the outside looking in in terms of the playoffs.
Washington finishes with a road game against the struggling Eagles, a Monday Night Football home game against the Panthers, a Christmas Eve game in Chicago, and a New Year’s Day fight against the Giants at FedEx. Realistically, the Redskins will need to win a minimum of two of those four, and probably three of those four, to make it into the postseason for the second consecutive year.
After the way the Redskins have played at times in 2016, we’ve now entered the portion of the season where failing to make the playoffs would be a clear disappointment. The only team that has soundly beaten the Redskins all year is Pittsburgh in the opener. Since then, Washington has won six times, tied once, and lost four games that honestly could have gone the other way if the Redskins had made just one or two more plays.
Washington has much for which to compete. But they have to start making those one or two plays. Immediately. Otherwise, they will meet a disappointing fate.
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