Week 11: Cowboys 14, Redskins 10

2 comments

November 17, 12:55 AM

by Mark Newgent, Washington Redskins Examiner

 

 

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The Nutshell
This game, with playoff implications, had me and others filled with trepidation. The Redskins led for much of the game but the offense failed take advantage of another promising start, another outstanding defensive effort. They eventually succumb to the hated Cowboys 14-10. The Redskins drop to 6-4 and a second place tie with the Cowboys in the NFC East, and a precarious hold on the sixth conference playoff spot 

Offense
Lovely opening drive capped by 2 yard pass from Jason Campbell to Mike Sellers. Portis chipped in 29 yards and a 9 yard rush on fourth and one. After that the unit just couldn’t find a way to score.

The offensive line did not pass block well at all. Campbell was under constant pressure. I said that if the Redskins are going to win going forward that it would be on Campbell. I still hold to that argument, but for Campbell to be effective the pass protection needs to improve.

Jim Zorn made the right adjustment rolling Campbell out and moving the pocket. The quarterback draw was an especially nifty wrinkle, just not enough.

Interesting call in challenging the touchback. I don’t know if throwing the red flag and risking your last time out was the wisest choice, but I understand the logic behind the decision. You’ve stymied two Cowboy drives and pinning them deep in their own territory would have kept the pressure on them, and the momentum with your defense. Dallas did end up scoring a touchdown, and maybe they don’t starting from the one-yard line. In the end, it didn’t work out but I understand the reasoning. The Redskins could have used that final timeout on the last drive before the half, but they did end up getting three points.

 Grade: D

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Defense
Not a great deal of pressure on Tony Romo, which didn’t matter much in the first half as the defense kept the Cowboy offense fairly bottled up, i.e. the picks by DeAngelo Hall and Rocky McIntosh, which stopped Cowboy drives dead cold. However, the lack of effective pressure reared its ugly head in the second half, especially on the second Dallas touchdown drive. Had the defense sacked Tony Romo on third and seven instead of letting him get off the shovel pass to Miles Austin the outcome could have been different as the Cowboys don’t score a touchdown and are most likely out of field goal range. 

Grade: B

Special Teams
Punt and kick coverage was solid. See Zorn’s challenge above. Cartwright’s big return before the end of the first half set up a Suisham field goal. His drop out of bounds of the second half kickoff thankfully did not cost any points. Suisham’s missed a 46-yard attempt. However, he should have been kicking from 38 yards but the offensive line gave up an eight-yard sack.

Grade: B

Individual Performances:
What injured knee? Clinton Portis only had 68 yards, but that is a function of only 15 carries well below his average of 22 a game. He didn’t look like a guy who couldn’t even bend his knee earlier in the week.

Chris Cooley, 7 receptions for 44 yards.

Welcome to Washington DeAngelo Hall. We like cornerbacks who can hold onto interceptions.
 

(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Up Next: Jim Zorn returns home to Seattle.

Odds n Ends
Do go see/hear The Curly R’s interview with Chris Horton. Nice get Ben!

It would have been nice to give Art and Darrell a win to go with their HOF rings tonight.

Dallas Cowboy Examiner Dan Telvock thinks the Redskins were lying about Portis’ knee injury.

Even taking into consideration how therally rags looked, I’m of the opinion that aping another team’s silly fan prop makes your own clone prop look even sillier.

I’m not impressed with LaVar’s "clarification" on his Joe Gibbs coward remarks. More on that later.

   Subscribe   Feed

Include other special offers from Examiner.com
Terms of Use