The Takeaways – Week 11, Redskins vs Saints
November 21, 2017
By Steve Thomas
Well, this one was a gut punch, folks. This was as tough of a regular season loss as it gets – the only saving grace was that this wasn’t a division rivalry game; beyond that, I have nothing in terms of positives. The Saints are an outstanding team, and the Redskins outplayed them for over three and a half quarters, then utterly fell apart when it mattered most. On top of that, as we told you on The Hog Sty, it was a must-win in terms of playoff hopes, so with this loss, the Redskins must now shift into desperation mode. No, Washington isn’t mathematically eliminated, but it’s become a very tall mountain to climb. Fortunately, though, this game produced many good Takeaways – so many that it was tough to narrow them down. So, what should you talk about around the watercooler this week? Here they are, without further ado:
Redskins held a 15 point lead with just over 3 minutes left and blow it
There’s no escaping the fact that the Redskins were winning this game by a score of 31 – 16 with less than 4 minutes to go in regulation. This offense had somehow managed to put up over 30 points on a team on a 7 game winning streak that had only given up more than 17 points once during that time. Considering just good the Saints’ offense is, Washington had done a fabulous job in keeping Drew Brees and company in check right up until crunch time midway through the fourth quarter. At that point, all of a sudden, the Redskins secondary became incapable of covering the Saints’ receivers and unable to stop running backs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara, and the offense made critical, soul-crushing mistakes. This lead was a tough way to lose a game, for sure, and there’s plenty of blame to go around.
Chris Thompson is done for the year
The Redskins’ leading rusher and leading receiver suffered a season-ending fracture to his right fibula in the third quarter on a play in which the injury appeared to be caused as a consequence of Kirk Cousins’ failure to slide on a scramble on a busted play. The injury looked terrible in the moment, and was later confirmed by head coach Jay Gruden in his postgame press conference. The Redskins will now have to find a way to compete for the rest of the season without their best playmaker. It’s a tall order, frankly.
The Saints’ rushing attack was as advertised
We came into this game believing that the Saints’ top two running backs, Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara, represented a serious, “Mr. Inside – Mr. Outside” kind of problem, and we were right. Weirdly, Saints head coach Sean Peyton seemed to get away from the run game during the middle portion of the game, but at no time, really, were the Redskins able to contain either of this backs. This inability came back to haunt the Redskins in a major way in the overtime period, when Ingram ran for 51 yards on just 2 plays to put the Saints in position to kick the game-winning 28 yard field goal. The Redskins run defense has looked good at times, particularly early in the season when the team was largely healthy, but this game was the low point of the season thusfar in that area. The utter failure of the defensive front 7 to stop the run ultimately cost the Redskins the game.
Cousins had a great game except for 2 important moments
Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins – who will no doubt take a beating from fans this week – actually had an outstanding game against a top-flight Saints defense, except for two moments: (1) his inexplicable intentional grounding penalty late in the game that took the team out of field goal range, where he appeared to believe that someone was in the right flats despite the utter lack of any Redskins player whatsoever in that area, and (2) his failure to properly manage the clock in the two minute drill in the final drive of regulation. His grounding penalty shouldn’t have been a penalty, but was nonetheless a dumb decision. Those two moments spoiled an otherwise quality game for the quarterback, as he made multiple outstanding throws, including a beautiful 40 yard touchdown pass to Ryan Grant in the face of a withering pass rush. That play one was for which Tom Brady, Drew Brees, or any other quarterback could be proud. It’s a shame that the negative moments will likely outshine what was otherwise a largely stellar effort and will do nothing to quell the love him / hate him tug of war that has been going on amongst the Redskins fan base for at least two years and running.
Hall, linebackers have subpar games
I love Deangelo Hall. He is a “true Redskin” in every sense of the word, a veteran leader, and probably my favorite player of this generation of Redskins. Deangelo Hall is old and washed up and needs to retire. It causes me no small amount of angst to write that, believe me, but it’s time to be honest. Hall is a cagey vet and knows where he needs to be, but time and time again today he appeared to be too slow to rotate over to provide backside coverage, and it cost the Redskins dearly at times. Injuries have forced Hall to play more minutes than he otherwise would have since he’s come back, and it hasn’t gone well. The Redskins desperately need youth at the safety position opposite D.J. Swearinger, whether it’s a healthy Montae Nicholson, Deshazor Everett, or someone else.
Along those lines, the Redskins linebacker corps – looking at you, Zach Brown and Martrell Spaight – had subpar games today, and it showed. This was the first time all year that Brown, in particular, missed tackles, failed to be in the correct position at times, and didn’t help the team at various points in the game. As far as Spaight goes, the loss of both Mason Foster and Will Compton has forced him in a starting role that, if today’s game is any indication, he’s not ready for. Finally: I make a plea to Redskins coaches – please never, ever, put Ryan Kerrigan into coverage. I don’t care that we claim to run a 3 – 4 defense; this man needs to be a hand in the dirt pass rusher who never drops back in coverage, ever, unless in case of emergency.
That’s it for this week. I’m sorry that there weren’t too many positive Takeaways this week, but I call them like a see them, folks. This was a brutal loss in every way, and it cost the Redskins dearly in terms of their playoff chances. The 2 – 8 New York Giants, who just beat the Kansas City Chiefs, are up next as the late game on Thanksgiving Day. We’ll be back with another edition of The Takeaways shortly afterwards.