Game Recap: Dallas Carves Washington’s Turkey, 31-23

Over the last 4 weeks, the Redskins have slid from divisional leader, to wild card contender, to firmly entrenched “team on-the-playoff-hunt”, and now that sad affair is capped with a disappointing Thanksgiving loss to the hated Cowboys. The season wasn’t on the line yesterday, but any sort of cushion or position of comfort Washington held, was. Now the Redskins finds themselves in the same position as the Seahawks, Packers, and Eagles of the world, and record-tied with Dallas: a frustrating place to be for a team that held a two-game lead just a few short weeks ago.

There are silver linings in this cloud. For one thing, Colt McCoy is a better quarterback for the Washington Redskins in 2018 than Alex Smith was. Hold your comments until I’ve made my case.

Smith is a naturally cautious quarterback made even more cautious in unfamiliar system and on an unfamiliar roster full of 3rd-tier receiving talents. That means you won’t get interceptions under Smith, but you’ll also run into all kinds of scoring problems, particularly in the red-zone where most balls are going to be contested. McCoy is not a naturally cautious quarterback. He threw 3 interceptions yesterday and nearly a 4th. But in two games with McCoy at QB we’ve seen two lead changes, two second-half touchdowns, major yardage increases and scores for guys like Jordan Reed, passing offense numbers in the high-200’s (not all checkdowns), and the Redskins’ longest passing TDs of the season. That red zone TD to Quinn? There’s no way Alex Smith attempts that throw.

Does this mean Colt McCoy is Washington’s answer at QB? Heck no. But it does mean that issues can be forced more than they have been. Receivers can be fed. It won’t always be pretty, but this team is capable of putting up receiving yards in the low 300’s. That’s not going to happen with Smith, who routinely fails to utilize what few tools he does have. It will happen under McCoy, and it will happen with our next QB, who will hopefully be a little more confident in his throws and his teammates.

Admittedly, it feels a little wrong to slight Alex Smith after leading the team to a 6-3 record, and to lavish praise on McCoy after losing both games in which he’s seen action, but it’s important to remember just how close the NY, Dallas, and Carolina games were to being losses and just how lucky we got those weeks. In a parallel universe in which Dallas’ center doesn’t commit a penalty, NY is a little more careful with the ball, and Carolina keeps marching on their final drive…Washington is 3-7.

Adrian Peterson didn’t quite replicate his 99 yard performance from game 6. That hurt. He finished the day with 35 yards, but it’s no surprise; Washington’s patchwork offensive line failed to create running lanes all day and kept Colt under pressure. With Trent Williams screaming in pain at various points in the game, it’s safe to say the offensive line struggles will continue through the remainder of the season and possibly beyond.

Defensively, the team struggled. They got absolutely no help from an offense that routinely coughed up the ball and kept them on the field, but still, it was not a good game. Preston Smith, who has looked excellent at times this year, put in another stellar performance with 3 tackles for loss, 4 QB hits, and 1.5 sacks. Unfortunately, Matt Ioannidis and co. were not there to back him up yesterday, and Ezekiel Elliott snuck away with 121 yards. Dak Prescott had a highlight-worthy scramble-for-touchdown late in the game that I hope Washington’s front 7 sees every time they close their eyes.

The big story, though, was Amari Cooper’s 180-yard receiving day. Cooper wasn’t on the team the last time the Redskins faced Dallas, and his first few weeks as a Cowboy looked pretty iffy. Leave it to the Redskins to flip the script on that. Cooper is exactly the receiving talent both the Redskins and the Cowboys needed this year, but Dallas made the signing and is now reaping the rewards. Washington’s secondary has been repeatedly exposed by guys like Julio Jones, Tre’Quan Smith, Odell Beckham, T.Y. Hilton, and Chris Godwin, and with Quinton Dunbar playing hurt yesterday that trend had no hope of breaking. Dallas ran away with this one in the second half.

This was a weird week. Had the defense held Dallas to the same production they had in game 6, Washington would have won again. But, of course, it’s hard to fault the defense when the offense gifts three turnovers. Had AP gotten up to speed behind a healthy offensive line, Colt would have been under less pressure and may not have throw as many risky balls. Maybe that would have been enough to change the outcome yesterday.

So you can’t necessarily fault the defense, but here’s another kicker: it’s hard to fault the offense while they tally their 2nd highest point total of the season and 3rd-highest passing yard total. Turnovers lose games, but points win them. Sadly, in the two quarterbacks we’ve seen so far this year, neither one of them has been good in both categories.