Arlington, Texas – The 2-5 Washington Redskins appear in their third prime-time matchup this season as they travel to Arlington, Texas to take on the 6-1 NFC East Division Dallas Cowboys. The defensive unit of the burgundy and gold has a huge task in front of them in stopping their arch rival.
Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo is playing some of the best football of his career right now, thanks, in part to the arrival of Scott Linenhan. The new playcaller is getting the ball out of Romo’s hands and into those of his playmakers, wide out Dez Bryant, running back DeMarco Murray and tight end Jason Whitten.
This is a really important game for the Redskins. They are down two games in the division, having been beaten by the Philadelphia Eagles (5-2) in what was a pretty tight game, but trounced by the New York Giants (3-4), 45-14.
Fortunately, the Redskins do have some momentum going into tonight’s game, having just gotten a big win here at FedEx Field over the Tennessee Titans.
The Redskins are going to need that momentum. Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett’s crew must find a way to deal with that vaunted Dallas offensive line which boasts three of five players that were first-round draft picks. It shows in the way they have protected Romo.
One might think it is fortunate for Washington that eight-year veteran right tackle Doug Free is out with a foot injury. But a fifth-year guy named Jeremy Parnell will be filling in for him and the back up looked pretty comfortable when he went into the game last week versus the Giants. The Redskins would hope Parnell has not had enough time to build the kind of chemistry required for this line to be as effective as they have been but he’s younger than Free as well so who knows whether that’s any sort of advantage to Washington or not.
When linebacker Ryan Kerrigan, considered by many to be the best player on the Redskins’ defense, and rookie linebacker Trent Murphy are not rushing Romo, the two players need to set the edges while the guys in the middle; Jason Hatcher, Jarvis Jenkins, Stephen Bowen, Chris Baker and even Clifton Geathers, work to get a good push up front. They’ll absolutely need to maintain their gaps and make themselves at home in the backfield.
It would not be a big surprise to see Haslett stack the box tonight, using the safeties up and over Romo’s weapons. That’s okay as long as he leaves middle linebacker Keenan Robinson to use his amazing athleticism where ever he needs to be. This guy can roam sideline-to-sideline if necessary and never miss a step. The third-year linebacker was voted NFC Defensive MVP this past week… perhaps he’ll get the honor for a second week in a row.
This Redskins front seven will need to swarm to the ball, make their tackles when available and follow their assignments all day long if they’re going to compete in this game. A few turnovers would help as well.
Fortunately, one of the Redskins defensive strengths is stopping the run. They rank sixth in the NFL in that regard and have contained the likes of the Eagles’ Shady McCoy, holding him to 22 yards on 19 carries when they played. Do the math… that’s not a good yards-per-carry average.
If Washington can at least contain Murray and teammate Joseph Randle — who is a great change up back to Murray, especially on third down — they have a chance to make Romo one-dimensional. And that is about the only way they can stay in the game, what with Murray going into the eighth straight game where he could log 100 yards.
The Redskins’ front seven are less of a concern than the secondary.
Rookie cornerback Bashaud Breeland plays with a lot of physicality, a lot of attitude and a lot of confidence. He’s a bit of a bulldog. But he is still a rookie and was unexpectedly thrown into the fire when veteran cornerback DeAngelo Hall went on injured reserve back in September.
Fellow cornerback David Amerson is looking more comfortable in his role but this is just his second year. Previously, he had Hall back there with him. Now he’s the “old guy” — at least out of the two starting corners — but just doesn’t have that much experience. Add to the youth the fact that Breeland and Amerson are 5’11” and 6’0” respectively… that’s a heck of a match-up for a couple of young players to Bryant and Cowboys’ receiver Terrance Williams, who are both 6’2”.
Washington strong safety Brandon Meriweather appears so concerned with following the new NFL rules that he is thinking too much and not playing his game.
Free safety Ryan Clark is a great veteran presence to have out there with those young guys during the game and he has a lot of knowledge, but he is playing hurt and has been for a while.
No matter how much it might have diminished over the years, there’s something about the rivalry between these two teams that causes them to play each other differently than they play other teams. One just never knows what can happen. Think back to a game between these two franchises that was tied in final seconds. Now think of a blocked field goal by Troy Vincent, the late, great Sean Taylor (RIP) scooping up the ball and running 30 yards and drawing a face mask penalty; and then think of a game-winning field goal by Nick Novak with time having already run out. Those are the types of things that have happened during Redskins-Cowboys contests over the years.
Veteran defensive lineman Kedric Golston said this week that everyone on the defense — especially the youngsters — must stick to the fundamentals and remember t heir technique. When that happens, “execution” happens and that wins games.
Because it will be against the Dallas Cowboys, that just might work. We shall see.
Hail.