(Photo by Matt Hazlett/Getty Images)
The Washington Redskins and the New Orleans Saints entered their Week 10 game as two teams with troubling defensive issues. Each club ranked in the bottom half of the National Football League defensively in yards-per-game, yards-per-play and points-per-game. For Washington in particular, stopping the run has been a problem due to poor defensive execution and tackling. This game had the making of an epic shootout and, at least in the first quarter, neither team disappointed. Fortunately for the Redskins, the shootout stopped there and they came away from the contest with an epic victory.
After a holding penalty on the Redskins’ first play, two downs later on a third-and-four situation, they would open up the offense with a huge 42-yard pass from QB Kirk Cousins to wide out DeSean Jackson which would set things into motion. The Redskins took the ball right down the field for an eight-play, 96-yard drive that was capped off by a 16-yard touchdown catch and run by tight end Jordan Reed. Washington’s offense appeared to be able to do whatever it desired on the opening drive.
Unfortunately, Washington’s defense started the game by picking up right where they had left off the past five games.
On the Saints’ first offensive run play, RB Mark Ingram ran right and initially looked as if he would be stopped as the pursuit forced him back inside. But the over-pursuit of the Washington linebackers and poor tackling by safety Dashon Goldson led to a 70-yard run that would have been a touchdown if not for the colossal efforts of Redskins free agent cornerback Will Blackmon, who ran Ingram down and stopped him short of the goal-line.
In the end, the five-play, 83-yard drive resulted in a Saints touchdown and the score was tied 7-7.
The Redskins picked right up where they left off during their next possession; combining a good mixture of the pass and run. This drive showcased a heavy dose of rookie rusher Matt Jones who would have 53 total yards during the series. Cousins continued to look sharp, finishing the series with an 11-yard laser-of-a-touchdown-pass to rookie wide out Jamison Crowder. The Redskins took the lead 14-7.
Both Washington’s and New Orleans’ defenses appeared to have figured things out by forcing each other to punt on each of their next drives. The shootout was far from over however.
On the Saints’ second possession of the second quarter they would resume the offensive onslaught with a quick three-play, 83-yard drive that saw Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks go 60 yards for a touchdown from New Orleans future Hall-of-Fame signal-caller, Drew Brees.
The Redskins offense was not fazed by the quick strike from the Saints offense.
Cousins & Co. put together another scoring drive led by Jones. The Redskins offensive line continued to be impressive in their blocking and freed Jones for a 78-yard touchdown to put them back on top. Washington entered half-time ahead, 21-14. Jones finished the first half with two receptions for 107 yards, one touchdown and three rushes for 26 yards (133 total yards)
Cousins passed for 272 yards and three touchdowns in that same timeframe. His offense ran like a well-oiled machine; scoring on five of six offensive possessions with eight plays of 20+ yards. Washington rushed the ball for 122 yards. The Redskins won the time of possession battle by keeping the ball for 20:20.
Despite the impressive offensive play, it looked as if the Redskins would need to take advantage of every scoring opportunity and because during the first 30 minutes of play, their defense looked like it might suffer from the same problems it had in weeks past.
Then the second half happened.
Washington’s defense came out in the second half with a sense of urgency. After giving up 14 quick points and 102 yards rushing, defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s unit turned out the lights on the Saints offense, keeping them from scoring in the entire second half and holding Brees and his offense to 55 yards rushing and 122 yards passing. The Redskins’ defensive squad lived up to their “Capital Punishment” nick-name, bringing enough pressure to keep Brees off his game and delivering punishing blows to anyone who put their hands on the ball.
There was noticeable improvement in Washington’s tackling and sure discipline in assignments; allowing the team to come away with two interceptions in the second half (MLB Perry Riley, Jr had one and Goldson had one), one of which (the latter) resulted in a touchdown. The Redskins defense would finish the game holding the New Orleans offense to 350 yards of total offense, stopping them on two fourth-down attempts and only allowing three of 11 third-down conversions.
It was evident from the opening whistle that this Washington team had decided that it would not let an opportunity slip from its grasp. There had been a great week of practice and it spilled into the game. The offense came out swinging with its pass-catchers redeeming themselves for the many drops last week. Cousins was sharp, throwing 20 completions off 25 attempts for 324 yards and four touchdowns. He ended the game with a perfect passer rating of 158.3.
By putting guys in position to make plays after the catch, Cousins once again showed his understanding of Head Coach Jay Gruden’s offense. The hard work put in and tremendous amount of growing he has done these past nine weeks continues to show, week to week.
The Redskins offensive line played a physical brand of football, executing the various brands of blocking for each of their running backs. The second-level blocking was excellent with guys getting out in front regardless of the play called, mauling defenders. This obviously showed up in the stats with Washington’s offense generating 213 of the 526 total yards on the ground.
“You saw people getting downfield blocking in the screens also,” Gruden said to the media in his post-game presser. “You saw the lineman getting downfield and making big, big blocks that we might have missed in weeks past. But overall, I think that offensive line was outstanding in all phases today. When you put out these type of numbers — rush for over 200 yards and throw for over 300 — you can’t single anybody out. The offensive line played a heck of a football game. I’m very proud of them.”
The Redskins scored 33 unanswered points in this game and finally put the nail in the coffin of the opposition. They played in a way that has only been seen in flashes (most especially against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers). The win was an overall team effort that should provide some positive momentum going into Carolina where Washington will take on the 8-0 Panthers.