Redskins: RGIII and the ‘Skins win despite kicking woes

I thought law school was going to be the thing that finished me, but it looks like it’s going to be a combination of the Redskins’ secondary and special teams.

October 2, 2012; 6:52 AM • by Beth Petty

Guys, MY HEART CANNOT TAKE THIS STRESS. I thought law school was going to be the thing that finished me, but it looks like it’s going to be a combination of the Redskins’ secondary and special teams (with maybe just a touch of law school). Don’t get me wrong, I love a win. But I’d really love a win that doesn’t leave me hyperventilating from the last three seconds of the game.

Just a quick side note—I have to give it to the Redskins marketing folks. They somehow manage to stay so positive each and every week. They even tweeted this before the game from the official Redskins Twitter account:

Play along w/ today’s game & make ur predictions from ur computer or smart phone. It’s easy & fun! redsk.in/PQpI2W #RedskinsPickNPlay

— Redskins (@Redskins) September 30, 2012

I don’t know what games they’ve been watching, but playing along with the Redskins for the past two weeks (or two decades) has been neither easy nor fun. You guys are kinda playing fast and loose with the word “fun,” amiright? Might I suggest “stroke-inducing,” “frustrating,” “terrifying,” or “heartbreaking”? But “fun”? Not so much.

What happened in the second half? We started the half 21-6. Then QB Josh Freeman and WR Vincent Jackson dominated our secondary and Tampa Bay scored 16 unanswered points. For the past three weeks, it has all come down to the last drive of the game. Under the two minute warning, we were down by 1 after the Bucs’ Kicker Connor Barth hit a 47-yard field goal. With the score 22-21 and 1:47 left in the 4th, it was up to RGIII to pull this one off. After some awesome receptions by WR Santana Moss and TE Fred Davis and a nice little run by RGIII, we moved deep into Tampa Bay territory. Then a false start was called against LG Kory Lictensteiger (Kory, c’mon, man). RGIII and Santana managed set us up on the TB 24 with 0:07 left on the clock (and RGIII managed to do all of this without a headset…he’s a miracle worker).

Out comes K Billy Cundiff. Oh great. This guy. Like I said last week, I try my hardest to keep my expectations as low as possible with the Redskins. I had to put my hands over my eyes like I was watching some terribly gruesome horror movie. Thank God Cundiff hit that field goal or we might have seen the makings of a horror movie in Raymond James. But he did it, and the Redskins managed to prevail 24-22, bringing us to 2-2.

It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win. Also, with that terrific Dallas loss last night against Chicago, we are tied for second in the division! Of course, it’s also a three-way tie for last place, But I’m just a glass-half-full kinda girl, and I’d like to say tied for second. Let’s be real, guys, like I even need another reason to root against the Cowboys. I only have two teams—the Redskins and whatever team is playing Dallas.

— ∮∮∮ —

Pros

• Alfred Morris. Wow, this guy! Holy 113 yards, Batman!
• RGIII’s hard count was awesome, just awesome. Actually, everything about RGIII is just awesome. In the words of Real Housewives of New Jersey pop-singing sensation Melissa Gorga, his awesomeness is “on display, on display, on display, each and every day, every day, every day…” What? No quoting RHONJ? OK, fair enough.
• Garçon is back! (but let’s just go ahead and ignore that unfortunate offensive pass interference call…and maybe that unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, K?)

Cons

• Replacement Refs—oh, wait, nevermind, I can’t blame them anymore. So I’ll blame Cundiff! I know he won the game for us with that last kick. But he also missed three—at 41, 57, and 31. Remember two weeks ago when Shanahan thought Cundiff could hit a 62-yard field goal to win the St. Louis game? I don’t know who that joke is on, but it’s definitely on someone.
• The secondary. Was DeAngelo Hall even playing in the 2nd half? The Washington Post reported that Hall thinks RGIII’s awesomeness is “starting to rub off.” But is it rubbing off on you, buddy?
• Injuries, injuries, and more injuries. WR Garçon and LT Williams played Sunday, but neither was 100%. Roy Helu joined Orakopo and Carriker on IR. And then there was that bizarre pregame injury that sidelined S Meriweather and WR Aldrick Robinson. Ouch.

— ∮∮∮ —

Next week, we face the Falcons. They had a nail-biter last week against the Panthers, winning 30-28 after a successful 40-yard field goal. Bottom line, CB Josh Wilson has got to cover Falcons WR Julio Jones or we may be doomed. If our pass defense can’t contain him, it may get super ugly next week. It also wouldn’t hurt if our kicker could make 31-yard field goals, but I’d hate to ask for too much.

It won’t be easy. The Falcons are 4-0 after Sunday’s game, while we, unfortunately, are not–but we did make it to .500! Small victories, y’all.

HAIL!

October 2, 2012 6:52 AM 1