It’s not officially “THE END” but for all intents and purposes – Saturday night was lights out in “Smashville” for the Redskins who saw their slim playoff hopes smashed to the ground in a agonizing 25-16 loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Their performance was gutty but not good enough. It’s another off-season of despair and major questions.
Our Week 16, game 15 Redskins report card:
Offense – B: This grade might be high for a unit that ultimately only scored 16 points but it wasn’t for a lack of trying and moderate success throughout.
Until Josh Johnson’s back-breaking interception late in the fourth quarter, Jay Gruden’s offense
operated smoothly for the most part, ran the ball well and had an enormous 93-yard drive for a touchdown. The Redskins, paced by Adrian Peterson (26-119) smartly shoved the ball down the throat of the Titans for 161 net rushing yards and converted a few enormous third downs, finishing (8-14) on the money down.
On that key interception, it appeared that Josh Doctson was at the very minimum, timid, in his approach to the hole and area he needed to be to have any chance of reeling in a pass that sailed high from Johnson, because of a blitz in his face.
In general, when you have a blitz right in your face from the offenses’ left, your hot read will be to the right and not to throw into it, as Johnson did.
Josh Doctson just ... sort of ... stopped?(via @Titans) pic.twitter.com/8hrauWZzi1
— The MMQB (@theMMQB)
December 23, 2018 Johnson threw another pick on the final play of the game that was returned for a score (whatever) but the game was dead on arrival.
Peterson reached
the 1,000 yard mark at the age of 33, to become the 12th running back in Redskins history and the first since Alfred Morris. Michael Floyd had a score on the long, scoring drive but had a critical drop at the Tennessee 5-yard line that ultimately led to only a field goal and would have been a first down.
Considering the
Redskins were without Jordan Reed, Vernon Davis, Maurice Harris and sixteen different guards that are out for the year along with Johnson serving as their fourth quarterback, how much more could you expect?
Defense – C: There was a lot to like from Greg Manusky’s unit and a lot to not like. The good was Daron Payne’s overall impact and holding the Titans to 291 net yards of offense.
The bad was a killer go-ahead drive by Tennessee that ended with 4:30 left. A Steve Buckhantz dagger was an illegal contact penalty against Fabian Moreau on a 3rd-and-7 incompletion. Moreau clearly tugged the jersey of the receiver and the Redskins also yielded a 35-yard catch-and-run on that same drive to Taywan Taylor, also the same player that drew the penalty on Moreau.
MyCole Pruitt would catch a 2-yard play-action boot pass from backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert for the winning margin after Derrick Henry shoved the ball down the Redskins throat on the drive.
As galling as that drive and the penalty was, the first Titans drive of the day which resulted in a touchdown was also extended indirectly by a third-down penalty on Pernell McPhee and a wild scramble by Mariota that should have ended in a sack.
The defense forced no turnovers and only had two sacks, while missing at least three bonafide opportunities during the game.
Special Teams – B: Dustin Hopkins was terrific with three critical field goals of 50, 46 and 40 yards. Ben Kotwica’s unit did allow a big 16-yard punt return and a 31-yard return. Tress Way averaged 53.5 per punt on two kicks.
Coaching – B: For a second-straight game, I thought Jay Gruden got the most out of his offense, smartly tailoring a run-heavy game plan with a few deep shots that could have made the game different if Johnson hit one early big chance.
Penalties on both offense and defense crippled the Redskins again and that makes both Gruden and Manusky look bad, even though it’s not primarily their fault.
Manusky’s unit was fine for the most part except when they absolutely needed to be late.
