Despite the competitive finish to Sunday’s game, Washington never led Detroit, only twice twice forcing a tie in the waning moments of the fourth quarter. Once again, Washington fell behind early, unable to execute the scripted portion of the game plan.
Why does this keep happening?
Coaches spend much of the week crafting a succession of plays that maximize their talent and takes advantage of opposing weaknesses. Teams that execute are able to stay in this script longer, imposing their wills on other teams.
Then there’s Washington.
Through the first nine games, Washington has just 72 first-half points (average of eight points) and carries a -76 point differential. Opposing teams have outscored them by more than double.
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Sunday’s was the worst performance yet, yielding just three points to Detroit’s 17 (-14). That’s a bad sign for coaches on both sides of the ball and doesn’t benefit Washington’s ball control strategy. Let’s check the stats.
Washington led Detroit in offensive plays (83 to 55), offensive yards (464 to 372), first downs (rushing, passing and penalties), time of possession (by over eight minutes), and still came up short on the scoreboard.
Head coach Ron Rivera dissected the failures of the first half in his postgame press conference.
“The first one, we’re working down the field, they make a big play on a reverse and then we drop back and took a (14)-yard loss, dropping us out of field goal position. That was the disappointment there,” he explained. “Then we turn around and start driving again and miss the kick.
“Then we turn around and started driving again, and I thought, in my opinion, that the call should have been that his knee was down. Obviously, they didn’t see it the same way and that’s really disappointing.
“That’s really a problem when you don’t have all of the cameras to give you all of the angles. That’s what cost us at the end of the day.”
With all due respect, no it’s not what cost them a win, or even what cost them in the first half.
Washington’s offense opened the game by driving down to the 21-yard line, then lost 24 yards in two plays before punting. That’s on them.
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Washington’s defense bit on a ghost fake by receiver Marvin Hall and got burned for a 55-yard touchdown. That’s on them.
Washington’s special teams had a chance at a second field goal in the first half, but Dustin Hopkins missed from 43 yards, a distance that is made more than 75% of the time, leaguewide. That’s on them.
Yet Rivera wanted to blame the zebras.
“There’s two teams out there. Let’s think about that,” he said. “Everything seems to go in one direction and that really pisses me off. I went through a list of things that I saw that they missed, and I’m telling them: ‘Please. I know we talk about clear and obvious, but that seemed pretty obvious to me.’”
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It’s time for Rivera to get pissed off at his coaches’ game prep, especially when each loss is more of the same. Maybe that happens behind closed doors, but blaming the officials in public just muddies the water on how this team can improve.
To be clear, there is no conspiracy against Washington’s success and their failures are no longer a coincidence. Cincinnati (2-5-1), coming up next week is the weakest non-divisional opponent left on Washington’s schedule and perhaps their best chance of winning again this season.
If Washington expects to fix its game prep and first-half woes, this is the week to do it.
Brian Tinsman has covered D.C. sports since 2011, both from the team marketing and skeptical fan perspectives. Tweet your criticisms @Brian_Tinsman.
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