Washington Redskins' 3rd-Quarter Failures Are Fault of Jay Gruden, Coaching Staff

If only NFL games were three quarters. Maybe the 2-4 Washington Redskins would be, actually, they'd still be 2-4. After all, the third period is where the Burgundy and Gold have come unravelled in every game this season.

To bottom-line Washington's hate-hate relationship with the third quarter in 2015, consider this number from Mike Jones of the Washington Post:

Of those 46 points surrendered, the New York Jets put 17 of them on the board in Week 6, during Washington's 34-20 defeat. In the process, the AFC East club blew open a game the Redskins actually led 13-10 at halftime.

Losing the third quarter consistently tells you one thing about your team. Its coaching staff stinks.

Jay Gruden and Washington's assistants have nowhere to hide from that charge. Not only are they losing the scheme battle, but they are also failing to keep the players focused enough to maintain the same intensity level that often has them leading at the half.

What really indicts Gruden and his staff is how the third-quarter capitulations are team-wide. Every unit, each position and all the fundamentals are polluted with this post-halftime malaise.

Against the Jets, a defense that made a ton of big plays against the pass through two quarters, made life way too easy for Ryan Fitzpatrick and his receivers in the third. The man under center had all day to throw and too much room to step up in the pocket.

When he shuffled his feet forward, Fitzpatrick saw receivers consistently running free in the middle of the field. Jets offensive coordinator Chan Gailey had found the sweet spot in Washington's overly familiar Cover 3 zone shell. He also knew Redskins defensive coordinator Joe Barry wasn't going to change the coverage looks.

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Gailey had found that out earlier when he'd split running back Chris Ivory out wide and flexed wide receiver Brandon Marshall into the slot. Rather than having inside linebacker Perry Riley Jr. switch coverage responsibilities with the outside cornerback and take Ivory, the Redskins left Riley on Marshall.

How does your scheme not have an in-built adjustment to avoid a linebacker covering a quality wide receiver mismatch? Not at all surprisingly, Marshall burned Riley for a clutch completion.

This early snapshot of Washington's vanilla and inflexible defense gave Gailey an invaluable pointer. Now he knew he could stack receivers together and move players around to dictate coverage and get the matchups he wanted.

That's just how the third quarter went for New York's passing game. Fitzpatrick found his receivers at will. A 3rd-and-7 to a wide-open Eric Decker, followed by a 3rd-and-10 strike to an equally uncontested Marshall, summed up the problems. Both receivers had the freedom of the middle of the field.

The fact the Jets converted seven of 14 third downs said everything about Washington's bland sub-package schemes. D-coordinators earn their keep on football's money down. Barry needs to come up with something new.

But his unit's issues against the Jets weren't all about the coverage mismatches. Nobody from a lame pass rush laid a glove on Fitzpatrick. He threw from a clean pocket because Barry insisted on three- and four-man rushes most of the game. When he did send the blitz, the designs were predictably crafted and badly timed in execution.

The Jets were ready for pressure on the rare occasions it came. They also knew where the holes in coverage would be. They had a bead on what the Redskins were going to do because Gailey had adjusted while Barry stood pat.

As much as he needs to freshen up the playbook, Barry also needs to spend more time preaching fundamentals. Specifically, tackling. It was easy to lose count of the number of times Washington defenders bounced off Ivory and Marshall.

Gary Hershorn/Associated Press

A defense built to play a no-frills scheme and simply swarm to the ball, has to be flawless in its tackling.

There were inconsistencies in the first half, but Barry's group generally hung tough. Yet, just like everything else, the roof fell in after halftime. That's a sign of one of two things. Neither show Barry, his staff and his players in a positive light.

Players are either in poor shape and don't have the conditioning to stay physical after the break. Or they get too comfortable with the lead, in which case, it's the job of coaches to ensure they re-focus in time for the second half.

The same drop in intensity and confusion at the chalkboard are also evident when the offense takes the field in the third quarter.

"Efficiency" and "high-percentage execution" are watchwords for the close-to-the-vest offense Gruden is calling with Kirk Cousins at quarterback this season—except in the third quarter.

Gary Hershorn/Associated Press

Then the phrases "bonehead decisions" and "keystone cops" become the vogue for Washington. In Week 6, that meant two interceptions from Cousins. The first, thrown to Darrelle Revis, defied belief.

In truth, Cousins was already having a nightmare day. His ball placement, even during the first half was downright atrocious. For the game, No. 8 missed on 25 of 43 throws. It's not exaggerating to say half of those 18 incompletions would have been catches had the ball been put in the right spot.

Gruden and coordinator Sean McVay have striven to make the game easier for Cousins. They're including bunch formations and mesh-route concepts, designed to create free receivers every week. He has to do better.

Any excuse he has for this week's horror show concerns what was missing from his supporting cast. Facing a marquee Jets defense with three starting offensive linemen out certainly didn't help.

But what really undermined Cousins was the continued absence of the running game.

Alfred Morris isn't flirting with mediocrity any longer. He's making a long-term commitment to it.

There's no power, no speed and very little imagination. The absence of all those things added up to 11 carries for 21 yards in Week 6. A rushing attack that's supposed to be the team's strength is stuck in reverse.

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

The third-quarter problems on offense aren't rooted in the same reason as those the defense suffered. While Barry is nowhere close to aggressive and creative enough to begin with, Gruden at least has the right idea.

Quarterback-friendly passing concepts and a heavy diet of running are right for Cousins and his supporting cast. The problem comes when the staple formula isn't working. Specifically, Gruden doesn't know how to switch things up.

The ground game was dormant in the first half against the Jets. But Gruden needed to create a revival to protect a three-point lead after the break. He could've introduced fullback Darrel Young more often in front of Morris. Alternatively, he could have stretched the Jets' front with the speedy Chris Thompson running some sprint draws and stretch plays.

Gruden did neither, instead leaving Cousins to test his arm on an off day against a stellar secondary. Bad coaching.

Once the Jets had clamped down on the underneath, shallow crossing routes and the screen game, Gruden couldn't find ways to open the air attack up and push the ball deep. Bad coaching.

All of these things add up to an already depressing Groundhog Day where every day is the third quarter—the period where the Redskins take a beating.

If you want one image to sum up what happens to his team after halftime, Thom Loverro of the Washington Times thinks he has it:

The scale of the problem has Loverro looking for radical solutions:

Gruden's team is being beaten physically and mentally every week in the third quarter. That's the coaches quarter. It's where you find out which sideline generals can alter their battle plans and introduce fresh tactics to either protect a game or salvage one.

So far this season, the 2015 Redskins are just about managing to do what it says on the tin and no more. They hustle on defense and control the clock with a safety-first offense.

But winners in today's NFL embrace nuance. The modern game is unforgiving to coaches who don't.

If they don't fix Washington's third-quarter woes, Gruden and his staff will learn that lesson in the hardest way.

All statistics and player information via NFL.com.

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