49ers vs. Redskins: Takeaways from Washington's 27-6 Loss
The Washington Redskins were equally dismal on offense and defense in an embarrassing 27-6 home defeat to the San Francisco 49ers.
The team's eighth loss of the season featured yet another insipid performance from struggling young quarterback Robert Griffin III. His woes with decision-making and accuracy were compounded by an offensive line that was again manhandled.
As bad as things were on offense, the defense proved the perfect tonic for 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's struggles. The third-year dual-threat ace has been abysmal in recent games, but he routinely picked the Redskins apart en route to three touchdown passes.
That was thanks to an inconsistent pass rush, along with a generous secondary that is severely lacking talent.
They are just two more negatives in a list of depressing takeaways for Washington after Week 12.
Every Level of the Offensive Line Is Bad
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Every area of head coach Mike Shanahan's offensive line is bad. In fact the unit is a disaster.
The 49ers trounced Washington's front five in both the running and passing games. Players are being dominated at every position.
Along the interior, 49ers nose tackle Glenn Dorsey toyed with center Will Montgomery and guards Kory Lichtensteiger and Chris Chester.
Dorsey led a defensive charge that consistently got into the backfield to stymie Redskins running backs. Dorsey is a stout 3-4 lineman and a solid pro but nowhere near as dominant as he was made to look by this feeble O-line on Monday night.
As if their problems in the middle weren't enough, the Redskins couldn't contain pass-rushers on the edges. Outside linebackers Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks both tallied a pair of sacks.
Brooks annihilated right tackle Tyler Polumbus, while Smith found things too easy against left tackle Trent Williams, supposedly one of the league's premier young players at his position.
The weekly problems up front are making life yet more difficult for a quarterback who needs all the help he can get.
Robert Griffin III Has to Improve vs. Pressure
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Griffin can expect to face pressure playing behind this O-line, but he is struggling too much in the face of it. In truth, Griffin has become a non-factor against pressure.
A major problem is how rash he becomes when faced with the rush. His first-half interception against the 49ers was a prime example.
With Aldon Smith bearing down on him as he rolled out, Griffin should have thrown the ball short, or better still, away. Instead he frantically heaved a pass into the middle of the field that was snared by safety Donte Whitner.
It was another poor decision from a quarterback who simply goes to pieces when defenders close in on him.
Opposing teams have started to smell blood, and it has become common for defenses to attack with Cover 0 blitz calls, as ESPN commentator Jon Gruden pointed out.
These heavy pressure concepts are forcing Griffin to make quick reads and be accurate under duress. He has failed miserably in both areas.
Teams will continue to call all-out blitzes until Griffin proves he can beat pressure.
Griffin Is Still Staring Down His Primary Read Too Often
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While no quarterback looks his best under pressure, Griffin's main issue is still his habit of staring down his primary read too often.
This is something defenses have pounced on all season and was immediately evident on the first third down against the 49ers. On that play, Griffin floated a pass incomplete ahead of tight end Logan Paulsen.
He was looking Paulsen's way even before the snap and never broke focus after he received the ball. That meant he ignored running back Roy Helu Jr. He was open underneath on the other side of the formation, for what would have been a first down.
Griffin's consistent struggle to scan the field and progress through his reads has blighted the passing game all season. It has held back the offense, keeping it too reliant on the read-option schemes most of the pros have now figured out.
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Coaches Don't Seem to Have a Lot of Confidence in Griffin
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Much was made last week of possible tension between Griffin and head coach Mike Shanahan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.
After the media back and forth about play-calling and responsibility, it certainly didn't look like Griffin had the trust of his coaches against the 49ers.
They seemed reticent to let him make plays. A prime example came on the game's second third down, a 3rd-and-3.
Rather than having their quarterback air it out against a stingy 49ers run defense, the Shanahans had him hand the ball off to Helu, who was promptly stuffed short.
But it wasn't just a reticence to let Griffin make throws in clutch situations, it was also the choice of plays called when the Redskins did opt to pass.
It was easy to lose count of the number of bubble screens the Shanahans had Griffin execute during the game. Many of these can't-miss throws failed to net positive yardage.
They also denied Griffin the chance to test himself to connect on high-percentage passes down the field. That is an area of his game that needs major work, so why not start that work when you are 3-7?
Continuing to call a heavily modified offense for Griffin implies he cannot master more expansive concepts, or at least the Shanahans don't trust him to.
Either implication is a very worrying scenario for Washington's NFL franchise.
Lack of a Consistent Pass Rush Has Damaged This Defense
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The Washington defense registered two sacks but didn't put enough consistent pressure on Kaepernick. He wasn't chased, hurried or hit the way Griffin often was.
A failure to apply a consistent barrage of pressure on quarterbacks has doomed the defense this season. There are talented players up front, like outside linebackers Ryan Kerrigan and Brian Orakpo, as well as defensive end Jarvis Jenkins.
But nobody has emerged as a truly dominant force capable of taking over games. The lack of steady pressure has exposed an already terrible secondary to even more damage.
The Secondary Is Woefully Short of Talent
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Seeing Kaepernick exceed 200 yards passing for just the third time this season was a reminder of just how bad the Washington secondary is.
The 49ers regularly manufactured big plays through the air against a group woefully short of talent. Kaepernick, a player who was dubbed a "remedial" passer during his last game, had a host of wide-open targets to aim for.
That was because nobody could sufficiently cover the likes of Anquan Boldin, Vernon Davis and Mario Manningham. The three combined for 13 receptions for 209 yards, with Boldin and Davis accounting for their qurterback's three scoring passes.
This week's most burned Washington defensive back was veteran corner Josh Wilson. That he is even counted on to improve the pass defense only highlights the problems the Redskins have.
Wilson is in the lineup because top rookie David Amerson has struggled to meet expectations. The same is true at safety where Brandon Meriweather and Reed Doughty roam to no effect, because another rookie, Bacarri Rambo, couldn't provide a spark.
Aside from maybe cornerback DeAngelo Hall, this secondary needs a complete overhaul this offseason.
Failure in Prime Time Is Just More Evidence This Team Needs a Major Rebuild
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Such a limp failure in the full glare on Monday Night Football should be treated as a wake-up call by the Redskins.
It is ample proof that this team's problems can no longer simply been explained away by context, as ESPN.com's John Keim notes:
"The Redskins are a mess. They're 3-8 and have dropped the notion that they can turn their season around. Now they just have to salvage it and prove that they are indeed headed in the right direction. You can blame the salary-cap penalty and Robert Griffin III's knee all you want, but this team has more issues that must be addressed. The Redskins are now staring at a third double-digit loss season in four years and that can't be acceptable for anyone, not when the team -- from the top on down -- expressed great optimism in the summertime despite knowing they were coming off two years of cap hell and that Griffin had no offseason. San Francisco is a better team so there's no shame in losing, but to not play well at home and on "Monday Night Football" is not a good thing. The Redskins have five weeks to prove that another direction is not needed.
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That last point about "another direction" is a particularly telling one. It is getting harder to believe this team wouldn't benefit from a major rebuild, starting at the top.
Mike Shanahan Is Running out of Time and Excuses
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Mike Shanahan is just one defeat away from assuring his third losing season out of four. He could soon be without a credible defense for his failure to rebuild things in Washington.
Shanahan has fielded a poor secondary and a weak offensive line every season he has been in D.C. For every good draft pick and free-agent signing to his credit, there are an equal number who have flopped.
But what has been most troubling about this season has been his apparent failure to keep the team together.
Playing out the power struggle with Griffin in public has become an anchor on the team, and Shanahan has also not been able to maintain discipline from his players on the field.
Their apparent willingness to surrender the season without much of a fight reflects badly on a head coach whose future was in doubt before Week 12, according to The Washington Post's Kent Babb:
"Indeed, one of the most important games of Shanahan’s tenure in Washington will happen Monday night at FedEx Field. Almost as much as the final five contests — which will definitively reveal growth or regression and whether team chemistry is crumbling — the national conversation will tip one way or the other Monday. A win against the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers would quiet the turmoil, showing that the 61-year-old coach can succeed under fire.
Another nationally televised loss, though, would amplify speculation about a last-place team falling apart, Shanahan’s relationship with Griffin and whether a different coach is better equipped to lead the Redskins to the Super Bowl.
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Enough said.
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