Washington Redskins Suffer Familiar Problems in Season-Opening Loss to Houston

There's a line uttered by Matthew McConaughey's character in HBO's brilliant series True Detective: "Someone once told me, 'Time is a flat circle.' Everything we've ever done or will do, we're gonna do over and over and over again."

That sentiment perfectly describes the way the Washington Redskins began the 2014 season. The team lost 17-6 on the road against the Houston Texans, largely because of the same mistakes that led to a 3-13 record a year ago.

Washington couldn't protect quarterback Robert Griffin III. The offense couldn't protect the ball and avoid turnovers. Safeties couldn't tackle, discipline was poor and the special teams continued to resemble somebody's nightmare.

If all of that sounds familiar, it should. It's the storyline to a depressing pantomime that was played out on a weekly basis during the 2013 NFL season.

But things are supposed to be different this year. The team has a new head coach and several new faces on offense, defense and special teams.

Yet Jay Gruden's Washington already looks worryingly similar to the Mike Shanahan version. Each of the familiar failings contributed to the season-opening defeat in Texas.

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The inventory of gaffes makes for depressing reading. There were turnovers, notably two fumbles in the red zone that took away points.

The penalties wreaked of petulance. DeAngelo Hall was flagged for shoving and taunting after one play. It was the kind of error one of the team's senior veterans should never make.

Later, defensive end Jarvis Jenkins incurred a penalty after a needless late hit on Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. His rash action kept alive a key drive.

Struggling teams make mistakes like these. They are symbolic of a culture of losing that has plagued this franchise for far too long.

They also reflect badly on Gruden. A new coach is supposed to change the culture. His arrival should act as a breath of fresh air that encourages greater discipline as players look to impress the new man in charge.

Oftentimes improvement in the basics can elevate teams who still lack talent in key areas. But without that compensation, Washington's dearth of quality at safety and along the offensive line gave the game away.

The failings at safety were best illustrated by Bacarri Rambo's pitiful attempt to tackle DeAndre Hopkins on the receiver's 76-yard touchdown grab in the second quarter.

Hopkins had gotten behind Hall too easily, but that can happen. When it does, a defense relies on its deep safety to make the tackle and eliminate the quick score.

Sadly, Rambo took a terrible pursuit angle, a familiar sight last season, and failed to wrap up Hopkins. The wideout simply took one step to avoid the hapless Rambo and complete the scoring play.

With safety play like that, the Redskins need their cornerbacks to be flawless, and no team in the league gets flawless cornerback play.

Even in the running game, Rambo and greybeard Ryan Clark were slow and ponderous as force players in run support. That was one of the main reasons Arian Foster amassed 103 rushing yards.

The problems at safety should come as no surprise to an organization that barely did a thing to fix the position this offseason. Aside from adding 34-year-old Clark, the Redskins didn't use a prominent draft pick on a safety, or invest major dollars on a marquee free agent.

Based on the early evidence, that's a decision the Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen will soon bitterly regret.

However, that's nothing compared to how they should feel about leaving last season's O-line mostly intact. The group returned four of the five starters who surrendered 43 sacks in 2013.

Once again, barely an eyebrow will be raised at how bad the protection was in front of Griffin. The Texans destroyed his line with blitz looks and elite talent up front.

The signs were ominous for how the line would stand up to dominant D-end J.J. Watt and company. The answer came on a short-yardage third down on the team's opening drive.

That's when Watt slammed into running back Alfred Morris almost at the same time as he had received the handoff. On the play, Watt practically lifted right guard Chris Chester out of his socks.

Watt simply ran riot in the second half. He routinely whipped right tackle Tyler Polumbus with outside moves and hit Griffin on virtually every play.

Of course, the number of linemen who have been brushed aside by Watt could probably cover half of Texas standing side-by-side. But the sight of Chester and Polumbus being tossed aside like rag dolls grew old last season. Beginning a new campaign with the same sight evokes a deflating feeling.

In all, Griffin was sacked three times and hit many, many more. The Texans had some tricky pressure concepts that confused Griffin and new center Kory Lichtensteiger.

However, there were also many fundamental errors in the basic protection schemes. For instance, on Watt's fourth-quarter sack, he beat Polumbus around the edge.

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At the same time, Chester was helping Lichtensteiger inside by double-teaming D-tackle Jared Crick. Now it's pretty obvious if presented with a choice between doubling Crick or Watt, the latter is the only choice to make.

Chester could have slid out waiting for Watt's outside move, or even tried to bracket him inside earlier in the play. This was a fundamental flaw in the protection, one that repeated itself throughout the game.

Speaking of repeating itself, the special teams calamity seems to have been renewed for a second season. Like a bad sitcom, not even new characters can improve the situation.

The Redskins hired Ben Kotwica to replace out-of-his-depth Keith Burns as coordinator. They also added players such as linebackers Akeem Jordan and Adam Hayward to improve the coverage units.

But the new faces simply produced the same stomach-churning results. Watt blocked an extra point after Darrel Young just about scored Washington's only touchdown.

After Hopkins' score, Houston's next points came when rookie running back Alfred Blue walked through non-existent blocking to deflect a punt and run the loose ball into the end zone.

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It was eerily reminiscent of what the Oakland Raiders did to the Redskins in Week 4 last season. It's also the kind of thing that was supposed to have changed following the unit-wide overhaul this offseason.

Sadly, so many of the things that were supposed to have changed from last season remain the same. Thomas Boswell of The Washington Post described the defeat perfectly: "On Jay Gruden’s first day, much sounded new. But the echo of past defeats was very old."

Continuing the theme, ESPN.com Redskins reporter John Keim summed up the prevailing feeling after Gruden's debut:

"

He could be, and should be, right. I still think this will be an improved team. But if they wanted to let everyone know this was a new era, they went about it the wrong way. It felt too much like the old one.

"

The NFL has become a place where quick turnarounds are common. But teams that go from the league's basement to the playoffs in one year, don't do it by failing to protect their quarterbacks, turning the ball over, committing mindless penalties, failing to tackle and giving the game away on special teams.

As long as Washington continues to suffer its familiar problems "over and over and over again," it will remain mired in losing.