New York Giants vs. Washington Redskins: Full Report Card Grades for Washington
Doomed by six turnovers, the Washington Redskins fell into the cellar of the NFC East with their 45-14 loss to the New York Giants on Thursday night.
After two stellar showings in relief of Robert Griffin III, Kirk Cousins' play evoked memories of the team's Week 17 loss to end the 2013 season. Behind his five turnovers, Washington was outgained 449 to 329 yards in total offense.
Not to be outdone, a battered defense allowed New York to score on seven of its 13 drives.
Adding to the team's mounting injury tally, both Trent Williams and Niles Paul left this contest with injuries. While the team has 10 days of rest prior to its Week 5 contest, it remains to be seen which Redskins will return from injury.
With its next two games coming against the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals, there may not be a season worth saving whenever RG3 returns from injury.
For the time being, though, let's evaluate the Redskins who did suit up.
Here are the position grades for Week 4.
Quarterback
1 of 10
You still think Cousins should be Washington's quarterback of the future?
Completing 19 of 33 passes, Cousins had five total turnovers. Highlighted by the three interceptions he threw in the third quarter, he hardly resembled the player who looked at home in Jay Gruden's new offense.
While the extent of his porous play couldn't have been predicted, the writing was on the wall. Last season against the Giants, Cousins completed just 38 percent of his passes and threw two interceptions in a 20-6 loss.
Furthermore, as ESPN 980's Chris Russell notes, Cousins' struggles began in the second half of the Philadelphia Eagles game:
"Since halftime in Philly, Kirk Cousins is 30-56, 54 %, 459 yards, 2 TD, 5 INT, + a Lost fumble. #Redskins
— Chris Russell (@Russellmania980) September 26, 2014"
Ultimately, while the score mandated that Cousins be more aggressive, there's no doubt that his decision-making was horrendous. With and without pressure, he threw passes that simply weren't there.
It may be too early to dust off Dennis Green' classic rant about the Chicago Bears, in reference to Cousins, but any talk of a quarterback controversy in Washington should be halted for the time being.
Grade: F
Running Back
2 of 10
As the lone bright spot for Washington's offense, the running backs had a solid outing. In addition to churning out 4.8 yards per carry, this position group had nine receptions for 114 yards.
Headlining the rushing attack, Alfred Morris had 63 rushing yards on 5.3 yards per carry and one touchdown. As for his backup Roy Helu, he led the team in receiving. Helu caught all five of his targets and had 78 receiving yards.
While, in hindsight, the running game was again underutilized, with the way New York was moving the football, it was inevitable that the Redskins would abandon the run.
Grade: B
Receivers
3 of 10
A week after tormenting Philadelphia's secondary, the performance of Washington's wideouts sank with the quarterback.
Unable to shake New York's corners, this position group created very little separation. While Niles Paul did tally 60 receiving yards prior to exiting the game with an injury, the production from the team's outside receivers was close to non-existent.
For the game, Pierre Garcon hauled in two catches for 28 yards, and DeSean Jackson tallied just one reception for nine yards. Mind you, this came on 10 targets.
As for Andre Roberts, he did net the lone touchdown in the passing game. Still, he hasn't found his niche within the offense. Roberts' 18-yard touchdown was his only reception in the game, and for the season he has just nine catches for 119 yards.
While it's likely a blip on the radar, you can still expect opposing teams to emulate the physical brand of coverage New York utilized to disrupt Washington's receivers going forward.
With the Seahawks secondary being the true litmus test for any receiving corps, we'll find out a lot about this position group in Week 5.
Grade: C-
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
Already a weak spot, Washington's offensive line was in dire straits the moment Trent Williams joined Shawn Lauvao on the sidelines.
Even before his exit, though, it was evident that New York's defensive front dominated the line of scrimmage.
As New York's lead grew, and thus the threat of the run dissipated, it was open season on the quarterback. While the Redskins offensive line only allowed two sacks and four quarterback hits, as a result of the hits he took earlier in the game, Cousins seemingly rushed his throws all night. Fielding an offensive line that featured Tyler Polumbus, Tom Compton and Josh LeRibeus at one juncture, could you blame him?
With young players like Spencer Long and Morgan Moses waiting in the wings, a succession plan is in place should these struggles continue. Still, at the rate this unit is getting hurt, this duo may be forced into action before they're ready.
All the reason to monitor the status of Williams. As ESPN's John Keim notes, he suffered a knee injury:
"Trent Williams said no ligament damage in his knee. MRI tomorrow. could be kneecap. popped out; he thinks it popped back in...
— John Keim (@john_keim) September 26, 2014"
The O-line was solid in the running game in limited attempts. Lowered expectations that injuries to Williams and Lauvao brought about keep this group from failing here.
Grade: D+
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Owners of the league's third-ranked rushing defense prior to this contest, the Redskins allowed 154 yards on the ground in Week 4.
While a significant amount of yards was surrendered well after the game was decided, it's worth noting that, for the first time, the defensive line didn't make any plays in the backfield.
This unit produced no sacks and had zero tackles for loss. Short on depth, it's likely that fatigue played a major role here. Considering that New York possessed the ball for nearly 40 minutes, it's not shocking that Eli Manning was sacked just once and hit one additional time.
With the defense already down Kedric Golston, Barry Cofield and Stephen Bowen, this could be a familiar theme going forward if Washington can't get healthy up front.
Grade: C-
Linebackers
6 of 10
Two words for you: Larry Donnell!
While it wasn't just linebackers who drew the assignment of the formerly unknown tight end, this position group had a role in the seven receptions and three touchdowns that Donnell garnered:
"Perry Riley gets beat on the touchdown by Donnell ..Another 3rd down conversion, and Riley has been exposed badly in pass coverage last 2gms
— Chris Russell (@Russellmania980) September 26, 2014"
Shifting the focus to the team's pass rush, it was once again underwhelming. Without the aid of blitzes, Ryan Kerrigan tallied the lone sack. With a clean pocket to throw from, Manning picked apart the Washington secondary as a result.
Grade: C-
Secondary
7 of 10
What do you need to know about the Redskins secondary? Well, Ryan Clark had 14 tackles. And be rest assured, he was tackling receivers, not running backs.
Something that seemed laughable with the way he played to start the season, Manning completed more than 70 percent of his throws en route to tallying 300 passing yards. Oh, he also threw for four touchdowns.
Against a nondescript group of receivers, Washington's battered secondary was simply abused in man coverage. A play that epitomizes the ineptitude of this unit was Victor Cruz's 29-yard reception to end the first half.
With just seven seconds left and the Giants out of timeouts at the 40-yard line, the Redskins not only allowed Cruz to make the reception but let him catch the pass at the sideline and get out of bounds:
"Breeland and Meriweather both were looking at Parker and Cruz, nearby, had gotten by Biggers and made the catch. Giants tack on three more.
— Mike Jones (@MikeJonesWaPo) September 26, 2014"
As a result, New York tacked on a field goal to the end half.
It wasn't all bad, though. Facing an interception-prone quarterback like Manning, the secondary was bound to get a pick.
Not giving up on the play, Brandon Meriweather jarred the ball loose on what appeared to be a touchdown to Rueben Randle, and Keenan Robinson snagged the deflection for the interception.
Still, with Cruz and Randle netting 108 and 89 yards, respectively, you can't help but feel that the Washington secondary will never recover from the loss of DeAngelo Hall.
Grade: D-
Special Teams
8 of 10
A first for the team in a losing effort, the Redskins special teams wasn't the worst position group.
Sure, Washington allowed a stumbling Preston Parker to net a 34-yard kick return. Sure, the team was bailed out by a penalty after surrendering another solid return to Parker:
"Block in the back negates the nice return from Parker.
— Mike Jones (@MikeJonesWaPo) September 26, 2014"
Still, fans should rejoice over the fact that there weren't any missed field goals, blocked punts or return touchdowns allowed this week.
Furthermore, on a busy night, punter Tress Way had a long punt of 77 yards. That's improvement for you, folks. It's not to say that special teams is now a strength. But, at the very least, this unit was average this week.
Grade: C
Coaching
9 of 10
Despite a solid job in terms of play-calling, what ultimately did in Gruden was his faith in his quarterback.
Regardless of the field position or the down and distance, Gruden showed little hesitation in handing the reins of his offense to Cousins. And to put it simply, it backfired.
With a quarterback who ended up throwing four interceptions on four of five possessions in the second half, you could second-guess Gruden's choice not to run the football.
At the same token, in light of the team's defense, what other choice did he really have? Which brings us to Jim Haslett.
While it was apparent early on that the Redskins couldn't cover New York's receivers, Haslett just sat back and watched Manning carve up his defense. Not only did he run vanilla coverages, he sent little to no pressure for the majority of the night. Haslett may have been dealt a bad hand with Bashaud Breeland, David Amerson and Tracy Porter as his top corners, but he ultimately set up his defense to fail by not adjusting to New York's offense.
Former head coach Mike Shanahan may have taken the rap for the team's defensive struggles the past few seasons, but as ESPN's Bomani Jones notes, you have to wonder if Haslett is living on reputation at this point:
"btw, jim haslett hasn’t had a hand in a truly good defense since 1998. i have no idea how he still has that job.
— Bomani Jones (@bomani_jones) September 26, 2014"
Grade: C-
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Overall Grade |
| QB | F |
| RB | B |
| WR | C- |
| OL | D+ |
| DL | C- |
| LB | C- |
| Secondary | D- |
| Special Teams | C |
| Coaching | C- |
| Cumulative Grade | D |
Whether it was injury or the quick turnaround from its Week 3 action, Washington didn't come to play in this contest.
The offense had its moments of proficiency, but the turnovers were just dumbfounding. While this game doesn't exactly follow the script of the Redskins' previous two losses, this was another game where Washington beat itself.
With what amounts to a mini-bye week, the team needs to take this time off to get healthy and, most importantly, eliminate the miscues that are responsible for its 1-3 start.
All stats courtesy of ESPN.com.
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