Quietly Talented Redskins Defense Masking Coaching, Quarterback Deficiencies

The Washington Redskins are well aware that interim starting quarterback Colt McCoy isn't a long-term solution under center. And a team that this year has been plagued by injuries, penalties and questionable coaching decisions probably shouldn't get its hopes up entering the second half of the 2014 season at 3-5. 

But despite again not having franchise quarterback Robert Griffin III and top pass-rusher Brian Orakpo, and despite the fact first-year head coach Jay Gruden once again put a team on the field that appeared to be underprepared, Washington went on the road Monday night and beat the NFL's hottest team. 

And that's extremely promising, especially when you look at the performance Jim Haslett's defense put together against a Dallas team that is loaded with weapons. 

McCoy was good, especially for a third-stringer. He had only five incomplete passes on 30 attempts and one interception in a solid performance. But make no mistake, almost all of the credit for Washington's first road victory since September 2013 has to go to that defense. 

"My first thought is how great did our defense play?" McCoy said after the game in a press conference televised on NFL Network. "Hats off to those guys, to Coach Has, to our corners, to the leaders of that defense. Those guys kept us in the game."

The Cowboys had scored at least 20 points in each of their last six games—all wins—but Haslett held them to only 17 in total and seven during the game's first 40 minutes. He found a way to exploit one of the league's strongest offensive lines with a blitz that Dallas couldn't solve, and even without veteran leaders Orakpo, DeAngelo Hall and Barry Cofield, the personnel delivered in a major way. 

Romo had been sacked just five times in Dallas' previous five games, but he was taken down on five of only 33 dropbacks. They got to him on a third-down safety blitz on the very first series of the game, and the Cowboys failed to adjust the rest of the night. 

In fact, the first four sacks on Romo came on third down, the last of which forced him to leave the game with a back injury. 

But it wasn't just about the pressure. For the first time since Hall and Co. shut down this same Cowboys team in the do-or-die 2012 regular-season finale, the Redskins had good reason to be proud of their secondary on Monday night. 

Against Pro Bowl pass-catchers Dez Bryant and Jason Witten and complementary weapon Terrance Williams, the coverage was nearly perfect. Very few of Dallas' passes were uncontested as Romo and backup Brandon Weeden were only 21-of-34, completing zero passes that traveled at least 20 yards. 

What's so impressive about that achievement is that two starting Redskins cornerbacks are a combined age of 44.

Rookie fourth-round pick Bashaud Breeland was a complete stud covering Bryant, breaking up back-to-back passes to him in the end zone in the second half and covering the beast of a wide receiver like a glove on the game-clinching stop in overtime.

NFL Game Pass

NFL Game Pass

The Clemson product also broke up a deep ball intended for Williams in the first quarter, forced Murray to fumble at the conclusion of a large second-quarter gain and nearly had a pick while covering Williams in the final minute of regulation. 

Second-year starter David Amerson was beaten twice all day, and in both cases he surrendered just five yards against Bryant. 

With great coverage from the youngsters and constant pressure up front, a team that had just six takeaways during the first seven weeks of the season forced four fumbles, recovering two of them. And the Redskins looked as though they had a third recovery on a sack from safety Brandon Meriweather late in the fourth quarter, but running back DeMarco Murray somehow wrestled the ball away from linebacker Ryan Kerrigan. 

It was close to a flawless performance, which is why the Redskins won despite again losing the penalty battle and suffering from some poor coaching moments. During their final fourth-quarter possession, it was baffling to see them use a timeout and take a delay-of-game penalty within a four-play span. The offense spent most of the evening scrambling to get organized before the snap, and Washington was lucky it didn't pay for wasting two of its second-half timeouts before crunch time. 

Gruden also failed to take advantage of a fourth-quarter unnecessary roughness penalty on an extra point by having his kicker, Kai Forbath, blast it through the end zone on the ensuing kickoff from midfield. In a spot like that, too many coaches fail to see that the real play is to pop it up like a punt or attempt an onside kick. But they basically waved the penalty off, gave Dallas the ball at the 20 and surrendered a touchdown eight plays later. 

None of that matters because the defense stepped up. And while this team is at least a year away from competing for anything significant, it was the type of performance that should have Washington believing substantial progress can be made between now and the end of December. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon