Washington Redskins' Lack of Discipline Is Jay Gruden's Fault

The Seattle Seahawks are the exception, not the rule. Most teams can't survive when leading the NFL in penalties, let alone win a Super Bowl and look poised for a return to the big game.

Most teams, especially rebuilding ones like the Washington Redskins, have to control their own fate. They have to get into the habit of not beating themselves.

The best way to do that is to minimize turnovers and avoid penalties. Both things take efficiency and discipline. Those are two precious qualities the 2014 Redskins just don't have, and it's all Jay Gruden's fault.

The first-year head coach hasn't done enough to establish a culture of accountability at Redskins Park. Just as important, Gruden hasn't created an atmosphere of calmness, authority and professionalism.

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Much of that is due to his own fiery demeanour. If the Redskins resemble a mutinous band of fractious players this season, it's because of the tough-talking cutthroat charged with steering this Jolly Roger into choppy waters.

Gruden often appears like a coach on the verge of frenzy. He rarely seems as though he can contain himself, let alone his players.

That was obvious when quarterback Robert Griffin III had an apparent touchdown ruled out just before halftime in Week 15's 24-13 loss to the New York Giants.

The call to overturn the score and rule it a fumble, admittedly a major shock, brought out the worst in Washington's players and coaches. They hounded, harassed and barracked referee Jeff Triplette with a staggering show of visceral anger and affronted dissent.

Right at the front of this rebellious melee stood Gruden. He led and his players—including 35-year-old veteran Santana Moss, who was ejected—followed his example.

The image was the perfect distillation of the ill-discipline that's plagued this roster since Gruden took over. The fact that his team collapsed because of this one setback tells you everything you need to know about the lack of discipline in this year's team.

Yes, the call was tough and significant, but winning teams recover, calm themselves and rebound. They don't let a single call at the end of the first half dictate how they'll play after the break, at least not in a negative way.

Griffin made reference to how the Redskins did exactly that, per New York Post reporter Brian Lewis: "I feel like we shouldn’t have let that play alter the game for us, but ultimately, it did.”

After the game, Gruden called for better conduct from his team, per Mike Jones of The Washington Post:

"

It was deflating a little bit. We had a good momentum going in there, and worst-case scenario we go in there with a field goal. Robert scrambled out of there, tried to get a touchdown. . . . But we had 30 yards in penalties because of it. It was unfortunate. We got to keep our composure.

"

That's a little rich coming from the man who was the first to lose his composure.

A team is usually a reflection of its sideline general. Bill Parcells' New York Giants teams were hard-nosed but efficient because that's what their tough coach demanded.

By contrast, Joe Gibbs' Redskins teams, certainly those of his first tenure, were studious, smart and creative, particularly offensively. Those are exactly the qualities Gibbs himself embodied.

John Gaps III/Associated Press/Associated Press

In the modern era, the New England Patriots are intelligent, efficient and precise. They are a direct reflection of their meticulous head coach Bill Belichick.

Those are the good examples of when the coach-players symbiosis works. Consider Jim Schwartz and the Detroit Lions as the prime example of the bad.

The Lions were consistently the most undisciplined team in the league during the five seasons Schwartz was in charge. His abrasive, antagonistic demeanour simply lit the touch paper for fiery characters such as Ndamukong Suh.

It's no coincidence that since the so-quiet-you'd-barely-notice-him Jim Caldwell took over, the Lions are winning. They're 10-4 largely because they've stop beating themselves.

Caldwell was the perfect hire to calm the Lions down. In the same respect, it's difficult to ever see Gruden's volatility bringing out the best in equally combustible personalities like wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon or safety Brandon Meriweather.

Gruden's Redskins are in serious danger of becoming a version of the pre-Caldwell Lions. They are making a habit out of killing drives and gifting points via penalties that have poor discipline as their root cause.

That was obvious against the Giants this week. Young cornerback Bashaud Breeland was the main culprit, as Mike Jones of The Washington Post detailed:

Usually, that could be written off as one of the foibles of youth, a risk every coach incurs when he puts rookies into the starting lineup. However, the nature of Breeland's penalties, which included two taunting infractions, speak to how ill-disciplined this team has become.

Every fan wants to see passion in the game and it's only natural when that passion occasionally spills over. But losing 15 yards for fighting or taunting is just giving a big play away.

Winning teams don't make those mistakes. They don't make them because it's part of the culture to play and act smart.

When you don't play smart you make it next to impossible to win. That's something ESPN Redskins reporter John Keim noted against the Giants:

But ill-discipline doesn't just have to take the form of players succumbing to their more aggressive, baser instincts. For all the examples of bad behavior, there are even more instances of procedure penalties and technical infractions.

It's easy to lose count of the number of times the Washington offense puts itself in a negative situation before the ball has even been snapped. Once the ball is snapped, there's a plethora of holding infractions that serve to negate good plays.

Those are the exact kind of mental errors a coach has to make his first priority to eradicate. A rebuilding team is never going to rebuild if it can't line up probably or make its good gains count.

In all against the Giants, Washington totalled 10 penalties for 135 yards. That's the sixth time in 14 games this team has hit double digits in penalties.

Here's the complete game-by-game breakdown of Washington's penalty tally this season:

Week	Game	Penalties	Yards lost	Result
1	at Houston Texans	7	71	17-6 L
2	vs. Jacksonville Jaguars	11	98	41-10 W
3	at Philadelphia Eagles	10	131	37-34 L
4	vs. New York Giants	11	88	45-14 L
5	vs. Seattle Seahawks	3	30	27-17 L
6	at Arizona Cardinals	14	108	30-20 L
7	vs. Tennessee Titans	7	50	19-17 W
8	at Dallas Cowboys	6	45	20-17 W
9	at Minnesota Vikings	6	55	29-26 L
10	Bye
11	vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers	9	67	27-7 L
12	at San Francisco 49ers	7	53	17-13 L
13	at Indianapolis Colts	10	78	49-27 L
14	vs. St. Louis Rams	5	51	24-0 L
15	at New York Giants	10	135	24-13 L

You can see how the number of penalties doesn't always equate directly to a win or loss. For example, the Seahawks played as though each player wanted to take home a yellow flag in Week 5. Yet they still won because they are simply more talented than the Redskins.

In the same way, Washington beat Jacksonville despite a ton of penalties because they are simply better than the Jags.

But it's the games the Redskins have played tough where penalties have made a fatal difference. Games like road defeats to the San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles, all games this team should've won.

That's the nub of the problem. The Redskins entered this season with the talent to enjoy a quick turnaround from last year's 3-13 mark.

Yet they've rarely given themselves enough chances to make that talent count. That bad habit starts with the man at the the top.

All statistics via NFL.com.