Poor Play-Calling, Not Kirk Cousins, Cost the Washington Redskins in Week 5

Officially, the box score will tell you the Washington Redskins were beaten 25-19 by the Atlanta Falcons in Week 5, courtesy of Robert Alford's 59-yard interception return in overtime.

Yet it wasn't Kirk Cousins' mistimed and ill-advised throw that doomed the Redskins. Another costly pick from No. 8 is a great campaign ad for the pro-Robert Griffin III fans in Washington, but the blame for this defeat doesn't lie with Cousins.

In fact, it doesn't belong to any of the players who took the field for the Burgundy and Gold in Week 5. Instead, it belongs to the men on the sidelines wearing the headsets.

Playing the quarterback blame game one more time won't hide the fact the Redskins never should have been pushed into sudden death by the strangely subdued Falcons. Washington was in firm control against the 4-0 NFC South club, but poor play-calling kept handing the Falcons chances and hope they didn't merit.

John Bazemore/Associated Press

The result was a game Atlanta didn't deserve to win but somehow did, while the Redskins lost a game they had no business giving up.

Dubious decisions from the sideline routinely undid a fine team effort. To put the issues in a nutshell, the offense was too pass-happy, while a very game defense was let down by passive concepts in clutch situations.

Dealing with the former problem first, the Redskins managed a mere 51 yards on the ground all day. That pitiful total came from just 24 rushing attempts.

Both numbers are way too small for a team built to be groundhogs. They are especially low for an offense led by an inexperienced quarterback who has been dogged by efficiency issues in the past.

Cousins has made strides this season, but putting the game on his arm on the road against an undefeated opponent is never a good idea. More troubling is how the 24-32 ratio of runs to passes allowed the Falcons to own the clock.

Atlanta owned the time of possession 34:56 to 27:49. You don't give up control of the clock when Matt Ryan is the other team's quarterback. Keeping 2008's first overall pick on the sidelines is the smart move.

But the Redskins were never able to do that because head coach Jay Gruden and offensive coordinator Sean McVay couldn't make up their minds who should have the ball.

Splitting the carries is one thing, but going from a concentrated dose of Alfred Morris to Matt Jones to Chris Thompson and back to Morris again isn't a plan at all. It's an incoherent mess.

Morris couldn't get on track, gaining just 15 yards on eight carries. It's time to start worrying about No. 46. But no runner can establish rhythm without being given the chance.

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

The simple fact is this year's vintage of the Redskins is a group built to win or lose on the success or failure of its running game. Abandoning that formula on the road against a previously high-powered offense made no sense at all.

One reason the Atlanta offense was off-key was because of how hard Washington's defense played. Coordinator Joe Barry's unit showed plenty of hustle and opportunism. Those qualities were reflected by three sacks and as many turnovers.

But those big plays made the defensive effort look better than it actually was.

Picking off Ryan twice and leaving him battered and bruised in the pocket was offset by letting Devonta Freeman rush for 153 yards and a score on 27 carries.

Freeman consistently powered through multiple would-be tacklers. Washington's defenders didn't show much desire to take Freeman down early.

Mike Jones of the Washington Post noted how the front seven failed to shed blocks and make tackles at the source of a play:

Freeman's big day owed everything to a failure of fundamentals and coaching from the Redskins defense. Not only couldn't his players tackle, but Barry hadn't prepared his unit for a signature play it should know how to stop blindfolded by now.

Most of Atlanta's success on the ground came off the same zone-stretch play to the left Washington has been running since 2010. With Kyle Shanahan calling the same offense for the Falcons he ran for four years in D.C., the Redskins should have been schooled with the right techniques to shut this familiar play down:

But getting gashed on the ground wasn't the only issue for Barry's group in Week 5. His defense was also tame instead of aggressive in clutch passing situations.

It was most obvious on Atlanta's final scoring drive in regulation. Against the Falcons' two-minute offense, Barry called a very soft, prevent-style coverage scheme.

Rather than have his defensive backs challenge receivers, while using extra rushers to speed up Ryan's throws and force mistakes, Barry let his defense play off in vanilla zone.

Not only did it mean ceding a few easy completions to get the key drive started, but it meant leaving Cousins and Co. with almost no time to answer Freeman's touchdown run.

Cousins still came through with three completions to position Dustin Hopkins to boot the game into overtime. But things shouldn't have gone that far.

It wasn't the first time during the game the Washington defense sat off and made things easy on Ryan and his receivers. Michael Phillips of the Richmond Times-Dispatch highlighted how soft coverage gifted Atlanta a fourth-down conversion in the third quarter:

Too many times, Ryan was able to convert in clutch situations against a defense lacking in imaginative aggression. Trusting four-man pressure in front of off-coverage isn't going to work every time. Barry must spice up 3rd-and-5 to 3rd-and-9 situations with more creative blitz calls.

In a close game, rolling the dice with something different can often prove decisive.

Sadly, the Redskins didn't do enough of that on either side of the ball. It led to a loss that must serve as a valuable lesson going forward for the rest of this season.

Washington's 2015 roster has been built to keep games close. Tough play and high effort will do that most weeks.

But against teams with better talent, coaching can make the difference.

Gruden and his staff were out-coached in Week 5. Fresh ideas are urgently needed before facing Todd Bowles, his experienced staff and the New York Jets next week.

All statistics and player information via NFL.com.

Follow me on Twitter.