Washington Redskins: Doing the Little Things Right

I spent most of last night tossing and turning in bed trying to figure out this question; Are the Green Bay Packers overrated, or are the Washington Redskins actually good?

It’s probably a little bit of both. But the more and more I think about this Redskins team, I feel like they could be playing in January.

Heading into the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, I had zero hope the Redskins could pull out a comeback victory against a Super Bowl contender like the Packers. McNabb had been average on the afternoon and was regularly flushed out of the pocket. Some of his throws sailed over receivers hands or bounced in the dirt below their feet.

Plus the running game was nonexistent. There was just no reason to believe the Redskins could magically flip on the switch to become the playoff team they looked like in the fourth quarter and overtime.

London Fletcher put it perfectly in his postgame locker room speech.

"Two years ago this, isn't the type of win we would have been able to have," Fletcher said, according to Reed Doughty. "Maybe even two weeks ago. The fact that we came up with a win like this, going down early, was a big deal. This is a big win, one of the more special wins we've had."

The Washington Redskins have yet to play their best football of the season but somehow they’ve beaten three NFC playoff teams from last season (Dallas, Philadelphia and now Green Bay). Washington isn't getting league wide credit for these victories but that's fine. Teams who fly under the radar sometimes are the ones who do the most damage in the postseason.

The only way you can beat teams of those caliber without playing an outstanding game is coaching.

Mike Shanahan pointed out in his press conference that there was no finger pointing on the Redskins sidelines yesterday. They knew the game plan, stuck to it and banded together as a team. This was a full effort; offense, defense and special teams. About a third of the season is in the books.

There are a couple of components that helping the Redskins defeat superior teams. Let’s take a look at what’s going right for the top team in the NFC East.

Turnovers

Since 2004 the Redskins are minus 20 in turnover differential. This season alone Washington is plus four. Donovan McNabb is protecting the football while the defense is FINALLY generating big plays. If Kareem Moore would have been healthy against the Houston Texans (instead of Reed Doughty), would Andre Johnson have hauled in that fourth down Hail Mary?

Moore is extremely underrated. He’s produced turnovers in the three straight games. The last Redskin to do that was Sean Taylor in 2007.

Lorenzo Alexander

NFL junkies know who Andre Carter is. He used to be the Redskins starting outside linebacker in the 3-4. He held that title in San Francisco earlier last decade, but was run out of town when NFL offenses realized how vulnerable Carter was in coverage. Well, NFL offensive coordinators remembered that nugget and Carter was exposed several times in the Redskins first four games.

Enter in Lorenzo Alexander, a Redskins special teams hero and now apparently a more than useful 3-4 outside linebacker. Alexander’s pass deflection on a Green Bay fourth and goal in the second quarter might have saved the day for Washington. Alexander (6’1” 275 lbs.) ended with three tackles and a half sack.

Alexander reminds me of a defensive Mike Sellers. They both provide a spark and play with extreme intensity; they’re hungry football players. The Redskins front seven really doesn’t have a weakness now. It looks like Andre Carter is going to be relegated to a situational pass rushing role and I’m completely fine with that.   

Special Teams

Games are won and lost because of scrawny men who kick an oblong ball and backup players who sprint up and down the field. Often times the media pokes fun of how many coaches the Redskins have had within the last decade.

An even funnier joke is the amount of kickers who have cost the Redskins games and even playoff contests. Shaun Suisham, Nick Novak, John Hall, Ola Kimrim, Jose Cortez and Brett Conway. Graham Gano has a nice ring to it. He’s been outstanding this year and hit clutch kicks in the fourth quarter and overtime, something the Redskins haven’t been able to bank on in years past.

How about the special teams coverage yesterday? Mike Sellers had one of the better games of his career, leveling several Packers players. His hits got fans and the ‘Skins defensive players energized enough to starve off any Packer touchdowns after the first quarter.

And the best part of the special teams, is the Redskins new addition Brandon Banks. Nearly every fan got sick of Antwan Randle El signaling for a fair catch, forcing the Redskins to have to drive the length of the field. Banks looks like an oompa-loompa on the field but he has the heart of a lion.

He immediately races up the field, rather than dance from sideline-to-sideline. Some of his bigger returns were called back yesterday but you can just tell he’s ready to bring one back to the house.

Injuries

Getting hurt is more a part of the NFL than any other profession in the entire world. If a player makes it through a 17-week regular season without a scratch then luck really is on his side.

I’m not sure if this is part of defensive coordinator Jim Haslett’s strategy but the Redskins have injured several key offensive players from their 2010 opponents. Check out the list.

• Andre Johnson
• Steven Jackson
• Michael Vick
• LeSean McCoy
• Aaron Rodgers

Those are some game-changing injuries, where opposing teams have to adjust their game plans on the fly. It’s not that the Redskins are playing dirty; they’re just knocking the living crap out of important players. The Redskins themselves have held up pretty strong thanks in large part to Mike Shanahan’s new conditioning program.

With all these positives, a couple of concerns do rise for the Redskins moving forward.

—The offensive line still is very shaky and that’s being kind. They could barley produce any holes for running back Ryan Torain (only 40 yards rushing) and McNabb was scrambling more than the coaching staff would like. Plus Trent Williams’ health could be a serious issue.

When the rookie left tackle is in, I feel safe. When he’s out, Stephen Heyer, one of the worst current NFL players, is inserted into the lineup and I say several prayers to the good man upstairs. McNabb shouldn’t be throwing the ball 49 times every game. Another ball carrier has to emerge to help this offense continue to grow.

—The secondary continues to get shredded and things could get even worse next week against Peyton Manning. The Redskins held Aaron Rodgers to less than 300 yards passing but the Packers successful short passing game allowed Green Bay to control the tempo for three quarters. The Redskins are allowing 362 yards through the air per game.

The NFL is now a passing league. These defensive statistics will not lead to a playoff berth.

—Fred Davis has three catches on the season. I don’t want to completely waste our 2008 draft class. We need to force him the ball. He can line up as a receiver is some packages. Shanahan needs to make sure he doesn’t stunt Davis’ growth.

P.S. – Did Chris Cooley read my article bashing him? He’s had the best two games of his season following my newsflash.

P.S.S. – I didn’t even mention LaRon Landry. Landry won the Redskins the game with his interception. Can he win the defense MVP award? If he keeps this pace up, I don’t see why not. 

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