Buccaneers vs. Redskins: Bucs Steal a Chest of Burgundy and Gold, Skins Lose

When looking back on this Washington Redskins season, this game sums it up very well.

Come out in the first half and play strong. Then let a couple of big plays happen through the air and the winds completely leave as the Bucs set sail.

Miraculously, the Redskins execute a potential game tying drive late in the fourth quarter and a high snap on the point after attempt dashes all hopes of the Skins coming home the victor.

A good thing to see was the start of Ryan Torain and he made no bones about his ability as the Redskins number one back in his return.

Santana Moss played well today, leading the team in receptions, and caught the late game touchdown pass that could have tied the game.

Watch all the games highlights here.

Let's move right along to this week's grades:

QB: A. This is the kind of game plan that Donovan McNabb needs. He was sacked twice but compared to prior weeks that is not that bad. He did not throw an interception today, although the fourth quarter dump to Keiland Williams that Ronde Barber dropped would have been devastating. He shook that off and got them to the end-zone.

RB: A. Ryan Torain, I'm glad to see you healthy and running well. Keiland Williams, good to see you're a threat to catch the ball and run. Great game from the backfield.

FB: C. Mike Sellers had two big catches in this game but also a crucial holding penalty during a kickoff return in the second half that brought the ball back.

WR: A. It was wet, nasty and cold in Washington this Sunday and the receivers were still catching the passes. McNabb had thirteen incompletions which more than half of them were badly thrown. That leaves about five passes that the wide receivers and tight ends could have caught. Overall, that's a good day, rain or shine.

TE: B. Logan Paulsen caught a one yard touchdown pass. Good for him. Great route and good concentration. Chris Cooley did not catch his first pass till the fourth quarter. Why? Fred Davis caught one pass for minus five yards. Why? I cannot fault them for not catching more passes because their number was not called enough but their blocking for the running game and dump off passes was excellent.

OL: B+. Two sacks. Not bad at all. Much improvement has been shown since they played the Vikings and Giants. They had a good game against the Bucs and the holes for the running game were WIDE open.

DL: C. About an average game. I know a lot of people will beat me up for not showing the defensive line some love but that is still one of the biggest holes on this Redskins team for me. They did a pretty good job closing up the holes today but overall they are too inconsistent. But they did seem to have a gel starting to form without the suspended Albert Haynesworth around to come in whenever he wanted.

LB: B. London Fletcher led the team again in tackles. Rocky McIntosh played ok but got beat on a tough play by Kellen Winslow Jr. that allowed the Bucs to take the lead. Brian Orakpo was doing his best to create penetration but ended up being non-existant. Lorenzo Alexander was just kind of there.

CB: B. DeAngelo Hall showed himself well for the first time since the Bears game, creating a key fumble and recovering it. Philip Buchanon had an ok game as well, nothing special, just did his job.

FS: C. Kareem Moore was beat too much for my liking and was too worried about the big hits today.

SS: B. Reed Doughty was still doing an ok job filling in for the injured LaRon Landry.

K: D. Half his job is to kick field goals. The other half is to kick point after touchdowns. Missing two out of three field goals does not earn him a high grade. Think about this. He makes one of those field goals today and Redskins win. He did make one and made a point after touchdown so I cannot give him a full "F" even though I really want to.

P: F. I was riding Hunter Smith's coat tails earlier this season when he replaced Josh Bidwell. Today he sucked. His 35.0 punt average is not acceptable. It needs to be around or above 40.0 in my opinion. Not to mention he botched the game tying point after hold on a high snap from Nick Sundberg. Overall, fail.

Return game: C. Nothing really exciting here today on the return and blocking side of the ball.

Coaching: A. I can finally say it! They had a great game-plan and this game should have been one. The kicker did not perform, if he had they would have won 22-17. Any time a coaching system can potentially coach a team offensively to a 20+ points game and can defensively give up less that twenty points is a good coaching scheme to me.