Redskins Report Card Week 4
The Washington Redskins are now 1-3 on the 2014 season after a 45-14 trouncing by the New York Giants, Thursday night at FedEx Field. The Redskins were totally dominated in every phase of the football game. This week’s report card is one that head coach Jay Gruden will not want to hang on his refrigerator.
Quarterback: Kirk Cousins is now 1-6 as a starting quarterback in the NFL. His four interceptions, three coming in the third quarter, were a major contributor to an absolute dreadful performance. Cousins inaccuracies cost his team several first down opportunities in the first half. After a first quarter sack and fumble by the Giants, Cousins looked uneasy and rushed in the pocket. Though he did lead the team on two impressive touchdown drives in the second and third quarter, the mistakes heavily outweighed the successes. Grade D-
Running Back: If you want to find the only positive of the night for the Redskins, you can look no farther than Alfred Morris. Morris was able to pound his way through Giants’ defenders throughout the contest, finishing up with 63 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown, an average of 5.3 yards per carry. Roy Helu did a nice job coming out of the backfield, catching five passes for 78 yards. Grade B+
Receivers: With the quarterback struggling throughout the night the Redskin receivers had their worst game of the season. Pierre Garcon, two catches for 28 yards, and DeSean Jackson, one catch for nine yards, were non-existent. Garcon equaled his reception total with tackles on two of Cousins’ interceptions. Andre Roberts had a great touchdown catch but other than that was shut down by the Giants secondary. Grade D
Tight Ends: Niles Paul had the opportunity to catch a 68 yard touchdown pass from Cousins on the Redskins first drive but stopped running and the ball fell incomplete. Paul did manage to haul in three catches for 60 yards before leaving the game late in the second quarter with an injury. Logan Paulson immediately made his impact felt in the game on the next play, after the Paul injury, by catching and fumbling the ball at the Giants 18 yard line. The fumble ended a drive that could have allowed the Redskins to put points on the scoreboard, down 21-7 at the time, but instead allowed the Giants to drive down for a last second field goal before halftime to go up 24-7. Grade D
Offensive Line: The inability to protect Cousins in the pocket led to four interceptions. Right Tackle Tyler Polumbus and left tackle Trent Willams struggled at times to halt the Giants pass rush. Polumbus allowed Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka to sack Cousins on the Redskins first drive causing a fumble that eventually led to the Giants first touchdown. After the Kiwanuka sack and fumble, Cousins was never the same. Grade D-
Defensive Line: By far the worst performance of the season. Giants quarterback Eli Manning had all day in the pocket as the pass rush was swallowed up by the Giants offensive line. Jason Hatcher and Chris Baker both looked injured and off their games. The Giants running backs had huge holes to run through and gained 154 yards. Grade F
Linebackers: Just like the D line, the linebackers were horrible against the Giants run game, failing to fill holes which allowed Giants running backs Rashad Jennings and Andre Williams moderate to big gains. Unfortunately, poor run defense was not the worst aspect of the game for the line backers. The underneath coverage was invisible as Manning was able to pick apart the defense with short and intermediate routes. Giants tight end Larry Donnell caught his first of three touchdowns in the end zone over Perry Riley. Grade F
Secondary: After getting torched last week in Philadelphia the secondary topped that poor performance last night. Allowing Manning to throw for 300 yards and four touchdowns was an embarrassment. The coverage was poor. Giants receivers Victor Cruz and Rueben Randle were not only open last night but were wide open, both contributing for a combined 14 catches for 197 yards. Safeties Brandon Merriweather and Bashaud Breeland, along with linebacker Perry Riley made Larry Donnell look like a hall of fame player. Grade F
Special Teams: Punter Tress Way had four booming punts. Kicker Kai Forbath made both his extra points. Punt Returner Andre Roberts made a boneheaded fair catch call in the second quarter at the Redskins 27 yard line late in the first quarter when the Giants did not have a player within fifteen yards of him. Grade C
Overall: The excuse will be that the Redskins were banged up and playing on a short week. In reality the team was absolutly dominated in every part of the game by the Giants. The Redskins have ten days until a Monday night contest against the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks. If the team doesn’t get healthy and fix the major flaws the Giants exposed, it will be another long, embarrassing night at FedEx Field. Overall F
