"DC" Skins Postgame - Week 2 - Overtime Ouch

Redskins 27 Texans 30.

That final score wasn't surprising to me at all. As I said during my blog post yesterday, the Vegas line had the Texans winning by 3 pts, and I agreed that line was close to accurate (I predicted a 4 point Texans victory in my blog). Even though I was close to right in that aspect of my overall prediction, I was wrong with more.

I predicted that the Texans would control most of the game with the offense, and though the Redskins will keep it close and may catch a few breaks, their offense will struggle overall. I was wrong. The Redskins controlled most of the game with their offense. They kept the chains moving by keeping the ball in the air. McNabb distributed the ball well to just about any receiver or the active roster. It was surely a difference compared to last week.

However, it was during the 4th quarter where it seemed to have fallen apart. I didn't see half of this quarter on the TV, but listened to most of it on my car radio, and on my Android smart phone. They didn't close this game when they had a chance. They had a chance to all but seal the game making it a two-possession lead midway in the 4th quarter. But they didn't. They had a chance a chance to make a crucial 4th down stop, but instead turned it into a game tying touchdown with Matt Schaub finding arguably the best WR in the league for a huge score. And, in overtime, they had a chance to seal the win by kicking a long field goal, but the kicker let himself get "iced" (though the kick was difficult, the kick should have been made, considering that it was good before the timeout was called). So, instead of closing the game late, the Redskins let a good team stick around. If you have a 10 point lead going into the 4th quarter, and if you're up by 3 possessions in the 3rd quarter, you win the game.

To add on, the running game still has some issues. Most of the rushing yards came in the drive in the 4th quarter where the Redskins failed to capitalize, and before that drive, the Redskins had only 3 rushing yards overall. This is one of the problems the Redskins need to seriously address if they want to eventually be considered as bonafide contenders.

However, with all that being said, there were a lot of positives that the Redskins can build on in this game. Although, admittedly the Texans' secondary was a significant weakness of Houston, McNabb started to find his passing game, and involved pretty much EVERYBODY. If he can replicate a significant fraction of that passing game, they should have their fair share of wins. Defense also held the running game that was so explosive last week, and had the overall advantage in 3 out of the 4 quarters against a very solid high powered offense. So those were definitely positives.

With that being said, this game should have been a Redskins win. However, since it took place in the beginning of the season, and it's not against a conference or division opponent, it's definitely a loss that's not too damag they can build on. So, all in all, I would say that the loss should not be a complete disappointment. As I said before, the AFC South is stacked, and this Houston team is a young team with some young talent that can surprise a lot of people when all is said and done. So, losing to them in a competitive game (that you probably should have won if you made key stops) should not cause panic. As long as they show they can correct the mistakes they made (like they have showed they can correct a lot of their offensive woes from last week during this game), then the Redskins should still do decent during the season.

Up next, they have the St. Louis Rams. This could serve as a great "bounce back" game, with their overpaid rookie quarterback with offensive line issues and practically no weapons (with the exception of Steven Jackson). So, if they handle business and win the game against this team handily, that could be a good indicator of character, as well as how well they can do this year. This time last year, when they faced this team, they barely eeked out a win, and that really set the tone for a disappointing year (which included a loss in the next week to a Detroit Lions team that lost it's previous 17 games). I shall blog more about my thoughts about this game later this week.

So, for those Redskins fans panicking because they blew a big lead in the 4th quarter and lost the game... I say calm down. The team they played will be solid for the whole year, and the loss wasn't against a division opponent, so it's not as damaging. And since it happened early in the year, there's plenty of time for mistakes to be corrected, and the team can build on this loss. However, I will say that if the team loses next week (or even wins unconvincingly), then fans should start to worry a bit.


But until then, all Redskins fans (and all people in general) should enjoy the week. NFL football is great and could be tolling due to the emotional investment, but there's a lot outside of that which probably matter more. So in case you're down after any loss, remember that.


So until next week keep your hopes high and read my other blogs. There are better days ahead...


HTTR,
-OBE