The Redskin Report

It wasn’t anywhere near pretty and couldn’t have been less impressive, but the Washington Redskins held on for a 21-19 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. In typical Gibbs 2.0 fashion, the Redskins offense couldn’t get anything going and this win can be completely credited to another unbelievable effort by the defense. Let’s just say a much better offensive effort is going to be needed next week against the powerhouse New England Patriots.

The Good

• The Secondary: Things started breaking down a bit at the end of the game (probably due to being on the field the entire 4th quarter and a lack of pass rush) but up until that point the only way the Cardinals could complete a pass beyond 10 yards was via an outstanding catch. All three corners were excellent against the top notch Cardinal receiving corp. Special kudos should be given to Shawn Springs, his mind was on other things all week, but on Sunday afternoon he again delivered.
• Linebackers: London Fletcher had his best game as a Redskin on Sunday. He was all over the field making hits and never misses a tackle. Obviously his interception return touchdown was a nice touch as well. Rocky McIntosh continues to impress. He’s among the team leader in tackles every week and his speed bring a dimension to the defense that was sorely lacking last year. Randall Godfrey was solid in place of Marcus Washington.
• Defensive Line: The pass rush wasn’t as vicious as recent weeks, but as mentioned above, a lot of that can be attributed to the sheer amount of offensive plays the Cardinals had (73 vs. 47 for the Redskins). Andre Carter’s sack and forced fumble was a big play and they all made life difficult on the Cardinals running game.
• Coverage Units (minus the on-side kick crew): The Cardinals average a feeble 14 yards per kick off return on Sunday. With Shaun Suisham losing depth on his kickoffs of late, the coverage units helped the Redskins maintain their field position edge for most of the game.
• Kick-off Return Team: Is it just me or does it seem like Rock Cartwright gets up to the 30 yard line untouched on nearly every return? Rock has had 19 kick-off returns and gotten 20 yards on 16 of them and his 29.2 yards per return ranks 5th in the NFL.

The Bad

• Lack of Offensive Adjustments: I’m all for trying to run the ball. But there has to be a point where you acknowledge that it just isn’t working. The offensive line is banged up beyond belief and it seemed like every time Clinton Portis took a hand-off he had to juke a guy behind the line of scrimmage. If animals can learn to stop running into an electric fence, the Redskins offensive brain trust should be able to do the same.
• Offensive Line: I know the entire right side is back-ups and fill-ins, but that was brutal. Casey Rabach needs to come back quickly.
• Shaun Suisham: Come on man, you’re making me look bad. In my complete non-expert opinion he seems to be rushing all of his field goal attempts. No matter what the issue is, he’s got to get out of this slump or he’s going to be back on the kicker unemployment line soon.