The Loser Papers 2012

[Deadskins]

It's time for another season of The Loser Papers. TLP are articles from the Redskins' vanquished foe's hometown newspapers. This is where you come to hear the other side of the story. You know, how their team lost a game they most certainly should have won. In honor of our new QB, here are RGIII (really good 3) articles from The Times-Picayune:

New Orleans Saints were surprisingly flat, perhaps overconfident, in loss to Washington Redskins: First take
09/09/12 5:54PM
Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune

FIRST TAKE: Regular readers of this column know I'm going to be the last one to press the panic button after the New Orleans Saints' season-opening 40-32 loss Sunday to the Washington Redskins - a dreadful performance that wasn't nearly as competitive as the final score suggests. But the Saints don't have any time to waste if they want to make sure this season doesn't freefall into a repeat of 2007, when they started 0-4 under immensely high expectations.

DAVID GRUNFELD / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE
Drew Brees throws under pressure, 1st quarter, at the Superdome in New Orleans, Sunday September 9, 2012.

The Saints (0-1) need to immediately put an end to the questions about whether Sean Payton's absence or the negativity of the bounty scandal had anything to do with this sloppy start - both the countless ones they'll hear from the media this week and any of those unmentioned internal doubts that might start to creep up if they start out 0-2 or worse.

For now, though, I'm still willing to chalk Sunday's game at the Merrcedes-Benz Superdome up as one of those random stinkers that we've seen once or twice every season. It felt so much like those trips to St. Louis and Tampa Bay last year, or the losses to Arizona and Cleveland the year before.

And just like in those games, the overriding issue may actually have been overconfidence and a lack of urgency.

The Saints focused so much this offseason on staying uber-confident throughout the bounty fallout. And they sure looked like a team Sunday that expected this game to play out just like all those other blowouts inside the Superdome last season when they were a perfect 9-0. As if they could just flip the "on" switch and cruise past the Redskins and their rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III, who wound up being much more impressive than all-world Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

Indeed, the Saints were on cruise control Sunday. They came out flat, lacked focus, lacked attention to detail, played sloppy, got pushed around on the offensive and defensive lines and made dumb mistakes (did we mention the penalties). Eventually the offense and defense started playing their best football, but it was too little and too late.

Brees, who was uncharacteristically off target Sunday, was the first to admit that the Saints didn't "deserve to win" with the amount of mistakes they made. And ironically enough, Brees said the emotions that went into this season opener may have backfired on the team.

The prevailing thought was that the Saints and the Dome crowd would be ignited by the start of a new season, the chance to put the bounty negativity behind them and the chance to revel in the Friday reinstatement of suspended players Will Smith and Jonathan Vilma, who took the field to lead the crowd in a raucous pregame "Who Dat" chant.
Instead, the offense went three-and-out on its opening series and did the same four times in its first six possessions.

"I think, obviously, there was a lot of emotion going into this game because of the events of the last few days. And it's the home opener and we're all just excited to get out on the field again and start the regular season," Brees said. "So at times when the emotions are so high, you get into the game and you can have a lapse because it's almost like you expend all your energy with those emotions as opposed to just being able to focus on the game itself.

"We recognize that from a game last year, if you recall the game against the Houston Texans, when Steve Gleason comes out and does the 'Who Dat' chant and that was all emotional for so many of us. And it took us a while to get going in that game, just like it obviously took a while for us to get going in this game, even though we kept saying, 'Hey, let's take a deep breath. Take a deep breath.' And unfortunately we just weren't able to rally."

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/20 ... urpri.html

Washington Redskins deliver rude wake-up call to New Orleans Saints
09/09/12 7:18PM
Jeff Duncan, The Times-Picayune

In a city famous for hand grenades and drive-through daiquiri stores, wake-up calls tend to be ruder here than other places.

Few, though, have been more alarming than the rousing the Washington Redskins delivered to the New Orleans Saints at noon Sunday. Their 40-32 upset was so complete and authoritative it effectively transformed the Saints' home opener into a four-hour cold shower at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Football was supposed to be salvation for the embattled Saints after their troubled offseason. It was supposed to be the elixir for the club's angry and frustrated fans. Instead, it only made Bountygate and its far-reaching fallout all the more difficult to stomach for everyone involved.

"We played bad ball," safety Roman Harper said. "... We are so much better than what we did today."

The Saints spent the summer telling everyone they that the bounty scandal wouldn't affect them, that they had the leadership and character to overcome the loss of Coach Sean Payton, that the distractions would not derail them from fulfilling their mission of becoming the first team to play in the Super Bowl on its home field.

Then they came out and laid an egg larger than the Superdome.

Maybe it was coincidence. Maybe the Saints just picked an inopportune time to produce their worst performance in years. Maybe Drew Brees was right when he said distractions weren't a factor.

Or maybe, just maybe, this whole ordeal is going to be tougher than anyone, even the Saints themselves, anticipated. Maybe the Saints actually are going to miss Payton, Joe Vitt and Mickey Loomis on game days in ways they failed to comprehend when this whole sordid mess began back in March.

It certainly seemed that way against the Redskins.

For most of the afternoon, the Saints looked like a team that spent the offseason worrying too much about the wrong RG. While they were filing depositions, negotiating long-term contracts and filling sandbags to ward off Isaac, the Redskins were back in suburban Washington, D.C. scheming and prepping their rookie phenom, Robert Griffin III, for the task at hand.

The Redskins were the better prepared team in all three phases and it showed in their execution.

Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said he and his staff researched game film on the Saints' offense from as far back as 2007 to get a bead on their method of operation.
For three quarters, the Redskins executed the game plan to near perfection. They stuffed the Saints' rushing attack and forced three turnovers. They limited the big plays and got off the field on third down. They ditched pre-snap huddles to better keep pace with the Saints' high-tempo attack and had the audacity to defend their receivers with straight man-to-man coverage.

"We understood what was coming," Haslett said. "Now stopping them is another thing because they're so good but we played about as well as could be expected in this environment."

Oddly, it was the Saints not the Redskins who looked out of their element for most of the first half. Brees opened the game with three consecutive incomplete passes, sending stat geeks scrambling through play-by-play sheets to find the last time that occurred. They committed back-to-back false starts to kill another drive. And it didn't get much better in the second half.

The Saints did things they never do. They committed penalties and turnovers and failed to convert third downs. They threw incompletions at an alarming rate and went three-and-out more often than anyone could remember.

"That's not us," said Brees, who completed only 24 of 52 passes, his lowest completion percentage since 2006.

And defensively, they had no answer for RGIII. The Redskins surprised the Saints with an option-read rushing attack and a series of bootlegs that took advantage of the rookie quarterback's diverse skill set. All too often, Griffin had time to survey the field and pick out the matchup he wanted in coverage. He completed 11 of 13 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns in the first half to record the first perfect passer efficiency rating by a rookie quarterback in an opening half in league history.

"There were no indications this would happen," Saints interim coach Aaron Kromer said. "... Each one of us, starting with me, needs to go back and look at ourselves and figure out what I can do better, what each individual can do better and how close we can stay."

The Saints can start by ditching the denial and admitting the severity of the situation. If Game 1 is any indication, this season is not going to be a flawless transition at all. It's going to be one of the biggest challenges any of them have ever encountered. And it's going to take a concerted effort to get things back on track, starting with this week of practice in preparation for a road trip to NFC South Division rival Carolina on Sunday.

Yes, it's only one game and there is a lifetime of football still to be played. Yes, as Brees noted, the Saints lost their opener last season and went on to finish 13-3. But this was different. This looked nothing like that loss to the high-powered Packers at Lambeau Field. This was the Redskins, with a rookie quarterback and a patchwork secondary in the Superdome, where, as Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan noted, the Saints were coming off one of "the best (seasons) in the history of pro football."

No, this was a wake-up call, and a rude one at that. We'll see if the Saints are ready to answer it or not.

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/20 ... k_col.html

Robert Griffin III has his way with New Orleans Saints defense
09/09/12 7:01PM
Peter Finney, Times-Picayune

Before Sunday's game, Drew Brees had a prediction. He said, "it's only a matter of time before Robert Griffin III takes the league by storm.''

Good prediction, Drew.

But did Brees think it would happen so quickly?

As early as the first quarter, by which time the rookie quarterback was 7-for-7 passing for 123 yards and a touchdown?

In the first half, after the youngster had thrown for 182 yards, had run for another 30, and had a hand in every point of his team's 20-14 lead?

By the end of the third quarter, at which point Griffin had thrown for 258 yards and two touchdowns, had his guys up 30-17, had the Saints' defense gasping for breath?

By the end of a 40-32 upset during which RGIII had gone 19 for 26 without a pick and had posted the highest quarterback rating - 139.9 - for a rookie quarterback in NFL history.

What about it, RGIII?

"Listen, I feel like I'm still a rookie,'' he said. "But after the game, my teammates kept telling me, you're not a rookie any more. That made me feel good.''

What made him feel even better were the post-game words of the losing quarterback.

"Drew Brees came up to me and said, 'I'm proud of you.' That's big of him to say. To get to the NFL, the pinnacle of it all, and win your first game playing against a Hall of Famer like Drew Brees, that's big of him to say after they had just lost a game," Griffin said. "I respect him for that and it's definitely No. 1 on my list. Shows you what kind of person he is.''

The final score showed you something else. Mike Shanahan, who won back-to-back Super Bowls in Denver, came up with an offensive plan for his quarterback that seemed to put Griffin at ease.

"It was a lot of fun out there,'' he said. "I think everyone was comfortable with the plan. The stuff we used made it easier for me to get into a rhythm, to settle down, early in the game. I think it's great for any quarterback to get a couple of easy passes at the beginning of a game so you can go out there and get into a rhythm."

Instead of chunking it deep every time Griffin merely kept throwing the high-percentage pass and completing them.

"Along the way,'' he said, "we were able to adjust to the adjustments. When I hit that long one for the first touchdown (an 88-yard hookup with Pierre Garcon) it was like storybook time. Makes you feel like you can do no wrong. Gives you a great confidence boost.''

Said Garcon of that play: "It's one we work on all the time and we got lucky. The Saints got caught out of position and Robert threw a great ball. I just caught it and ran. It was a game-changer. Great call by the coach. Gave us momentum.''

Obviously, the overall picture was an illustration of Griffin helping his cause with a steady arm and world-class speed. His mere presence, his elusiveness, made the Saints rush him with caution, sometimes giving him all the time he needed to find an open target.

"I thought Robert did an unbelievable job to play the way he did in his first game,'' Shanahan said. "The poise he played with and some of the throws he made were great. Just to execute the offense in this environment was impressive. He kind of bumped into the running back a number of times. The Saints threw a lot at us, a lot of blitzes. To come away with a win was a big plus for our guys.''

Keeping the Saints' offense from exploding was definitely a big plus for former Saints head coach Jim Haslett, now in charge of the Redskins' defense.

Haslett pointed to one stat: Limiting the Saints to 32 yards on the ground.

"When you stop the run, it puts you in position to put more pressure on the quarterback,'' he said. "And you've got to do that going against someone as great as Drew Brees.''

The Washington rush kept a quarterback who completed an NFL record 71 percent of his passes last season under 50 percent (24-for-52) for the first time since 2006.

"It's amazing some of the plays he makes,'' Shanahan said of Brees. "Playing from behind, his ability to stay poised, his footwork, looking at the field, and being able to avoid the rush are just some of his skills. You've got to get some turnovers.''

On Sunday, the Redskins got enough to defeat a team favored by a touchdown.

By Sunday evening, the losing quarterback was saying what you'd expect.

"We'll regroup like we always have,'' Brees said. "We lost the first game last season and finished 13-3. We have the mentality and the guys to do it.''

We shall see.

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/20 ... s_way.html

[cleg]

I woke up this morning and checked the paper just to make sure what I saw was real. I still expect there to be many ups and downs this season but I sure hope we see lots of posts in this thread each week. Hail to the Redskins.

[KazooSkinsFan]

From what I heard of the Saints, they played it with class. They said they knew what the Skins would do with Griffin and couldn't stop him.

[Scottskins]

from the 30-17 poin t people kept congratulating me, I don't know how many times I said, that's drew brees, it aint over yet lol. I still cant believe griffin got us 40 pts!, and the defense played so well. such a bright future!

[SouthLondonRedskin]

I woke up this morning and checked the paper just to make sure what I saw was real.

Lol. Yeah, I know what you mean!

Luckily the Skins managed to give a TD away with a blocked punt and dropped a definite interception in the game, that reassured me it was real cos we don't do that in my dreams.....

[TimSkin]

Jeez the way these papers talk well the first two anyways you would think we went 0-16 last year and that we had RGIIInt QBing instead of RG3... Oh well I hope we can make quite a few more papers whine about there teams this year

Next week will show us really how good we will be since we've always played either up or down to our competition....Go Skins!!!!!

[rskin72]

Hopefully we will be reading more loser papers this season. I think that they absolutely miss the creativity of Peyton on the sidelines....but they have certainly had plenty of time to make adjustments as those penalities were not just handed out. Also, the Brees holdout may have been more problematic than the papers are letting onto, at least with the timing of the offense and accuracy in passing game.

But, we did not back into this win. For the majority of the game, we were the better team on the field. Whatever the reason for the Aint's, our O and D made plays more often than not. We do have playmakers on our offense, and we were without our #1 rcvr for most of the game.

Good win against a good time in their home.....hope this bodes well for the rest of the season.

[Bob 0119]

The Washington rush kept a quarterback who completed an NFL record 71 percent of his passes last season under 50 percent (24-for-52) for the first time since 2006.

Wow, I missed that stat last night. I knew he had completed less than 50%, but didn't realize it had been that long since he'd last done that.

[Deadskins]

After two weeks off, we come back with two from the Tampa Bay Times:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers fall to Washington Redskins 24-22 on last-second field goal
By Rick Stroud, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Monday, October 1, 2012

[DANIEL WALLACE | Times]
Robert Griffin III cuts away from corner Brandon McDonald during a 15-yard run to the Bucs 26 on the final drive, setting up the Redskins’ winning field goal.

TAMPA — Robert Griffin III's helmet transmitter went out in the final drive Sunday, a situation the Redskins practice each week where he is forced to call his own plays. So he was prepared to improvise when it happened Sunday against the Buccaneers.

Trailing by a point with 1:42 remaining in the game, Washington's remarkable rookie quarterback calmly drove his team 56 yards to set up Billy Cundiff's 41-yard field goal that went just inside the left upright with three seconds remaining, giving the Redskins a 24-22 win over Tampa Bay.

Afterward, RG3 quoted a football movie called The Replacements.

"Great players want the ball in their hands when it's crunch time," Griffin said. "It's funny that I just quoted that movie … but that's how it really is."

Unfortunately for the Bucs, they keep following the same losing script.

For the third time in as many weeks, Tampa Bay lost a close game against an NFC East team that they could have won.

After hearing boos when it fell behind, Tampa Bay rallied from a 21-3 deficit behind a second-half surge from quarterback Josh Freeman and took the lead on Connor Barth's third field goal — a 47-yarder — to give the Bucs a 22-21 lead with 1:42 to play, electrifying an announced crowd of 58,191 at Raymond James Stadium.

Having already blown a lead against the Giants in the Meadow­lands to lose by seven, and another at Dallas last week to fall by six, it looked as if the Bucs might finally break through under first-year coach Greg Schiano.

"The fact of the matter is we've got to finish it," defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said. "It doesn't matter if we lose by 100 or we lose by two. We need to win, and we've got to finish in the end. It's as simple as that."

History will show that the Bucs were 102 seconds from going 2-2 with one of the more thrilling come-from-behind wins in franchise history heading into the bye week.

Instead, Tampa Bay's defense collapsed under pressure and allowed Griffin — the Heisman Trophy winner out of Baylor, second overall pick in the draft and product pitchman — to pad his resume.

The loss dropped the Bucs to 1-3 and into a second-place tie with Carolina in the NFC South, already three games behind first-place Atlanta.

It also provided some redemption for Cundiff — who had missed field goals of 41, 57 and 31 yards — by kicking the winner.

"Because you lose at the end, you fail to finish," Schiano said. "But we really didn't do a bunch of stuff before that that put us in a position. I mean, we didn't play what I envision as Buccaneer football, smart football."

The Bucs, who had 10 penalties for 107 yards, lost because in critical situations they played it safe on offense and perhaps too aggressively on defense.

Quarterback Josh Freeman, who was out of synch in the first half, finished with 299 yards passing with a touchdown and interception.

He had a 65-yard bomb to Mike Williams (four catches for 115 yards) and a 54-yarder to Vincent Jackson (six catches for 100 yards and a touchdown), the longest offensive plays of the year.

But trailing 21-19 and facing third and 9 from the Redskins 33, Freeman hit a short pass to Tiquan Underwood underneath for 5 yards, which seemed more designed to get Barth closer for a field-goal attempt than to get a first down and use up more of the game clock.

"We were going to kick the field goal to go ahead," Schiano said. "That's what we were doing. I don't know if you can interpret it further than that."

Griffin, who passed for 323 yards, demonstrated poise and precision on the final drive. Taking over at the Redskins 20, he completed passes of 15 yards to Santana Moss and 20 yards to Fred Davis, then added a 15-yard scramble to the Bucs 26.

After a spike to stop the clock, a false start and a 7-yard completion, Cundiff hit the winner.

"You run a blitz and it was just wide open," defensive end Michael Bennett said of RG3's run. "I knew myself. I was like, 'I don't know if I should run this play or not, but I did my job.' I knew he was going to get outside. That's what he does. The edge was too short. The whole defensive line slanted."

In the end, Griffin had the starring role, and the Bucs were left with another bad film to critique.

"None of that matters," Schiano said. "It's what it is. What could be, what was, what isn't, really doesn't matter. We need to get better. I need to coach better. It starts with me and it goes down through the organization. We just need to get better.

"You want to win? You're close. Get better. You'll win."

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/football ... 254211.ece

Flashes of the Josh Freeman everyone wants
By Gary Shelton, Times Sports Columnist
In Print: Monday, October 1, 2012

By now, he had stopped the booing, and he had erased the deficit, and he had staked his claim to the fourth quarter.

For a couple of minutes there, at least, Josh Freeman had earned another look. Finally, it seemed as if a new coaching staff and its quarterback were speaking the same language, as if they finally trusted each other. Just like in the old days, Freeman seemed to be good enough to overcome the shortcomings around him.

The game was in the final seconds now, and Freeman had been turned into a spectator. He sat helplessly, looking on as Washington's brilliant rookie, Robert Griffin III, turned Sunday into his story, his comeback. When the Redskins' winning field goal was just straight enough to count, Freeman's head sagged.

Perhaps yours did, too.

The Bucs squandered a great many things in Sunday's 24-22 fall-from-ahead loss, but none of those seemed as important as Freeman's wasted performance. He had come back from an 18-point deficit, and from the fans' disfavor, and from the coach's distrust.

This was the Freeman that Tampa Bay had been awaiting. Finally, he was unleashed from the ultraconservative game plan that Greg Schiano had copied from Amos Alonzo Stagg, and he nearly made it pay off. In 18 minutes, he was terrific again, hitting 9 of 12 passes for 184 yards in that span, including a 65-yarder to Mike Williams and a 54-yarder to Vincent Jackson.

If that lead had held up, it would have been Freeman's first fourth-quarterback comeback since the Minnesota game on Sept. 18, 2011. It would have guaranteed that you would have watched Freeman highlights through next weekend's bye week and into the Kansas City game.

That would have been a nice change for Freeman, who has been more of a question than an answer lately. It could have been a nice turnaround moment. Instead, it is part of the latest disappointment in a 1-3 start.

"Losing is not acceptable," Freeman said. "There are no moral victories. I'm unhappy we lost. You can go back and you can point at any number of things."

For most of the season, it has been difficult to defend Freeman. He has played stiff and has thrown wild, and scrambling with the ball seemed to be a forbidden concept. For three weeks, the game plan seemed to be constructed with Freeman throwing only when absolutely necessary.

Worst of all, there seemed to be a disconnect between a quarterback and his coaches. Both Schiano and Freeman speak well of the other, but for much of the season, it has seemed as if they were into each other's heads. Freeman seemed to be trying too hard to play it safe, and the result was a robotic, mechanical look. Schiano seemed so concerned about Freeman's penchant for throwing the ball to the wrong jersey that he seemed to plan around his quarterback.

"He had some big shots to our receivers, made some big plays in the passing game," Schiano said. "That's what he's capable of."

Sunday, the Bucs came in determined to see it. For three weeks, they have stubbornly treated first down as if it were a run-only blueprint (even though many of those runs were for 2 yards or fewer).

This was different. The Redskins have struggled against the pass this year, so the Bucs came out throwing. On the day, their running backs got 15 carries; Freeman threw it 39 times.

Oh, it wasn't always pretty. There in the second quarter, the fans were displeased with Freeman. He threw a third-and-5 pass behind Williams. Boos. He threw an interception. Boos. Freeman held the ball too long on a sack on third and 9. Boos. He threw too short to Doug Martin. Boos. After a while, even those of us who want to believe in Freeman's future were struggling to do so.

Then came the final five minutes of the third quarter and the first 13 of the fourth, when the ball was in Freeman's hands, when he was almost good enough to overcome the missed tackles and the silly penalties and the soft middle of the Bucs secondary and everything else.

Was it promising? Of course it was. There is something to be said for a quarterback playing well in the big moments.

Was it convincing? Of course not. If you remember, Freeman was pretty good in the fourth quarter against the Giants, too. Then came the Dallas game when Freeman's passes wobbled as if he were throwing pingpong balls into a tornado.

What will the Chiefs get? We'll see. Sometimes, good football and bad football seem to be fighting for Freeman's soul.

For a while Sunday, the good football won. For a while, it was possible to hope again.

On a lost afternoon, maybe that is something.

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/football ... 254253.ece

[Deadskins]

"You run a blitz and it was just wide open," defensive end Michael Bennett said of RG3's run. "I knew myself. I was like, 'I don't know if I should run this play or not, but I did my job.' I knew he was going to get outside. That's what he does. The edge was too short. The whole defensive line slanted."

Ouch.

[Deadskins]

From this morning's Star Tribune:

Griffin III's late runaway overwhelms Vikings
The rookie quarterback capped off a Redskins victory with a sensational scoring run.
Article by: DAN WIEDERER , Star Tribune

Adrian Peterson picks up a big first down in the 1st quarter. Photo: Brian Peterson - Star Tribune

LANDOVER, Md. -- Twenty minutes after Sunday's magic show ended, a jubilant crowd bounced out of FedEx Field, still feeling compelled to praise the afternoon's headliner.

The chants were loud. They were impassioned. And they left the visiting Vikings with a pounding headache.

"RG3! RG3! RG3!"

Indeed, Redskins rookie Robert Griffin III stole the show in his team's 38-26 victory, boosting his already sky-high popularity across the D.C. area.

For three hours, Griffin had all eyes on him yet showed extraordinary poise.

He was sharp with his throws and electric with his runs.

Most of all, he seemed to create an energy within his team and among the boisterous crowd. So much so, in fact, that Vikings star Adrian Peterson congratulated the 22-year-old quarterback after the game and walked away a believer.

"Looking into his eyes, he's got the heart of a champion," Peterson said of Griffin. "It's easy to see he's a great player. He's been blessed."

Like any grand finale at a David Copperfield show, Griffin's final trick Sunday appeared as effortless as it was breathtaking.

With 2 minutes, 56 seconds left, the Redskins clung to a five-point lead and faced a critical third-and-6 at their own 24-yard line.

And then came the snap and an aggressive Vikings blitz that never got home.

Linebackers Chad Greenway and Jasper Brinkley were knocked off course. Griffin saw an opening and darted through.

"We were putting a little pressure on him," Greenway said. "And he escaped. Really nothing more to say."

Cornerback Chris Cook, in coverage on Josh Morgan, was sealed by a block.

Safeties Harrison Smith and Jamarca Sanford were each a degree or two off in the angles they took in pursuit.

Suddenly Griffin sliced to the left sideline and seemed to hit a moving walkway.

The final 65 yards of his sprint created a celebratory mosh pit across the stadium.

"There aren't a lot of guys who play that position who can break a 76-yard run and not get caught," Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. "That creates some issues for any defense. [He's] a heck of a young player."

Griffin had a hand in 36 of the Redskins' 55 plays. He ran 13 times for 138 yards and two scores. He also completed 17 of 22 passes for 182 yards, including a TD toss of 6 yards to fullback Darrel Young.

Early on, Griffin continually pinpointed passes to open receivers cutting toward the middle of the field, a vulnerability in the Vikings defense that the Redskins exploited time after time on four consecutive scoring drives.

Washington also addled the Vikings with heavy doses of play-action and a multitude of zone read looks.

"Sometimes it can be tough," Greenway said. "It's a little bit of smoke and mirrors with all their fakes and stuff. ... When they're carrying out the fakes, you've got to play the run. And as a linebacker, it's tough to do both. You've got to read your keys and play ball. You're not going to get them all obviously. So credit them for a good scheme."

Still, for as electrifying as Griffin's performance was, the Vikings also left Washington kicking themselves for a flood of squandered opportunities.

The offense marched into the red zone on its first three possessions and, after 13 minutes, held an eye-popping 146-7 advantage in total yards. Yet all three of those drives stalled, resulting in field goals.

"If you go back in time, I've said it after at least four games," Peterson said. "We have to turn those threes into seven. Today it finally came back and bit us."

The Vikings were also bitten badly by a pair of Christian Ponder turnovers. Ponder's final stats (35-for-52, 352 yards, two TDs) might look nice in the boxscore. But the fumble he lost deep in Vikings territory in the second quarter positioned Washington for a gimme TD drive: one play, 6 yards.

Worse, Ponder's interception early in the fourth was returned 24 yards to the end zone by former Vikings safety Madieu Williams on what the quarterback called "a fluke play."

It was certainly Ponder's worst and most costly throw, a good 5 feet over Michael Jenkins' head.

"The ball just slipped out of my hands, just sailed," Ponder said.

With that, the hopes of a fourth consecutive victory for the Vikings slipped away as well, the evening ultimately punctuated by that Griffin dash and the chants that might still be echoing through FedEx Field.

"RG3! RG3! RG3!"

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikin ... 12931.html

D.C.'s newest hero is a breath -- no, a blast -- of fresh air
Robert Griffin III wowed the victory-starved home crowd with his arm and his feet.
Article by: JIM SOUHAN , Star Tribune

Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III (10) dashed for a 76 yard fourth quarter touchdown over Vikings saftery Harrison Smith. Photo: Jerry Holt - Star Tribune

LANDOVER, MD. — Robert Griffin III doesn't understand the game. The kid's inexperience showed on Sunday.

Long after leaving the Vikings wind-burned and dizzy, Griffin strolled through the underground corridors of FedEx Field. Escalades and Suburbans rolled by, filled with self-described VIPs. Griffin, wearing baggy gray sweatpants, carrying a backpack and pulling a rolling bag, had to step out of their way, like a fan who had swiped a sideline pass.

Most NFL quarterbacks with Griffin's ability are followed by an entourage. Griffin almost got run over by someone else's.

"I just talked to him and told him, 'You have the heart of a champion,'" Vikings star Adrian Peterson said.

And the legs of an Olympian.

There have been running quarterbacks in the NFL who could do what Griffin did on Sunday, ending the Redskins' 38-26 victory with a 76-yard touchdown run during which he looked as if he were riding a souped-up Segway. There have been few who could run so well and pass so accurately while displaying such poise.

"He's unbelievable," Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder said.

After Griffin ran for 138 yards and two touchdowns and completed 17 for 22 passes for 182 yards and another score, the Vikings were left to wonder where to place the blame.

On Joe Webb, for leading the Vikings to victory last December and costing them a chance to draft Griffin?

On Leslie Frazier, for even trying to win that game?

Or on the doctors who cleared Griffin to play on Sunday, seven days after he suffered a "mild" concussion?

The concussion did not teach Griffin to avoid running, only to avoid running into other people's helmets. He rushed 13 times on Sunday, often on designed plays, but seemed more eager to find the sideline when he ran out of open field.

Early in the game, the Vikings easily corralled him. But when rookie running back Albert Morris started gaining ground, Griffin's play-action fakes and quick passes over the middle riddled a Vikings defense that before Sunday had smothered more experienced quarterbacks this season.

"He was the second pick in the draft for a reason," Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams said.

The Vikings' three-game winning streak ended for a variety of reasons. Their play-calling near the goal line in the first quarter was inept. Running plays in the red zone without Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin on the field, at least as decoys, is silly. Jerome Simpson's back injury kept him out of the game and once again left Ponder unable to throw downfield.

It was Griffin who changed the direction of the game, and it was Griffin who finished the competitive portion of the festivities.

Before Sunday, there were two quarterback runs against the Vikings that belonged in the archives: Steve Young's stumbling, pinballing romp that ended with him wearing Joey Browner, and Michael Vick's Usain Bolt impersonation in overtime at the Metrodome.

Griffin earned his own display in the fourth quarter. The Vikings had cut the deficit to 31-26 on Ponder's TD pass to Kyle Rudolph. There was 3:36 left when Griffin took over at his own 20.

Jared Allen enveloped him for a 4-yard sack. Morris rushed for 8 yards, and the Vikings took their first timeout with 2:56 remaining.

The Vikings rushed six. Griffin sprinted up the middle. Vikings safety Jamarca Sanford angled toward him as if Griffin possessed average athletic ability. Griffin veered, beat Harrison Smith to the sideline and engaged cruise control as the fans chanted "R-G-3."

It was the longest touchdown run by a quarterback since Kordell Stewart went 80 yards on Dec. 22, 1996, and it gave him the fifth-best rushing total in a game by a quarterback in NFL history. He and Vick are the only quarterbacks since 1970 to rush for at least 130 yards and two touchdowns in a game.

"I got to enjoy the moment a little bit," Griffin said, before rolling his bag down the hall, and stepping out of the way of the Escalades.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikin ... 28171.html

Ponder's blunders equal 14 points for Washington
In his worst game of the season, a fumble and an interception turned into Washington touchdowns.
Article by: MARK CRAIG , Star Tribune


Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder was sacked four times on Sunday, including this double whammy late in the fourth quarter. Photo: Brian Peterson - Star Tribune

LANDOVER, MD. - The Vikings' red-zone offense was awful, but Sunday's game at FedEx Field was lost on critical mistakes the Vikings made inside their own 20-yard line.

"We spotted them 14 points," quarterback Christian Ponder said. "It's tough to win that way."

Impossible was more like it in the Redskins' 12-point (38-26) romp.

Playing his worst game of the season, Ponder turned the ball over three times. Two of them came with the line of scrimmage at the Vikings 20- and 17-yard lines.

A fumble late in the second quarter led to a Redskins touchdown and a 17-9 deficit one play later, while an early fourth-quarter interception by former Vikings safety Madieu Williams was returned 24 yards for a touchdown and a 31-12 deficit.

Ponder completed 35 of 52 passes (67.3) for 352 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. But 199 of the yards and 20 of the completions came after Williams' pick-six put the Vikings down by 19 points with less than 13 minutes left in the game.

On the pick-six, Ponder was supposed to throw a fairly simple check-down pass to receiver Michael Jenkins.

"I have protection in the backfield and I kind of act like a running back and release for a check-down," Jenkins said.

"It's a little wrinkle we have. I ran to my spot, but I think the ball just kind of slipped out of Christian's hand."

Ponder said that's exactly what happened, which explains why the ball was thrown 5 or 6 feet over Jenkins' head.

It was such a bad throw that even the league's 31st-ranked pass defense could make the play.

"The ball just sailed on me," Ponder said. "I just had a couple misses. I didn't play as well as I should have."

Williams was asked if it felt any better coming against a team that released him before the 2011 season.

"Not necessarily," he said. "It was business as usual for me. It was nothing personal. I was there for three years, and I enjoyed my stay. I just wanted to come out and play well for the guys in this locker room. Give us a chance to win."

On the fumble, the Redskins blitzed both outside linebackers on first-and-10 from the Vikings 20. Running back Adrian Peterson was shoved backward in pass protection by Perry Riley coming off the right side. Riley stripped the ball and inside linebacker Lorenzo Alexander grabbed it at the 8 and advanced it 2 yards.

"Wish I could have scored," Alexander said. "But I had [Vikings left tackle Matt] Kalil all over my back.

"It was just being at the right place at the right time. Perry did a good job pushing the back into the quarterback."

Although it was Ponder's worst performance this year, he appears ready to move on because, quite frankly, even he wasn't expecting 16 winning performances.

"You just have to forget about it," Ponder said. "We do a good job of forgetting about it and moving on and just keep playing.

"I think for how young this team is, we show a lot of maturity. We've been here before. We lost the second game of the first quarter [of the season] and now we lost the second game of the second quarter. So we can learn from it."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikin ... 29111.html

[chiefhog44]

I can't stand when the other team says crap like, "we spotted them 14 points." No, you turned the ball over and we turned it into 14 points. The Skins turned the ball over as well IN Redskins territory but it only led to 3 points. Ponder is a joke. He also said the pick 6 was a "fluke play." How about being a standup guy and taking the blame for your crappy performance against a defense that forced you into errors. FU

[rskin72]

Well, the papers were a lot better than some of the comments I read on the Vikings websites. Hey, it impresses me when folks like AP, and Frazier, both compliment RGIII....thought AP had some strong complimentary words that I hope turn out to be true for a long, long time.

[langleyparkjoe]

There was a Vikings fan sitting behind me and the wife and after we all chanted RG3, she was like "F*%$ RG3!". I turned around and stared at her for easily about a good minute... she was like, "what?".. I said, do you really want that problem right here, right now? Wife just grabbed me and gave me "the look".. so I shutup and stood for the rest of the game to make it difficult for the chick behind me to see.

.. and yes.. "the look".. every wife/girlfriend has "the look".

[rskin72]

There was a Vikings fan sitting behind me and the wife and after we all chanted RG3, she was like "F*%$ RG3!". I turned around and stared at her for easily about a good minute... she was like, "what?".. I said, do you really want that problem right here, right now? Wife just grabbed me and gave me "the look".. so I shutup and stood for the rest of the game to make it difficult for the chick behind me to see.

.. and yes.. "the look".. every wife/girlfriend has "the look".

Just another jealous fanbase who are realizing that their second year QB couldn't hold RGIII's jock....

[Deadskins]

It seems like it's been a while since our last edition, but I have a feeling we'll be busy here at TLP the next six weeks. So let's get on to the fun, Here are two articles from the Philadelphia Daily News:

Source: Andy Reid to keep job despite Eagles' 6th straight loss
LES BOWEN, Daily News Staff Writer
Monday, November 19, 2012, 12:42 AM

DAVID MAIALETTI / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
King Dunlap and Evan Mathis (right) look down at LeSean McCoy after he sustained a concussion on the first play after the 2-minute warning.

LANDOVER, Md. - Clad appropriately in all black, Andy Reid trudged down the hallway to the FedEx Field visitors' locker room red-faced, eyes fixed straight ahead, his mustache twitching as he chewed gum, Reid flanked by team security director Dom DiSandro.

Was it the last walk from the field of Reid's 14-year Eagles coaching career?

A high-ranking team source told the Daily News it was not, that Reid will coach the Eagles next Monday night against the Carolina Panthers.

Told during the game that fans want to hear from team chairman Jeffrey Lurie, their 3-7 team having dropped six games in a row in increasingly ugly fashion, a team spokesman said Lurie was unlikely to speak Sunday. He didn't say anything about Monday.

As the Birds packed their belongings to head home after a 31-6 thumping by the host Washington Redskins, it didn't really seem to matter much who runs this shipwreck through the final 6 weeks.

Asked if he thinks he will keep his job the rest of the season, Reid said: "We need to get ready for the Monday night game; that's what we're going to do."

Asked if he feels his team is getting worse, Reid said: "Well, we didn't look better today."

No 3-7 team has ever made the playoffs. Told that, Reid said: "We're going to keep battling."

To say this loss could not have been a bigger disaster would have seemed at least a little hyperbolic, until LeSean McCoy banged helmets with a tackler, the Eagles' best player unaccountably still carrying the mail with 1 minute and 45 seconds left in a game his team trailed by 25 points.

McCoy left the field on a cart after having suffered a concussion, Reid confirmed. Asked why McCoy was still in the game at that point, Reid said: "Because we were trying to catch up and win the game."

As answers go, that one made no sense, which made it a microcosm of the season. Reid's defense has gotten steadily worse since he fired coordinator Juan Castillo during the bye week; the four quarterbacks the Eagles have faced since then have all posted passer ratings above 120, and Sunday, Redskins rookie phenom Robert Griffin III achieved perfection: a 158.3 rating, on 14 completions in 15 attempts for 200 yards and four touchdowns. Griffin also ran 14 times for 84 yards.

Reid's offensive line unveiled perhaps its most ineffective configuration yet Sunday, with Jake Scott, the guard signed from off his couch a week ago Monday, starting at right guard and rookie Dennis Kelly moving out to right tackle. Danny Watkins, the 2011 first-round pick with the wonky ankle, was deemed available only for emergency duty. This hapless, penalty-prone group watched a Redskins defense that had been ranked 28th in the NFL strip away any possible shred of hope from the starting debut of rookie quarterback Nick Foles. Foles threw a pair of early interceptions and finished with 21 completions in 46 attempts for 204 yards and a 40.5 passer rating.

"He made a few young-guy mistakes that he'll learn from," Reid said. "We'll give him an opportunity to correct those, and he'll correct them."

Foles gets lots of slack for the horrible offensive line, and the fact that he spent more than half the season running practice-squad plays, then had to jump in, with little time to develop timing. But even when you grade on that curve, he was not promising. In fact, after the Redskins started looking for his screens and dumps, he was downright bad.

"Today was a rough game. I didn't play well at all," said Foles, who stepped in for concussed Michael Vick. "I need to do things a lot better. But I'm a guy, I take this stuff and I'll learn from it . . . It's really tough . . . I gotta make better decisions, and put us in a better position."

The first set of bad vibrations from this game shook the Eagles on the third snap of the day. Third-and-8 from the Birds' 23, Foles scrambled and tried to zip a ball into a tight window to tight end Brent Celek. Celek, once a reliable, solid soldier, has somehow become a liability, as he showed when he batted the ball to Redskins corner DeAngelo Hall.

So the Redskins started at the Eagles' 9, and scored two plays later.

Foles threw another first-quarter pick that wasn't a receiver's fault. Then, to cap a horrible first half, the Eagles: 1) Called timeout before a Redskins punt in the final minute; 2) Still didn't have 11 players on the field when Washington lined up to punt; 3) Got the ball and handed off with 36 seconds left rather than kneeling; 4) Fumbled the ball away (McCoy), and best of all, 5) Lined up with 12 men to defend against the eventual gift Redskins field goal.

It's really difficult to view that sequence as anything less than a complete meltdown by players and coaches, the sort of thing other teams will see on film and giggle about.

Asked why he took the timeout, Reid said: "That's just what I chose to do."

The Eagles trailed 17-3 at halftime and never came close to scoring a touchdown. Facing what had been the NFL's 30th-ranked pass defense, Foles completed only eight passes to wide receivers, five of those to emergency slot man Riley Cooper, playing for injured Jason Avant. His longest completion came when McCoy rambled 25 yards with a pass.

Asked what he thinks upper management must feel about the Eagles right now, Celek said: "I wouldn't be happy if I was them. I'm sure they're not. This is a talented team. As players, we're not making plays. I don't get it."

Is this the kind of game that gets coaches fired?

"I don't know," Celek said. "I have no idea."

Celek was clearly upset, as he has been after previous losses in this era-ending cataclysm. The Redskins came in off their bye, but also on a three-game losing streak, with the same 3-6 record as the Eagles.

"This is our job. This is what we're supposed to do, and we're failing at it," Celek said.

"You play for pride," middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. "Nobody's laying down, saying it's over."

DeSean Jackson was asked if this is the low point of his career, after the Eagles plummeted to the largest losing margin to an NFC East foe since Reid arrived in 1999.

"So far, since I've been here, yes," Jackson said. "I'm in my fifth year and our record is 3-7 and I've never witnessed that in my life."

Left guard Evan Mathis said the record should reflect on the players, not on their coaches. He referenced "rookie mistakes by our veterans."

"We are not consistent right now," Mathis said. "We are not a consistent football team, and that's what it takes to win in the NFL . . . You can't pinpoint one thing and say, 'Oh, that's their problem.' We're making a lot of mistakes."

Wideout Jeremy Maclin, who had no catches, was asked to evaluate Foles.

"When you have . . . a guy making his first start in the league, other guys have to elevate their game, and I felt like as a team, we didn't do that," Maclin said.

Reid said he thought at times players were trying too hard. Certainly Sunday it seemed the bigger the deficit, the more pathetic the play, on both sides of the ball.

"For a quarter or two, you're looking good and then something slips, and then it keeps slipping," corner Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie said.

"It makes me sick," Maclin said.

He was not alone in that.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eag ... _loss.html

Castillo must be laughing at Eagles' defense
Paul Domowitch, Daily News Sports Columnist
Monday, November 19, 2012, 1:01 AM

DAVID MAIALETTI / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Redskins' Santana Moss catches TD pass between Eagles' Kurt Coleman (left) and Brandon Boykin.

LANDOVER, Md. - Somewhere, Juan Castillo is laughing right now. And if he isn't, he damn well should be.

The defense that Castillo was deemed unfit to lead last month has been an absolute joke since Andy Reid's mid-October panic move.

And I'm not laying this on Castillo's replacement, Todd Bowles. I'm laying it on a group of defensive players that aren't nearly as good as they think they are.

"It's frustrating," safety Kurt Coleman said after Sunday's embarrassing, 31-6 loss to the Redskins in which rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III threw four touchdown passes and just one incompletion in 15 attempts. "Because we have what I feel is the best back-end group in the National Football League.

"The majority of the game we were playing well. It's those few miscommunication plays that are killing us."

Played well? They gave up four touchdown passes to a rookie quarterback, albeit one who was the second pick in the draft. Griffin finished the game with a perfect 158.3 passer rating. He averaged 13.3 yards per attempt.

And this wasn't an isolated case. In the first six games, with Castillo running the defense, the Eagles defense allowed 20.8 points per game. In the four games since he was canned, they're giving up 31.8 a pop.

In the first six games, the Eagles' opponent passer rating was 76.8.

The last four games it's 143.5. Their last four opponents have completed an astounding 78.3 percent of their attempts and have averaged 9.4 yards per attempt. In those four games, the Eagles have given up 11 touchdown passes and have no interceptions.

"I feel we haven't played up to the level we had been playing at," said cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who gave up his fifth touchdown pass of the season in the second quarter when Aldrick Robinson, who won't be going to the Pro Bowl anytime soon, beat Asomugha for a 49-yard score.

Yes, Asomugha should have had safety help over the top from Nate Allen.

But this is a guy who not so long ago was considered one of the league's top shutdown corners. He should be able to stay with a guy who was a sixth-round pick in the 2011 draft and had nine career receptions before Sunday.

"It just seems like the mentality on defense after the bye week [changed]," Asomugha said. "The plays that we were making, we weren't making them anymore. We started missing tackles and missing assignments. Stuff we hadn't been doing."

The Eagles fell behind 2 minutes into the game when Allen was late getting over to cover fullback Darrel Young, who scored on a 6-yard pass from Griffin.

In the second quarter, Asomugha didn't get the over-the-top help he needed from Allen on Robinson. In the third quarter, 5-10 Santana Moss, who was double-covered by Coleman and Brandon Boykin, managed to snare a 62-yard touchdown pass over the 5-11 Coleman. Maybe Moss pushed him and maybe he didn't. That's still no excuse for one guy beating out two guys for an up-for-grabs pass.

"I was in perfect position and I fall backwards, all of a sudden," Coleman said. [The official) didn't make the call. But I have to be able to make that play. It wasn't like I had Andre Johnson over the top of me. It is what it is."

It wasn't a good day for Coleman, who also gave up a 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Logan Paulsen in the fourth quarter.

The touchdown passes to Moss and Paulsen both came on third down.

Griffin completed all three of his third-down attempts against the Eagles. In the last four games, opposing quarterbacks have completed 22 of 29 third-down pass attempts for 338 yards and four touchdowns against the Eagles. That's a 153.4 third-down passer rating. Seventeen of those 22 completions have been for first downs or touchdowns.

In the first six games, the Eagles had a 72.5 third-down opponent passer rating. Just 15 of 32 third-down completions resulted in first downs or touchdowns.

The Eagles' offense at least has an excuse for the way they've played this season. Injuries. Not so with the defense. Their starters have missed a total of three games - two by weakside linebacker Akeem Jordan and one by Allen.

"I felt coming into the season we had probably the best secondary in the NFL," said Boykin, the team's rookie nickel corner. "And I still do believe that. But at the same time, you've got to put it on film. And we haven't been doing that lately. So I can't really say [that we're the best]."

Bowles made a few changes after replacing Castillo, but nothing significant. Nothing that should have caused his unit to bottom out like it has.

"The game plans are different, said Asomugha. "Every defensive coordinator has his way of calling a game. He's been calling his different from Juan. But we respect that and believe in what he's doing.

"The issue has been on our part. Making the mistakes we hadn't been making throughout the year."

Bottom line is the Eagles' defense isn't as good as we thought it was.

I like Coleman, but he should be a core special-teamer not a starting strong safety. At 31, Asomugha's skills are starting to erode. Age and wear-and-tear also seems to be catching up with defensive ends Jason Babin and Trent Cole and defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins.

"It's not just the secondary," Coleman said. "It's a full team effort. All sides of the ball and special teams. It's a team when we win and it's a team when we lose. We all have to pick our game up. We all have to play better and execute. Not just the secondary. That's everybody."

A year ago, the Eagles had a league-best 50 sacks. Through 10 games this year, they have 14. They went three games earlier this season without a sack.

A secondary that fancies itself the best in the league should have a ton of interceptions. This one has seven. And four of them came in the first game of the season against the Browns. Despite the presence of two Pro Bowl corners, the Eagles have just two interceptions in the last eight games.

"When you're in position to make a play you gotta make a play," said cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. "We didn't do that today.

"The turnovers have to come. We're not making turnovers. That's frustrating. Especially with the ability we have on the back end to go out and make plays. I can't speak for anyone else. But I know for a fact I can go out and play better. I know for a fact we can play harder."

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eag ... fense.html

And one more from the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Even players worry about Andy Reid now
Jeff McLane, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Sunday, November 18, 2012, 8:23 PM


LANDOVER, Md. - It isn't just the rest of the football world that is talking about the end of the Andy Reid era with the Eagles.

The players are starting to see the writing on the wall.

Three veteran Eagles said that Sunday's 31-6 loss to the Redskins was likely the final nail in the coffin for their head coach.

"I know it. I know it," said one defensive player who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject. "And the only reason I'm here is because of Andy. Some vets have been talking about how the next [coach] may want his own guy."

Of the many players sampled, all said that they remained fiercely loyal to Reid. Several, like tackle King Dunlap, said that they believed they still had a chance to turn the season around and save Reid's job.

"In my opinion, he's the best coach in the NFL," Dunlap said.

Reid was asked if he expected to be able to finish out the season as head coach.

"We need to get ready for the Monday night game," was all he said.

Jeffrey Lurie was not available for comment. A team spokesman said that the Eagles owner would not answer questions. Lurie said before the season that he would not talk about Reid or his team's performance until after the season.

Still, with the Eagles 3-7 and Lurie's preseason ultimatum that Reid needed to deliver a "substantial improvement" upon last season's 8-8 finish hanging over the Eagles, it is clear that Reid is as close to be fired as he's ever been.

Lurie has never fired a coach mid-season. During his first season as owner, the Eagles lost their final seven games of the season and finished 7-9, at which point Rich Kotite was fired. The Eagles went 3-13 in 1998 under Ray Rhodes, but Lurie waited again until after the season to dismiss his coach.

Tight end Brent Celek was asked about the Eagles' front office and the current losing streak.

"I wouldn't be happy if I was them," Celek said. "I'm sure they're not. This is a talented team and us players, we're not making plays. I don't get it."

If Reid goes, he won't be the only one.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eag ... d_now.html

[Deadskins]

From the Dallas Morning News we get:

Jerry Jones not optimistic about Cowboys’ playoff chances
By Jon Machota / Special Contributor

Michael Ainsworth/Staff Photographer
Loss tough to swallow as Robert Griffin III carves Cowboys

ARLINGTON – Jerry Jones is possibly the best salesman in NFL history. The man could find a way to put a positive spin on a 0-16 season. But not even the normally optimistic Cowboys owner and general manager seemed upbeat when asked several times about playoff possibilities following the Cowboys’ 38-31 Thanksgiving Day loss to the Washington Redskins at Cowboys Stadium.

“All I can do is just sit here and look at the numbers,” Jones said Thursday, standing in the Cowboys locker room. “It looks like our best opportunity would be to end up with the best record in the NFC East. I don’t know what that’s going to be. I don’t know if 8-8 will get it there or not, and I sure don’t know if we’re going to be 8-8.

“I’m not trying to be negative, but we’ve got to play these guys again. With how impressed I am with how they played, we’ve got our hands full up there for the last ballgame.”

Wait, was that really Jerry Jones?

Yes, and he continued with the same tone.

“I’m just like everybody,” Jones said. “I see our numbers. I see where we are. I see how we played against this team.”

He added: “I’m very disappointed. I thought this was a critical game for us because it was with a division opponent.”

At 5-6, the Cowboys currently sit in 11th place out of 16 NFC teams, a game and a half back of the Seattle Seahawks for the final Wild Card spot and a game and a half back of the New York Giants for the NFC East lead.

Passing the Seahawks is unrealistic because they own the tiebreaker over the Cowboys from a defeat earlier this year.

To complicate things further, the Redskins, who the Cowboys play in Week 17, also possess a 5-6 record.

http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/2012/ ... nces.html/

And from the Star-Telegram:

Dallas Cowboys can't overcome shaky start in 38-31 loss to Washington Redskins
BY CLARENCE E. HILL JR.

STAR-TELEGRAM/ROSS HAILEY
Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III runs on a keeper play during the Washington Redskins against the Dallas Cowboys at Cowboy Stadium. Seen in Arlington, TX on November 22, 2012


ARLINGTON -- The Dallas Cowboys fell behind big in the first half against the Washington Redskins on Thursday before rallying to make a game of it, showing a lot of heart and desire.

Few care.

The eventual 38-31 loss, spurred by an embarrassing second quarter when former Baylor quarterback and rookie sensation Robert Griffin III threw three touchdown passes and led the Redskins to 28 points, is all that matters.

The Cowboys' two-game winning streak was snapped and their hopes of making a playoff run took another critical setback as they fell back under .500 at 5-6, while putting the future of coach Jason Garrett back in question.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones maintains that he is not interested in making a coaching change -- even though hot candidates such as New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton and Cleveland Browns general manager Mike Holmgren are rumored to be interested.

He also declined to assess the progress the Cowboys have made under Garrett, who is 18-17 since taking over for the fired Wade Phillips midway through the 2010 season. Garrett has only won six of his past 16 games.

"That would be real difficult right now because you would have to point to things like comebacks and that's hollow when you are not winning the game," Jones said. "It's disappointing to be here. I thought this was a critical game for us because it was with a division opponent."

Where the Cowboys are, according to Jones, is basically out of the chase for a wild-card spot in the NFC and needing to win the NFC East, if they have any hopes of making the playoffs.

He is still hopeful, not optimistic. The Cowboys trail the New York Giants (6-4) and the Redskins (5-6) in the standings and must play Griffin and the Redskins again at the end of the season.

"It looks like our best opportunity would be to end up with the best record in the NFC East," Jones said. "I don't know what that's going to be. I don't know if 8-8 will get it there or not, and I sure don't know if we're going to be 8-8."

Outside of likely not wanting to see Griffin again -- he completed 20 of 28 passes for 311 yards and four touchdowns in the game, recording a sizzling 132.6 passer rating -- the Cowboys have a number of injury concerns that could impact their ability to make a playoff run.

Linebacker Bruce Carter (elbow), cornerback Orlando Scandrick (fractured hand), receiver Miles Austin (hip) and defensive end Jason Hatcher (concussion) were injured against the Redskins -- joining tackle Tyron Smith, nose tackle Jay Ratliff, running back DeMarco Murray, receiver Kevin Ogletree and centers Phil Costa and Ryan Cook who were already on the sideline.

The Cowboys have 10 days to rest before playing the Philadelphia Eagles (3-6) at Cowboys Stadium and a number of them could be back. But as Jones pointed out, the injuries had little to do with the Cowboys' failures against the Redskins, and they must find a way to play better.

Garrett declined to answer a question about the progress the team has made under him.

But he agreed with Jones, saying the team needs to find a way to play for a full 60 minutes and not just the second half after falling behind.

Credit quarterback Tony Romo and receiver Dez Bryant for leading the rally.

Romo completed 37 of 62 passes for 441 yards and touchdowns of 85 and 11 yards to Bryant, who had eight catches for a career-high tying 145 yards.

The last touchdown came with 8:18 left in the game, making the score 35-28 and seemingly giving the Cowboys hope. But that was before Griffin led the Redskins to a 48-yard field goal, putting the game away.

The rally doesn't offset the miscues in the first half -- including two Romo interceptions and a fumble by Bryant that helped fuel the Redskins' second-quarter surge.

It also doesn't excuse the litany of big plays given up by the defense nor its inability to get a stop when it mattered in the fourth quarter.

"We need to get off to better starts," Romo said. "It's disappointing. I don't know how to explain it other than we need to play better."

http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/11/22 ... shaky.html

[Deadskins]

And for good measure, From the Star-Telegram's Cowpies' blog:

Jones said Cowboys "sucked air" out of crowd, disappointed with their poor play at Cowboys Stadium
Clarence Hill

The loss to the Redskins Thursday dropped the Cowboys record to 2-3 at Cowboys Stadium this season and continued a disappointing trend of being unable to win at the $1.2 billion facility. They are a frustrating 16-14 since it opened in 2009.
But Jones doesn't blame the fans or the sterileness of the facility. He said the fans were in it on Thursday but the team let them down with the 28-point surge by the Redskins in the second quarter.
Any hopes the Cowboys had of making a playoff run after getting off to a 4-5 start was because of a favorable schedule that had them playing five of their last seven games at home _ starting with Cleveland last Sunday, the Redskins Thursday, the Eagles Dec 2, a road game at Cincinnati Dec. 9 before back to back home games against the Steelers and Saints preceding the season final at the Redskins.
"You can’t expect and you can’t plan and you can’t do things to not be able to play well at home," Jones said. "You know that there are bigger challenges on the road. It’s very disappointing to be here. We’re good at coming back at home. You can’t ask for a crowd to be with you more than that crowd was when we started this game. You suck all the air out of it with the combination of their good play and us not getting it done."

http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com/co ... dium-.html

[SkinsJock]

Thanks JSPB - I've been looking forward to seeing these

[Chris Luva Luva]

I woke up looking forward to this very thread. Thanks sir.

[riggofan]

"Shaky" start? LMFAO.

[gibbsfan]

we shaked rattled and rolled to the victory baby.

[Kilmer72]

It could have been much worse for them if we had not gone into prevent D and a some what conservative offense in the second half. Of course DHalls non score. I don't blame him just wish that didn't happen.

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

It could have been much worse for them if we had not gone into prevent D and a some what conservative offense in the second half. Of course DHalls non score. I don't blame him just wish that didn't happen.

I agree.. my ~42 to 13 prediction was actually a possibility had we not laid off the throttle on both sides of the ball.
I'm on the fence about the D hall non td... He took the injury factor of a KO and a play or two for our D out of the equation which was smart but for me the victory formation on the pukes goal line is talkin crap AND rubbing salt in the wound... We didn't need a score we had already defeated them, and making them line up and except it was fun for me lol

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

Oh, and being in a state with the majority of fans being puke fans (saddly, but good for the wallet this week )... I give you my sports page!