Washington again feeble in fourth straight loss The season officially slipped away Sunday, with a fourth straight loss and a coach harping on struggles prompted by injuries and ineffectiveness. The Redskins have gone from the “P” word (playoffs) to the “R” word (rebuilding) in four weeks. Not that the coach ever uttered any of those words.
But the tone of Mike Shanahan’s press conference after a 19-11 loss to San Francisco suggested he knew a quick turnaround was not around the corner.
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“Anytime you have as many guys move around and you’re playing young players, there are going to be mistakes made,” Shanahan said.
And the Redskins (3-5) are making them. Lots of them. The offense, in particular, continues to make more than its share as the Redskins have scored only 11 points in two games — three coming on a 59-yard field goal and the other eight coming with 1:10 left Sunday. Washington never really threatened the 49ers (7-1), who used four field goals and a touchdown to build their lead.
“We’re not where we want to be,” Shanahan said, “but we’re headed in the right direction.”
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That’s a debatable point at this stage in the season. They already have benched one quarterback, and the other remains ineffective, though Shanahan said he will stick with John Beck. In his third start, Beck got rid of the ball quicker and completed 30 of 47 passes for 254 yards, one touchdown and an interception, stemming in part from him staring at tight end Fred Davis too long. However, 101 of those yards occurred after the Redskins trailed 19-3 (the lone points coming on Graham Gano’s club-record 59-yard field goal).
“Losing like this shouldn’t happen,” Beck said. “I don’t want it to happen any longer. … I know it’s about getting stuff done.”
Shanahan, though, pointed to three rookies in the starting lineup — left guard Maurice Hurt, receiver Leonard Hankerson and running back Roy Helu — as reasons not to blame just Beck. He hasn’t called it a rebuilding year, but the coaches knew before the season that the talent was not yet in place to have a strong offense this season; now they’re playing without four starters.
That’s why he said he never considered turning to backup Rex Grossman.
“I’m not saying John played the perfect game,” Shanahan said. “When you lose a few pieces of the puzzle, the quarterback is going to look pretty average.”
Average would be an improvement for the Redskins’ offense. And the players don’t buy youth and injuries as reasons for the four straight losses.
“Injuries come with the territory,” said Redskins left tackle Trent Williams, who played for the first time in three weeks because of a high ankle sprain. “Any team can make that excuse.”
And the players, at least, don’t want to start doing that now.
“The guys on the field have to make the plays,” Redskins veteran receiver Jabar Gaffney said. “We made some progress, but we took a lot of steps back, and you can’t do that in this league. We started off a certain way, then we’ve just been backpedaling. In practice we move the ball good, but you have to do it on Sundays, and we’re not doing it.”
But they still have eight games left to turn it around or at least show progress. If they are headed in the right direction, that will be revealed in time. For now, that direction is uncertain, but that’s irrelevant to the players.
“Obviously we suffered some injuries that have taken a toll,” linebacker London Fletcher said. “We’re not giving up on this season.”
