Five quick thoughts: Redskins 16, Packers 13

Five Thoughts

1.   Little plays were huge. Sometimes you forget them, but they played a huge role in a comeback like this. It was only a 10-point comeback, but it felt like a lot more. Anyway, Rocky McIntosh going over the top to stuff Aaron Rodgers’ sneak in the second quarter, setting up a fourth and goal. The front did its job on the play, allowing no penetration vs. a good Packer interior. This set up the fourth down play in which Lorenzo Alexander defended the pass. But, don’t forget, the reason he was in position to do so is because Rodgers was under pressure from Chris Wilson (wrongly had given credit to Brian Orakpo initially). Had to throw it a bit sooner. There was also Brandon Banks’ 30-yard return to set up the first touchdown. And Jeremy Jarmon’s stunt in which he was in Aaron Rodgers’ face. That prevented Rodgers from getting a clean look and forced an accurate passer to throw to the wrong shoulder, where LaRon Landry was waiting.

2.   Adjustments helped out. Green Bay was doing a lot of shifting at the last minute, causing problems for the Redskins’ front. Other teams do that, but the Packers front is a little more athletic so it made a difference early. The Redskins eventually were able to start picking up more stuff thanks in part to the line calls by center Casey Rabach. Yes, he has his issues, but teammates swear by his calls. It helped that Clay Matthews, Jr., was out – especially late in the game when he could have taken advantage of a banged-up front. The Packers were impacted by injuries, but the Redskins also didn’t have a potential impact player in Albert Haynesworth.

3.   Never count out McNabb. He’s the guy in basketball who could miss his first 10 shots, but who still has the confidence of everyone on the team for the 11th. McNabb just makes plays when plays need to be made. OK, not all the time. But today was a perfect example of his career: he missed a lot of throws early, throwing high and wide and then tossing the obligatory skip passes (where he tries to throw with the ball starting in front of his body rather than back a little). But when the Redskins needed him, he was there. McNabb is definitely better the more he’s challenged. This is the offense’s identity for now. They can’t run the ball consistently and probably won’t all year. So the best thing they can do is put it in his hands. That’s what they did in the fourth quarter, throwing on 15 of their 18 plays. McNabb threw for 192 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime. Oh, and it helped that Anthony Armstrong was open by about 10 yards vs. slow-footed safety Charlie Peprah, allowing McNabb to underthrow him yet still get a touchdown pass.

4.   The Redskins have an issue with their line. It’s not just the injuries, though their depth will be tested. Even if Trent Williams and Jammal Brown can play next week, I have a feeling this isn’t the last time the reserves will be needed. Call me crazy. But Kory Lichtensteiger is better suited at center down the line than guard. He doesn’t pack a lot of punch and, though he scraps, he is not the best athlete either. Makes it tough when he fails to recognize a blitz, as he admitted, and can’t recover to even bump guys off-line. It’s not just him as there’s a lot of penetration on running plays all along the line. Makes me wonder what Derrick Dockery is not showing them, though I do have an idea. He’s not the best at picking things up either and Lichtensteiger is said to have better feet. Tough to bring up negatives after a win, but this will remain a problem.

5.   The defense won with creativity. Aaron Rodgers gets rid of the ball very fast, which is why he entered with only five sacks. But if you let him sit in the pocket he’ll pick you apart. The Redskins, though, did an excellent job in the second half of doing something important: causing a moment’s hesitation in the pocket through various looks. They constantly were switching their linebackers around, maybe more than in previous games. Brian Orakpo spent more time on the left side than in most games; sometimes they’d have three linebackers aligned on the outside. Other times Orakpo would dash from one side to another at the last minute. And he got his big sack in the fourth quarter rushing from right end (lining up wide). It wasn’t just the linebackers, but as the secondary varied its looks as well. The strategy worked as Rodgers was sacked three times in the fourth quarter and overtime after getting sacked once in the first three quarters. By the way, I’m not mentioning LaRon Landry here because a separate story was done on him. Just in case you wondered.