Studs
LB London Fletcher. It wasn’t just the goal-line stop, though that encompassed a lot of what makes Fletcher good. Plays like that are the ones any kid fantasizes about as a kid; leaping over the pile to make a stop. And when that play is made, there’s no thought about a team’s record or the direction they’re headed, it’s just pure joy. Pure effort; pure joy. That’s Fletcher. But he also blitzed in the fourth quarter, forcing Jon Kitna into a sack. Later, he took on pulling guard Leonard Davis, drove his right shoulder into him and came off to make the tackle. Fletcher had his miscues, but overall he played well.
QB Rex Grossman. Yes, he started poorly with a horrendous decision that led to an interception. Classic Rex, perhaps. But he also hadn’t started in two years and had only attempted seven passes this year. And, yes, his fumble led to another touchdown, though that resulted from pressure allowed by the line. Still, anyone out there think he’d throw four touchdown passes, two two-point conversions and nearly lead a win? Anyone? Me neither. He found a rhythm in the second half and delivered a near comeback. A couple things I liked: Grossman’s ability to hit receivers in stride — even his misses were in front of receivers; and his footwork. Grossman kept an excellent base, which enabled him to move and still be accurate. On the five-yard touchdown pass to Chris Cooley, he had to move to his left, but his base was excellent and he found Cooley – his third or fourth option. The good base allowed him to make an accurate throw. No passes were bounced Sunday; drives were sustained. His last interception was the result of perhaps getting fooled a bit by the coverage or not getting enough air under the ball. Regardless, he had to force the throw because of the time remaining.
WR Anthony Armstrong. He posted his first 100-yard day, with five catches. Got open deep with just speed and a decent sell of a fake, leading to a 47-yard catch that would have been longer had Grossman not underthrown the pass. Armstrong also caught passes on slants and crosses, showing he’s not just a guy who can run post routes. Also liked his blocking, especially on the Ryan Torain screen pass that ended up a touchdown.
TE Chris Cooley. Not sure why they’re waiting to get him involved, but until he started catching passes he’d been doing a solid job blocking, particularly taking care of the ends/linebackers. They’d use him to stop backside pursuit and he wound up getting the better of DeMarcus Ware a couple times; just getting in his way is a help. But in the end, he finished with five catches for 62 yards, one touchdown and a two-point conversion. I like that Grossman found him in the red zone. Cooley made a nice catch on both of those plays, with each coming while tightly covered.
WR Santana Moss. I know he dropped a pass late, but he also caught eight passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns. He made a beautiful catch in the back of the end zone for one score and got inside the DB on a slant for another. Moss has become a gritty receiver, taking screens and trying to weave through traffic. It’s not an easy task. My other beef with him is his blocking. Don’t think it’s been that terrific; missed a couple Sunday and that would have helped on some runs. Seen that happen in other games, too.
RB Ryan Torain. Too bad they didn’t get him the ball a little more early on; I understand Dallas’ weakness is the secondary, but they were rather lopsided with their run-pass ratio. Still, when Torain got the ball he produced with 53 yards on 11 carries. He also had five catches for 48 yards, including a 19-yard screen for a touchdown and another screen for 20 yards. Torain had a couple of screw-you runs, including one where he barreled through tackles and ran over safety Alan Ball. He made a mistake in protection, it appeared, on one occasion going to the middle where his help wasn’t needed and allowing Orlando Scandrick to blitz off the Redskins’ right side for an easy sack. But another time Torain saved a sack when, after lining up eight yards deep, he had to cross Grossman’s face to pick up a linebacker blitzing between center and left guard. Torain barely got him, but it gave Grossman enough time to throw the ball away.
Duds
P Sam Paulescu. He should have been called for tripping; as it were, his punts were mostly bad. Of his four punts, one was a good one – a 45-yarder with no return because of its height. And it came from deep in Redskins territory, so that was good. But for the most part he had low loners and had a net average of 26.0.
CB DeAngelo Hall. His instincts are usually excellent, but they’ve failed him the past two games. Sunday, he went for an interception vs. Jason Witten, but it really didn’t look like he had a chance. Had he gone for the tackle, Witten would have been stopped short of a first down and Dallas would have kicked a field goal. Instead, he scored a touchdown. Now, Hall’s instincts are what make him a unique player, but when you swing and miss, you end up a dud. Just the way it is. Hall also missed a tackle on a smoke route, leading to first down on a catch and run. He did have a nice tackle on Witten later in the game.
FS Kareem Moore. I want to believe in Kareem Moore; and I think it’s funny looking back on it now how many people ripped Reed Doughty while subbing for him – and how they thought life would be grand once Moore entered the lineup. Hard to name a big play he’s made this season. Not everyone can be a playmaker and some of that comes with experience, but Moore continues to try and tackle everyone up around the shoulder pads and that leads to trouble. On Tashard Choice’s touchdown run, Moore came in too high and that led him to not get any power on his attempted tackle. A guard then hit him in the side (along with Andre Carter).
LG Kory Lichtensteiger. Thought he had a very good game vs. Tampa Bay, but that was not the case Sunday. Didn’t mark down many G’s (for good) next to his name in watching this one again. I’ll skip to the second half because that’s where a lot of his troubles occurred. He was shoved back by end Stephen Bowen on one play. Later, another lineman stunned him with a punch, then got inside. A play later, Bowen again won the battle as ‘Steiger put his head down on contact and Bowen went inside. On the next series he fell while pulling to his right. On the next series, Victor Butler blitzed a linebacker through his hole. Now, I haven’t asked him what happened on the play, but Butler, a linebacker, was standing right over him and ‘Steiger didn’t look at him first, instead initially turning to his right and then coming back. He didn’t block anyone and the ‘backer got through. His fault? Recognition? Anyway, there was already enough to land him on this side.
LB Lorenzo Alexander. Looks like Alexander is a bit tired and worn down from all the special teams duties. He does not look as spry in space as he did earlier this year. Can’t say that I blame him; that’s a heavy burden placed on him. Anyway, Alexander has not been as effective tackling in space lately and that was true Sunday. Missed a couple tackles in space. He did have a near tackle for a loss, but missed the ballcarrier in the backfield; he did force him up into a swarm of teammates. But it could have been a two-yard loss. Alexander had one good pressure on Kitna.
Nose Tackles. Anthony Bryant is an upgrade over Maake Kemoeatu, or at least has played a little better. But neither is anything more than a backup at this point. Bryant, when he plays lower, does OK. Other times he takes himself out of plays by getting too upright, as he did on a solid run right before the game-winning field goal. Of course, two plays earlier he did a nice job of holding his ground. Sort of how his day went. He had more G’s than Kemoeatu – Bryant seems to have more leg strength. But they both had a lot of B’s as well. Until the Redskins get the middle fixed, they’ll struggle to stop the run. In fairness, both did a good job in the goal-line stand of getting very low.
Half Stud-Half Dud
LT Trent Williams. Another guy who finished a heck of a lot better than he started. He allowed inside pressure to DeMarcus Ware in the first quarter and on the next series he played Bradie James to go wide. James went into him, then darted inside for pressure. In the third quarter, Ware got around him with speed. Williams reached for him, got off-balance and then fell. Ware wound up with a sack/fumble of Grossman. But after this play, Williams was pretty good the rest of the way. Stopped Ware every time they battled thereafter, even when the Cowboy linebacker tried a spin move. Didn’t faze Williams. Oops, another bad one: he opted to take a blitzing corner off the edge rather than block Ware on the slant touchdown pass to Moss. Now, the pass was complete, but Ware was nearly in the passing lane; not sure how someone lets him come through free and instead takes the corner. Still,
RG Will Montgomery. He has been consistent and in the few times he was matched vs. Jay Ratliff, he appeared to do just fine. Yes, he was pushed back a couple times, but not that many. And he threw a very nice block on the Torain touchdown catch, paving the screen (gotta give props to Casey Rabach, too, for a key block on Torain’s 20-yard catch). There was one time Montgomery got knocked back far enough that it affected Torain’s run. On Torain’s screw-you run, Montgomery took care of Ratliff (of course, the next play on a stretch to the left, Ratliff got through him). Ratliff also got him with a swim move on the last series. But overall Montgomery has made improvement.
Follow me on Twitter @John_Keim
Submit questions for Redskins Mailbag.
