1. Donovan McNabb has been disappointing. I’m not going to blame the loss on McNabb, but his lack of development in this offense is very telling. And when the offensive coordinator calls for a run to Keiland Williams on third and goal from the 12, that, too, is telling. On a day when a Redskins back rushed for 158 yards in one half, the offense could only manage 16 points. Yes, the conditions were terrible and two short field goals were missed. But McNabb’s passing in the red zone hasn’t been very good. But a ground game like that should have set Washington up for more success. Instead, McNabb made more low throws and had some bad decisions. I don’t see what Kyle Shanahan sees, and it would be nice to hear his honest assessment of what’s gone wrong with McNabb. But I do know that no quarterback should dump a ball off with 14 seconds left in the half and no timeouts with no chance of a score. Had Williams caught the ball, the half likely would have ended without a field goal attempt. Now, McNabb executed the two-minute offense well and took what was available, moving the ball with passes underneath. And he threw a very nice pass to Santana Moss on the touchdown, the result of a good play call, too. An excellent finish. The Redskins will bemoan their lost opportunities, but the Bucs could have said the same thing had they lost; McNabb should have been picked twice. On one throw, like last week, he had plenty of time and still threw almost right at a defender. Sometimes McNabb just looks old in the pocket and I wonder where this is headed next season. Now, get him a major playmaker and a consistent ground game and that will help any quarterback. But that also makes McNabb like a lot of other quarterbacks. Which means they must draft one in April, probably in the first two rounds.
2. Mike Shanahan is not on the hot seat. Is Dan Snyder unhappy? No doubt. Why would he be anything else when his team is 5-8. And, yes, Snyder fired Marty Schottenheimer after one year. But Snyder would be on the hook for $28 million if he fired Shanahan. It’s really not worth it to go forward with more reasons why he won’t get fired. Now, there are people around the league who question if this regime will work, if only because Shanahan’s record as a personnel guy is spotty and Bruce Allen is not involved too much in that end of the operation. So the personnel moves are being made by a guy who doesn’t have a history of success in this role. But that’s a different conversation and time will prove if that’s accurate or not.
3. The holes were as big as they’ve been all season. The Redskins capitalized on Tampa Bay’s overaggressive, and fast, defense with the cutback runs in the first half. Heck, when Ryan Torain would cut back there would be one defender in the way and that person would either be cut or Torain would make him miss. He ran well, but the holes were huge. But in the second half Tampa Bay was more aggressive with its run blitzes, especially from the backside with a strong safety or sometimes the middle linebacker. It enabled them to load up harder on the playside and still be in position to stop the cutbacks. The result? Fourteen yards rushing in the second half for Torain. However, there was a little success on some bootlegs as a direct result of the run game. That’s how this offense is supposed to work.
4. Tampa Bay’s youth served it well. The Bucs just looked faster than the Redskins at times and perhaps that’s a result of young legs on defense. Heck, on both sides of the ball. Despite a line that appears decimated, the Redskins could not really take advantage on defense. They did a pretty good job vs. the run, but they again applied little pressure. Aside from Brian Orakpo, who can apply it at this point? There’s not a lot of speed or energy on the defense with LaRon Landry sidelined. I know Tampa’s approach was a topic of conversation this week, about how they built their team compared to Washington. But to see it up close was very evident. Just think; they’ve lost seven starters to IR now — and they’re three games over .500. They committed to a rebuild and proved that it doesn’t have to take several years. They still have beaten mostly bad teams, but they’re beating them and they’re 8-5; I’ll take that over a team that beats a couple good teams but loses to a lot of bad or mediocre ones. The problem is, I’m not sure this approach would work in Washington because it requires patience – not just by the owner, but by the fan base and by the coach. Instead, the Redskins play in a 90,000-seat stadium with a fan base that wants to win now; for an owner who wants to win now; for a coach who is pushing 60 and needs to win now. The one word I don’t want to hear is reload. Teams that go 11-5 reload; teams that have now lost 26 of its last 37 games need to do one thing. Rebuild. It’s required, but … Yes, this upcoming free agent class could be terrific but that approach hasn’t always worked, has it?
5. Missed opportunities; again. Bad teams talk about all the missed opportunities they had during the season; good teams take advantage. So, yes, they were close again but they lost again. Brian Orakpo was held; it sure appeared that way. But DeAngelo Hall dropped a possible pick-six; Graham Gano missed two field goals and London Fletcher dropped an interception. The Redskins don’t have that sort of margin for error. Besides, Tampa fumbled at the goal line. Again, they could point to missed chances as well. Which brings me to Gano and Nick Sundberg. It was a terrible day for specialists, but Tampa handled it well didn’t it? Sundberg’s snaps were no different than they’d been all season. He’s inconsistent and it hurt them. Hunter Smith is considered a terrific holder, but it’s hard to grab a slick ball and get it down. Do you grow with young guys like Sundberg and Gano? Or do you look for something else? I’d be more apt to find a new long snapper, but if you’re sold on Gano, and you think in two years he could be special then I guess you keep him. He is the sort of guy you rebuild with; a young player with promise. But he’s hurting them now.
