The scene has become too familiar in Washington’s locker room. And it apparently doesn’t matter if a coaching legend is in charge or not. Players wearing the pained look of a team fading fast; comments made about not giving up; somber tones delivered after an ugly loss.
It wasn’t supposed to happen under Joe Gibbs.
Once again, it is.
And now a season that was supposed to be about a return to the elite has quickly become about one of survival. After a 25-22 loss to Tennessee Sunday, the Redskins — booed off the field by the remnants of what had been 88,550 fans — find themselves at a pivotal point in their young season.
At 2-4, and with a game at undefeated Indianapolis up next, the Redskins are in danger of becoming one of the season’s most disappointing teams.
Again.
“Two and four is a step back,” Redskins tackle Jon Jansen said. “We’re grasping at straws. We’ve got to figure this out in ahurry. If the season ended today, it would be a disappointment. But there’s a long way to go.”
The Redskins know many will view their season as almost over.
“It would be easy to think that,” quarterback Mark Brunell said. “But you can’t do that. You can’t at 2-4 think this is a lost cause because the second you do that you’re in trouble. This certainly is not a lost cause. But we find ourselves in a tough situation.”
One of their own doing. Washington blew a 14-3 lead — the fifth time in two seasons that the Redskins have lost after leading by double digits.
“This was a huge, bitter disappointment for us,” said Gibbs, who said he would not start calling plays nor is he focusing on making any one personnel change.
Tennessee’s Travis Henry rushed for a career-high 178 yards, two of which gave the Titans (1-5) a 20-14 lead with eight minutes, 53 seconds left in the third quarter. A safety followed on Washington’s next possession when a blocked punt rolled out of the Redskins’ end zone.
Washington tied the game at 22 when Clinton Portis scored on a four-yard run with 10:57 left in the game, set up by a 52-yard pass to Brandon Lloyd, and Santana Moss caught a two-point conversion.
But the Titans’ Rob Bironas untied it with a 30-yard field goal with 5:11 remaining.
Portis finished with two touchdowns, his first giving the Redskins a 7-3 lead. Tight end Chris Cooley’s 24-yard scoring catch made it 14-3 early in the second. Then came the collapse.
“There’s no finger pointing,” Lloyd said. “We know we’re all damn good and believe in each other.”
At this point, they’d have a hard time finding anyone else who did the same.
