The lament was sounded again, a frustrated team repeating a frustrating phase after another frustrating loss. There’s a trend here. The Redskins stay close, deep into the fourth quarter in most cases, only to fail in the end. Blame it on penalties; or big plays allowed; or interceptions thrown.
It all happened again Sunday.
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Ho hum.
This time, the Redskins surrendered 11 fourth-quarter points en route to a 27-24 loss.
“When they scramble, stuff breaks down,” said safety Reed Doughty. “You have to man up on somebody and unfortunately DeSean got let go. The key is to hopefully not let [McNabb] out of the pocket.”» Quarterback Jason Campbell threw interceptions on consecutive drives in the second quarter, leading to two David Akers field goals. On the first, Campbell stared down Santana Moss, patted the ball twice and corner Asante Samuel broke on the ball for an easy pick.
On the second, coach Jim Zorn said, “He made a good read. He was throwing to Devin Thomas and Asante came off Santana. I have a hard time faulting him on that one.”
Said Campbell of Samuel, “I don’t know how he ended up being in that area; he was supposed to be way outside.”
Campbell also threw two touchdown passes, to Fred Davis and Thomas, and ran for another. His run came at the end of a 19-yard drive, set up by a failed Eagles onsides kick to start the game.» When corner Justin Tryon grabbed a tipped pass early in the fourth quarter, and returned the ball three yards to the Eagles’ 23, he put the Redskins in position to possibly clinch the win.
“I’m thinking, hey, man, this game could be over,” Tryon said. “It could be, but it wasn’t.”
The Redskins managed only a 25-yard Shaun Suisham field goal for a 24-16 lead. » Tryon left the game with a left hip pointer, but said he would play Sunday vs. New Orleans. Rookie Jeremy Jarmon left the game early with a knee injury and will be re-evaluated Monday. Smoot left the game late after getting “dinged.” Campbell said he blacked out for a moment and felt his left arm go numb after getting hit as he unloaded his last pass, an incompletion on fourth-and-1 with 1:09 remaining.
Of their eight losses, six of the outcomes could have been changed had they made a key play, or avoided negative ones, in the fourth quarter.
“We have played 90 percent good in these games,” rookie linebacker/end Brian Orakpo said. “But it is the remaining 10 percent that we are failing ourselves.”
And another non-winning season under Dan Snyder is ensured; that’s eight such seasons in his 11 years as owner.
“A couple big plays per game has made the difference,” Redskins coach Jim Zorn said. “It really is the difference between a team that has a winning record and a team that is 3-8 like us. It’s a handful of plays.”
Those handful of plays enabled the Eagles (7-4) to win on a day where they, too, made plays that could have — should have — cost them the game. But they won. And they did it because of, as Zorn said, a handful of plays late in the game:
The big pass play
Leading 24-16 early in the fourth quarter, the Redskins allowed a 46-yard pass play to receiver Jason Avant, who bounced off safety LaRon Landry’s shoulder tackle and sped downfield.
It changed the game.
Before this play, the Eagles had managed just 25 second-half yards. They gained 110 thereafter, resulting in the 11 points. And the drive was capped by a one-yard run by Eldra Buckley and then a two-point conversion pass to LeSean McCoy.
They weren’t done: corner Carlos Rogers allowed a 35-yard pass to Jeremy Maclin. He anticipated a slant. Maclin ran a go.
“A great catch and throw,” Rogers said.
Seven plays later, with one minute, 52 seconds remaining, David Akers kicked the game-winning 32-yard field goal.
Penalties
Washington committed seven penalties for 39 yards — the same amount of penalties and 21 fewer yards than Philadelphia. However, the Redskins could not overcome theirs.
At the end of the third quarter, Washington was flagged five yards for a false start on third-and-six. On the next play, quarterback Jason Campbell scrambled for 16 yards and a first down. Oops: holding was called on Stephon Heyer, wiping out the gain and eventually forcing a punt.
Heyer also was called for holding in the fourth quarter, but it was declined.
“Those are concentration plays,” Zorn said.
The Redskins had six penalties offensively; they did not score on any drive in which they committed an infraction.
“It’s frustrating,” said running back Rock Cartwright (38 yards, 15 carries). “It’s so hard to overcome penalties. We killed ourselves.”
It’s that simple.
“We just have to finish,” Landry said. “That’s the end of the story.”
