Blown chances cost Redskins

Carlos Rogers dropped one and had his hands on another. Maybe a corner with better hands would have had both; they definitely would have had the first. Kareem Moore had the ball sit right in his gut and fall out on one and he nearly made a pick near the goal line. A tough catch, no doubt; but the sort that saves – or changes – games.

Yet the Redskins couldn’t come up with any of these plays.

And that likely was the difference in their 27-24 defeat vs. Indianapolis. The fact that they forced three fumbles kept them in the game. Every time it seemed the Colts would run away from them; they’d force a fumble and either prevent points or add them.

The Redskins scored 10 points off turnovers and prevented at least a field goal.

But the missed chances? After Moore’s missed attempts, the Colts scored a touchdown and added a field goal.

This isn’t to blame the loss on Moore; far from it. The Redskins were surgically torn apart by Peyton Manning. He caught them guessing pass and hit them with the run time and time again.

“A couple times they caught us when we were moving around and the run gaps aren’t as defined,” Redskins linebacker London Fletcher said. “When we got in our four-man front they weren’t able to run the ball against us. You’re taking a calculated guess. The bad part with Peyton is that everything is a check-with-me so he has an opportunity to check to a run play. Early in the game we had keys to know when they were running or passing. They changed them a little bit and it threw us off.”

And sometimes it came down to physics. Less linemen equals less beef. The Redskins tried to counter with Kedric Golston late in the game in their dime package – six defensive backs and a line that often had just one man with their hand down. He helped and even caused a fumble. But the Colts still ran well – 179 yards on 29 carries.

“You have linebackers and defensive backs against 315 pounds, you do the math,” Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo said. “They just caught us in certain packages. They knew what we like to do.”

But even with that, the missed turnovers were crucial.

“There’s a little letdown when you don’t get a play like that,” Redskins safety Reed Doughty said, “like man we should have had that.”

Manning put up strong numbers; he completed 25 of 38 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns. He put the ball in spots the Redskins could not defend. Sometimes he’d make a pass and your jaw would drop a bit. It was classic surgery. Once, he threw a pass to tight end Dallas Clark in which Doughty had good coverage. But Manning stayed patient, hesitated and slung a pass as Clark cleared for a 24-yard gain. Classic.

But, still, the Redskins did enough to nearly cause some picks, too.

“We got to him a little bit. We just didn’t make the plays. They wide open layups and we didn’t make the layups,” corner DeAngelo Hall said.

Of course, Hall had his own issues on the 57-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon.

“I blew coverage,” Hall said.

But the missed chances hurt just as much. It’s not stunning that Rogers failed to hold onto the ball; it’s what he’s done since he arrived in Washington. He drops picks. He’s actually having a good year – but it would be a great one if he could catch. A defense that is still adjusting needs to pounce on every chance.

“It’s frustrating,” Orakpo said. “You work so hard, you try to make a play and it doesn’t go your way.”

Said Doughty of Manning, “He doesn’t give you a lot of shots, but when he does you have to take advantage of them.”