Bye week will give team more time to get healthy
The momentum gathered in the first five games slowly evaporated over the next three. And it was lost completely in the last one before the bye week. Now the Redskins get two weeks to ponder their worst loss of the season, not to mention how they can reclaim the energy forged by a four-game winning streak. That now seems so long ago.
“We’ve fallen the last three or four weeks,” said receiver Antwaan Randle El. “We haven’t been going as strong.”
Recommended Stories
That was evident in Monday’s 23-6 loss to Pittsburgh in which the Redskins managed just 221 total yards. They wasted golden chances in the first quarter, starting three drives in Steelers territory, yet managing just two field goals.
And corner Carlos Rogers dropped an interception that would have given his team a 13-3 lead, prompting defensive coordinator Greg Blache to say afterward, “He can’t catch; he has to learn how to catch.”
But the real trick is recovering for the final seven games, starting with the Nov. 16 Sunday night game vs. Dallas. That’s the first of three home games against NFC East foes in the final seven weeks.
“We still feel good about ourselves,” Rogers said. “A lot of teams wish they were in our position.”
The Redskins (6-3) should be buoyed after the bye week by the return of defensive end Jason Taylor and corner Shawn Springs. Both are expected to return from various calf ailments.
“This is by far the best I’ve felt since [the Sept. 22] surgery,” Taylor said, “probably the best I’ve felt all season.”
But they also must get their offense healthy. Despite having the NFL’s leading rusher and the NFL’s 10th-ranked offense, the Redskins are just 25th in points. Monday, they allowed seven sacks, albeit to the league’s top-ranked defense.
Improving the offense will be a major topic during the bye.
“We’ll have several concept ideas to come out of this,” Redskins coach Jim Zorn said. “But we won’t re-invent the offense.”
