REDSKINS OFFENSE IN DEEP TROUBLE
Panthers show way to stop vertical game
Slow starts, an inept rushing game, a onedimensional offense and an abysmal third-down conversion rate — all those defects have put the Washington Redskins on the outside looking in in the NFC playoff picture.
In Monday night’s 26-15 loss to the Carolina Panthers, Washington’s problems could be traced to another particular flaw.
Carolina’s defense put out a blueprint of how to keep Washington basic: take away the deep pass. When the Panthers did that, the Redskins couldn’t adjust.
“First off, we were outcoached today,” Washington coach Jay Gruden said after the loss. “There’s no question about that. And I think they
played better than us today.”
This season, quarterback Kirk Cousins has proved himself capable on deep throws, an element that has opened up the rest of the offense. In the previous four games before Monday, Cousins’ longest completion in each went for 80, 59, 67 and 70 yards. His biggest gain Monday went for 23 yards.
Panthers safeties Kurt Coleman and Tre Boston helped erase the threat of Washington’s explosive passing plays.
“We tried to take a couple of shots,” Gruden said. “Their safeties were playing pretty high on occasion, and we didn’t have down-the-field shots. They were too deep. We couldn’t get them out there.”
With the deep passing game ineffective, the rest of the offense sputtered.
Washington entered the game having gone three-andout only 15 times this season. Against the Panthers, the offense did it five times, including on the opening drive. The run game was held to 29 yards on 13 carries.
The most significant casualty of Carolina’s denial of the deep ball, though, came on third down.
Washington converted two of 12 conversion attempts, limiting Cousins’ chances to launch passes downfield.
“It’s not just one thing,” Cousins said in his postgame news conference. “It was a missed throw, a missed catch. It was a breakdown in different ways each time. But there were certainly some makable third downs where the past several weeks I would say we’ve been much better on those third-and-mediums than we were tonight.
“If we hadn’t converted those third-and-mediums in other games, we wouldn’t have been able to do what we did offensively.”
Cousins was 32-for-47 for 315 yards, but he threw a debilitating interception after Coleman jumped a route. Cousins also fumbled on a sack that gave Carolina the ball at the 1-yard line to start the second half. The Panthers’ ensuing touchdown pushed their lead to 20-9.
Washington was held to a season-low 15 points Monday. That the output came against the NFL’s worst-ranked passing defense only further underscores how much Washington’s reliance on the deep ball hurt the team against the Panthers.
To reach the playoffs, Washington (7-6-1) needs help from the Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are tied at 8-6 and a half-game ahead in the wild-card race. And with games remaining at the Chicago Bears (3-11) and against the New York Giants (10-4), Washington’s quest to make the postseason in consecutive years for the first time since 1992 is in serious danger.
“Everyone wants to talk about the playoffs, but you know there’s no point in talking about it if we can’t win the games we are supposed to win,” defensive end Chris Baker said Monday. “We can’t come out and have a turnover on the first play of the second half and give up a touchdown and continue to let them continue drives when we should be off the field.
“It’s very frustrating to continue to see teams who shouldn’t be playing with us beat us, so (we) have to find a way to be better.”