With the game on the line, Redskins turn to forgotten men: Pierre Garcon, Alfred Morris

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/with-the-game-on-the-line-redskins-turned-to-forgotten-garcon-morris/2015/10/04/e1a8617e-6ad0-11e5-aa5b-f78a98956699_story.html

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One has ranked among the most productive running backs in the NFL for the past three seasons but had been overshadowed by a rookie as of late. The other led the NFL in receptions two years ago but faded into the shadows last season and in the past two games.

But with the offense floundering and the game on the line, the Washington Redskins turned back to their forgotten men, and Alfred Morris and Pierre Garcon responded with heroic efforts to lift their team during a late, game-winning drive Sunday at FedEx Field.

Morris had managed only 1.8 yards a carry through three quarters. Garcon, meanwhile, had three catches for 19 yards . After scoring 13 unanswered points in the first half, Washington’s offense went cold in the third quarter. It remained stagnant for much of the fourth, and the Redskins trailed 20-16 with 6 minutes 5 seconds left on the game clock.

Despite their pedestrian numbers and use in the past two weeks, Coach Jay Gruden has insisted that Morris and Garcon remain focal parts of the offense. The evidence hadn’t supported this. But the game-defining drive did.

Back-to-back runs by Morris (gains of 16 and six yards) jump-started the possession, which began at the Washington 10-yard line. The back later continued to pace his team with gains of 13 and three yards, bringing his fourth-quarter total to five carries for 40 yards as Washington crossed into Philadelphia territory.

“It took a lot of pressure off the passing game when we were able to have the run-pass mix to start the drive,” said quarterback Kirk Cousins, who, as Washington strayed from the run, had completed only 3 of 9 fourth-quarter passes while producing no points to that juncture. “I think we got out of being backed up by running the football. The first play was a big run to the right. So to have that balance makes a big difference.”

With the Eagles off-balance, the offense and quarterback found their rhythm, then caught fire on a 16-yard strike to Garcon on third and six from the Philadelphia 30 with 1:18 left. Cousins went back to Garcon on a crossing route two plays later and picked up another 12 yards as the clock ticked down to 35 seconds.

“Just happy to be out there and happy to play football no matter if they forget about me or not,” Garcon said when asked about the abrupt spike in attention. “Just happy to play. Never know when it’s going to come to you. Just have to be ready and make the plays for them.”

The final play, though, proved most impressive. Seeing all of his receivers in man coverage and the Eagles prepared to bring the house, Cousins alerted Garcon that a defender would blitz with no one to account for him in protection. So the wide receiver had better get open and in a hurry.

Garcon darted across the goal line and cut out, and sure enough, the hot-read pass came his way. He made a leaping catch, got sandwiched by two defenders and hung on for the game-winning touchdown.

[Watch Garcon’s gutsy game-winning touchdown catch]

The results spoke for themselves, but Gruden seemed to make the right decision in returning to Morris and Garcon while resisting the urge to feature other talented yet less-proven offensive weapons.

Rookie Matt Jones had a thunderous game in Week 2, and he had a chance to score a late-game touchdown against the Giants in Week 3. However, he fumbled at the goal line — his second turnover in as many weeks. Chris Thompson had proved flashy, gaining 42 yards on a third-and-19 first-quarter run. And coaches continued to sprinkle the speedy yet diminutive back throughout the game plan. But at a point of the game when Philadelphia’s defense had been on the field for 35 of the 53 minutes and had begun to tire, Morris proved hard to stop.

True, Morris hadn’t produced big results during the first 31/2 quarters. But his track record suggests that if he’s given the opportunity to continue hammering away, he breaks through in the fourth quarter. And he did just that on Sunday, averaging 9.5 yards a carry on that final drive.

“It’s in my DNA. I’ve been doing that. I can’t explain it. It just happens,” Morris said. “The more I get, it seems, the better I get. . . . We started chipping away and finally getting some decent runs, and it was when it really mattered.”

Garcon was the logical choice, considering Washington lost tight end Jordan Reed to a concussion and second-year wide receiver Ryan Grant had two drops in the second half. Rookie Jamison Crowder had four fourth-quarter catches for 28 yards. But in a high-pressure situation, the fiery Garcon would not wither.

“He’s one of the greatest competitors on this football team, and people feed off of that,” Gruden said of Garcon. “Those are some tough catches that he made today. He probably didn’t have the type of numbers that he wants after a game because he’s such a great competitor, but when the ball is in the air, he’s going to go get it.”

In Garcon and Morris, the Redskins have two players who possess the type of mind-set that their second-year head coach and their first-year general manager, Scot McCloughan, want their entire team to adapt.

Both play with physicality and embrace a chance to do the dirty work. Neither craves the spotlight, and both possess the professionalism to prepare the same way whether they get 25 touches a game or two.

Echoing Garcon’s sentiments, Morris said: “At the end of the day, it’s a business, but you never know. The only thing we can control are our attitudes. We can’t control the play calls or the rotations. That’s out of our control. . . . Only thing we can control is our attitudes and our work ethics. . . .

“If you’re not ready and you’re sulking about what’s going on, when your number’s called, you’re not going to perform. So you always have to be ready. Yeah, it’s not going right right now. But when you do [get a chance], you make the most of it.”