Redskins shake third-quarter woes, and feel like it reveals their character

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/redskins-shake-third-quarter-woes-and-feel-like-it-reveals-their-character/2015/10/25/8a800236-7b5f-11e5-beba-927fd8634498_story.html

Version 0 of 1.

It’s the one quarter the Redskins have heard about all season. No matter the situation or circumstance, they have produced putrid third-quarter performances this year. The emphasis was placed on it throughout the week, starting with a third-quarter-centric coaches meeting Monday afternoon after Redskins Coach Jay Gruden’s weekly press conference.

Gruden should’ve saved his efforts. The message was received. All it took was a 17-point halftime deficit.

“All week our coach talked about coming out in that third quarter, but I guess we forgot about the first and second quarter, man,” defensive end Chris Baker said.

Trailing for just the second time this season at halftime, the Redskins used a quarter that had haunted them all year to jump-start a 31-30 comeback victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Washington outscored its opponent in the third quarter for the first time this season, 14-0. In its previous six third quarters, the Redskins were dominated, 46-3, in all three phases.

It all started with a disastrous first half, which was also unlike the Redskins this season. It was a must-win game for the team, and Washington went into the locker room trailing 24-7.

“Coach Gruden ripped the whole team,” nose tackle Terrance Knighton said. “We could’ve either tucked our tail or responded. Everybody kept their head up and responded.”

Something changed during those 15 minutes in the locker room. The Redskins couldn’t have played any worse than the previous 30 minutes. Although the Bucs started the second half with the ball, the first three drives couldn’t have played out any better for the Redskins in the third quarter.

The defense got a quick stop, forcing Tampa Bay to punt for just the second time in the game. Quarterback Kirk Cousins went 4 of 5 for 49 yards on the ensuing drive, connecting with wide receiver Ryan Grant for his first career touchdown catch. That chipped the deficit down to 10.

The momentum didn’t shift until the following kickoff, however. The Redskins caught the Bucs napping on special teams, as Gruden dialed up a successful onside kick. With three Bucs players lined up 16 yards away from the tee, place kicker Dustin Hopkins let the kick trickle 12 yards down the field. Safety Trenton Robinson retained possession for Washington. It was the team’s first successful onside kick since Nov. 4, 2007 against the New York Jets.

“We worked on it all during practice, and we saw the looks a couple times,” Gruden said. “We kicked off before that. We liked the opportunity to take a shot with it. And starting the third quarter, if we scored, that’s when we were going to do it. It worked out perfectly.”

The Redskins’ offense marched backed down the field on a seven-play, 51-yard touchdown drive. Cousins connected with tight end Jordan Reed for the three-yard score that made it a three-point game, 24-21, with 6 minutes 56 seconds left in the third quarter.

“[Gruden] just said we’re playing sorry right now and a lot of guys bought into that,” rookie wide receiver Jamison Crowder said. “We came in, drew a few plays up on the drawing board. Jay said it’s not about the plays on the board; it’s how we’re playing, we’ve got to go out there and be physical, go out there and stop shooting ourselves in the foot.

“Down 17 and going into the third quarter, where previously we’ve pretty much the whole season been laying goose eggs in the third quarter, it takes a situation like this sometimes for a person to dig deep and show their true self.”

Cousins went 9 of 12 for 105 yards and two touchdowns in the quarter. While the defense allowed 479 total yards in the game, it played its part in the third quarter, too, posting a shutout and only allowing six points in the second half to rookie quarterback Jameis Winston on four possessions.

“Hell, I don’t know, man, but we came in, it was like forget drawing up plays, this and that,” linebacker Will Compton said. “We’ve just got to play and make the plays. . . . Afterwards, the whole third-quarter stuff, we were having fun with it obviously, like ‘what now?’ ”

What’s now will be a focus on all four quarters; the Redskins have yet to put together a complete game. Although the third-quarter woes have been temporarily cured, the Redskins weren’t pleased that it took a horrendous first half to produce their best second-half performance.

But maybe it was for the better as the Redskins head into the bye week.

“At one point it just felt like we needed that or something, like we needed to be down to show the real identity of what we are,” defensive end Ricky Jean Francois said.

“We’ve shown our identity. Now we’ve got to stick to it.”