Washington Redskins mistakes against Texans have a sadly familiar look
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Version 0 of 1. HOUSTON — When a team fumbles twice at its foe’s 7-yard line — both times for no sufficient reason — as Washington did here Sunday, any coach might be tempted to smack his own head. “That’s inexcusable in the red zone,” rookie Coach Jay Gruden said after a 17-6 season-opening loss to Houston. If his team also allows a blocked punt for a gift touchdown to Houston, a franchise that went 2-14 last year, the world might seem to swim before that coach’s eyes. “I’m not even sure they were trying to block that punt,” said Gruden, recalling how the Texans’ Alfred Blue simply ran past “blocker” Roy Helu Jr., smothered the punt, collected the ball and greeted the end zone. Wow, D.C. special teams back at work! If his defense gets confused in coverage, leaves a receiver wide open from here to Dallas, then whiffs its one chance at a midfield tackle, that coach, especially if he’s an NFL rookie, might find the whole day slightly disorienting. What did Gruden think of safety Bacarri Rambo’s coverage, angle of pursuit and attempt at a tackle on DeAndre Hopkins’s 76-yard score from Ryan Fitzpatrick? “Poor . . . poor . . . poor . . . poor . . . poor,” he said, using “poor” five times in 16 words in elaborating exactly what Rambo did worst in each area of inadequacy. (Thanks, suspended Brandon Meriweather.) And if his team hashes up the simplest play in football, the point after touchdown, and gets the thing blocked by the man most obviously in need of blocking — J.J. Watt, the Houston skyscraper who just got a new $100 million contract — a coach on his debut afternoon might almost lose track of where he is. Of a couple of plays, Gruden said all you could do was “scratch your head.” Gobsmacked or disoriented, Gruden said early in his postgame news conference, “Hats off to Cleveland.” There’s a Paris in Texas. But Cleveland? Actually, there is a tiny town by that name nearby here. So, lets give him a mulligan after all the gaffes he’d watched. A man who’s spent his life in an NFL quest has suffered enough for one day if he sees a possible opening win besmirched into a loss. When a team that went 3-13 last year loses its first game of the next season to a team that was 2-14, the first caution of the day should be: Don’t look for the silver linings too quickly. For Washington there actually were quite a few positive signs. Once you got past, you know, the two fumbles that probably subtracted six to 14 points and the blocked-punt touchdown to the team that wasn’t trying to block a punt and the 76-yards-untouched scoring pass. What else? Well, an entire day of right tackle Tyler Polumbus and a cast of double-teaming friends doing almost nothing to prevent the 6-foot-5, 289-pound Watt from creating his own stat sheet. Watt ended the day with five quarterback hits, two tackles for losses, a sack of RGIII, a pass deflected, a fumble recovered, two solo tackles, an assist on a tackle, a blocked extra point and a partridge in a pear tree which he no doubt planned to serve for dinner in a light demi-glace sauce. “He’s phenomenal,” said Griffin. “He’s phenomenal,” tight end Logan Paulsen said. Luckily for Washington, Houston’s No. 1 overall draft pick, Jadeveon Clowney, who is supposed to be Watt’s partner in defensive terror this year, barely played, injuring his knee and leaving with just one tackle. Despite Watt and Texans linebacker Brian Cushing, Gruden’s game planning might have resulted in a victory. Like many teams at every level that realize they are outmanned along the offensive line, Washington focused on quick, simple passes for short gains, plus its powerful stretch running attack. That clock-eating attack, plus a defense that may prove much improved this season, could, at least in mistake-free theory, have been enough. Griffin completed 29 of 37 passes for 267 yards and no interceptions, but no touchdowns. He only threw deep twice, once for 48 yards to Niles Paul, who was stripped from behind at the 7 and once for an incomplete pass in one-on-one coverage where Pierre Garcon had a chance to make a play. “I felt him coming [from behind],” Paul said of Texans safety D.J. Swearinger. “I tried to cut it back [to the middle of the field]. He made a great play.” Minutes later, Paul was a bit more revealing, adding: “You see that end zone. I tried to turn on the jets. I just kind of lost track of him.” Of Griffin’s quick releases and precision, Gruden said, “That [percentage] is not easy to do in this league” even if the passes are mostly short. RGIII was sacked only three times, rather than perhaps six, because he scrambled to improvise short passing gains. However, on his best chance for a long improvisational play, he led open-by-miles Andre Roberts out of bounds and squandered 30 yards. Though Gruden generally complimented Griffin, he added that, “When you only score six points, the play caller [Gruden] and the quarterback don’t get a very good grade.” Alfred Morris gained 91 yards on 14 carries and Helu added 46 yards on only four carries. Garcon caught 10 balls for 77 yards while new wide receiver DeSean Jackson had eight catches for 62. On other days, against teams with less ferocious pass rushers than Watt & Co., those yardage totals may be much higher. After the game, Gruden made it clear that the day’s basic plan had worked. Washington had more total yards (372 to 316), more first downs and slightly more time of possession. But two turnovers at the Texans 7-yard line and two blocked kicks for an eight-point swing was definitely not planned. “We’re going to have a lot of close games this season,” Gruden said. So, those are exactly the kinds of mistakes that will have to disappear, unless this simply proves to be a team with mistakes in its DNA. Part of the pain of this loss was watching how delighted the stunned Texans were by the experience of breaking a 14-game losing streak. “We haven’t had a team win around here in a while, so it felt good,” said running back Arian Foster, who rushed for 103 yards. The entire Texans organization seemed fairly pleased, at least judging by the postgame quotes from Houston’s owner, new Coach Bill O’Brien and (so far) 17 players. For one game in a new coaching regime, much can be excused. The ’14 Texans may prove to be a solid team, not a joke. But this Washington team has exactly one week to get a better script. “No one wants to go 0-2,” said Griffin, knowing that next week’s foe at FedEx Field will be the Jacksonville Jaguars who, despite a 4-12 record last season were probably the NFL’s most pathetic team, being outscored by 202 points, far worse than Washington (minus 144 points) and Houston (minus 152). “I’m not guaranteeing a win, but you can’t go 0-2 in this league,” safety Ryan Clark said. You can’t go 0-2 against the Texans and the Jags, that’s for sure. There’s NFL parity scheduling and then there’s what Washington has been lucky enough to get to start its season — pity scheduling. For many years, the hallmarks of poor Washington seasons have been turnovers, especially in the red zone, bad special teams play, mistakes that allow long uncontested scoring passes and a perverse knack for turning winnable games into lost games. All that was present in this loss as well. On Jay Gruden’s first day, much sounded new. But the echo of past defeats was very old. For more by Thomas Boswell, visit washingtonpost.com/boswell. More Redskins and NFL coverage: Game summary: Texans 13, Redskins 7 The Takeaway: Game plan fine, execution is lacking Self-inflicted damage does in Redskins in opener Gruden’s fresh start grows stale quickly Special teams unit stumbles in opener Bog: Redskins-Texans best and worst Photos: Scenes from Houston Gruden not pleased with any part of game Reed and Cofield knocked out with injuries Bengals show grit with victory over Ravens |