Washington Redskins: The most prominent slump of the NFC East division (NFL Special part III)
Continued from part II...
Against San Francisco 49ers
Redskins’ three-game losing streak badly hurt its chances after an inspiring start to the season.
The team won three of its first four games, but did not register any victory after that and the losses were not even competent battles.
The misery was far from over as 49ers handed Redskins its fourth straight defeat.
"Sometimes it looks like it's all the quarterback, and that's understandable," coach, Mike Shanahan, said.
Beck was yet to win a game as a starter and this was his seventh loss. Interceptions were something the Redskins’ quarterbacks were struggling to control.
"When you lose a few pieces of the puzzle, the quarterback is going to look pretty average when we're playing pretty average as a group," the coach added.
Beck did get a touchdown in the final quarter of the game when San Francisco was leading 19-3.
The touchdown, coupled with two-point conversion, provided consolation for the drowning Redskins, who lost this game, 19-11.
At Miami
Surprise, surprise!
Beck was sidelined and was replaced by...yes you guessed correctly...Rex Grossman.
However, Grossman’s performance only strengthened the chances of replacing him again.
He finished with 21 passes for 215 yards and sent two interceptions, receiving a quarterback rating of 58.7 as Redskins got fifth straight defeat.
Dolphins stayed ahead of the opponents from the start and the defence was impossible to penetrate.
On several occasions, Redskins’ offence tried to make big plays, but it could not reach the end zone.
No touchdown was scored by the Redskins, who only relied on field goal, which were not enough to beat Dolphins.
Dolphins won the game by a margin of 11 points, 20-9.
Against Dallas Cowboys
Cowboys handed Redskins its first defeat of the season, and now it was time for revenge.
Did Redskins get it?
‘No’.
However, Grossman, who started the game, was much better, but was still struggling with the interceptions.
He compensated one interception thrown in that game with two touchdown-passes, one of which came in the final minute of the fourth quarter to level the score (24-24) and force the game to overtime.
Cowboys got a field goal in the overtime to edge past Redskins and extend the losing streak to six.
Redskins’ wide receiver, Jabar Gaffney, commented after the game that:
"It's not one of those games where we just got beat down. We gave it away. We gave that one away. We've got to learn how to win again."
At Seattle
Redskins finally ended the drought by defeating Seattle Seahawks.
Grossman’s touchdown in the first quarter gave the visitors a lead, which was neutralised in the second quarter.
Seahawks scored a field goal in the third to get three points ahead of Redskins. The lead was increased to 10 points by a touchdown early in the final quarter.
However, the final 10 minutes of the game belonged entirely to Redskins.
At first, running back, Roy Helu, rushed for 28 yards to score a touchdown. Later, Grossman combined with Anthony Armstrong for a 50-yard touchdown to get three points ahead.
Graham Gano scored a 25-yard field goal to give Redskins the decisive lead, 23-17.
Grossman managed two touchdowns and his passer rate was also commendable, but he sent two interceptions, which had become his benchmark.
Redskins was 4-7 after 11 games.
To be continued...
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