Analyzing, but not overreacting to, McNabb's benching

As you've undoubtedly heard by now, Donovan McNabb has not only been benched in favor of Rex Grossman for Sunday's game against the Cowboys, but likely for the rest of the season. McNabb will not even serve as the backup in Dallas; that duty will go to John Beck. The decision, handed down by Mike Shanahan, will also presumably end McNabb's brief tenure in Washington.

McNabb may still be with the team for the next few weeks, so it's worth noting that in mid-November, McNabb signed an extension to stay with the Redskins beyond this season. But as Barry Svrluga of Redskins Insider mentions, the only guarantee in that extension was that McNabb would earn $3.5 million if the Skins decided not to bring McNabb back. And with today's events, that outcome seems extremely likely.

There are basically two points to take away from this mess:

1) The decision itself to bench McNabb is absolutely justifiable. That isn't something that I thought I'd ever write, especially considering that on October 27 I discussed this very topic when the Grossman-over-McNabb rumors were rumbling. Here's a sample of what I had to say:

Do fans really want to start someone who has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns in his career just because he's more familiar with the team's offense? Now, I understand that there are some crazy fans with irrational ideas -- mainly the types of fans who routinely call into sports talk radio shows and ramble on and on about random things -- but that type of thinking is just ridiculous.

Regardless of how bad that looks now, I still stand by that statement. At the time, the Redskins were 4-3 after a win -- an extremely ugly win -- over the Bears in Chicago. After that win, though, came arguably the toughest three weeks for Washington this season: a horrible loss in Detroit that included McNabb being benched late in the fourth quarter in favor of Grossman, a horrendously long bye week that included endless discussion of said benching, and then a 59-28 beating on Monday Night Football by the hated Eagles.

Since the Bears win, the Redskins are 1-5. In the first seven weeks, McNabb had six touchdown passes and seven interceptions. In the six games after that, he had eight touchdown passes and eight interceptions. For the season as a whole, McNabb has posted a 77.1 QB rating. So yeah, McNabb has been consistently mediocre the entire season.

That's not to say that the Redskins' poor offense and recent collapse as a team are both his fault -- of course not. He only has a couple of offensive weapons around him, the only young one being 24-year-old Ryan Torain, who has been fantastic -- when he's actually healthy enough to play. The receiving corps, outside of Santana Moss and Chris Cooley (and maybe Anthony Armstrong), isn't anything to get excited about either. And that's not even mentioning the offensive line, which is just a running joke at this point because of how often it has been neglected in the draft.

Benching McNabb in favor of Grossman does not give the Redskins a better chance to win. I think that bears repeating: Grossman starting at quarterback obviously does not present an upgrade at the position. With that being said, if the Shanahans have already decided that McNabb is a) not the quarterback they want to lead this team for the next few seasons, and b) deteriorating as an effective playmaker, then what's the point of running him out onto the field for the next three weeks? Sure, beating Dallas would be great, but with all of the major problems with this team, it's not really that big of a deal at this point. Sure, the idea to give Grossman all the reps is a little strange, considering that Grossman just isn't that good no matter what offensive system his team runs. Starting Beck would provide some intrigue, and maybe that's something that happens before the season ends. It's also entirely possible that no quarterback on this current roster ends up starting under center in Week 1 next season.

But really, if Shanahan wasn't going to bring McNabb back after this season, there's no reason to give him any more snaps. He's seemingly decided to go in another direction, and from what most people have seen this year from McNabb, that doesn't seem like a horrible choice. (That's not to suggest that McNabb won't look much better when he plays on a team next season that's able to surround him with more talent. Getting out of D.C. could be the best thing to happen to McNabb.)

2) The trade for McNabb was/is a complete disaster. In case anyone forgot, the Redskins parted with a second-round pick in the 2010 draft and either a third- or fourth-round choice in the upcoming draft. The Redskins have a ton of holes on offense and defense, and those two picks certainly would have helped. The Redskins could have selected a quarterback with that second-rounder -- who knows.

(Sidenote: Here's a quote from Brian Mitchell in the linked ESPN article above on the McNabb trade:

"In his voice I heard a lot of enthusiasm," Mitchell reported on Comcast SportsNet. "And you know, he may not be exactly like me, but I could hear he had a little revenge in that voice, too. And he wants to go to the Eagles and show them that they made a mistake."

It's nothing that's a big deal, of course, but it's still funny to read after the fact.)

As is the case with most Redskins trades, many fans focused on the veteran the team traded for instead of the value of the draft picks. The Redskins fan base's disdain for trading away draft picks is definitely growing -- and will continue to grow until these types of trades stop happening -- but there were a ton of excited fans when the news of the McNabb trade broke. And I'll be honest, my immediate thought that was I didn't like the trade, particularly because the team was again giving away more draft picks, but as the season got closer I did feel a little better about the Redskins having an established quarterback under center. But that obviously didn't change much about the team, and here we are now.

For what it's worth -- and believe me, I don't like to quote myself very often, let alone twice in the same post, but I think it's constructive in this case -- here was my reaction to the trade:

I understand why the Redskins made this move, and I think most fans can see the rationale behind it. If the Redskins are able to find a young quarterback they like in this year's draft or next year's, then McNabb isn't a bad choice to be the team's quarterback until then. However, the Redskins really need to stop trading draft picks. It's downright laughable at this point. There probably isn't another team in the NFL that values draft picks less, and it's not surprising to understand why the Redskins don't have adequate depth at most positions.

Although McNabb is a little more mobile than Campbell, he still needs an offensive line to give him time. Even if the Redskins take a left tackle at No. 4, there's still work to be done to significantly improve the line.

The move made some sense at the time; it would be a bit of revisionist history to suggest that it made no sense at all. But the Redskins didn't adequately address the offensive line woes and also didn't bring in enough offensive weapons around McNabb. Oh, and McNabb didn't turn out to be the quarterback that the Shanahans thought they were getting.

Determining the winner and loser of this trade was always going to depend on how well McNabb played in Washington. Well, he didn't play all that well, and now it looks like he's on the way out. The McNabb trade is just another failed move, and now it's back to the drawing board for Shanahan and Co.

Boswell thinks the Redskins are 'close'

I've already picked on Thomas Boswell once this month for a peculiar column, and it's not something that I'm going to make a habit of doing. But after watching yesterday's frustrating 17-13 loss against the Vikings, how can Boswell say that the Skins "are getting closer" to much of anything?

Granted, I'll give the team credit for playing hard. And at 5-6, they already have more wins than last season with a shot to get a couple more. But yesterday's game can be used as a precise example of why the Skins are not close.

Even though Donovan McNabb was not the reason the Redskins lost the game, he did not make enough plays to win it. Boswell is right when he blames the lack of a running game, the poor offensive line play, and a few dropped balls by the team's receivers -- and a huge block-in-the-back call on Perry Riley -- but those are also all problems that the team needs to address. They are huge team weaknesses, not just a single week's problems that can easily be corrected after just one offseason.

Keiland Williams has had a few decent games, but he's not really an explosive player and shouldn't really be viewed as NFL starting running back material. James Davis deserves some more carries to see what he can bring to the table, but he didn't do anything special yesterday either. And Ryan Torain has also had a few strong performances, but he can't stay on the field.

Then again, maybe the lack of a running game can be blamed on the offensive line, which not only failed to protect McNabb (four sacks), but didn't open up any holes in the running game either. Trent Williams, the team's most recent first-round pick, is undoubtedly the best offensive lineman on the team, but there's little else to get excited about in terms of blocking.

And yet, when the blocking gave McNabb enough time, he did make several accurate throws. For the game, he was 21-35 for 211 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. As Boswell mentions, the interception was not McNabb's fault; it was Santana Moss who dropped the pass and had the ball deflect into the air for an interception. But McNabb did finish the game with a 74.8 quarterback rating, which has been about his average this season. It would be nice to get McNabb a ton of weapons and a huge offensive line that blocks every defender in sight, but the Redskins traded for McNabb so he'd be able to win games like this. Unfortunately, he didn't get much help.

And then, Boswell writes this uplifting paragraph: "This game also underlined the area where the Redskins have made the most significant improvement: in the game-breaking speed of Banks, who had a 65-yard kickoff return, and Anthony Armstrong, who caught a 45-yard bomb and now has 545 yards receiving."

I'm not going to debate the worth or skill level of Brandon Banks, who has been phenomenal in the return game and has easily been the team's most exciting player. But Armstrong? Yes, he has caught some long passes, and he even did so in yesterday's game (two catches, 53 yards). But even though he's not an old guy, he's still 27 years old. Has he really shown enough to be relied upon week in and week out? And is he really a big part of the team's future? The Redskins also have two seemingly reliable tight end options in Chris Cooley (28) and Fred Davis (24), but Santana Moss (31) is a free agent after this season and may end up on another team next season. It sure seems like more help will be needed in the receiving game.

Also, how can Boswell use speed as a positive and fail to mention the team's lack of speed in the Eagles game just a few weeks ago? The Redskins looked like they were playing on a different level -- a much, much lower level -- while the Eagles were running up and down the field with ease.

Anyway, my point is that the Redskins have a ton of holes to fill and not enough draft picks to fill them all adequately. Free agency will likely be the team's go-to option when it comes to bringing in more talent, but the past several years have shown that that strategy is far from reliable and may only create more future headaches for Mike Shanahan and the team's coaching staff.

Right now, the Redskins don't look as bad as they did last season, but they aren't really that much better either. I'm just not sure that I understand all of the excitement.

Skins beat Bears despite offensive struggles

First, the good news: The Redskins beat the Bears today, 17-14, and moved to 4-3 on the season. If the Giants lose tomorrow, then the Skins will be on top of the NFC East again, via tiebreaker. Also, DeAngelo Hall had the game of his life, intercepting a whopping four Jay Cutler passes and returning one for a 92-yard touchdown in the third quarter. That touchdown accounted for the only second half scoring in the game and ended up being the deciding play.

On offense, Ryan Torain rushed 21 times for 125 yards and broke numerous tackles, just like he did on Sunday night last week against the Colts. Unfortunately, he did lose a fumble deep in Bears territory on a potential scoring drive that could have put the game away for good, but it ended up not mattering because of Hall and the Skins defense. Donovan McNabb finished 17-32 for 200 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He didn't play particularly well, but he was also under siege all day by the Bears defense, and his receivers didn't help him out much, especially early in the game when Anthony Armstrong and Chris Cooley dropped consecutive passes in Bears territory. McNabb's lone touchdown was to Santana Moss, who had five catches for 63 yards. Cooley caught seven passes for 52 yards, but he also had at least one drop and also fumbled (though he did smack the ball out of bounds to keep the ball away from the Bears, but that play did draw a flag). Armstrong also had two catches for 42 yards.

On defense, players were flying all around the field, making big hits and forcing numerous fumbles. Rocky McIntosh led the team with eight tackles (tied with London Fletcher) and had a sack. Albert Haynesworth returned and played a phenomenal game. He blew up several plays by himself and also recorded a sack. Brian Orakpo was awesome as well and had two sacks, increasing his season total to seven. Overall, the defense only allowed seven points and was very opportunistic.

And now, the bad: The offense had a very difficult time both scoring points and holding onto the ball. As mentioned above, McNabb threw two interceptions -- one was returned for a touchdown -- and the Redskins also fumbled the ball six times(!), though they only lost one of them. So that was weird.

But back to the lack of scoring. In the first quarter, the Bears could barely gain any yards, which repeatedly set the Redskins offense up with great field position. In the quarter, the Redskins had four possessions that ended up at least entering Chicago's side of the field, yet at the end of the quarter, the score was 7-7. Let's take a look at each series:

1) 1st and 10 at WSH 23 D.McNabb pass short middle to A.Armstrong to WAS 43 for 20 yards (D.Manning) [I.Idonije].
1st and 15 at WSH 38 R.Torain right end to WAS 49 for 11 yards (A.Adams).
2nd and 4 at WSH 49 R.Torain right tackle to CHI 49 for 2 yards (T.Jennings).
3rd and 2 at CHI 49 D.McNabb pass incomplete short right to S.Moss.
4th and 2 at CHI 49 H.Smith punts 49 yards to end zone, Center-N.Sundberg, Touchback.

Nothing too out of the ordinary here. The Redskins get the ball on the opening kickoff and open up with a 20-yard completion to Armstrong. Torain gains 13 yards on two rushes after a false-start penalty, but McNabb and Moss can't connect on third down. Result: Punt

2) 1st and 10 at 50 D.McNabb pass incomplete short middle to R.Torain [J.Peppers].
2nd and 10 at 50 D.McNabb pass incomplete deep left to A.Armstrong.
3rd and 10 at 50 (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass incomplete short middle to C.Cooley.
4th and 10 at 50 H.Smith punts 20 yards to CHI 30, Center-N.Sundberg, out of bounds.

After the Skins defense forces a three-and-out, Brandon Banks returns the punt nine yards to the 50-yard line. McNabb drops back to pass three times in a row and fails to complete a pass. But it's hard to blame him since Armstrong and Cooley each botch potential big plays by dropping passes that hit them in the hands. Result: Punt

3) 1st and 10 at WSH 39 R.Torain left tackle to WAS 41 for 2 yards (H.Melton, M.Toeaina).
2nd and 8 at WSH 41 D.McNabb pass short middle to F.Davis to CHI 42 for 17 yards (B.Urlacher; C.Harris).
1st and 10 at CHI 42 D.McNabb pass short right to C.Cooley to CHI 37 for 5 yards (M.Toeaina).
2nd and 5 at CHI 37 D.McNabb pass short left to M.Sellers to CHI 22 for 15 yards (C.Tillman).
1st and 10 at CHI 22 R.Torain right end to CHI 26 for -4 yards (P.Tinoisamoa). PENALTY on WAS-J.Brown, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at CHI 22 - No Play.
1st and 20 at CHI 32 D.McNabb pass short left INTERCEPTED by D.Moore (I.Idonije) at CHI 46. D.Moore for 54 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

After another forced three-and-out, the Skins earn decent field position at their own 39. The drive starts out with some promise as McNabb starts to get in a rhythm and completes a few passes to move the ball down the field. But disaster strikes on a 1st and 20 play on the Chicago 32: McNabb drops back to pass but doesn't see an unblocked Bears defender running straight for him. Instead of taking the sack, McNabb tries to make a play and attempts a difficult throw to the left side of the field. But that doesn't work, and the ball is tipped up in the air, intercepted, and returned for a 54-yard touchdown. Result: Interception, TD Chicago. 7-0 Bears

4) 1st and 10 at WSH 28 R.Torain right guard to WAS 33 for 5 yards (M.Toeaina).
2nd and 5 at WSH 33 D.McNabb scrambles right end to WAS 35 for 2 yards (B.Turner).
3rd and 3 at WSH 35 (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass short middle to S.Moss to CHI 49 for 16 yards (C.Harris).
1st and 10 at CHI 49 D.McNabb pass incomplete short left to M.Sellers.
2nd and 10 at CHI 49 D.McNabb pass short right to C.Cooley to CHI 41 for 8 yards (B.Urlacher).
3rd and 2 at CHI 41 D.McNabb pass short right to C.Cooley to CHI 35 for 6 yards (T.Jennings).
1st and 10 at CHI 35 R.Torain right guard to CHI 25 for 10 yards (C.Harris).
1st and 10 at CHI 25 R.Torain left end to CHI 24 for 1 yard (P.Tinoisamoa).
2nd and 9 at CHI 24 D.McNabb pass deep left to S.Moss for 24 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

After that horrible play and resulting touchdown, the Redskins start at their own 28. What resulted was their only touchdown-scoring drive of the day. Looking determined, the offense marches down the field, utilizing both McNabb's arm and Torain's legs (but mostly McNabb's arm). After getting to the Chicago 24, McNabb fires a 24-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Moss. Result: TD Washington. 7-7

The Redskins defense again forces the Bears into a three-and-out, which ends the first quarter. For what it's worth, the Redskins did score on a field goal on the ensuing drive, though they didn't have to go very far considering they started at midfield. But after that field goal, the offense failed to score again, and the only Redskins points came on Hall's interception return.

For the game, the Bears offense slightly outgained the Redskins 322-308, though neither offense would likely take much pride in such an ugly game. However, it's still notable because despite being 4-3, the Redskins offense has been outgained (in yardage) in all seven games. Yes, the scoreboard is what's most important, obviously, but the yardage stat is still worth noting.

So what does all this mean? Well, the offense failed to take advantage of outstanding field position early in the game and also allowed the Bears to score a defensive touchdown, both of which nearly cost the Redskins the game. At this point, Redskins offensive players know that they need to put more points on the board -- especially touchdowns. The offensive line didn't pass block well at all, but Torain did have a strong game on the ground, averaging six yards per rush. Last week Torain had 100 yards, so moving the ball on the ground is starting to become a strength instead of a weakness like it had been early in the season.

The Redskins just aren't a very good offensive team at this point. There's tons of room for improvement, but it may take a while before positive changes are made (if at all). With the team playing so many close games and still managing a 4-3 record, it would be a huge lift if the offense could just score another touchdown here or there. But it would be even better to not have any more plays like that Bears interception return, though that type of thing really hadn't happened to the Redskins this season until today anyway. It's also awesome that the defense forced six turnovers, but that kind of thing probably won't continue to happen, especially since the Skins schedule after the bye week is rather difficult.

No matter who's to blame -- McNabb, offensive line, receivers, coordinators -- the offense has to be more efficient if this team is going to reach the playoffs. Jay Cutler won't be there every week to throw the game away.

Santana Moss and Chris Cooley catch a lot of passes

Do the Redskins rely too much on Santana Moss and Chris Cooley? Do defenses fear anyone in the Skins passing attack besides those two? Who is going to step up and be that third receiving threat? Those three questions, and many more, are ones that Redskins fans have likely heard multiple times over the course of the season (and even before the season started, to be honest).

There's no denying that Moss and Cooley are a strong receiving tandem. Heading into this week's matchup against the Colts, Moss (29 catches) and Cooley (23 catches) have combined for 52 receptions for 711 yards and three touchdowns. Donovan McNabb looks for them often -- about 47 percent of his targets are to Moss and Cooley. They've also made eight more catches than the rest of the Redskins receiving options combined (52 to 44). And just to hammer the point home, the next highest reception total on the team is nine by Mike Sellers. So yeah, not that anyone's arguing otherwise, but Moss and Cooley are fairly important.

Is this really a problem? Not necessarily. There's no question that McNabb should be looking to get the ball to Moss and Cooley, especially if other receivers aren't getting open. It would be nice if perhaps Armstrong or someone else develops into a third option to help open the offense up more, but who knows if that's really possible right now with this current Redskins roster.

Anyway, let's take a quick look at other current top receiving duos and see what percentage of their team's receptions they're hauling in.

Percentage of receptions caught by top two receivers

1. Atlanta Falcons: Roddy White/Tony Gonzalez (55.9%)
2. Miami Dolphins: Brandon Marshall/Davone Bess (55.8%)
3. New York Giants: Hakeem Nicks/Steve Smith (54.4%)
4. Washington Redskins: Santana Moss/Chris Cooley (54.1%)
5. Indianapolis Colts: Reggie Wayne/Austin Collie (52.0%)
6. New England Patriots: Wes Welker/Aaron Hernandez (51.7%)
7. Cincinnati Bengals: Terrell Owens/Chad Ochocinco (49.5%)
8. St. Louis Rams: Danny Amendola/Mark Clayton** (48.6%)
9. San Francisco 49ers: Frank Gore/Vernon Davis (48.3%)
10. Oakland Raiders: Zach Miller/Louis Murphy (47.9%)
11. Arizona Cardinals: Larry Fitzgerald/Steve Breaston (47.0%)
12. Baltimore Ravens: Anquan Boldin/Todd Heap (46.9%)
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Mike Williams/Kellen Winslow (46.7%)
14. New York Jets: Dustin Keller/Braylon Edwards (45.7%)
15. Houston Texans: Andre Johnson/Kevin Walter (45.0%)
16. San Diego Chargers: Antonio Gates/Malcolm Floyd (43.9%)
17. Cleveland Browns: Ben Watson/Peyton Hillis (43.8%)
18. Denver Broncos: Jabar Gaffney/Brandon Lloyd (43.2%)
19. Pittsburgh Steelers: Hines Ward/Heath Miller (43.1%)
20. Kansas City Chiefs: Tony Moeaki/Dwayne Bowe (43.1%)
21. Philadelphia Eagles: LeSean McCoy/DeSean Jackson (42.9%)
22. Dallas Cowboys: Miles Austin/Jason Witten (42.8%)
23. Jacksonville Jaguars: Mike Thomas/Marcedes Lewis (42.0%)
24. Minnesota Vikings: Percy Harvin/Adrian Peterson (41.8%)
25. Green Bay Packers: Donald Driver/Jermichael Finley** (41.4%)
26. Chicago Bears: Matt Forte/Greg Olsen (39.7%)
27. Buffalo Bills: Steve Johnson/Lee Evans (39.5%)
28. Detroit Lions: Brandon Pettigrew/Jahvid Best (39.2%)
29. Tennessee Titans: Nate Washington/Kenny Britt (38.1%)
30. Seattle Seahawks: John Carlson/Deion Branch* (34.6%)
31. New Orleans Saints: Marques Colston/Jeremy Shockey (33.8%)
32. Carolina Panthers: Steve Smith/David Gettis (33.8%)

* Traded to Patriots
** Out for the season

Now, this list may not mean a whole lot. Some teams don't throw a lot to their tight ends; some teams prefer to throw a bunch of dump-off passes to running backs. Some teams in the top 10 or so are similar to the Redskins in that they don't really have many other options in the passing game. But most of the teams at least have pretty good third and fourth options that 1) simply don't get thrown as many passes and 2) are still good enough to force other teams to account for them and allow their team's top receivers to have more space to work with.

And then, there are teams in the 20s like the Cowboys and Packers who spread the ball around and have plenty of receiving options. Must be nice.

In the end, the Redskins will likely need someone to step up to take the pressure off of Moss and Cooley, but that's not really breaking news. I guess I'm just trying to say this: Both of those guys are really good.

Despite scoreless second half, Skins still beat Eagles

Here's a fun fact: Did you know that the Redskins (2-2) are in first place in the NFC East (thanks to tiebreakers) despite being outscored by six points (79-73) in their four games? That's probably not a good thing, but it's all about getting wins, right?

That seemed to be the case yesterday, when the Redskins played a fantastic first quarter and then were mediocre, or worse, on offense the rest of the game. In that first quarter, the Redskins scored two touchdowns on their first two drives. On the first TD, Brandon Banks set the offense up with outstanding field position after a 53-yard punt return. The Redskins ran the ball three times, the final play a 12-yard run by Ryan Torain, who ran over Eagles safety Quintin Mikell on his way to the end zone. On their next TD drive, the Redskins moved the ball from their own 22 into Eagles territory with ease, and that drive was capped off by a 31-yard TD pass from Donovan McNabb to Chris Cooley. With about five minutes left in the opening quarter, the Redskins were up 14-0 -- a great start. Unfortunately, the offense wouldn't do a whole lot else for three-plus quarters.

Tale of the tape (first quarter):
Redskins: 112 yards (plus a 53-yard punt return), 14 points
Eagles: 72 yards, 0 points

Sure, the Redskins kicked a field goal in the second quarter to take a 17-3 lead. But for the next 39 minutes or so (in game time), the Redskins scored no points. And after gaining those 112 yards in the first quarter, the offense gained just 181 yards for the rest of the game. That's just not good enough to win many games; however, the defense was up to the task yesterday.

Did it hurt the Eagles that Michael Vick had to leave the game late in the first quarter? Yeah, definitely. But the Redskins defense still held the Eagles to only 12 points, even with an offense that stopped moving the ball effectively after the first quarter and a punter (Josh Bidwell) who averaged 37 yards per punt and probably shouldn't be with the team going forward. The Redskins knew when to get rid of Larry Johnson; it's time to do the same with Bidwell.

The Redskins shouldn't expect to win a lot of games when McNabb ends up with a quarterback rating of 60.2 (8-19, 125 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) and the offense fails to score any points in the second half, but the defense also took a step forward, holding the Eagles to just two field goals until a late TD drive in what looked a lot like some version of a prevent defense. The defense also forced, by my count, four holding penalties on the Eagles offensive line, and it probably should have been more than that.

The running game was also much better this week. Torain rushed for 70 yards on 18 carries (3.9 average), and Clinton Portis had 55 yards on 11 carries (5.5 average) and showcased some evasiveness that hasn't been seen for a few years. McNabb also ran five times for 39 yards, including a clutch run for a first down in the fourth quarter to, more or less, seal the game. (But why did he run out of bounds?) Still, the ground game was improved.

With consecutive games against the Packers and Colts coming up, and then a trip on the road to Chicago to play the Bears, the win over the Eagles was crucial. And not only that, but the Redskins are now 2-0 against the NFC East after finishing 0-6 against the division last season. They may not stand a chance in their next two games, but they've been competitive in their own division, which is important considering how average all four teams have looked at times.

Texans complete comeback, stun Redskins in OT

Leading 27-10 in the third quarter after a 22-yard touchdown pass from Donovan McNabb to Chris Cooley, the Redskins allowed 20 unanswered points to the Texans, who went on to win 30-27 on a game-winning 35-yard field goal in overtime by Neil Rackers. The Redskins fought valiantly against the Texans, but they had a few opportunities to shut the door on a potential comeback, yet failed to do so. So despite the fact that McNabb threw for 426 yards, is this progress or more of the same?

I don't believe in a team "deserving to win" a game, but the Redskins had no business losing that game. They held a 17-point lead in the third quarter, and going into the fourth quarter were still winning by 10. But the Texans have a lot of weapons on offense, and they went to work in the second half. After the Redskins scored to go up 17 with about four minutes left in the third quarter, one big play seemed to give the Texans momentum back: a 50-yard screen pass to Arian Foster. It really was a fantastic play call; the Redskins had been blitzing a lot, and on 3rd and 15 from the Houston 44, they called a simple screen pass to Foster, who slipped past several blitzing defenders and followed a few blockers down the field for a huge gain. Matt Schaub then completed a short TD pass to Kevin Walter to cut the lead to 10.

That touchdown ended the third quarter, and the Redskins got the ball back with a chance to tack on some more points. Unfortunately, Larry Johnson entered the game and figured that that would be a good time to take a toss that seemed doomed from the start and, instead of losing maybe three or four yards by trying to get back to the line of scrimmage, make a U-turn and turn a bad play into a horrible one with a 10-yard loss. Thanks to that play, the Redskins went three and out and barely took any time off the clock. The Texans got the ball back and almost immediately answered with a field goal. With about 11 minutes to go, the Redskins' lead had been cut to seven.

So here's where the only-the-Redskins-do-this-kind-of-stuff part comes in. The Redskins start off at the 37 after a solid return and drive into Houston territory on passes to Anthony Armstrong (16 yards) and Joey Galloway (19 yards). The Redskins then run four straight times, and for the first time all game actually move the ball efficiently on the ground, getting the ball to the Houston 5. A false-start penalty gives the Redskins a 3rd and 6 opportunity, but McNabb throws an incomplete pass. Graham Gano comes on to try a 29-yard field goal, but the Texans block the kick. So instead of leading by 10 with about seven minutes left, the Redskins still lead by seven.

But there's still hope! On Houston's ensuing possession, London Fletcher gets a huge sack on Schaub, and the Texans punt the ball away after a three and out. After an awful Matt Turk punt, the Redskins have the ball on their own 49 -- fantastic field position -- with five minutes to go. On first down, McNabb hits Mike Sellers for a five-yard gain. And then, another confusing play: the Redskins attempt an end-around to Santana Moss, which loses eight yards. McNabb and the Redskins can't convert the 3rd and 13, so instead of icing the game by driving down the field, the Redskins have to punt the ball away.

With just over three minutes to go, the Texans drive down the field. And even though the defense made the Texans work, Schaub still hits Andre Johnson on a 34-yard touchdown on 4th and 10 to tie the game. The lead is gone, Trent Williams sprains his knee on the next possession, and the game goes to overtime.

In OT, the Redskins have a (another) chance to win with a 52-yard field goal, but Texans coach Gary Kubiak calls a timeout right before Gano nails his the kick, nullifying the play. On his next chance, Gano misses the kick wide right. So with great field position, the Texans drive down the field and get their own field goal chance, and Rackers makes his kick to win the game and give the Texans an amazing comeback victory.

So, to summarize, the Redskins had their moments but still did several Redskins-type things to lose the game. McNabb had a huge passing game, but he was overshadowed by Schaub, who threw for 497 yards and three touchdowns. The Redskins also did a decent job of stopping Foster (19 carries, 69 yards), but that's mostly because the Texans got behind and had to start passing (which still worked). Foster also caught three passes for 69 yards, including that huge screen pass.

The Redskins, though, had an awful game running the ball. Portis had 13 carries for 33 yards (and two touchdowns), and Larry Johnson had two carries for -7 yards. If that 10-yard loss play wasn't enough to move Johnson down the depth chart, I don't know what is.

Moss caught 10 passes for 89 yards, but besides that McNabb spread the ball around. Galloway (88 yards) and Cooley (64 yards) each caught three passes, and Fred Davis had a 62-yard catch.

I'll admit this: The Redskins do seem like a better team than last year. And while they could very easily be 2-0, they also could be 0-2. So 1-1 still feels pretty good. And if that seems negative, well, it's not. Consider this: A 3-8 Redskins team nearly beat an 11-0 Saints team last year in a game very similar to this one.

In that game, the Redskins led by 10 in the fourth quarter before allowing a late touchdown drive that sent the game into overtime. The Redskins got the ball first in OT, but Sellers fumbled the ball away, giving the Saints great field position. They easily moved the ball into field goal range and won, moving to 12-0.

If you'll remember, the Redskins had a chance to ice that game with a kick as well. But Shaun Suisham missed a seemingly routine 23-yard attempt to give the Saints new life. And they took advantage by driving the ball down the field for a touchdown and sending the game into OT. Another missed opportunity -- sound familiar?

Even if McNabb revitalizes the passing attack, which he did yesterday, the Redskins will be in big trouble if they can't 1) improve their rushing attack and 2) fix the defense. It's fun to play an opportunistic, bend-but-don't-break defense, but it's tough to ask a defense to do that all game while continuing to call blitzes that just don't get to the quarterback often enough. The Redskins did have five sacks -- that's pretty good. But they were also allowing big chunks of yardage in the passing game.

By the way, the Trent Williams injury is a big deal. If he's forced to miss more than a game or two, that'll spell big trouble not just for McNabb, but for the entire offense.

With the Rams on the schedule next week, the Redskins should be able to move to 2-1. Let's see how the team responds when they're actually favored in a game.

Cooley out for season with broken ankle

As if things couldn't get any worse for the Redskins (especially on offense), Chris Cooley is out for the season after breaking his ankle in the second quarter against the Eagles last night.

The play on which Cooley was injured looked pretty awkward, with Cooley stopping quickly over the middle of the field and possibly getting his right cleat caught in the ground. Cooley immediately fell to the ground clutching his ankle, unable to put any weight on his right foot.

Oddly enough, with Cooley out, Fred Davis had the best game of his career. Davis caught eight passes from Jason Campbell for 78 yards and a touchdown. He also led all receivers with 10 targets in the passing game.

While losing Cooley is an enormous loss, it's not like the offense was putting up huge numbers even with him in the lineup. There's no question the offense is better with him playing, but the silver lining with him being out, if there is one, is that Davis will get a chance to be the featured tight end for the rest of the season. Though it's unlikely that Campbell will return next year, it's still important to find out if the young receivers drafted by Vinny Cerrato -- Devin Thomas, Davis, and Malcolm Kelly -- can actually contribute.

By the way, Cerrato deserves special thanks for drafting both Thomas and Davis ahead of DeSean Jackson, who scored two long touchdowns last night and sure looked like the best player on the field.

Zorn, Redskins should embrace winning ugly

To put it mildly, the Redskins (particularly the offense) have struggled in the first four games of the season. They lost on the road to the Giants by six, beat the Rams at home by two, lost to the Lions by five, and beat the Bucs by three, meaning they're 2-2 even though they've been outscored by six points. The loss to the Giants is understandable: They're 4-0 and look like one of the NFL's best teams. But the other three teams are a combined 1-11 on the season.

In the next two weeks, the Redskins play at Carolina and at home against Kansas City. By the way, those two are a combined 0-7. But as the Redskins' early play has indicated, opposing teams' records don't really mean a whole lot. The Redskins have played down to their competition (unless they're just a bad team too), but they were also an onside kick away from getting the ball back against the Giants and potentially having a chance to score some more points. They were outplayed in New York, but they still lost by less than a touchdown. So, while the Redskins could have lost all four of their games if they didn't make a few key plays, all of their games have been winnable and have at least been competitive in the fourth quarter.

Anyway, here's the point: The Redskins have flaws. Every team in the NFL does, but the Redskins' flaws are more obvious than most: the offensive line is pretty bad; they can't (or haven't been able to) run the ball effectively; besides Santana Moss and Chris Cooley, other receivers haven't stepped up and haven't scared opponents; Jason Campbell sometimes holds the ball too long and doesn't make quick decisions; and the defense can't always get pressure on the quarterback and until recently has struggled to force opposing offenses off the field on third down. I know I left some out, but those are the major concerns.

As you probably have noticed, most of the correctable problems are on the defensive side of the ball. Rookies Brian Orakpo (15 tackles, two sacks) and Jeremy Jarmon (three tackles, one forced fumble) seem like they can get pressure on the quarterback and should keep improving. Albert Haynesworth has been criticized harshly at times, but he's doing a pretty good job occupying blockers inside. Chris Horton, LaRon Landry, and Reed Doughty have, so far, formed a solid group of safeties. Even Justin Tryon showed in the win over Tampa Bay that he's making some strides, taking over the nickel corner role for Fred Smoot and recording a sack. And, of course, London Fletcher is a tackling machine (leads the NFL with 52 tackles).

Obviously, though, the offense has been awful -- 27th in points scored (14 points per game). Jason Campbell has been about average, ranking 16th in quarterback rating (85.5), ninth in completion percentage (65.3), 11th in passing yards (963), and t-11th in touchdowns (five). But after his three-interception performance on Sunday, he's tied for the fourth-most interceptions with five and has been sacked eight times.

As for other individual performances on offense, Moss has 17 catches for 293 yards (10th among wide receivers) and two touchdowns. Cooley has 22 receptions for 254 yards (third among tight ends) and two touchdowns. Portis has the 10th-most rushing yards among running backs with 281 yards, but his 3.9 yards-per-carry average isn't even in the top 25 among qualified rushers. Part of that is certainly due to the lack of running room, but not every offensive line in the NFL is that much better than Washington's line.

But besides those three skill players, the Redskins really don't have any other weapons. No other running back has done much of anything, and Malcolm Kelly, Devin Thomas, and Fred Davis have a combined 10 catches for 82 yards. That's it. Oh, and Antwaan Randle El had a good first game against the Giants (seven catches, 98 yards), but since then he only has six catches for 60 yards -- and he didn't catch a single pass against the Bucs.

It's also worth noting that Rock Cartwright is 18th in kickoff return average (23.9) while Randle El has returned only four punts for 35 yards (an 8.8-yard average).

So, again, here's what the Redskins have:

• a defense that can certainly play better even though it's allowed only 15.5 points per game (against bad teams -- but still);
• an offense that has struggled to score points even against bad defenses;
• a lack of playmakers on offense besides Moss and Cooley (and sometimes Portis);
• an average (at best) offensive line and a group of inconsistent wide receivers who cannot be relied upon;
• and kickoff and punt returners who haven't set the offense up with a short field.

Even with all of this going down, though, Jim Zorn is still striving for perfection on offense:

"I'm just going to keep pushing. It's my responsibility. I feel like I'm the one it's reflecting on as well. It's reflecting on all of us, but I'm the focal point and it should reflect on me. I'm not going to be happy with that and we're going to keep pushing. . . . It's just been something that we're going to continue to push toward. We demand perfection out here during practice, but you really do have to take . . . you have to look at what's being given during a game and that's hard to take. It really is. I still want that perfection in a game as well."

I'm pretty sure the Redskins aren't getting perfection in practice out of many of their offensive players, but statements like that are fine. Coaches are supposed to say stuff like that. But there's basically nothing that this offense will be able to do perfectly. So far, they've seemingly had to struggle for every yard and every point. And that's fine -- improvement, at least some signs of it, should be coming soon. But deep down, I'm sure Zorn knows that this offense will never be a powerhouse and won't start scoring tons of points against anyone. But there's nothing wrong with winning ugly games, even against bad teams -- the key is actually winning. Whether or not the Redskins can actually keep doing that will depend mostly on how well the defense plays.

But a few more deep touchdown passes to Moss sure wouldn't hurt.

Weekly Rundown: Redskins fall to Giants in opener

Weekly Rundown is a combination of links and brief comments on stories and topics that I couldn't get to during the week. (And during football season, the links will be pretty Redskins-heavy.) If there's something important that I missed, don't hesitate to send an email or leave a comment.

• Boswell sums up another disappointing performance by the Redskins' offense: "Essentially, the Redskins' offense didn't arrive in Giants Stadium until there were only three minutes left. So, the Giants built a massive edge in time of possession and had a 350-200 superiority in yards before the Redskins drove 72 yards against a loose defense to score with 1 minute 37 seconds left." [Thomas Boswell]


• What was up with the horrible play-calling yesterday? Was it too much to ask for the offense to open things up yesterday by sticking Jason Campbell in the shotgun for a series or two while the running game wasn't working? [Mike Wise]


• Campbell's late-game pass to Chris Cooley resulted in the offense's only touchdown of the game. [Redskins Insider]


• Brandon Jacobs on LaRon Landry: "The Redskins as a whole is a pretty clean team, they just have one guy over there that was a little salty from 12 months ago. . . . [Landry] just kept at me, you know, hitting me out of bounds, got a stupid penalty, dumb fine that he shouldn't have had. He should have been smarter, you know, but it comes with experience." [D.C. Sports Bog]


• The Redskins missed too many tackles. Seriously, Mario Manningham? [D.C. Sports Bog]


• ESPN's Matt Mosley on the Redskins' quarterback: "Campbell also was upset with himself that he checked into a running play on a third-and-8 in the second half. He said he lost track of how many yards the Redskins needed and that he should have checked into a pass play." Way to stay focused out there. [NFC East Blog]


• The season's underway, but here's Richard Deitsch's 2009 NFL broadcasting guide. [Sports Illustrated]


• Tim Dierkes gives his offseason outlook for the Orioles:
  

  
  For 2010, Wigginton could take either infield corner and Scott could be an option at first base. Brandon Snyder and Michael Aubrey may also merit consideration. The O's added their third baseman of the future in Josh Bell with the George Sherrill trade. With the corners and DH spot in flux next year, it may make sense for the Orioles to add a free agent. Players such as Carlos Delgado, Nick Johnson, and Adrian Beltre are interesting on one-year deals, if the price is right.
  
  The rotation is suddenly deep enough where Uehara is being considered for a bullpen role. Matusz and Tillman are the team's aces of the future, with both getting a look this year. Arrieta isn't far behind. I wouldn't be looking to spend much on a free agent pitcher this winter.
  
  Certain players could be trade bait if Andy MacPhail doesn't consider them part of the next good Orioles club. Scott and Guthrie, both under team control through 2012, jump out as candidates. Guthrie's seen a dip in his strikeout and groundball rates this season, but he's potentially above-average in the NL.
  

  
  No arguments here. [MLB Trade Rumors]