Washington vs. Denver; A win that never was....

Again the inconsistency of the Redskins was on display for the entire Nation to see.  The flashes of brilliance shown by the defense were only matched by the complete inability to stop the deep pass.  Manning and the Denver Broncos overcame four turnovers and a two-touchdown deficit to score the last 38 points in what would be a 45-21 runaway over the former Denver coach's current team. 
Manning threw for 354 yards and four touchdowns and the Denver defense came up with a season-high five turnovers -- more than enough to overcome three interceptions and a lost fumble by the Broncos quarterback. 
After DeAngelo Hall returned one of Manning's interceptions 26 yards for a 21-7 lead, Manning began a meticulous run of football that saw the Broncos (7-1) use a total of 27 plays to go 75 and 83 yards for two touchdowns that tied the game.
 "It was like a blur," Hall said.  "Someone asked me, 'What went wrong, what happened?'  To be brutally honest, I don't remember.  I looked up one point, 21-7, felt good, everybody smiling.  Turned around and it ... was 38-21."
The Redskins have to get back to the basics.  RUN, RUN, RUN.... Alfred Morris had 17 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown.   Morris is averaging 5.2 yards per carry this season and is the answer to the Skins' offensive struggles.  As soon as the Shanahans realize that the answer to helping out a struggling RG3 is already in the backfield with him, the quicker the team will get back in the win column. 
RG3 isn't the savior folks, at least not yet.  He's a second year QB who is struggling to wrap his head around the complex defenses that the NFL offers week in and week out.  Get back to the bread and butter that won us a NFC East championship last year- the read option, and with that  change, comes success.

Was	Den
First downs	22	29
Total Net Yards	266	446
Rushes-yards	28-112	34-107
Passing	154	339
Punt Returns	2-36	1-10
Kickoff Returns	0-0	1-30
Interceptions Ret.	3-42	4-97
Comp-Att-Int	20-39-4	30-44-3
Sacked-Yards Lost	3-26	2-15
Punts	7-39.1	3-49.0
Fumbles-Lost	3-1	1-1
Penalties-Yards	1-5	6-57
Time of Possession	28:00	32:00

___

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING_Washington, Morris 17-93, Helu Jr. 5-11, Griffin III 5-7, Cousins 1-1. Denver, Moreno 14-44, Ball 11-37, Anderson 4-22, Holliday 1-7, Manning 4-(minus 3).

PASSING_Washington, Griffin III 15-30-2-132, Cousins 5-9-2-48. Denver, Manning 30-44-3-354.

RECEIVING_Washington, Reed 8-90, Garcon 7-46, Moss 2-20, Helu Jr. 1-14, Hankerson 1-7, Morgan 1-3. Denver, D.Thomas 7-75, Moreno 6-89, Welker 6-81, Decker 4-42, J.Thomas 3-29, Dreessen 2-9, Tamme 1-15, Caldwell 1-14.

MISSED FIELD GOALS_None.

 

Lets look forward to a big win next week....

Rich Facciolo
Football Columnist
Shades of Red