The Walk
courtesy of Miss Maxine
Welcome to DC sports. It is the place where your 98 win baseball team enters to ninth inning with a lead in game 5 of the NLDS and is bounced by a utility infielder, it is where your hockey team wins the Presidents Cup, takes a 3-1 series lead, and loses, and it is where your football team goes on a near miraculous run to win the division and make the playoffs and then loses because their best player can barely walk. DC sports has become the land of misery and if misery loves company then Redskins fans can go join the Nationals fans still sulking about how their season ended.
The Redskins loss to the Seahawks started out well enough. The Redskins got the ball to start and drove down the field to score on their first possession The defense was swarming and there was little to nothing the Seahawks could do and the Redskins scored on their second possession. At this point it didn’t look like the game was going to be fair, but something happened at the end of that second scoring drive. RGIII was hit after completing his second touchdown pass and Seattle defender Bruce Irvin was tagged with an unnecessary roughness penalty. After that the Redskins didn’t score again and RGIII never looked the same.
There were many during the game questioning if RGIII should have been removed for Cousins at the first signs of trouble, and perhaps he should have been, but the Seattle defense is a solid unit and even with the injury RGIII’s presence opened up running lanes for Morris. As it became more clear that Griffin not only couldn’t run, but couldn’t pass downfield those running lanes closed off and the Redskins offense became completely ineffective.
If Cousins would have changed that is something we’ll never know. RGIII was playing hurt and could have done more damage to his sprained knee, but one way or another his 2012-13 season is over. Now it is time for the Redskins to look to the off-season and find players to fill their biggest needs. The most obvious need for the Redskins is the secondary, and they need pretty much everything. Josh Wilson and Cedric Griffin are find complimentary pieces, but the Redskins need a shutdown corner. An even bigger need than that in the secondary is the need for safeties. The Redskins have none and finding two should be the first priority this off-season.
The 2013 Redskins defense will get some lift from having Orakpo and Carriker return from the injuries that took them out in week two of this season. As far as offensive needs go for the Redskins the biggest one is for RGIII to rest and relax during the off-season and be ready to play in 2013. The Redskins had one of the best offenses in the NFL and while it would be nice to have an additional receiver or tight end neither is necessary. Fred Davis will be back from injury and that alone will give Griffin an additional target.
The Redskins 2012 was a surprise season. The seven game win streak that led to them winning the division was some of the best football that DC sports fans have witnessed in 20 years. The 2013 off-season is about improving on that and moving past a difficult loss to the Seahawks. The Redskins had the lead entering the fourth quarter and weren’t able to hold it, but the focus of the off-season shouldn’t be on that one game. It should be on all the game that made that one possible.
