Braves on the Warpath Series: If you can't beat the Rams, who can you beat?

So after Week Two, where the Redskins lose in a heartwrenching overtime battle with the Texans, a visit to St. Louis was ideally an opportunity to recover and reestablish some dominance that escaped through their fingertips. Of course, these are our Washington Redskins, a team not known for convincing wins, where the unexpected happens and they win against good teams, but cannot put away the bad. No disrespect to the Rams, whom if memory serves me right, they did win a Super Bowl about ten years ago. But, they're a shell of their former selves, cradling the bottom tier of bad NFL teams the last five years, racking up high draft pick after high draft pick. By all accounts, this was to be a must and will win for the Redskins. Not this year however, as they lose 30-16 on Sunday. The Skins give the Rams their first win at home since 2008 and fall to 1-2 leading up to arguably the toughest stretch of the year. More on that later. Here's the recap.


"At the expense of the Redskins, Rams rookie QB Sam Bradford gets his first NFL Win." Image courtesy of Tom Gannam, AP

Leading up to the game, in an odd set of circumstances, punter Josh Bidwell reinjured his hip (what kept him out in 2009) in practice and was ruled out for the game. This meant that kicker Graham Gano would assume kicking AND punting duties. Gano would send the opening kick-off out-of-bounds and give the Rams great field position. They would make good work of that and march down the field, leading with a RB Steven Jackson 42-yard TD run. Rookie QB Sam Bradford would play cautiously throughout the game, but still put out very respectable numbers. The Redskins defense, whom had given up over 600 yards of offense last week, continued to struggle adjusting to a 3-4 defense. There was very little pass rush, poor tackling, and the secondary played way too soft and gave up a lot of yardage to the rookie QB.

On the following possession, the Redskins turn the ball over as Santana Moss fumbles the ball and the Rams bring it back to the 3 yard line. Two plays later, Bradford connects with TE Daniel Fells for the TD. And just like that, the Rams are up 14-0 midway through the first quarter. Things for the Redskins don't get any better as on the following drive, Gano's punt gets blocked and the Rams get another turnover. Fortunately, Redskins S Kareem Moore stops the Rams' possession with his INT. The Redskins would fail to score in the first quarter but march down the field into the second.


"Kicker/Punter Graham Gano gets his punt blocked." Image courtesy of Jeff Robertson, AP

Just like in the two previous weeks, the Redskins struggle to put up touchdowns in the red zone. They start the second quarter off deep in Rams territory but get their first points on a Gano field goal. On the ensuing kickoff, the Rams fumble the ball and the Redskins recover. One play later, McNabb hits WR Santana Moss for a 21-yard TD pass and just like that, it's 14-10. The Redskins would cut it closer on the second Gano field goal on their next possession to make it 14-13. Finally, in the final seconds of the first half, as the Rams had marched down the field, Redskins DE Philip Daniels blocks a K Josh Brown field goal attempt.

The Redskins start off the second half on the right foot when McNabb hits Moss on a 56-yard pass deep into Rams territory. They get to the two yard line and YET AGAIN, fail to get a touchdown and must rely on Gano. Gano hits his third field goal of the day and the Redskins finally take the lead, 16-14. Too bad those were the final points for them in the game. Bradford and the Rams methodically move down the field, converting on downs and ultimately score on a RB Kenneth Darby 12 yard TD run. 21-16 Rams. The Redskins offense would not produce on significant drives and does not even make into Rams territory until the final drive of the game, which by then was too late. The Rams would get three more field goal drives that eat up so much clock to make it a 30-16 final score.



"Despite a strong rushing attack in the first half, Clinton Portis and the Redskins account for only one net yard in the second half." Image courtesy of Jeff Robertson, AP

I truly believed that the Redskins would have bounced back from Week 2 and maybe even dominate the Rams. Leading up to the game, some anxiety came out as I thought, maybe the Redskins would once again let up and play soft, to the point of playing down to the Rams ability (again, no disrespect to the Rams) and allow the game to be a competitive one. But they should still win! It did not take much to see the Redskins, DESPITE all the off season changes, are still the Redskins from last year, a team that fails to put opponents away and play aggressive sound football for four quarters. Getting behind quickly by two TDs in the first six minutes certainly did nothing to prove otherwise.

The next four games are to be the most brutal of the season for the Redskins. They play at the Eagles, home to the Packers and Colts and then at the Bears. Sitting at 1-2 now, they conceivably could end up 1-6 before they host Lions. Beating the Cowboys was important and they gave away the game to the Texans. The Rams should have been the easiest in the first half of the season. If a rookie QB can beat you, what do you expect when you play against a rejuvenated Michael Vick, and two of the top five QBs in the league in Rodgers and Manning? I guess you just focus on the one game each week. Next week, McNabb returns to Philly!