Here is my review after looking at the recording of the Redskins-Bengals game. The second half is here, go here to see the first half review.
Third quarter
That was just a good, competent drive for the Redskins’ first offensive touchdown. The only thing of note was the last play, when Robert Geathers tried to take Morris’ head off behind the line of scrimmage, but the RB spun out of it and scooted into the end zone.
Jarvis Jenkins had a big hand in making a third-down stop on the Bengals’ ensuing possession. He got into the hole and made the initial contact on BenJarvus Green-Ellis. That held him up long enough for the rest of the defense to take him down.
You have to love the way Alfred Morris runs. During the second TD drive he just willed his way through a pile of bodies to pick up seven additional yards. He ran the last five yards with his torso parallel to the ground.
The edge defenders have to play the option soft when Banks is in. His speed just terrifies defenses. Good adjustment by Kyle Shanahan to get him in there.
Again, Morris. He’s stopped dead after a two-yard gain on second and five at the 12. But his legs keep churning and he moves the pile for enough yardage to get the first down.
Had Griffin’s left foot not been a few inches out of bounds, his arms-out dive to the goal line with the ball touching the pylon would have been an all-timer.
But they got the TD on the next play anyway as Griffin found Santana Moss in the front of the end zone with a pinpoint pass on the move. That tied the game at 24-24.
It’s hard to say for sure, but it doesn’t appear that Josh Wilson was touched while he was on the ground after recovering Green-Ellis’ first fumble in 590 career touches. The all-22 might provide a better view. The veteran refs probably would have let the play proceed and then, since it was a turnover, take a look on the automatic review. But the replacements blew the whistle and signaled timeout very quickly so even if the Redskins had prevailed on a challenge, Wilson would not have been given very many return yards, if any.
Fourth quarter
The Redskins twice got good field position after tying the score and twice they squandered it. The first one, after the fumble recovery, was torpedoed by a second-down sack. They got the ball at the end of the third quarter on a punt and that one ended with Mike Shanahan’s controversial decision to punt on fourth and one from the Cincinnati 44.
One of the disadvantages of having Banks in on offense—blocking. Griffin ran on third and eight from the Washington 49 and came up a yard short. Had Banks been able to get anything resembling a block on cornerback Nate Clements it looks like Griffin would have been able to squeeze out another couple of yards and they could have kept the drive alive.
Another thing to look for on the all-22 is DeAngelo Hall’s facemask penalty. It didn’t look like he was close enough to Green to do anything to him. It wound up being only a six-yard penalty since Green caught the ball and got down to the 12 but curious anyway.
I can see why some wanted pass interference called on the deep pass to Hankerson but I really don’t see it. Mays was between Hankerson and the ball and he is allowed to maintain that position. Yes, Hank went to the ground but not until the ball did.
It just looked like Richard Crawford was tentative in his coverage of Andrew Hawkins on the 59-yard touchdown pass. He didn’t quite believe what his eyes were telling him and by the time he figured it out, Hawkins was well past him.
Although they didn’t go no-huddle, the Redskins were efficient during their 90-yard drive to make a game of it again. They got off 12 plays in about three and a half minutes. That is a switch from what we’ve seen in the recent past.
On the earlier challenged touchback, the ball was just inches from bouncing in the field of play. Niles Paul was just inches, maybe a foot or so, from legally batting the ball back on the onside kick. It would be a stretch to say the Redskins are about 18 inches away from being 2-1 but it wouldn’t be a huge one.
The Redskins should have declined the delay of game penalty after Cincinnati took a delay of game from the Washington 36 after the 2:00 warning. It’s easier to put a team in the hole from the 41 than it is from five yards closer in.
The officials were correct (after being corrected) not to run 10 seconds off of the clock after Leonard Hankerson was injured after the Redskins were out of timeouts and already had received a “free” timeout when Evan Royster was hurt. The rules, however, do call for a five-yard delay of game penalty in such a situation.
Another “RG3 Moment” happened when Adam Jones hit him out of bounds after a scramble. Jones went sprawling while Griffin remained upright. Goes with the Superman socks.
Public service announcement—please do not work on the assumption that the guys in the TV booth know the rules. They don’t. There is never, ever a runoff if the clock is stopped.
Regarding Robert's arms-out dive to the goal line with the ball touching the pylon being an an all-timer, it's something he did extremely well in college. In fact, here's a pic of him scoring a TD that way this pre-season, albeit into the plane of the goal line, rather than the pylon:
http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1206109/img19914598.jpg
I expect to frequently see it! Here's to Robert's career being an All-Timer as well.
Posted by: Billy Crawford | Tuesday, September 25, 2012 at 05:22 PM