Redskins vs. Buccaneers - 4th quarter review

Here's the last of the play breakdowns for you. First half was here, 3rd quarter was here. In just a few minutes I'm going to put up my final week 4 thoughts in a seperate post.


Redskins fourth possession (of the second half)

2-9-W48 – First the pass protection: A DT simply bounces off of Dockery due to Dockery’s clearly superior strength, but then the same defender is able to slip to his right. He is only prevented from threatening Campbell because of a chop block by Dockery and Casey Rabach. Meanwhile Campbell tries to go deep to Santana but Aqib Talib, who had been trailing behind him, makes a great leaping catch for his third interception. This looked pretty bad given all of Campbell’s first half turnovers, but taken in isolation I think it was a reasonable throw and an exceptional play by Talib.

Buccaneers fifth possession

2-5-W47 – Andre Carter blows past the LT with a pure speed rush, but Josh Johnson once again wheel out of the way. Carter gets up and pursues, and meanwhile Haynesworth has beaten his double team (surprise!), so both are closing in on him as Johnson tries to get the ball to the RB at the first down marker. I believe the errant throw was caused by the contact from Carter.

2-4-W36 – Cadillac Williams gains 7 on a pitch due to some good Bucs line play. The line crashes right. The LG cuts Golston and take him to the ground, while the LT gets straight to the second level and takes on Orakpo, sealing the alley opened up where Golston used to be. Meanwhile TE Kellen winslow, who had motioned inside just before the snap, manages to slow up RDE Lorenzo Alaxander just enough to prevent backside pursuit.

2-G-W5 – The Bucs line up three TEs to the left hoping to force the defense to commit to that side, but Landry reads the run to the right instantly and as soon as the ball is snapped he shoots into the backfield untouched to take down the RB for a loss.

3-G-W8 – The camera angle doesn’t show the receivers, but clearly nobody was open in the end zone as Johnson decides to scramble before the pass rush seriously threatens him. The entire defense is expecting a scramble, of course, and they stay in their zone just long enough to prevent him from throwing on the move and then close in and take him down at the 4 without him ever having a serious chance to score.

Bucs kick a FG to make it 16-14. Huge, huge, stop by the defense to preserve the lead, and to prevent Campbell’s latest turnover from cancelling out all of the progress we saw in the second half.

Redskins fifth possession

Clock killing time, which is my favorite part of any football game.

1-10-W30 – Counter. Line crashed left, Portis takes a step to the left then cuts it back right through a hole opened up by Cooley and Sellers who both lined up as TEs on the right. So yes, I’m not just picking on Cooley. When he blocks well I will gladly say so, and this was a great block. About 5 yards down field Portis put a nice move on a safety in the open field to leave him behind and make it to the first down marker.

1-10-W40 – I think this was supposed to be a zone play to the left, and I think Rabach missed the LB he was supposed to pick up, but can’t be sure from the replay. Stuffed after 1 yard.

3-5-W45 – Portis on a draw – he has a hole, but I think he barely trips on a lineman’s foot and although his momentum almost takes him to the first down marker, he ends up coming down about half a yard short, so the defense has one more stop to make.

This punt, by Shaun Suisham, is where disaster easily could of struck. This was a high pressure punt as a shank would give the Bucs field position and an easy opportunity to get into field goal range and steal a game that would have been crushing to the Redskins’ psyches (not to mention those of their fans). Instead he angles it nicely and it goes out at the 19, which wouldn’t be great for a real punter but given this isn’t actually Suisham’s job and it was a critical situation, I’m pretty pleased with it.

Buccaneers sixth possession

1-10-TB19 – Johnson is under serious pressure from both Carter and Jeremy Jarmon, who has been getting a lot of play at DT in pass rush situations. Johnson lacks the time to let something develop downfield, so he hits Antonio Bryant on a shallow cross but Chris Horton is all over the route and takes him down right after the catch and keeps him from getting to the sideline.

2-7-T22 – Carter, Jarmon (at DT again) and Orakpo collapse the pocket, but when Johnson tries to scramble Haynesworth is hanging back at the line of scrimmage waiting for him. Johnson is able to slip past Albert, but the fact that he was slowed up at the line is what prevents a bigger run. The extra second gives time for theDBs to close in and Doughty and Justin Tryon take him down short of the first down.

3-1-T29 – Jarmon is still at tackle, and pushes into the backfield against a double team. Bucs run a draw, and Jarmon spins around off of his blockers to swipe out the ball. Incredible play by the rookie. Redskins recover.

Redskins sixth possession

1-10-T29 – Victory formation.

2-11-T30 – Victory formation. Campbell remains up for several seconds to get the gameclock down to exactly :40, so even though the Bucs have one timeout left the next play is guaranteed to kill the game. Very nice.

3-14-T – Victory formation. Game.