Redskins at Falcons, 4th quarter review

1st quarter review
2nd quarter review
3rd quarter review


Washington Redskins continued.

1-10-ATL 19 (15:00) J.Campbell pass incomplete short left to S.Moss (C.Houston).

2-10-ATL 19 (14:56) L.Betts up the middle to ATL 12 for 7 yards (E.Coleman).

3-3-ATL 12 (14:19) (Shotgun) J.Campbell scrambles left end to ATL 7 for 5 yards (C.Lofton). R13
PENALTY on ATL-M.Peterson, Defensive Holding, 4 yards, enforced at ATL 7.

This hold was hilarious. Rock Cartwright runs a pass route out of the backfield, but the LB somehow seems to think he has the ball (there was no fake handoff) and tackles him to the ground. Campbell is forced to scramble after he almost gets sandwiched between his two OTs again.

1-3-ATL 3 (13:54) (Shotgun) R.Cartwright left tackle to ATL 3 for no gain (T.DeCoud).

2-3-ATL 3 (13:13) J.Campbell pass short right to T.Yoder for 3 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Atlanta challenged the incomplete pass ruling, and the play was Upheld. (Timeout #1 at 13:05.)

Campbell’s first read was to either Betts or Sellers, but both were well covered. Campbell rolls out to the right to buy time, and it’s a good thing he buys a lot. Yoder starts out at LTE, gets hung up in the traffic getting off the line, then runs a long slow drag across the back of the end zone. He is being tracked by a DB and a LB, but they fade as Yoder nears the right-hand corner of the end zone. This was a very nice catch by Yoder, but I think it’s partly the result of the defenders’ getting lazy due to their lack of respect for Yoder as a receiving threat.

S.Suisham extra point is GOOD, Center-E.Albright, Holder-S.Paulescu.

WAS 17 ATL 24, 13 plays, 81 yards, 1 penalty, 6:50 drive, 1:55 elapsed

S.Suisham kicks 66 yards from WAS 30 to ATL 4. E.Weems to ATL 27 for 23 yards (H.Blades).

Atlanta Falcons at 13:05, (1st play from scrimmage 13:00)

1-10-ATL 27 (13:00) M.Ryan pass short right to O.Mughelli to ATL 35 for 8 yards (R.Doughty).

Another bootleg. Doughty lines up in the box and gets frozen by the play action. This may have allowed the completion to the FB, but he does a nice job of recovery to bring the guy down from behind.

2-2-ATL 35 (12:22) M.Turner left end to ATL 42 for 7 yards (R.Doughty).

Haynesworth uses an overhand swim move to get past the LG with minimal contact. The C was trying to pull to the outside but had to turn around to cut off Haynesworth, who otherwise would have pulled Turner down from behind. Carter is at LDE and is controlled by a TE. Rocky McIntosh is neutralized by yet another excellent block from Michael Jenkins, and the LT pulls to the outside to take out Doughty and secure the corner.

1-10-ATL 42 (11:36) M.Turner left tackle for 58 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Orakpo is lined up at RDE and is fighting a TE and works to the outside. Orakpo works to the outside, which is where the RB is headed. The problem is, Rocky McIntosh reads the initial run and gets himself even farther to the outside, so he is walled off by Orakpo’s body when Turner cuts its back inside. In other words, one of them loses gap responsibility. Fletcher has been run out of the play by the RG, who came clean off the line. Landry has a clean shot at him but just rolls at his feet instead of making a grown-up tackle, and Turner just jumps over him. I could swear that Landry has been avoiding contact with Turner all day – as if he’s afraid of being Brandon Jacobed all over again. Of course I would never say that to Landry’s face, because he probably wouldn’t feel compelled to avoid contact with me.

J.Elam extra point is GOOD, Center-B.Pittman, Holder-M.Koenen.

WAS 17 ATL 31, 3 plays, 73 yards, 1:42 drive, 3:37 elapsed

M.Koenen kicks 70 yards from ATL 30 to end zone, Touchback.

Washington Redskins at 11:23

1-10-WAS 20 (11:23) J.Campbell scrambles left end to WAS 21 for 1 yard (J.Babineaux). WAS-J.Campbell was injured during
the play. His return is Questionable. WAS-M.Williams was injured during the play. His return is Questionable.

Will Montgomery lets a DT beat him, but he manages to recover and carry the DT to far upfield to make a hit on Campbell. However, it forces Campbell to step up right into John Abraham, who has fought through Stephon Heyer’s inside shoulder and is now in the middle of the “pocket.” Campbell spins away from him and escapes to the outside, but the DT who beat Montgomery and allowed himself to be run all the way back to the 10 yard line somehow recovers and makes it back in-frame to dive and take out Campbell’s legs from behind. Campbell is cocking to throw as he feels the contact, and does a good job of pulling the ball back in and securing it.

2-9-WAS 21 (10:57) L.Betts left tackle to WAS 24 for 3 yards (C.Jackson, E.Coleman).

3-6-WAS 24 (10:22) T.Collins pass short left to M.Mitchell to WAS 35 for 11 yards (C.Houston).

1-10-WAS 35 (9:44) L.Betts up the middle to WAS 44 for 9 yards (E.Coleman).

The Redskins line crashed right and manages to trap most of the Falcons front seven there, while Fred Davis does a good job of sealing the RDE to the outside, so a big hole is opened up. Devin Thomas is the flanker on the play side and, one would assume, has the responsibility of blocking one of the two DBs lined up on that side. Instead he just jogs casually in Betts’ direction, then when he sees Betts has found some room and there could be a significant gain, he makes a belated and half-hearted attempt to get in the way of a DB who has no chance to make the play anyway. I could handle it if he blocked poorly, but Thomas is repeatedly choosing not to block at all, and it’s really starting to piss me off.

3-1-WAS 44 (8:36) PENALTY on WAS-D.Batiste, False Start, 4 yards, enforced at WAS 44 - No Play.

3-5-WAS 40 (8:11) T.Collins pass short middle to A.Randle El to WAS 47 for 7 yards (E.Coleman).

LBs blitz, so Collins and Randle-El make them pay with a quick slant.

1-10-WAS 47 (7:34) T.Collins pass incomplete deep right to S.Moss (E.Coleman) [M.Peterson].

A LB comes on a delayed blitz – delayed just long enough that Betts thinks he doesn’t need to block anyone and goes out into a pass route. The LB comes clean and Collins takes a shot to the chest as he throws, but still manages to hit Santana in the hands downfield and he is unable to come down with the ball.

2-10-WAS 47 (7:27) L.Betts up the middle to ATL 44 for 9 yards (J.Abraham).

Draw play, and after crossing the LOS Betts displays some good field vision to make it most of the way to the first down marker.

3-1-ATL 44 (6:45) L.Betts left guard to ATL 44 for no gain (V.Walker).
Timeout #1 by WAS at 06:12.

Dockery and Rabach don’t get much push, but there’s enough space that Betts should have been able to get his 1 yard, except that Montgomery and D’Anthony Batiste (in at RT with Williams hurt) allow themselves to be pushed back to collapse the running lane. Betts also stumbles just a little after taking the hand off, so he can’t hit the line with full force.

4-1-ATL 44 (6:12) T.Collins pass short right to M.Sellers to ATL 46 for -2 yards (M.Peterson, C.Lofton).

Sellers is lined up as one of two TEs on the left hand side, and a yard off the LOS. He drops back, and tries to pass behind the line to slip into the right flat undetected, the defenders being distracted by the play action to the left. The play action works, but D’Anthony Batiste blocks in on a DT unnecessarily and the RDE comes in clean, and Sellers has to dodge the penetration so he is late to his destination. This gives the LBs time to recover from the play fake, and Sellers is stuffed. This is a play that would obviously be wrecked if any penetration is allowed – so why is it called (or even drawn up) with this Redskins’ line, especially with the 3rd string RT in the game?

Atlanta Falcons at 5:53

1-10-ATL 46 (5:53) M.Turner up the middle to WAS 46 for 8 yards (R.Doughty, L.Fletcher). WAS-R.Doughty was injured during the play. His return is Questionable.

Haynesworth pushes LG nemesis Blalock into the backfield, but is unable to shed off him as Turner runs past. This is partly due to a little holding, but nothing beyond the routine holding that doesn’t get called.

2-2-WAS 46 (5:07) M.Turner right guard to WAS 45 for 1 yard (C.Griffin).

3-1-WAS 45 (4:23) M.Turner right tackle to WAS 45 for no gain. [ed: wrong – 3 yard gain before the penalty cancels it]
PENALTY on ATL-T.Clabo, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at WAS 45 - No Play.

Jarmon is at DT and gets blown right off the line by the RT, and the FB makes a good block on Rocky to keep the lane open.

3-11-ATL 45 (4:17) (Shotgun) M.Ryan pass short middle to A.Stecker to ATL 44 for -1 yards (A.Haynesworth).
Timeout #2 by ATL at 03:28.

Designed shovel pass stuffed by easy penetration. Haynesworth is at RDE, but the LT ignores him to go block LBs. Haynesworth is the responsibility of a TE (ha!) who motions inside just before the snap, but the TE only manages to slap at him as Haynesworth easily strolls into the backfield. Meanwhile Rocky comes in unblocked from the other side and would have taken Stecker down from behind if Haynesworth wasn’t already there.

4-12-ATL 44 (3:25) M.Koenen punts 46 yards to WAS 10, Center-B.Pittman, downed by ATL-C.Jackson.

Washington Redskins at 3:15

1-10-WAS 10 (3:15) (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass short right to S.Moss pushed ob at WAS 35 for 25 yards (C.Lofton, T.DeCoud).

Redskins try to freeze the defense with a fake end around to the left by ARE, who line up in the right slot. It fools no one, but it doesn’t matter because of Santana’s elusiveness. This is supposed to be a WR screen, and Fred Davis makes it outside to make a useful block, but the interior line totally fail to get out in front of the play. No block is thrown by a linemen except for a totally illegal one by Will Montgomery into a DBs back, which goes uncalled and probably doesn’t affect the play anyway. Fortunately Santana has the open-field running ability to make up for the general lack of execution on this play. Just yesterday I pontificated: "If all 11 men don't do their job [on a screen pass], the play has no chance." Twenty five yards later, all I can do is sputter and insist that this play was an exception. Dammit.

1-10-WAS 35 (3:08) (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass short right to S.Moss to WAS 42 for 7 yards (C.Jackson).

2-3-WAS 42 (2:44) (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass incomplete short right to F.Davis [J.Abraham].

DE beats Heyer to the outside, and hits Campbell from behind to force the bad throw.

3-3-WAS 42 (2:41) (Shotgun) J.Campbell scrambles right end pushed ob at WAS 43 for 1 yard.

Blocking was decent – this was a coverage scramble.

4-2-WAS 43 (2:34) J.Campbell pass incomplete deep left to M.Kelly.

Campbell was scrambling out of the pocket, and either it was a poor throw because he couldn’t set his feet or Kelly was too slow to recognize that Campbell was under duress and didn’t cut off his route in time.

Atlanta Falcons at 2:27

1-10-WAS 42 (2:27) M.Turner up the middle to WAS 43 for -1 yards (R.Doughty).
Timeout #2 by WAS at 02:20.

The game is basically over by this point, but to their credit the defense is still attacking with a purpose on these plays and trying to strip the ball.

2-11-WAS 43 (2:20) M.Turner left guard to WAS 33 for 10 yards (L.Fletcher).
Timeout #3 by WAS at 02:14.

3-1-WAS 33 (2:14) M.Turner right tackle to WAS 31 for 2 yards (P.Daniels).

Two minute Warning

1-10-WAS 31 (2:00) M.Ryan kneels to WAS 32 for -1 yards.

2-11-WAS 32 (1:18) M.Ryan kneels to WAS 33 for -1 yards.

3-12-WAS 33 (:39) M.Ryan kneels to WAS 34 for -1 yards


Play by play info taken from the NFL Game Book.