Redskins vs. Buccaneers, 4th quarter review

If you're looking for my thoughts on the whole McNabb/Grossman situation, check my last post.

1st quarter review
2nd quarter
3rd quarter

FOURTH QUARTER

3-1-WAS 46 (15:00) J.Freeman left guard to WAS 44 for 2 yards (R.McIntosh). QB Sneak

Bryant and Maake are in at DT on the four man front and both drive forward, but the sneak is directed towards Daniels, who gets knocked off the line by the LT.

1-10-WAS 44 (14:22) J.Freeman pass incomplete deep right to M.Williams (D.Hall) [B.Orakpo].

2-10-WAS 44 (14:13) J.Freeman pass incomplete short right to K.Winslow.

Rocky blitzes but succumbs to a hard block from the FB. Orakpo gets around the LT, who then recovers and manages to drive him far enough upfield that Freeman is able to make his throw.

3-10-WAS 44 (14:07) (Shotgun) J.Freeman pass deep middle to A.Benn to WAS 1 for 43 yards (K.Moore).

Burned on the blitz. Chris Wilson tries to come up the middle but collides with Rocky, who is dropping into coverage. Barnes comes off the edge but takes too wide an angle, and a slight but desperate shove from the RB directs him past the point Freeman steps up to. Doughty takes a solid block from the TE but recovers and slips past, but he gets there a split second after Freeman makes the throw.

1-1-WAS 1 (13:18) J.Freeman FUMBLES (Aborted) at WAS 1, RECOVERED by WAS-L.Fletcher at WAS 0. Touchback.

The pulling RG knocks the ball out of Freeman’s hand before he can even get ahold of it.

Washington Redskins at 13:15

1-10-WAS 20 (13:15) D.McNabb pass incomplete short right to S.Moss (E.Biggers).

Insufficient zip on a comeback to the sideline, allowing the DB to nearly pick it off.

2-10-WAS 20 (13:09) R.Torain right end to WAS 23 for 3 yards (T.Crowder).

There was a better run to be had here, but Rabach blew it. Montgomery gets driven way back, but Torain makes it upfield and is able to turn upfield. Brown and Cooley are out in front and are quite nicely taking care of the OLB and LDE. Lichtensteiger had pulled and was responsible for the MLB, but Rabach couldn’t hold up his DT enough. So Lichtensteiger has to fight through Rabach’s DT, and it slows him down enough to keep him from intercepting the MLB in time.

3-7-WAS 23 (12:27) (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass incomplete short middle to K.Williams.

A drop of the easy dumpoff.

4-7-WAS 23 (12:21) H.Smith punts 50 yards to TB 27, Center-N.Sundberg. M.Spurlock to TB 38 for 11 yards (H.Blades).

4.6 seconds.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 12:10

1-10-TB 38 (12:10) J.Freeman scrambles up the middle to TB 45 for 7 yards (R.McIntosh).

Orakpo drops into coverage, so Golston is the only pass rush on the offensive left and is of course easily neutralized by the LT. This frees up the LG to knock Bryant to the ground while he is engaged with the C, creating a huge hole up the middle for Freeman.

2-3-TB 45 (11:29) C.Williams left guard to TB 45 for no gain (R.Doughty; L.Fletcher).

There are many aspects of 3-4 ILB that Rocky McIntosh struggles with, but he continues to be consistently good at one thing: attacking and basically crushing lead blockers. This time he blows up the TE who pulls from the right side and leads through the hole, and knocks him right back into the RB.

3-3-TB 45 (10:44) (Shotgun) J.Freeman pass incomplete short right [C.Wilson].

The LT and LG are occupied by Orakpo and Fletcher, allowing Wilson to split them. He runs past a late attempt by the RB to pick him up and chases Freeman til he throws it away.

4-3-TB 45 (10:37) R.Malone punts 53 yards to WAS 2, Center-A.Economos. B.Banks to WAS 10 for 8 yards (E.Graham, N.Koutouvides). Washington Redskins at 10:21

1-10-WAS 10 (10:21) D.McNabb pass short right to M.Sellers to WAS 35 for 25 yards (C.Lynch, A.Hayward).

Bucs blitz two LBs up the middle, so Sellers easily gets open in the flat then gets a big gain when two different defenders slip and fall.

1-10-WAS 35 (9:34) D.McNabb pass incomplete short left to M.Sellers (A.Hayward).

2-10-WAS 35 (9:29) R.Torain right end to WAS 47 for 12 yards (C.Lynch).

Rabach and Lichtensteiger do a good job of turning the DTs the outside, allowing Torain to cut behind them.

1-10-WAS 47 (8:54) R.Torain right tackle to WAS 49 for 2 yards (R.Miller).

A failure of vision that is fairly typical of Torain. He could cut upfield on the outside behind Montgomery’s second level block, or try to make the corner where Brown and Fred Davis were giving him a chance, but instead he comes back into the middle of the field and into traffic.

2-8-WAS 49 (8:15) D.McNabb sacked at WAS 44 for -5 yards (G.Hayes).

Torain completely whiffs on an attempted pickup of the OLB blitzing off the edge.

3-13-WAS 44 (7:40) (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass incomplete short middle to K.Williams [R.Barber].

The interior line gets fooled on the blitz. The Bucs have only three down linemen, and the DT takes a wide loop to the offensive left and draws all three interior linemen with him, so when Ronde Barber and a LB blitz through the right B gap Keiland is left to pick up both of them. He hits the LB pretty well, but Barber slips past and wraps up McNabb, who manages to stay upright long enough to attempt a desperation dumpoff to Keiland.

4-13-WAS 44 (7:33) H.Smith punts 36 yards to TB 20, Center-N.Sundberg, downed by WAS-D.Young.

3.3 seconds.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 7:22

1-10-TB 20 (7:22) L.Blount left tackle to TB 30 for 10 yards (P.Buchanon; L.Alexander).

Daniels (RDE) and Maake are carried far to the outside by the C and LT, allowing the LG to come free and keep Doughty from plugging the hole. Fletcher and Rocky are blitzing on the backside so they are not in position to stop this run.

1-10-TB 30 (6:46) J.Freeman pass short left to J.Gilmore to TB 45 for 15 yards (P.Daniels).

Fletcher tries to dodge a blocker on the screen; if he’d taken him on he may have slowed up the TE enough for Daniels to catch him from behind and prevent the first down.

1-10-TB 45 (6:04) L.Blount left tackle to TB 48 for 3 yards (R.McIntosh; A.Bryant).

Daniels and Orakpo hold up well on the edge and Bryant, at NT, controls the C to close off any cutback lanes.

2-7-TB 48 (5:20) J.Freeman pass incomplete short left to M.Williams (P.Buchanon).

Holliday, at RDE, gets past the LG and pressures Freeman, forcing him to throw the slant. Buchanon adjusts nicely to breaks it up.

3-7-TB 48 (5:15) (Shotgun) J.Freeman pass short left to C.Williams to WAS 41 for 11 yards (L.Fletcher).

Rocky hesitates on the far side of the first down marker rather than closing to take down the RB in the flat.

1-10-WAS 41 (4:40) L.Blount up the middle to WAS 41 for no gain (R.Doughty; V.Holliday).

Doughty blitzes off the edge, speeds inside the block of the WR despite the fact that he had motioned in tight, and wraps up the RB’s legs in the backfield.

2-10-WAS 41 (3:56) (Shotgun) J.Freeman pass deep middle to K.Winslow for 41 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Rocky gets turned around in coverage and is unable to adjust to the ball, which floats over his head and to the TE.

(Pass formation) TWO-POINT CONVERSION ATTEMPT. J.Freeman rushes left guard. ATTEMPT SUCCEEDS.

Freeman somehow runs right through the tackles of Fletcher and Holliday.

TB 17 WAS 10, 7 plays, 80 yards, 3:35 drive, 11:13 elapsed

C.Barth kicks 58 yards from TB 30 to WAS 12. B.Banks to WAS 46 for 34 yards (D.Watson). PENALTY on WAS-M.Sellers, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at WAS 35.

The holding call was borderline at best, but there was a very obvious formation of the a three man wedge of Alexander, Sellers, and Paulsen – further evidence that the league desperately needs to look at the consistency of calls on special teams plays.

Washington Redskins at 3:47, (1st play from scrimmage 3:39)

1-10-WAS 25 (3:39) D.McNabb pass incomplete short middle to S.Moss. Washington challenged the incomplete pass ruling, and the play was Upheld. (Timeout #1.)

Torain misses on a cut block on the blitz pickup, but slows the guy up enough that McNabb is able to make his (poor) throw.

2-10-WAS 25 (3:30) D.McNabb pass short middle to C.Cooley to WAS 32 for 7 yards (R.Barber).

3-3-WAS 32 (2:55) D.McNabb pass short middle to A.Armstrong to WAS 40 for 8 yards (R.Barber, B.Ruud).

Trent continues his bad habit of building too much depth and getting hit while still in a backpedal and knocked off balance.

1-10-WAS 40 (2:23) D.McNabb pass short middle to C.Cooley to TB 45 for 15 yards (C.Lynch).

Keiland continues to impress in pass protection (this was a real problem for him earlier in the year), this time picking up Ronde Barber and knocking the stuffing out of him.

Two-Minute Warning

1-10-TB 45 (2:00) (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass short left to K.Williams ran ob at TB 30 for 15 yards.

1-10-TB 30 (1:52) (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass incomplete short left to K.Williams (R.Barber).

Bucs blitz Ronde Barber which should set up the screen nicely, but Keiland sets up for it too shallow so Ronde is able to recover and knock it away.

2-10-TB 30 (1:48) D.McNabb pass short middle to K.Williams to TB 21 for 9 yards (R.Barber; G.Hayes).

3-1-TB 21 (1:15) (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass short left to S.Moss to TB 12 for 9 yards (B.Ruud).

Trent Williams is all by himself on the left – no TEs or RBs to his side – so when Ronde Barber blitzes off the edge Trent is forced to dive outside and barely trips him up. Lichtensteiger and Rabach also recognize the blitz and adjust easily to the twist of the RDE and OLB.

1-10-TB 12 (:49) (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass short right to A.Armstrong to TB 2 for 10 yards (C.Lynch).

Trent cuts the RDE, and Torain step up an puts a nice block on the OLB who attempts to twist inside behind him.

Timeout #2 by WAS at 00:32.

1-2-TB 2 (:32) D.McNabb pass incomplete short right to R.Williams.

2-2-TB 2 (:28) R.Torain right end ran ob at TB 6 for -4 yards (T.Crowder).

Rabach is pushed into the backfield and Torain bounces right off his back. He then breaks outside, but Brown fails to hold his block long enough so Torain is taken down for the loss.

3-6-TB 6 (:18) D.McNabb pass incomplete short middle to F.Davis.

McNabb hit Davis on his back shoulder as the defender was falling to the ground – should have been a touchdown.

4-6-TB 6 (:13) D.McNabb pass short middle to S.Moss for 6 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Trips left. From the inside slot Roydell Williams drives hard to the outside, clearing the middle for Santana to come up on the slant. Probably McNabb’s last pass as a Redskin.

G.Gano extra point is Aborted, Center-N.Sundberg, Holder-H.Smith.

No further comment necessary.

TB 17 WAS 16, 13 plays, 75 yards, 3:38 drive, 14:51 elapsed

H.Smith kicks onside 15 yards from WAS 30 to WAS 45. M.Stovall (didn't try to advance) to WAS 45 for no gain.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 0:09

1-10-WAS 45 (:09) J.Freeman kneels to WAS 46 for -1 yards.