David Huzzard – We Love DC http://www.welovedc.com Your Life Beyond The Capitol Sun, 20 Jul 2014 21:31:30 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.9.9 Soriano Blows Third Save of Season, Werth Delivers Walk-Off http://www.welovedc.com/2014/07/20/soriano-blows-third-save-of-season-werth-delivers-walk-off/ http://www.welovedc.com/2014/07/20/soriano-blows-third-save-of-season-werth-delivers-walk-off/#comments Sun, 20 Jul 2014 21:31:30 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=97984 Rafael Soriano has blown three saves for the Washington Nationals. All of them have resulted in tie games, the previous two went to extra innings with the Nats losing both. While the Nationals 3-8 record in extra innings sounds preposterous with how good their 2014 relief pitching has been it still exists, and avoiding extra innings in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth was key. Down to their last out after Rendon hit into a fielder’s choice that erased Span from the bases Werth was the last shot for the Nationals to avoid extra innings. It could be assumed that trading Rendon for Span would be a minus in the base running department, but Rendon is an intelligent base runner and when Werth doubled down to left field line Rendon was able to come all the way around to score.

If you’re a baseball fan that likes aggressive and intelligent base running then this was the game for you. Both teams had several plays where base running was the key going all the way back to the Nationals first run of the game in the bottom of the second. LaRoche led off the inning with a single then went first to third on Harper’s single and when LaRoche scored on Desmond’s single Harper took third drawing a throw and allowing Desmond to advance to second giving the Nationals runners second and third with one out. It wouldn’t result in any more runs but it was a sign of things to come.

 

With Gio Gonzalez gunning for career strikeout 1,000 and appearing to tire himself out in the process the Brewers were able to take advantage in the top of the third. After back to back walks to Braun and Ramirez, Lucroy grounded back to Gonzalez. With runners first and second this shouldn’t have resulted in a run, but Gonzalez gave Braun only a cursory glance and he never broke stride from second as he rounded third and scored on a ground out back to the pitcher. Ramirez would come around to score on a Khris Davis single and the Brewers would have the lead.

The Brewers would knock Gio Gonzalez out in the fourth inning after Segura led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a Gallardo’s sac bunt. With the infield drawn in the Nationals got what they wanted, a ground ball to Desmond, Desmond followed protocol and looked Segura back to third before throwing on to first for the out, but Segura broke with the throw and was able to beat LaRoche’s throw home in order to give the Brewers their third run of the game.

With Gio Gonzalez knocked out early the Nationals bullpen did what it has done all season and that is be great. Craig Stammen faced eight batters and retired them all, Drew Storen worked into a jam with two outs but escaped with a ground ball to Zimmerman, and Tyler Clippard struck out the side. Stammen especially kept the game close and allowed the Zimmerman two run homer in the bottom of the fourth to tie it up and the Gallardo wild pitch to give them the lead. Soriano would eventually relinquish the lead, but great base running by Rendon and a double down the line by Werth would pick him up and allow the Nats to move to ten games over .500 and maintain their virtual tie with the Braves for first place in the NL East.

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Nats defeat Rockies 7-1 http://www.welovedc.com/2014/07/01/nats-defeat-rockies-7-1/ Wed, 02 Jul 2014 02:47:48 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=97839 It took seven and two thirds innings and over a hundred pitchers but the Colorado Rockies finally drew a walk against Stephen Strasburg and chased him from the game. Too bad by that time they were down 7-1 after DJ LeMahieu had homered earlier in the inning. With questions surrounding Stephen Strasburg and if he could be trusted to pitch like a “true ace” he did exactly that against a wounded Rockies line-up. Missing Carlos Gonzalez and Nolan Arenado to injury and resting Charlie Blackmon and Troy Tulowitzski the Rockies line-up wasn’t much to look at and until the eighth inning all they could muster was four singles off of Stephen Strasburg.

Strasburg’s final line was an impressive seven and two thirds of one run ball on five hits with eight stikeouts and just one walk. Strasburg has pitched like this all season being in the top five in K% and just outside the top 20 in BB% walking only 5.2% of the batters he has faced. Strasburg’s ability to limit walks and generate his own outs has gone largely unnoticed due to some bad luck on balls in play and the perception that his failures to prevent runs are all his fault. Tonight was a bit of a regression to the mean, but it is only the start. Strasburg lowered his ERA to 3.53 but still has a ways to go for it to match his 2.78 FIP.

Almost as big as Strasburg’s bounce back start was the performance of the Nats offense. With Harper and Ramos back the Nats line-up has a different feel. There is nobody left that is going to make life easy on opposing pitchers and give away at bats swinging widely at three pitches out of the zone. Bryce Harper only had one hit this evening but he saw a deep count in every at bat and made the opposing pitcher work. The same can be said for Wilson Ramos and now the Nats can present a line-up with the ability to grind down a starting pitcher and raise their pitch count quickly.

That happened tonight to Rockies starter Christian Friedrich but not just because of many Nats seeing deep counts. Friedrich entered tonight’s game with an ERA of 8.10 and left with one over 10.00. He simply couldn’t get the Nats out and it started in the very first inning when he gave up back to back walks to Span and Rendon followed by a two run double by Jayson Werth who would then come around to score on Ryan Zimmerman’s sac fly.

The Nationals would put runners on base every inning against Friedrich before finally chasing him in the fourth inning as they put six men on base, scored four runs, and sent nine to the plate against Friedrich and Bettis. The fourth inning would be the last time the Nats would score, but with how Strasburg was pitching seven runs was more than enough, and the Nationals won going away. They’ve now won four in a row for the fifth time this season. They’ve never won five in a row, but will have a chance when Doug Fister takes on Tyler Matzek at 6:05 tomorrow evening in DC.

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Nats Fall 6-4 to Braves in 13 http://www.welovedc.com/2014/06/20/nats-fall-6-4-to-braves-in-13/ Sat, 21 Jun 2014 03:45:41 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=97701 The Nats put up a fight but only delayed the inevitable. As exciting as the ninth inning two run home run off the bat of Anthony Rendon was that caused Craig Kimbrel to blow his fifth save it only served to delay the Nats loss. The Nats have a remarkable record when scoring four or more runs and this was just their third loss of the season when they’ve reached that magic number. The Nats found the four runs absolutely necessary because their Ace, Stephen Strasburg, didn’t have his best stuff, and while he gutted out six innings he gave up four runs in the process. Not a good outing from a pitcher that should be capable of shutting down the opposition.

To Strasburg’s credit he did come into this game leading the NL in FIP and fWAR, but when the Nats have needed him most he hasn’t been at his best and at 1-6 on the year against the Braves and clinging by a half game to first place the Nats needed Strasburg. Some nights a starting pitcher isn’t going to have everything working and this was one of those nights for Strasburg as the curve simply wasn’t present.

 For the first eight innings the Nationals played like a team that had accepted their fate. They look frustrated at the plate letting fastballs down the middle go by for strikes and swinging at balls out of the zone. It was the second straight night that the Nats had looked listless at the plate against a Braves starting pitcher. The Nats need to find a way to beat the Braves if they hope to win the division and so far this season they haven’t been able to do so. 1-7 against a team that all the statistics say you’re better than is inexplicable. It is downright bizarre, and simply does not make since.

The other oddity about this loss and the Nationals on the season is that while they have the best bullpen ERA in the majors it hasn’t helped them achieve any bit of success in extra inning games. This was the Nats seventh straight loss in extra inning contests with their lone win coming against the Mets on Opening Day. With the loss to the Braves the Nats fall to a half game behind the Braves in the division and will turn to Doug Fister to play stopper and get them back on track, but that won’t be easy as the Braves will have their best starter, Julio Teheran, on the mound.

With Anthony Rendon’s home run off of Craig Kimbrel it looked like the Nationals luck against the Braves was about to turn, but it wasn’t to be. The loss was only delayed, and in the end the Nationals ended the evening in a whimper as Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa, and Sandy Leon went down in order against the Braves back-up closer Jordan Walden.

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Nats Defeat Astros 6-5 http://www.welovedc.com/2014/06/18/nats-defeat-astros-6-5/ Wed, 18 Jun 2014 04:13:41 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=97662 If Tuesday’s victory over the Astros proved anything it is that there is a thin line between comedy and tragedy as a laugher quickly transitioned into a tightly contested one run game in the course of one inning. Thanks to multiple double games from Zimmerman and Rendon the Nationals jumped all over the Astros and held a 6-1 lead heading into the top of the eighth. Tyler Clippard took the mound because it was the eighth inning, Tanner Roark had labored to get through five innings, and Ross Detwiler is a figment of your imagination.

From the very start of the inning Tyler Clippard didn’t appear to have it as Jason Castro and Matt Dominguez lead off the inning with a single and a double. Against the third batter of the inning, Jonathan Villar, Clippard would serve up another hittable pitch that Villar would drive to center for a single and the Astros would cut the Nats lead to four. After two strikeouts it looked like Clippard could get out of the inning, but the batter was Jose Altuve who already had himself a three hit night, and he would collect his fourth hit on a two RBI double. Aaron Barrett would then come in and get George Springer to fly out to center on just two pitches.

 

The other valuable lesson of Tuesday’s contest is that perception is not reality. The perception of the Nationals bullpen is that it is weak at the back end. The fans in the stands were more than willing to let you know how Clippard had outlived his usefulness and how Soriano always makes it interesting. The runs Clippard gave up Tuesday were the first earned runs he’s allowed in the last 25 games. An amazing streak for any reliever. As far as Soriano goes people’s threshold for interesting must be very low as his 0.96 WHIP is far below the MLB average for a reliever of 1.30.

With this victory the Washington Nationals have also reclaimed first place as the Braves fell again to the Philadelphia Phillies, but even with the Nationals only 0.5 games out of the division lead heading into this game all the talk on talk radio and social media was of how disappointing and inconsistent the Nationals have been. The Nationals over their last 20 games have gone 12-8, a .600 winning percent, and 97 win pace. If this is inconsistency most baseball fans would take it over whatever the other option is.

The Nationals held on to win a laugher that turned into a one run game, but they also pounded out four runs on six hits on a pitcher that was ranked the best in baseball by Baseball-Reference WAR and the 13th best by Fangraphs WAR. In other words the Nats beat a pretty decent pitcher, and while Roark didn’t have his best stuff and Matt Williams failed to recognize that Clippard didn’t have it the Nationals beat a team with a suddenly hot line-up.

The Astros are giving people a glimpse of the future with Altuve, Springer, Singleton, and Castro anchoring the middle of their line-up, a middle of a line-up a lot of teams wouldn’t mind having. The big guns of Carlos Correa and Mark Appel have yet to arrive but Springer and Singleton are already giving Astros fans a taste of what’s to come, and while the Nationals should beat them it by no means be easy, and on Tuesday night it wasn’t. The Nationals held on to win a game they looked to have under control, and in the process reclaimed first in the NL East.

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Nats win 7-0 in Zimmerman’s Return http://www.welovedc.com/2014/06/03/nats-win-7-0-in-zimmermans-return/ Wed, 04 Jun 2014 02:07:14 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=97570 Ryan Zimmerman is known as Mr. Walkoff, but that wasn’t necessary in his return to the line-up as the Nats won going away. In his first at bat off the DL Ryan Zimmerman smoked a double down the left field line. That first hit had no baring on the outcome of the game but it was good to see Zimmerman hitting the ball with authority and it would prove to be a taste of what was to come.

The Nats would get the scoring started one inning later with Danny Espinosa leading off with an infield single, followed by a Jordan Zimmermann sac bunt, a single by Span, a walk to Rendon to load the bases, a ground rule double by Werth to drive in two runs, and a ground out by LaRoche to drive in the Nats third and final run of the inning. And this would prove to only be the start of the scoring for the Nationals. The big hit for Zimmerman would come in the bottom of the fifth with Span on second and the Phillies having just intentionally walked LaRoche to pitch to him. Zimmerman made them pay with an opposite field double.

 

Zimmerman would be lifted for a defensive replacement in the eighth inning and finished the game 2-4 with a double to left and a double to right. That gap to gap line drive hitter that can work the count is exactly what the Nats offense has been missing. One game is too soon to know how much of a help Zimmerman’s bat will be but Zimmerman did give a taste of what he’s done his entire career, what he’s capable of, and why the Nationals are willing to put him in left to get the best offensive and defensive line-up on the field.

The scoring wasn’t over after Zimmerman’s double made it 4-0. Leading off the bottom of the sixth Ian Desmond crushed a baseball that bounced off the seats in left and landed on the concourse. It was another long drive for Ian Desmond who over the past three seasons has become one of the best power hitting shortstops in baseball. With two outs in the same inning Span would deliver his third hit of the game and be driven in on Anthony Rendon’s opposite field homer.

Not to be overshadowed by the Nats offense coming to life is the performance of Jordan Zimmermann who pitched eight shutout innings with five hits, four strikeouts, and one walk. The Nats for too many games in 2014 have had the pitching allow two or less runs and the bats remain silent. In the never ending quest for run support this was a refreshing change of pace as the Nats bats were able to make the gem spun by Jordan Zimmermann hold up and get back to .500.

Getting back to .500 is just the first step as now the Nats have to build off winning the series over Texas and taking the first game of this series against the Phillies. Momentum is only as good as the next days starting pitcher and AJ Burnett is a pitcher that has baffled Nats hitters before, but they counter with their Ace Stephen Strasburg and there is no reason to believe the Nationals cannot build off of what has started to build at the tail end of this home stand.

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Nats Offense Wakes Up to Clobber Rangers 9-2 http://www.welovedc.com/2014/05/30/nats-offense-wakes-up-to-clobber-rangers-9-2/ Sat, 31 May 2014 02:13:38 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=97550 For the month of May the Washington Nationals offense had averaged 3.2 runs a game. For most of the month they played without Ryan Zimmerman, Bryce Harper, and Adam LaRoche while suffering slumps from Ian Desmond, Anthony Rendon, and Jayson Werth. It all added up to the Nationals having one of their worst months of the last four seasons, and after the second inning it looked like this game was going to be much the same as many other Nats games of 2014.

Strasburg was dominant in the first retiring the side on just ten pitches including two strikeouts, but in the second he allowed a lead-off double before striking out the next two batters. With Adrian Beltre standing at second and Leonys Martin at the plate Strasburg got the weak contact he wanted but failed to field the come backer with his glove or face and there were suddenly runners on the corners with two outs. Strasburg would then give up RBI singles to the number eight and nine batters before Denard Span made a nice running catch of Shin-Soo Choo’s liner to retire the side.

 The Rangers lead would last only for two innings as the Nats bats came alive in the bottom of the fourth. During May, all season actually, the Nats have put runners on but have been constantly searching for the big hit. With one out Werth and LaRoche hit back to back singles and after a Wilson Ramos strikeout the Nationals would need a two out hit with RISP. In those situations in 2014 the Nats as a team have hit .167/.289/.276. Facing a situation the team has struggle in all season Ian Desmond crushed a Colby Lewis pitch the other way over the out of town scoreboard for a three run home run.

It was the big hit the Nationals have been waiting for all season long and both Strasburg and the offense would put this game out of reach. After getting the lead in the bottom of the fourth Strasburg would pitch two more innings striking out four of the eight batters he faced and allowing nothing more than a single. The offense would continue to pile on as Span would reach base to lead off the fifth and on a hit and run attempt to advance to third on Rendon’s ground out to the third baseman, and end up scoring as Rangers’ first baseman Mitch Moreland would make an ill advised throw ending in a run scoring error.

A pinch hit double from Tyler Moore in the bottom of the sixth would add two more, an inning later Ramos would single and the ball would bounce past right fielder Alex Rios to allow two more runs to score, and finally three singles in a row from Span, Rendon, and Werth would score the Nats ninth and final run of the inning. It was a big comfortable win from a Nationals team that hasn’t had a lot of those in the month of May.

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Dodgers Defeat Nats 8-3 in Kershaw’s Return http://www.welovedc.com/2014/05/06/dodgers-defeat-nats-8-3-in-kershaws-return/ Wed, 07 May 2014 02:40:23 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=97305 The story of this game is Clayton Kershaw’s return to the Dodgers and everything went as planned as he pitch seven innings allowing no runs and striking out nine Nationals. It was an impressive start, but impressive starts are common place for a pitcher as good as Kershaw. What was impressive is that Nationals spot starter Blake Treinen held the game scoreless and tied through five innings. Matt Williams then decided to push the spot starter in his major league debut as a starting pitcher into the sixth.

Clayton Kershaw reached on an error when Blake Treinen couldn’t pick up his dribbler. Dee Gordon hit a ball right to Adam LaRoche and LaRoche was caught thinking about a throw to second before he could secure the ball and Gordon ended up on first base. An second infield hit and a solid single by Hanley Ramirez would give the Dodgers the lead they wouldn’t relinquish as Kershaw kept the stranglehold on the Nats hitters and the Dodgers offense came to life against the Nats bullpen.

Craig Stammen and Ross Detwiler who have been seldom seen as of recent games both entered the game and allowed more runs to score. Detwiler doing the real damage giving up a lead-off home run to Hanley Ramirez in the top of the eight then walking Kemp on four pitches ahead of an infield single by Andre Ethier and then after outs by Juan Uribe and Scott Van Slyke, Drew Butera knocked in Kemp and Ethier with a three run home run that put the game out of reach.

The Nationals would mount a mini rally in the bottom of the eighth sending nine batters to the plate and scoring three runs, but it was too little too late and the Dodgers bullpen held on to give Clayton Kershaw a victory in his return to the mound.

With the Nationals loss and a Braves win over St. Louis the Nationals are back in second place with the Braves reclaiming first. All the Nationals can do is put this one behind them and hope that their Ace, Stephen Strasburg, can come out and out duel the resurgent Dan Haren who is off to a much better start with the Dodgers than he had last season with the Nationals.

The frustration of the Nationals play comes from the fact that they’ve outscored opponents by an average margin of 3.9 in victories and been outscored by an average of 3.7 in loses. A difference of five runs is considered a blowout so the Nats winning or losing by an average margin of right around four runs is on the edge of a blowout and makes them look like a great team when they win and a terrible team win they lose.

A loss to Kershaw with a spot starter pitching is expected, but it is the manner in which they lost that causes frustration. Treinen kept the Nationals in it until the sixth inning and the formula to winning was always to hold it close and get to the bullpen and that didn’t happen as the Dodgers jumped to an 8-0 lead before the Nationals even got a shot at their bullpen.

It is a tough and frustrating loss, but that has been Nationals baseball in 2014. The wins are very good and the loses very bad, and all they can do is keep on playing.

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Former Nat Xavier Nady Lifts Padres over Nats in Extras http://www.welovedc.com/2014/04/24/former-nat-xavier-nady-lifts-padres-over-nats-in-extras/ Fri, 25 Apr 2014 03:42:10 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=97191 The Padres 4-3 twelve inning victory over the Nationals Thursday night ended in fitting fashion. Bryce Harper led off the bottom of the twelfth with a double. The Nats needed him to score in order to tie the game, but the Nationals had been unable to muster a single hit with runners in scoring position all evening, and they had plenty of opportunity with 16 hits and all. There Bryce Harper stood with the few fans left in the stands hoping the Nationals fortunes would change, but it was not to be as Jose Lobaton hit a liner that seemed ticketed for left field and a tie game, but Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera drifted back, caught the ball, and doubled Harper off second.

It was another frustrating night for the Nationals, and another game in which they did more to beat themselves than the other team. As anyone how many runs a team should score when they have sixteen hits in a ball game and it is doubtful their answer would be three, but that is what the Nationals scored. The Nationals offense is off to a good start to the season in most major category except they lead the NL in runners left on base and have trouble getting hits with runners in scoring position.

Left on base numbers don’t correlate to runs scored as a runner left on base that has driven in a base runner counts the same as any other left on base, but the Nationals just can’t come up with those big hits lately. The Nats poor left on base numbers are two fold. Part of it is a line-up missing two key offensive pieces in Ryan Zimmerman and Wilson Ramos and the other is just plain bad luck.

With runners all over the bases and a solid six inning three run pitching performance from Jordan Zimmermann the Nationals had more than a chance to win this game. Give the Nats or any team sixteen hits and three runs allowed by their starting pitcher every night and that is more wins than loses, but this wasn’t the Nats night, and it goes down as another frustrating lose in what has been an April of frustrating loses. Carry it back to 2013 and it feels like the Nationals haven’t been able to get out of their own way for a year and a month now.

To add to the frustration caused by this game the last eight starting pitchers the Nats faced have a combined 2.71 ERA for the 2014 season and the Nationals were getting to face Eric Stults and his 4.35 ERA. This should have been a pitcher that the Nationals beat like a drum, but they couldn’t. They put runners on inning after inning and at bat after at bat, but could never push them across the plate.

The Nationals failure to put the Padres away when they had the chance led to Xavier Nady’s heroics in the top of the twelfth inning. Before the game reached that point however the Nats were given a great opportunity to win when Jose Lobaton led off the tenth inning with a double. Matt Williams elected to go with home run threat Zach Walters as the pinch hitter instead of pinch running for Lobaton and letting a pitcher pinch hit and sacrifice the runner to third for Denard Span. There aren’t many situations where a sacrifice bunt makes since but this may be the one and Williams failed to take advantage.

This set up the Nats eventual demise where Jedd Gyorko hit a one out single, stole second, and advanced to third on Jose Lobaton’s throwing error. With two outs Xavier Nady stepped to the plate and did for the Padres what he didn’t do so many times for the Nationals and delivered the clutch hit to win the opening game of this four game set.

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Pujols Hits 500, Nats Fall to Angels http://www.welovedc.com/2014/04/22/pujols-hits-500-nats-fall-to-angels/ Wed, 23 Apr 2014 02:17:58 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=97158 This was Albert Pujols night. In the first inning Taylor Jordan gave up a chalk line double to JB Schuck followed by an Anthony Rendon error on a Mike Trout ground ball. To the plate stepped Albert Pujols and after one swing he was one home run away from the magic number of 500 and the Nats were down 3-0. Taylor Jordan would allow one more run before the inning was over and would push the Nats total of first inning runs allowed to 25.

Of those 25 first inning runs 11 have been given up by Taylor Jordan who now looks like the pitcher who will be leaving town when Doug Fister returns to the rotation. Earlier today Fister threw his second simulated game and is scheduled for a rehab start in Potomac on Sunday. It isn’t an accident that he lines up with Taylor Jordan’s spot in the rotation and the Nats could use him back as soon as possible.

Falling behind has been a constant struggle for the Nationals this season of the 92 runs they’ve allowed this season 44 have been given up in the first or second inning. To put that another way 48.7% of the runs the Nats have allowed in 2014 have come in the first two innings. For a team where starting pitching was thought to be a strength coming into the season that shouldn’t happen. Some of it has to do with an MLB leading and ever growing error count but some of it is still on the starting pitching.

The Nats have to find a way to let the games develop before they get out of hand. Having to battle back night after night is no way to have a winning season, and with the loss tonight the Nats are now only one game over .500 and if this level of play continues much longer they won’t be over .500 much longer.

That is the good thing about baseball. Some trends beg for regression and with the Nats starting staff and Doug Fister one or two starts from the major league rotation the amount of early runs allowed simply has to end, but will it be in time. The Braves have allowed the fewest runs in baseball and continue to stretch their lead in the division despite a setback against Jose Fernandez on this evening.

Getting late early is something the Nats dealt with in 2013 and it appears to be happening again in 2014. Tonight’s game against the Angels featured too many of the constant issues that have plagued the Nationals early in both 2013 and 2014. The high error total and overall sloppy play has to end. Aside from those issues the other major issues of 2013, the bullpen and bench, appear to be fixed for the large part.

One of the major reasons for the improvement of the bullpen returned tonight. After spending his ten mandatory days in the minors Aaron Barrett returned to the majors to pitch a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts including one of Mike Trout.

But as they say every silver lining, and that dark cloud in this game was the four first inning runs the Nats allowed and once again being on the wrong end of history as Taylor Jordan follows Chan Ho Park as a pitcher who has given up two milestone home runs in one game as Jordan would give up Pujols’ 500th career home run in the fifth inning and from there the rout was on.

The Nats would get two walks after that, but no more hits and ended up being three hit by Skaggs, Kohn, and Jepsen. Overall this is a game to forget. All the Nats can do is get back out there and right the ship and as it has many times since Mike Rizzo traded for him Gio Gonzalez will be asked to play stopper.

The Nats can still turn this into a good home stand with one game left against the Angels and the struggling Jered Weaver before welcoming in the fourth place Padres into town. The Nats have a chance to take four of these next five and turn this into a good home stand, but they are going to have to play better. Mainly stop falling behind early and giving the opposing team extra outs.

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New York defeats Washington 20-6 http://www.welovedc.com/2013/12/29/new-york-defeats-washington-20-6/ Sun, 29 Dec 2013 21:52:18 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=95666 It’s over. That is the best thing that can be said about this afternoon’s game. It was a boring, long, excruciating game to end a boring, long, excruciating season. The Mike Shanahan era looks to be at an end and now the real fun will begin. Washington will once again be looking for a new coach. That has been the Dan Snyder era in Washington. New coaches, new quarterbacks, and no stability. It has been painful to endure and its end may never come.

The terrible game against New York did end, but Kirk Cousins who was the darling of some Washington fans a couple weeks ago has done nothing but lose and throw interceptions. When it comes right down to it he isn’t that much different than Rex Grossman or John Beck. Starting him did nothing but lower his value and whereas Washington would have done good to get a second round pick for him before he started they will now be lucky to get much more than a fourth or fifth round pick.

Completing 19 of 49 passes for 169 yards and two interceptions simply isn’t NFL quality, and it won’t help to show other teams that Kirk Cousins could start in this league, and there are still questions as to whether RGIII can. That will be the most important job of the new coach. Next year will be Griffin’s third season in the NFL and will be a make or break season. Finding a franchise quarterback is the most important task of any team. Before this season it looked like Washington had one in Griffin, but his sub par season has changed that perception, and finding out if he can be that guy again is priority number one.

This game wasn’t all Kirk Cousins being awful. His offensive line and wide receivers didn’t help him much, and Washington’s secondary once again got lit up by a back-up quarterback. It was a fitting end to Washington’s season and the Shanahan era. It was the same loss Washington has suffered for eight games in a row. Terrible special teams, bad secondary play, too many turnovers, dropped passes, and bad offensive line play. Same poor performance day after day, and watching Washington try and do the basic things is even worse. Near the end of the first half Washington was in the hurry up offense and couldn’t hurry up to the line. It is like they don’t even practice.

On his way out the door Mike Shanahan should get a bonus from Papa John’s for all the toppings he saved them. Not only has Washington not won for eight weeks they’ve barely scored any touchdowns. Washington has been outscored by 144 points this season. This is close to one of the worst seasons in franchise history. Mike Shanahan has been bad enough that Jim Zorn is no longer the worst coach of the last decade. At least it is over. This game ended, the season ended, and the Mike Shanahan era ended. Now we can talk about things that matter like Alex Ovechkin’s MVP level play, and the Washington Nationals solid off-season moves.

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Dallas defeats Washington 24-23 http://www.welovedc.com/2013/12/22/dallas-defeats-washington-24-23/ http://www.welovedc.com/2013/12/22/dallas-defeats-washington-24-23/#comments Sun, 22 Dec 2013 21:22:35 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=95627 This was not the narrative we were promised. What happened to the Romo in December that throws interceptions and can’t win the big games? With under two minutes left and Dallas needing to convert a fourth and goal it looked like the narrative would live. Romo did have an interception on the day. Then with the Redskins pouring throw his offensive line Romo rolled right and found DeMarco Murray for the three yard touchdown. It was a moment of shock and disbelief. Tony Romo had lead Dallas not only in a come from behind victory but to a victory in December with the division on the line.

Washington is no threat to Dallas for the division, but if they had lost this game then their season finally against Philadelphia wouldn’t have been for the division. It was a year ago that Washington was finishing the 2012 season in a similar do or die fashion against Dallas and were able to pull off the victory and win the division. It is amazing the difference a year makes. Instead of being hailed as a hero RGIII is sitting on the bench and watching Kirk Cousins manage Washington’s offense.

It takes more than a game manager to cover up all the flaws with Washington, and their biggest was on display early in the game. After receiving the ball first and doing nothing with it Washington punted the ball away and the familiar sight of an opposing punt returner streaming up the sidelines greeted Washington. While Michael Spurlock didn’t score on his 62 yard punt return DeMarco Murray did two plays later on a three yard run.

Poor secondary, bad offensive line, and putrid special teams have been the story of 2013 for Washington. They play a bad brand of football that can be tough to watch and yet they were once again in a football game in the fourth quarter. They even had the lead with less than two minutes to play, but they couldn’t hold it. Tony Romo came up clutch against Washington and the narrative. He hasn’t proven anything yet but for one day he was able to put the narrative behind him. He was able to be a clutch passer late in a must win December game.

Washington wasn’t playing for anything but pride and their strategy was clear. Let Kirk Cousins manage the game and Alfred Morris pound the ball. Despite having only 197 passing yards and 100 rushing yards Washington had a seven minute advantage in time of possession. The strategy was to keep their terrible secondary on the bench along with Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, and Tony Romo. Eventually Washington’s lack of talent caught up with them and they couldn’t pull off the victory. Perhaps in an alternate universe Tony Romo rolled to the right and found a burgundy jersey on Dallas’ final play, but in this one he went against the narrative and connected with DeMarco Murray for a late clutch touchdown.

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Atlanta defeats Washington 27-26 http://www.welovedc.com/2013/12/15/atlanta-defeats-washington-27-26/ http://www.welovedc.com/2013/12/15/atlanta-defeats-washington-27-26/#comments Sun, 15 Dec 2013 21:41:35 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=95544 Washington is out of it and can no longer make the playoffs, they are sitting last season’s first round pick and rookie of the year in favor of back-up quarterback Kirk Cousins, and when they had the chance to tie the game with an extra point they choose to go for the win with a two point conversion. There has been a lot of speculation this week that the reason RGIII was shutdown was due to Mike Shanahan trying to maneuver his way out of town. That he wants to be fired by Daniel Snyder and hold onto the $7 million that is owed him.

Embarrassing the team’s quarterback was supposed to do it for him but it didn’t. There Shanahan was on the sidelines today having to coach a team that can’t do anything right on special teams, with no offensive line, and a secondary that would be picked apart in a backyard holiday pick-up game. Shanahan has no one to blame but himself for the players he has. He was given total control of the team and the draft picks and free agent signings he made to fix the secondary and the offensive line have failed. Despite all this Washington played a competitive game and seemingly scored a game tying touchdown with less than thirty seconds to go.

Instead of allowing that touchdown to tie the game Shanahan sent his offense back onto the field to go for the win. Shanahan was going to win it in this moment or lose it but he wasn’t going to stand on the sideline as Washington’s head coach for one minute longer than he had to and playing for overtime would have kept him there for up to fifteen minutes further than he wants to be there. Daniel Snyder wants to save his $7 million, Mike Shanahan wants to collect it, and the players are caught in the middle.

It is hard to explain the final moments of this game in any other manner. Washington turned the ball over seven times and shouldn’t have even been in the game, but they had a chance to keep playing. They had a chance to show that all the talk about playing to win the game and starting veterans over young players at positions that aren’t quarterback wasn’t more sound and fury from Mike Shanahan, but it was. With a chance to compete. To play to win the game. Shanahan folded. He sat his cards down and walked away from the table.

There is a strong chance he didn’t believe his players could win in overtime. He has thrown more of them under the bus than can be counted and it is hard to imagine any of them trust him anymore. Still there was a chance for this game to continue into overtime. To guarantee that the game would continue and Washington would have a chance to win. By going for the two point conversion the only options were to win or lose. The game wasn’t going to continue, and even if Washington had recovered the proceeding onside kick they still had to score. If they had kicked the extra point the game was going to continue into overtime.

This isn’t the first puzzling move Washington has made this season and it won’t be the last. Mike Shanahan wants out, Dan Snyder wants him out, and after two games they are both going to get their way, but until that happens Mike Shanahan is going to cause as much havoc as possible and Dan Snyder is going to make him as miserable as possible. There really is nothing like football in Washington.

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Kansas City defeats Washington 45-10 http://www.welovedc.com/2013/12/08/kansas-city-defeats-washington-45-10/ Sun, 08 Dec 2013 21:25:48 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=95407 Poor tackling, special special teams, turnovers, penalties, questionable coaching calls, dropped passes, off target throws are all themes of Washington’s football season, and once again they were all part of the effort in today’s loss to Kansas City. I call it an effort because it does take some effort to look this bad. This morning an article came out detailing the schism between Shanahan and Snyder with Robert Griffin in the middle. Shanahan was ready to leave after the 2012 season but when it ended on a down note he didn’t want part of his legacy to be the coach that injured RGIII and so he stayed on and in great Shanahan fashion he has turned himself into a martyr caught between a prima dona quarterback and meddling owner.

McNabb and Haynesworth weren’t good acquisitions by the Redskins but they were both players Shanahan had no idea how to use, and when he started to have doubts about Fred Davis he alienated him as well. Shanahan’s biggest failing as a coach is he has a very strong idea of how things should be done and instead of coaching to a player’s talents he will alienate any player that has even the slightest misgivings about his methods.

There is a choice for Washington and it should be an easy one. Keep Shanahan past this season and next or keep RGIII. RGIII is an ultra talented player full of athletic ability and in his diminished state this season Shanahan had no idea how to bring out the best in him and RGIII no longer trusted the plays that got him hurt in 2012. It is a schism that can’t be repaired and the obvious choice is to get rid of Shanahan before he can do any further harm to RGIII and the rest of Washington’s football team.

The game itself was the same game Washington fans have witnessed week in and week out. There is no reason to recap it and if you would like to relive it I feel sorry for you. It was a great comedy at times that drove me to hysterical laughter and if I wasn’t trapped inside by the hordes of DC drives that can’t handle two inches of snow and make themselves obstacles on the road. This would have been an excellent day for Christmas shopping or any number of activities that don’t involve watching the final death keel of Mike Shanahan as the head of Washington football.

Mercifully it will be over soon. Shanahan will be out and the cycle will begin again. The debates this off-season will be about if Washington has the franchise quarterback or still needs one. RGIII has the natural ability he needs a coach that can get it out of him. That can direct him in the best manner as to how to use his talents. And a coach that he can believe in. One whose philosophy he will buy into. That wasn’t Mike Shanahan. Let’s hope it is the next guy, or this 21 year rebuild gets even longer.

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New York defeats Washington 24-17 http://www.welovedc.com/2013/12/01/new-york-defeats-washington-24-17/ Mon, 02 Dec 2013 04:38:44 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=95277 It was a fitting ending for Washington in the loss that mathematically eliminated them from the playoffs. The end of Washington’s loss to New York was one of the most bizarre series of events to end a game since Saturday’s Iron Bowl. A second down pass looked like it was a yard short of a first down but the refs singled for a first down and the chains moved. Washington went for a deep pass that was dropped by Fred Davis and then followed that up with a pass to Pierre Garcon that was good for a first down but was ripped from Garcon’s hands by a New York defensive back to seal the game.

It was bizarre but it was so Washington. The game started out with promise as the offense, defense, and even special teams came out sharp and ready to play. Washington scored on their opening drive for the first time all season and then forced Eli Manning to go three and out before taking a 14-0 lead. New York would end up tying it up before the half and then Washington’s coaching came into play.

It wasn’t like Washington gave up on running the football but they gave up on running the football with Alfred Morris. With all the attempted trick plays and going away from the middle running game it was like Kyle Shanahan thought 14-14 was the same as 28-0. It is strange to watch a team in a tie game completely lose its composure and abandon what they do best. Morris is a strong middle of the field runner and teams that win can control the middle of the field. Washington didn’t do that in the second half of this game. They tried to run outside and pass to receivers who appeared to have butter on their hands.

The circumstances at the end aside Washington didn’t look ready for the adjustments that New York made early on. They started with a plan that worked and then when New York was able to stop it they were unable to re-adjust and come up with a plan that would work. Washington is one of the best running teams in the NFL and Morris is a top five running back in the league. It is strange that in a close game he would be completely abandoned. It is what Washington does well, the only thing they’ve done well this season, and they went away from it early on in a winnable game.

Trying to figure out the why of Washington shouldn’t be done anymore. If you do you’ll end up at 11:35 on a Sunday night writing about a game when you should be in bed sleeping next to your beautiful wife and loyal hound dog. Week after week is the same in the world of Washington football and like the bizarre ending to this evening’s affair it will never make sense, and continuing to watch is staring into the abyss as your life slowly drains away.

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Philadelphia defeats Washington 24-16 http://www.welovedc.com/2013/11/17/philadelphia-defeats-washington-24-16/ Sun, 17 Nov 2013 21:40:54 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=95132 It was a game a lot like the first meeting between Philadelphia and Washington. Philadelphia jumped out to an early lead as Washington’s defense couldn’t figure out how to stop them, and then in the second half everything changed and the defense was getting stops and the offense making plays, but it was all too little too late. There was almost a miraculous comeback this time, but if Washington could have done anything in the first half of the game then maybe they wouldn’t have even been in the position of needing a comeback.

The final throw of the afternoon for Robert Griffin ended up in the hands of Philadelphia’s secondary. That is still his biggest flaw. He believes he can do everything, that he can make all the plays, and that he can  win all the games on his own. This season he is learning he cannot, and he needs a coach that will instruct him on how to play within his abilities instead of criticizing him for trying to make something special happen on every play. The Robert Griffin and Mike Shanahan relationship will soon be at an end. Shanahan isn’t going to allow himself to be a lame duck coach and after this season the last thing he deserves is an extension.

Aside from the drama leading up to the season with Griffin, Shanahan has alienated Fred Davis and Josh Morgan as the season has gone on. Neither of them are great talents but both are better than the players Washington put on the field in their place. Fred Davis as the second tight end would have been a much bigger benefit to Washington than Logan Paulson when Jordan Reed went out with a concussion, and Josh Morgan may have been able to get open as the third receiver when Aldrick Robinson and Santana Moss couldn’t.

Washington doesn’t have great talent, a team doesn’t fall to 3-7 with great talent, but Mike Shanahan hasn’t utilized the talent they do have this season. This was a done year in the NFC East and Washington didn’t need to be great, they needed to be good enough. We’ve seen the team run the ball effectively one half only to go away from it with the game on the line. We’ve seen them try and make Robert Griffin, a duel threat quarterback, play like a pocket passer. And we’ve seen sloppy and penalty ridden play week in and week out. Whether a switch is made before the next game or the next season Mike Shanahan will not be the Washington football coach for much longer.

The first half of this game was the nail in the coffin. Washington ended the first half with less than ten yards passing and down 24-0. The sixteen points they scored in the second half were once again too little too late, and even though the offensive numbers look good context matters in sports. This was just another game in the Shanahan era in Washington and aside from one 7-0 hot streak in 2012 it is not much different than any other Washington game in the Shanahan era. An era that should be at an end soon.

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Washington defeats San Diego 30-24 http://www.welovedc.com/2013/11/03/washington-defeats-san-diego-30-24/ Sun, 03 Nov 2013 23:50:43 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=94864 This was a game Washington needed. The NFC East is so bad that even with only two wins on the season Washington is not out of it, but each week they fail to make up ground puts them further behind and much closer to being out of it. It is easy to call this game a must win as it is every remaining game on Washington’s schedule it is rare for teams to turn around a season much like Washington did last season at 3-6 and it is even more rare to see a team do it two seasons in a row.

It has become hard to believe in Washington finding success this year, and in order to do so they had to beat San Diego. With under a minute to play and San Diego just having a touchdown overturned they had first and goal on the one yard line. This is as close to an automatic touchdown as teams get in the NFL, and yet San Diego couldn’t convert. The Washington defense put up a goal line stand when they were needed most to force San Diego to kick a game tying field goal. When overtime started Washington got the ball and the win as they drove down the field on ten plays.

This was a game that could have gone very differently for Washington and stood as the symbolic end of, if not their season, their hopes. As it stands Washington is two game behind Dallas with one head to head meeting left on the schedule. At 3-5 they have their work cut out for them, and have close to zero room for error, but if the NFC East plays out as many expect Washington may only need nine wins to take the division and with both games against the Giants, one against Minnesota, Dallas, and the Eagles 6-2 to finish the season isn’t outside the realm of possibilities.

They are going to need more performances like today where Griffin completed 23 of 32 passes for 291 yards and Alfred Morris rushed for 121 yards on 25 carries. Let’s not forget the hero of the game, Darrel Young who scored three touchdowns while rushing for 12 yard on five carries. In total Washington had 291 yards through the air and 209 on the ground. They had 13 runs for a first down and 12 passes. It was a balanced attack and it helped to put them into a position to win.

The defense should also get some credit. It was, after all, their goal line stand that forced overtime in the first place. Without that stand Griffin, Morris, and Young’s efforts would have been wasted in another Washington losing effort. Winning the turnover battle is very important in the NFL and with Rivers’ two interceptions to Griffin’s one Washington’s defense was able to do that as well. If this game had ended with a larger margin of victory the fact that Washington held San Diego to just 69 yards rushing would be important, but Rivers was able to pass for 341 yards against the much maligned Washington secondary. All in all a victory is a victory, and a victory in a must win game keeps Washington in the hunt.

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Denver defeats Washington 45-21 http://www.welovedc.com/2013/10/27/denver-defeats-washington-45-21/ Sun, 27 Oct 2013 23:45:58 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=94729 Only the most die hard Washington fans thought that their football team would have much of a chance against Peyton Manning and the high powered Denver offense, but they did more than have a chance. Washington entered the fourth quarter with a seven point lead, but that quickly evaporated as John Fox went for it on fourth down and Peyton Manning found Joel Dreessen on a one yard touchdown pass. Washington would then quickly go three and out on three straight passes, two that hit receiver’s hands. Sav Rocca would shank the punt and Peyton Manning and Knowshon Mereno would run a perfectly executed screen that gave Denver a seven point lead.

It was a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish as on the next possession Robert Griffin would fumble the football, Denver would recover, and Peyton Manning would march them down the field for yet another score. Peyton Manning is one of the best quarterbacks of all time and while there was some hope when Washington went up by fourteen points there was still a quarter and a half for Manning to play and he has come back from larger deficits in less time than that.

The biggest issue with the Washington offense was that Robert Griffin looked completely ineffective. He was holding onto the ball too long, not going through his progressions, and forcing pass after pass to well covered receivers. It was like from last week to this he had forgotten what football was and how to be a quarterback. This could be due to his entire off-season being about rehab and not playing a preseason, but despite all this Washington had a fourteen point lead and decided not to give the ball to Alfred Morris who averaged over six yards a carry.

Last season Robert Griffin was the best player on the field whenever he was on it, but that isn’t the case this season and his game management has left much to be desired and the coaching staff’s inability to adjust to the game that is happening on the field is inexcusable. Even though it was the third quarter the game plan should have been to run the ball, run the ball, and run the ball some more. To ride the legs of Alfred Morris to not just burn clock but to move the ball as well. Morris was the most effective offensive player for Washington and when they needed him the most his number wasn’t called.

Washington would get one more chance after Jordan Pugh intercepted a Peyton Manning pass with eight minutes left. Washington would finally give the ball to Alfred Morris for a four yard run and then Robert Griffin would throw his first interception of the day and Peyton Manning would connect with Demaryius Thomas to ice the game for Denver. Washington had their chance but couldn’t figure out what to do with the lead or play like a team that had a lead with one of the best running backs in football and time on their side. It was like they didn’t believe they could win and therefor didn’t.

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Washington defeats Chicago 45-41 in See-Saw Affair http://www.welovedc.com/2013/10/20/washington-defeats-chicago-45-41-in-see-saw-affair/ Sun, 20 Oct 2013 20:49:03 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=94566 After 86 combined points and eight lead changes the Washington/Chicago game finally came to the end with the Chicago back-up quarterback, Josh McCown, laying on the turf after being sacked by Barry Cofield. This was the most complete game Washington has played this season. Two out of three facets of the game played well enough to win and special teams kept Chicago in the game. It was more an early interception that led to a Chigaco touchdown by RGIII, a punt return for a touchdown by Devin Hester, and multiple penalties by Brandon Meriweather. If not for those plays Washington could have had a more comfortable victory. A victory worthy of 45 points and 499 offensive yards.

The important part of the game is that Washington won. The other part is that Brandon Meriweather should no longer be on an NFL playing field. He is a dangerous player that plays like he is trying to knock everyone out, including his own teammates, instead of playing the position of safety. Meriweather is not a good football player and when he is on the field does more harm to Washington’s efforts than good. They need someone there and with one draft pick out for the season, another in the Shanahan doghouse, and Reed Doughty facing a concussion Washington may have no other choice than using Meriweather, when he isn’t suspended.

The game started off like a typical 2013 Washington football game. They drove down the field to the red zone with a combination of big plays and then committed a mistake when RGIII missed the snap. They ended up settling for a field goal and then on their next possession turning it over in their own territory and allowing Chicago an easy score. This has been Washington’s recipe all season. One step forward and two or forty back. For every good thing they do they do several more bad, and this game was no different.

Washington’s offense had 499 total yards and scored 45 points, but the team only won by four points. That is due to the multitude of mistakes that they couldn’t help but make. That is mostly on Meriweather with a couple late hits on plays that could have ended Chicago drives, but instead of settling for a field goal or punting their drives remained alive and they got seven points. That more than anything was the worst offense Washington committed all game. Chicago’s offense had 359 total yards and were two of eight on third down conversions, but Washington gave them 47 yards on five penalties and worse than that were the free first downs.

Despite the mistakes Washington was able to win. That is largely due to the fact that RGIII was effective as both a runner and a thrower. This is who he is as a football player. His ability to be dynamic in two facets of the game is what made him a high draft pick and the electric quarterback that was the offensive rookie of the year. The running wasn’t all Griffin. Alfred Morris had 95 yards on 19 careers and Roy Helu Jr. tied a Washington record with three rushing touchdowns in a game. It was an impressive effort on the ground and Griffin added 289 yards and two touchdowns through the air. In the end the offensive effort was able to mask several miscues and Washington came away with their second win of the season.

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Dallas defeats Washington 31-16 http://www.welovedc.com/2013/10/14/dallas-defeats-washington-31-16/ Mon, 14 Oct 2013 11:48:32 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=94467 Let’s not dwell on this one too long. It was likely the ceremonial end of Washington’s season, but the chances already weren’t good at 1-3 and now at 1-4 they are even worse. Let’s examine this loss from a couple different areas, or let’s not. There are going to be plenty of columns by smarter people than me breaking down what went wrong on special teams, offense, and defense, but mainly special teams.

For many the problem with the Redskins last season was Danny Smith. He is gone and the special teams unit isn’t much better. They allowed one big punt return for a touchdown and a kick-off return that set-up a touchdown, and could never get anything going themselves. It is hard to think of the last good or even decent Washington return man not named Brian Mitchell and he might even be able to step out of the studio and do a better job than the guys they are putting out there now, but the special team issues aren’t limited to special teams. Washington defenders suffer from an allergy to pig skin. That has to be the answer when it comes to there issue with tackling the ball carrier.

The only reason Dallas was held to 48 yards rushing on 19 attempts is that they didn’t need to run the football. Every receiver that suited up was open against a Washington secondary full of rookies and cast-offs. Part of that is the massive salary cap penalty the team took. Think back to the 2011 season and how good the front seven were and then the offense was improved for 2012 and the final step had to be the secondary, and Washington attempted to do it only through the draft, but that left them a complete lack of depth. They lost one draft pick to injury in training camp and Bacrri Rambo sat inactive this week after not playing the previous two. It was making the best of a bad situation but it left them exposed with no plan B if plan A didn’t go their way, and so far it hasn’t.

As this is a quarterback league and RGIII had moments where he looked like the RGIII of 2012 and other moments where he looked like a diminished shell that debate will continue and he will get blame heaped upon him for this loss. He had another fumble, a near fumble, and a late interception where he threw the ball in the direction of four Dallas players with no burgundy in sight. He completed less the 50% of his passes, had the costly turnovers, but it is still hard to blame just him. The offensive line couldn’t stop the Dallas pass rush or open holes for the running game, and the Washington receivers couldn’t shake the Dallas corner backs. And as Dallas defender after Dallas defender left with injury the new guy stepped in and had the game of their lives, and that might not be so much because they are good but because Washington lacks a number of pieces on offense.

As I said at the beginning let’s not dwell on this. Washington’s football season isn’t over. A team can’t be eliminated from the regular season. It has to be played all the way to its miserable and inevitable conclusion.

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Washington Defeats Oakland 24-14 http://www.welovedc.com/2013/09/29/washington-defeats-oakland-24-14/ Sun, 29 Sep 2013 23:49:04 +0000 http://www.welovedc.com/?p=94215 Washington did not get off to the start they needed in the season or in this game. After going three and out on their second possession of the game Sav Rocca lined up for the punt. The only problem is the punt couldn’t get off his foot before it was blocked by Rashad Jennings and recovered in the end zone by Jeremy Stewart to give Oakland the early seven point lead, and they didn’t stop there. Washington would get one first down on their next offensive series but it still only last four plays before Rocca had to line-up for another punt. This one he got off but Matt Flynn and Oakland were able to drive down the field on ten plays for a 14-0 lead.

Then the game turned. Washington looked dead. The defense once again couldn’t stop anyone and the offense couldn’t get anything going. The response to Oakland’s second touchdown was a drive that started off promising enough but then stalled in the red zone on an intentional grounding penalty by Robert Griffin III. They settled for a field goal, and then they got life from their defense. On the sixth play of Oakland’s next possession rookie David Amerson made the first interception of his career and returned it for a touchdown.

Washington would go on to score two more touchdowns and the defense never let Oakland back in it. Barry Cofield ended the day with two sacks and a fumble recovery. Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan had two sacks of their own as the entire front seven had pressure on Matt Flynn all afternoon.

This win didn’t come clean for Washington. Alfred Morris ended up leaving in the second half with injured ribs. That didn’t effect the running game though as Roy Helu Jr. had 41 yards on 13 careers to add to the 71 that Morris had on his 16 career before the injury. In total Washington rushed for 122 yards and passed for 227. It was the most balanced offensive attack they have mustard all season. The threat of a running game is the best way to keep pressure off of Robert Griffin to open up the passing game, and that is what eventually happened in this game.

Griffin had 300 yards in all three of Washington’s previous games, but that had a lot to do with them falling behind early and struggling to establish the run. Against Oakland they were able to establish the run and eventually open up the field for Griffin. He ended up with 18 completions on 31 attempts for 227 yards and one touchdown.

This was the most complete game that Washington has played this season. The defense stepped up and held Oakland down while the offense was able to put together a balanced effort. Some of that, a lot of it, has to do with the fact that Washington was playing Oakland with Matt Flynn starting at quarterback and Darren McFadden leaving early due to injury. McFadden left with 29 yards on five carries which is good for 5.8 yards a carry. If Washington had to deal with that all afternoon the outcome may have been different. A win is still a win and being 1-3 and one game back in the division is better than being 0-4. Just ask the Giants.

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