I don't think you could lose a game in any more excruciating fashion if you had a team of Oscar winning screenwriters putting together the script. This isn't the first time that the Redskins lost a game that they had every opportunity to win, but this one just feels a little bit differently. Let us count the ways.
First the Redskins wasted one of the best first down rushing performances any of us have ever seen. Ryan Torain was running wild against the Tampa Bay defense in the first quarter, but they couldn't get any points on the board thanks to a couple kicking miscues from Graham Gano. The first field goal that he missed off the upright was one thing. I'd even be willing to give him a mulligan on that one considering the weather. The problem is, when he got a second chance from even closer, he missed it by even more.
Then came the clock management issue at the end of the first half. Nobody had any idea what to do, it almost looked like the first game of the preseason. Did McNabb really not know that he couldn't call two timeouts in a row there? How long has he been playing this game? The Skins had a chance to get into the endzone, and they walked away with three. Obviously, those points could have helped them in the end.
Then there was the five downs thing (Mike will have more on that in just a moment). One of the few times the Skins get a break. A legitimate unfair advantage. That was the chance they needed to get into the endzone. And they did. But you know by now what happened to the extra point.
"Is this a joke?" I thought, "Could this play, and by extension the entire regular season, be an elaborate prank played on the fanbase by the organization?" They gave the fans hope that they might be able to send the game into overtime only to yank it away in the most unfair way possible. At this point, it just seems cruel.
Today's must-reads from around the SB Nation network:
- Bullets Forever with the first edition of Wizards Lunchbox.
- The Nationals Aren't going to sign Cliff Lee. Federal Baseball takes a look at some other possibilities.
- Testudo Times says it was some familiar problems that caused a Terps loss against Boston College.
On Tap today at SB Nation D.C.: Scott Jackson takes a look at the (not so) special teams in the latest edition of Chain Reactions. Even though the Redskins ended up losing, Jack Anderson reminds us that Donovan McNabb was actually pretty effectisve in the two minute drill.