I must have missed yesterday's game...

[sportscurmudgeon]

After reading all the comments here blaming Suisham and/or Zorn and/or the playcalling and/or the football gods for yesterday's loss to the Cowboys, I think I watched a different game.

In the game I saw, the sputtering Redskins offense had a 6-0 lead in the game with about 5 or 6 minutes left to play. The reason the Redskins lost the game is stunningly similar to the reason the Redskins have lost several games in the last two years:

In the 4th quarter when the team MUST HAVE a defensive stand (three-and-out or a turnover to get the ball back) what the team gets is a drive by the opposition resulting in a score.

Yardage allowed stats are for losers. What matters is making the defensive stop when the team absolutely, positively has to have one. And the Skins' defense the last couple of years simply has NOT done that.

I do not keep notes on play-by-play as I watch the games, but in the final drive when the game was on the line, I believe the only negative play for the Cowboys was a false start penalty. I don't recall the Cowboys facing a 3rd down situation; if they did, it was certainly not 3rd-and-long. When it mattered, the defense came up small.

Granted, if either or both of the missed field goals is good, the Skins win. But the Redskins still had the game in hand or - to use a tennis term - on their racket with 5 or 6 minutes left in the game.

That was the game that came through on my cable system...