Unlike last week, the field goal was good. The Washington Redskins got their fourth good kick of the game as time expired to beat the Tennessee Titans, 19-17.
It was a contest that mostly lived down to its advance billing. The Titans held a 10-6 lead at the half, with both scores coming off Washington turnovers that gave the Titans the ball with less than 40 yards to go until the end zone. They couldn’t gain any yards at all on the first go, but a couple of Bishop Sankey’s few solid gains on the game followed by some nifty Kendall Wright work after the catch gave them a 10-6 lead in the second quarter. Washington would claw back ahead, on which more anon, 16-10 in the final frame, before the Titans would find the end zone for the second time. It was a drive that had what go wrong most of the game go right for the Titans. Instead of an O-line penalty wiping out a good gain, it was an illegal contact penalty wiping out a sack of Charlie Whitehurst. Instead of the Titans ending up just short, they went for it on fourth-and-1 at their own 45, a bold call by Ken Whisenhunt, and converted. Two plays later, Whitehurst found Derek Hagan, of all people, and hit him over the top for a 38-yard score and the 17-16 lead.
Big plays were a key component in several Washington scores. In a play eerily reminiscent of last week, the quarterback hit a tight end for a big pass play. This time, it was Niles Paul instead of Clay Harbor, and 50 yards to the 32 instead of 60 yards inside the 10. That drive would end with a field goal, but not before the Titans claimed the ball on the field twice without ever legally possessing the ball. (Ken Whisenhunt lost a bad challenge on one, while the replay booth took care of the other.) Washington’s second scoring drive featured 37- and 22-yard pass plays. It went to half 10-6. They re-took the lead early in the third; 70 yards to Pierre Garcon, featuring poor individual plays by Blidi Wreh-Wilson (missed tackle on short pass) and Michael Griffin (bad angle). A Dexter McCluster punt muff gave them a short field, and it was 16-10 early in the third.
The Titans stopped Washington after taking the 17-16 lead. In a recurring theme of the game, though, an O-line penalty, this one a hold on Brian Schwenke, wrecked the drive. Washington had the ball at their own 20 with 3:14 to play. Colt McCoy, inserted at halftime after Kirk Cousins’ two first half turnovers, found mostly a steady diet of short gains (the one big play early was wiped out by offsetting penalties). Then, at the edge of field goal range, Jason McCourty got caught not locating and a defensive pass interference penalty gave Washington the ball inside the 10. Another Titans penalty, this one a Griffin offside, put the ball inside the Titans 5. A kneeldown and icing TO later, Kai Forbath ended it.
Takeaways? In some ways, this was the game I expected. Outside of perhaps the Redskins final drive, neither team could drive the field without the benefit of big plays. Often, a single mistake would be devastating. The Titans had plenty of those today, finishing with 11 penalties for 96 yards. The box score numbers are as unimpressive as you’d expect. Sankey finished 16-56. Kendall Wright was the only Titans player with more than two catches, finishing 6-68 plus the score. Whitehurst attempted 26 passes and gained 160 yards. The bright spot, as I noted at halftime, was the defensive front seven. They limited Alfred Morris to 54 yards on 18 carries, and McCoy and Cousins went down a combined three times, while being harassed several others. Too many big plays and mistakes in critical situations, though, meant Washington managed just enough to overcome that.
Another winnable game not win, and the Titans are 2-5 with Houston coming into LP Field next Sunday in another winnable contest. The difference between 3-5 and 2-6 is not much and everything. Can the Titans play the kind of mistake-free football they need to to beat even similarly lousy teams? Will anyone care enough to find out in person? Snap report Monday, more content during the week if I can stand to rewatch this game or find something to write about that doesn’t require me to do so.
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