Redskins Week 7 Review – Player ratings Vs Bucs

Oct 25, 2015; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) is congratulated by fans after the game between the Washington Redskins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at FedEx Field. The Washington Redskins won 31 – 30. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Five Thoughts from the game:

1. The game was won, besides the obvious, when the Bucs had first & goal from the 5 with 4 minutes left and only got 3 points out of it. This drive of the Bucs really encapsulates the whole game.

The Redskins couldn’t stop Tampa until their backs were on the wall, and even then it took the Bucs making an awful playcall on 3rd down(the Redskins were waiting for the run to the left side the whole time and Winston should have audibled out) to keep them out of the end zone.

This isn’t to take anything away from a historic comeback by the Redskins and a very good game by Kirk Cousins. They should bask in this glory for as long as they can. But the fact is that the Bucs were a bad team that handed them the game.

The Bucs had a TD called back due to a 50/50 offensive pass interference in the 2nd half, had over 10 penalties called in the 2nd half, lost two fumbles and gave up an onside kick.

Any team, much less a talent poor team with a rookie QB leading them, is going to struggle to win a game like that. And even with all those mistakes on their part, the Bucs were still in a position to win the game three times(the called back TD, the 1st and goal with 4 minutes left and where Sims was when he fumbled the ball).

Again, this isn’t trying to be the rain cloud on a sunny day. Think of it more as a sober assessment. There’s a lot to be happy about with the win. There’s also a lot to be concerned about because it’s not like Gruden benched 10 starters at halftime.

Gruden largely had the same group in as he did when they went down 24-0. Kerrigan and a couple other defenders were in and out of the lineup, but that’s about it. So the team that came back is the same team that got blown out in the first half.

The final word on the game before we get into specific issues is this: how will the Redskins build on this game? If they gloss over the problems because of the improbably comeback, then there won’t be any building off of the game.

If they take the sober approach to what happened and see it as a way to leverage adjustments and changes, then they could at least become a decent team. Time will tell.

Next: Thoughts 2 and 3