Redskins Recap: Offense flounders in sobering loss to Cowboys

It wasn’t a particularly fun game to watch for the Redskins. They floundered in the rain, losing to the road team by a score of 33-19.

The Redskins hung in there early, despite a plethora of injuries on the offensive line, but in the end, it was the same theme that prevailed. They just couldn’t keep up with the Cowboys, who were clearly the better team. After this game, it may be time to reevaluate the Redskins yet again. They may not be as good of a team as we thought. Not yet. Not with all the injuries.

The defense can take some scrutiny for their inability to contain Ezekiel Elliott, who rushed for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns on a whopping 33 carries. However, the brunt of the blame rests on Kirk Cousins, Jay Gruden, and the rest of the offense.

When the offense can’t stay on the field, the defense can’t get off the field. That how the game goes. And in today’s affair, the Redskins’ offense couldn’t mount any long drives. Kirk Cousins was rendered inept, not only by subpar offensive play and receiver drops, but also by his own inconsistency and unwillingness to throw past the sticks. The play calling was as uninspired as it’s ever been, and it looked to be a loss from the very start, even when they were up.

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The defense played well, given the loss of Bashaud Breeland and Mason Foster for the day, but when you’re tasked with defending Ezekiel Elliott, you need to have some rest. And the Redskins defense had none of it on Sunday, with the Redskins offense going three and out more often than not. Kirk Cousins was inconsistent, checking down far too much. It didn’t help that he had no time to throw, however.

In the end, not much should be taken from this game, because most of what we saw, we already knew. We already knew this defense can’t compete if they can’t get any rest. We already knew that without any time to throw, Kirk Cousins becomes far too predictable. And we already knew that the Redskins’ top two receivers are non-factors every week.

How about something we didn’t know? We didn’t know the Redskins were this far away from contention. Some would argue we did know that Cousins can’t put the team on his back, and although no conclusions should be drawn from one game, this game is proof. But when you have a seventh-round pick, a career backup fourth-round pick, and an undrafted free agent rookie on your starting offensive line, and when your receivers literally can’t get open, your offense will have its limitations no matter what.

Next: Washington Redskins Week 8 Game Thread

Another loss is a disappointing reality for the Redskins this early in the season, but it had to have been expected. There were too many injuries for this team to compete through four quarters. For a team that already struggles to play full games, their lack of depth wasn’t going to help them in that regard. Next week, it won’t get any easier. The Redskins travel to Seattle to take on the Seahawks. Hopefully, they can heal in the time in-between. They need to.

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