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Redskins Breakdown: Balanced offense, fierce defense take down Giants

By Jacob Camenker

LANDOVER, MD - NOVEMBER 23: Quarterback Eli Manning #10 of the New York Giants fumbles the ball as he is sacked by linebacker Junior Galette #58 of the Washington Redskins in the fourth quarter at FedExField on November 23, 2017 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - NOVEMBER 23: Quarterback Eli Manning #10 of the New York Giants fumbles the ball as he is sacked by linebacker Junior Galette #58 of the Washington Redskins in the fourth quarter at FedExField on November 23, 2017 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /
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LANDOVER, MD – SEPTEMBER 24: Head coach Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins looks on against the Oakland Raiders during the first half at FedExField on September 24, 2017 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD – SEPTEMBER 24: Head coach Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins looks on against the Oakland Raiders during the first half at FedExField on September 24, 2017 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Coaching: Second half adjustments work; one blatant miscue

At the half, things were not looking very good for the Redskins offense. They had struggled to generate much running room in the first half and Cousins looked a bit off kilter as a result. However, coming into the second half, the coaching staff made adjustments that got the team moving.

Coming out of the locker room, the team decided to focus heavily on the run game and that paid off. Perine saw 16 carries for 97 yards in the second half, and that was largely due to changes in the play calling. Instead of running up the middle, the Redskins ran some outside zone concepts to help get Perine to use his excellent vision to find space. This helped to mask some of the deficiencies on the offensive line, so it was a great and effective decision by the coaching staff that directly contributed to the win.

However, the coaches did make a key mistake in the second half too. On a fourth and one on the Giants 40 yard line, the Redskins lined up to pick. Then, Jay Gruden called a timeout and sent his offense back onto the field. Following the timeout, the Redskins offense was on the field in the huddle for far too long when they realized there were seven seconds on the play clock. Cousins tried to get the play off, but he didn’t have enough time to do so. They had to take a delay of game call.

Cousins should shoulder some of the blame for this. But part of the blame here definitely should go on Gruden. The head coach needs to make sure that his players are lined up in key moments, and he was unable to do that. Couple that with his indecision on the play initially and his use of a timeout, and it boils down to a mistake. It didn’t end up costing the Redskins, but it could have.

Next: Vernon Davis should be top TE over Jordan Reed

Overall, this was a great win for Washington. They needed to gain some momentum and now they will have a chance to continue their success next Thursday against an embattled Dallas squad.

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