Redskins Ingredients for Improvement: Make offensive opportunities count

No. 2 – Make the most of opportunities to be explosive on offense

The Redskins offense has, in general, been disappointing this season. But there is comfort in this fact: They have not come close to playing their best game. And the plays are there to make. They simply haven’t made them yet.

Another question arises from that reality: Will Alex Smith ever be the quarterback who makes those plays? The answer, unfortunately, may be a long time coming. But we know the plays are there. There was a rather painful example against Tampa Bay.

It was in the fourth quarter. Vernon Davis ran a deep crossing route on a play action fake, and with a brisk move, he got more than enough separation, wide open downfield without a safety to cap the top. Alex Smith saw this, and threw a pass which sailed just too far for Davis to reach.

In hindsight, Davis could have laid out for the pass, and given himself a chance to haul it in, but with a player that open, Smith, a fourteen-year veteran, has to be more accurate. If he throws that pass a couple yards shorter, it hits Davis in stride, and it’s a game-icing touchdown. And it helps the Redskins offense look a little less hopeless.

But still, don’t stress out too much. The plays are there. The players just have to execute. And once the moving pieces, well, cease to move, we could see more consistency from this group.