Redskins Reality Checks: Recaping the bizarre win over Tampa Bay

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – OCTOBER 28: Adrian Peterson #26 of the Washington Redskins in action against Tae Davis #58 of the New York Giants during their game at MetLife Stadium on October 28, 2018 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

3. The Reality Is, Adrian Peterson hasn’t had back-to-back bad games all season.

Adrian Peterson had gained 96, 20, 120, 6, 97, 99, 149, and 17 yards rushing coming into Sunday’s game. I predicted his work ethic, savvy and drive make it very unlikely that he allows one down week to turn into two straight. I thought the Redskins would find themselves in a bit more of a shootout than expected, Kapri Bibbs getting more touches than AP, and AP having more receiving yards than rushing yards.

Reality Check: Bibbs did have 41 yards on 5 touches, but since Tampa Bay controlled so much of the game clock without scoring, the Redskins really went conservative and didn’t do much offensively. If not for a couple of penalties, Peterson might have made it up over 90 yards, but his 68 yards on 19 carries was steady and gave the Redskins what they needed on the day. The combination of Adrian Peterson and Kapri Bibbs is filling in quite nicely for the original plan of Chris Thompson and Derrius Guice, and is giving Redskins fans hope that there will be a reliable running game throughout this season.

4. The Reality Is, Tampa Bay is “Atlanta-Lite” and the Redskins can’t afford a repeat performance.

I said I’d be focusing particularly on the Redskins’ offensive and defensive lines in this game. Against a team as unbalanced as Tampa Bay, with a terrible defense and excellent offense, the trenches were where the Redskins needed to outperform expectations. I predicted the Redskins would look vastly different this week than they did against Atlanta. I expected a much more evenly matched game this week with a more back-and-forth feel as opposed to the tilted field feeling we got last week.

Reality Check: The offensive line held up. The defensive line really didn’t have a good game, but they were bailed out by Ryan Anderson and Preston Smith causing fumbles in the red zone (although I think Ryan Kerrigan actually forced the fumble on Preston Smith’s sack). The Redskins really executed what appeared to be their gameplan in all three phases of this game, and managed not to incur any major crippling injuries or commit any mind-numbing mistakes.

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