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Redskins win in Tampa brings division title one step closer

By Conor Forrest

TAMPA, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 11: Alex Smith #11 of the Washington Redskins runs the ball for a nine yard gain during the fourth quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on November 11, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Will Vragovic/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 11: Alex Smith #11 of the Washington Redskins runs the ball for a nine yard gain during the fourth quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on November 11, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Will Vragovic/Getty Images) /
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The Redskins 16-3 win in Tampa Bay brings the reality of a division title to D.C. one step closer.

The burgundy and gold took care of business on Sunday, keeping Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Buccaneers elite offense in check. Led by four forced turnovers, the Redskins defense carried the team to 6-3 and put them in driver’s seat to a division title.

Alex Smith went about his day in typical fashion. He had 178 yards through the air, a touchdown pass, and most importantly, a zero in the turnover category. Adrian Peterson averaged 3.8 yards per carry, earning 68 yards on the ground. But the real story of Sunday’s game was on the defensive side of the ball.

The Redskins defense can take a bow.

On paper, this game looked like the Buccaneers took the Redskins defense for a walk. Those who watched the game most definitely felt this way. Undrafted free agent corner Danny Johnson was the early target of Buccaneers wideout Chris Godwin and a quarterback who threw for 406 yards on 41 pass attempts.

But the magic number of the day is four.

The Redskins forced four turnovers on the day, and it made all the difference. Jay Gruden’s coaching staff placed a bet on Sunday, and they went all in. The bet was simple. If they were willing to give up the chunk plays over the middle to Chris Godwin and Jacquizz Rodgers, and push their corners off enough to prevent Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson from getting over the top, they bet that Ryan Fitzpatrick would eventually turn the ball over.

That is precisely what happened.

National media members quickly jumped to dismiss the Redskins victory, and credit the ineptitude of Tampa Bay as the simple reason the Redskins left with a win. It may have appeared that way to some. But this is where you take a deeper dive into the context of the game.

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Two things can be true at once. Tampa Bay shot themselves in the foot. However, the Redskins earned this win, and they have a lot of positives to build from.

Fitzpatrick threw a pair of interceptions. One was an acrobatic display of a catch from Josh Norman on the opening drive of the game, and the other was a pick on a perfectly jumped route by seventh-round selection from Virginia Tech Greg Stroman. None of those were free plays from Tampa. They earned them from a defense that took the opportunity in front of them.

Ryan Anderson made arguably his best play as a Redskin on Sunday. The former second-round pick from Alabama punched a football from the grips of Rodgers, seemingly taking the life out of Raymond James Stadium for the Buccaneers. Ryan Kerrigan and Preston Smith put the cherry on top of the win with a strip sack on Fitzpatrick with 3:36 left in the contest.

It was a winning effort that carried the team to victory.

While the offense yet again proved to produce at a pedestrian level at best, this team showed that after a terrible home loss to the Falcons, they could again rebound in a big way. The win in Tampa was a big win, and it was amplified even more when the Cowboys stunned the Eagles in Lincoln Financial on Sunday Night Football. With Philadelphia falling to 4-5, the Redskins retained a two-game lead heading into Week 10.

One week ago, the national media and fans were in line to coronate the Eagles as NFC East champions. The ‘Skins, after all, had no offensive line and a quarterback who is playing underwhelming football.

But Washington had other plans.

The path has now been cleared, and they have earned a strong hold on the division through 10 weeks. The fact of the matter is this. The Redskins are playing boring football. The offense isn’t putting up numbers. Alex Smith isn’t shining the way fans were used to seeing him shine in Kansas City. But what’s most important is that the Redskins are finding ways to win.

The NFL isn’t a fashion show. It’s hard to win games on Sunday’s. For every Redskins player and coach preparing to win on game days, there are the same numbers of players and coaches preparing to beat the Redskins. It comes down to finding a way.

Next. Redskins ingredients for improvement Week 10. dark

Where there is a will, there is a way, and the Redskins are finding ways to win. In the end, that’s all that matters.

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