Redskins: Studs and duds from the team’s Week 3 victory in Atlanta

Dud: Ereck Flowers

I don’t want to stop at saying Ereck Flowers was a dud, because Flowers had some very good reps on Thursday night. He helped open some running lanes for Guice in early action, and on a few pass blocking snaps, his violent hand fighting got the better of the man across from him.

Unfortunately for Flowers, his bad moments overshadowed his good ones. One particular drive was painful for Flowers. The Redskins starting offense had run the ball to the Falcons one-yard line, and they attempted to plow into the end zone with Guice.

The Redskins started off the drive with two no-gainers down the middle; the interior line couldn’t gain any penetration. Then, on the third try, Guice found the end zone, but the call was negated by a holding penalty on Flowers. Flowers was beat at the line, due to his tall stance, and to stop his man from making a play on Guice, Flowers instinctively grabbed. That can’t happen anymore, if Flowers is to be the starting left guard.

There are things to like with Flowers. He clearly has power and heavy hands, and his best reps are very bright. But his tallness in his stance prevents him from getting consistent leverage, and it forces him to make drive-killing mistakes. At worst, Flowers will be a sixth man on the offensive line, and if the snap distribution is any indication, he’ll be a starter. But Flowers needs to keep working on these issues, because they single-handedly killed a scoring drive on Thursday.