Three takeaways from Redskins win over Dolphins in NFL Week 6

1. The coaching is still a massive issue

The Redskins almost lost this game. But it shouldn’t have been close. Entering the final quarter, the team was holding a 14-point lead over one of the worst teams in the league. They won by a single point. And they very nearly blew it.

The Dolphins were able to move down the field at will on their final two scoring drives. They saw minimal resistance from the Washington secondary. Even with time running out, Ryan Fitzpatrick was able to orchestrate a potential game-winning touchdown drive. Credit to Ryan Anderson and the Redskins for snuffing out the screen the Dolphins tried to run on the two-point conversion, but that was very nearly a disaster.

And, of course, it’s worth noting that the Dolphins hadn’t scored in the second half this season prior to the game against the Redskins. They put up 13 points against a defense that had played well before that but didn’t give much effort late.

One of the reasons that the team didn’t close the game well? The coaching still isn’t good. Greg Manusky‘s defense looked good for most of the game, but they folded in the fourth quarter in a way reminiscent of the way the team did in 2017 against the Saints. It’s clear that he isn’t the right man to lead this defense, but the team may stick with him for the rest of the season.

On offense, things were marginally better. The run game got going, but they were playing against a bad defense, so it’s hard to know if Bill Callahan and Kevin O’Connell‘s plan made much of a difference. They’ll have a chance to prove themselves more going forward, but a one-point win over a team that legitimately could go 0-16 shouldn’t be anything to get too excited about.

The rest of this season is going to be a long one if the coaching continues to be this poor. Callahan’s system was supposed to bring more accountability and more effort. So far, that hasn’t shown up in the second half and things don’t appear to have changed much.