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By Tom Schad - The Washington Times - Sunday, December 7, 2014
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/7/washington-redskins-shut-out-st-louis-rams-embarra/
All season, rock bottom has eluded the Washington Redskins. So all season, they have continued to sink, lower and lower, in an apparent effort to find it.
At a chilly, half-empty FedEx Field on Sunday afternoon, they appeared to come close. There was a failed fake punt and a punt returned for a touchdown. There were St. Louis Rams receivers running wide open toward and through the end zone. There were interceptions, dropped passes, missed blocking assignments, penalties, sacks and chants of “R-G-3! R-G-3!” ringing through the stands in the third quarter.
The Redskins lost again on Sunday, 24-0, the most recent embarrassing performance in a season filled with them. Quarterback Colt McCoy was generally inaccurate in his third start of the season, throwing two interceptions before leaving the game with a neck strain at the two-minute warning. He completed 20 of 32 passes for 199 yards.
Upon his exit, the chanting fans got their wish. Robert Griffin III, the former face of the franchise who was benched by coach Jay Gruden last month, took the field and completed three passes. On fourth down, he overthrew tight end Jordan Reed and trotted back to the sideline, flipping his helmet to an attendant on the way out.
The Redskins fell to 3-10 for the second consecutive season and left the field to a chorus of boos.
Alfred Morris finished with eight carries for six yards. Meanwhile, Shaun Hill threw two touchdown passes for the Rams and Tavon Austin returned a punt 78 yards for a score of his own.
The first half was forgettable at best for both teams. But it began with a promising first drive by the Redskins.
All week, Washington’s coaches had stressed the importance of getting wide receiver Pierre Garcon more involved in the offense, and in the first seven plays, they succeeded. Garcon caught McCoy’s first pass for a 10-yard gain and had three catches for 44 yards in the first seven plays alone.
The drive unraveled when McCoy appeared to overthrow intended receiver Ryan Grant, who didn’t help matters by slipping on the route. Rodney McLeod dove for the interception, stopping Washington’s opening drive just outside the red zone.
And it was all downhill from there.
Facing a Redskins defense without two of its starters — linebacker Keenan Robinson and safety Brandon Meriweather — the Rams moved the ball at will for much of the first half. They got on the board midway through the first quarter, when Hill found tight end Jared Cook running open down the middle of the field from 35 yards out, a play reminiscent of last week’s frequent blown coverages in Indianapolis.
Fortunately for Washington, Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein missed the extra point. For the rest of the first half, in fact, his inaccuracy was all that prevented St. Louis from widening the gap. He missed two field goals, each a chip shot, allowing the Redskins to escape the first 30 minutes with only a 6-0 deficit.
However, there was still one more half to play, 30 more excruciating minutes for those in the half-empty stadium, new lowly depths for the Redskins to discover.
