Redskins vs. Rams Recap: Ramming in down their throat, and holding on

Oct 2, 2011

In our preview for this game we made it very clear: The Redskins absolutely had to find a way to win to continue their upward trend in the Mike Shanahan era, no matter how they did it and no excuses. Well, the Redskins certainly found a way to win that will make the pundits question their 3-1 record, their 1st place standing in the NFC East, and give the coaches a lot to work on during the bye week…yet, they won. Redskins 17 Rams 10.

Why did the Redskins win?

This is hard to answer without being depressing, so let’s just agree to take the optimistic view: The Redskins won this game because of a highly successful ground game (welcome, Ryan Torrain, to 2011!) and a front 7 that dominated stretches of this game. For those of you who just can’t help yourselves: it also helped that the Rams are awful, played awful, can’t catch, and couldn’t stop making awful mental errors.

Why did the Rams lose?

There are writers in St. Louis who are almost certainly going to write novels on this topic not only this week, but over the rest of the season. Since I’m the Redskins writer I’ll be brief, though no less brutal: The Rams today could not catch, could not execute, and absolutely could not pass protect. In some ways it was a sad display, and sad to watch their highly talented Quarterback suffer such punishment and ineptitude around him. The coaching staff has to be considered in trouble (already). The Rams had opportunities both taken (dropped passes, at least one for a TD) and given to them (hello, Rex Grossman) and couldn’t capitalize or convert on anything. Even as the Redskins crumbled in the 4th quarter it felt hard to imagine the Rams actually keeping their feet clear of their own gun long enough to take over the game.

Three causes for celebration

Here's a cause for celebration: The Skins return home, and the cheerleaders will be there.

Winning makes it better. 3-1. First place. A week off. Don’t buy playoff tickets, don’t get too excited, but it’s so hard to win in the NFL – take it. Keep working. Be pleased that they did not lose to this awful team, something you wouldn’t expect from recent Redskins teams.
Ryan Torrain pounded the Rams (admittedly bad) run defense, looked great in doing it, and even hit a 20yd touchdown run to really cap it all off.
The defensive front 7 was dominant, especially OLBs Ryan Kerrigan and Brian Orakpo. With a plethora of sacks, a forced fumble, and hits galore on Rams QB Sam Bradford you would have to say this unit saved the day.

Three reasons to worry

Rex Grossman. I was tempted to be mean and put his name in this list three times, but thought better of it. Rex needs to step up his play, something he and the coaches most certainly know. The surprise is not that he’s making turnovers–we knew that. The surprise is that he’s arguably played worse in each game this season.
Playing down to the competition. The reason it was so important for the Redskins to beat this inferior team was to show they’ve changed — but the way they ‘won’ has to bring a lot of doubt, certainly to fans, and perhaps even to the coaching staff. Suddenly, a team that was penalty-free in its first three games seemed to want to match the Rams boneheaded decision for boneheaded decision.
The schedule gets much tougher from here on out, including an after-the-bye visit from what is sure to be an angry Philadelphia Eagles team.

Simply put

The Redskins head into the bye week at 3-1, leading the division, and have shown they are at least more talented than last year and perhaps growing as a team. Still, they have a lot to work on and should maintain that attitude. Next up: the bye.

Photos courtesy Getty Images.