Daily Slop: Alfred Morris Thunders Into The Record Books; Defense key to Redskins Revival, NFC East Title

Redskins 28, Cowboys 18: Ten Observations | WashingtonExaminer.com
hen you start to win, the confidence grows and when a hard-working team starts to get rewarded, they’re tough to stop. They honestly believe they’re outworking teams in games and I won’t dispute that notion. Sometimes the best course of action is to stay on the path that you believe is right. The Redskins did that; they knew they had the talent and so they kept working at what they do. Next thing you know: NFC East champs.

Cofield: Redskins "playing better defense than most" | WashingtonExaminer.com
The secondary had a fine effort against the Cowboys with just 218 passing yards allowed and 318 yards overall. Can this continue in the playoffs beginning Sunday at home against the Seattle Seahawks? The players, who believe it’s a different group than what we saw early in the season, are sure it can and will.

Redskins Playoff Bound with Texas-Sized Victory " CBS DC
With momentum having shifted in Dallas’ favor, Rob Jackson handed Romo his third interception of the day. "He did a great job," said Shanahan. "Rob had the awareness there to take a man-to-man coverage with the type of blitz we had. Tony (Romo) had to get rid of it very quickly and anytime you’ve got a running back going against an outside linebacker, it’s usually a mismatch. Rob did a great job looking at it, being under control and making a big play."

Alfred Morris, Robert Griffin spur Redskins to first NFC East title since 1999 | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
Rookie running back Alfred Morris ran for 200 yards and three touchdowns as the Washington Redskins closed out the 2012 NFL regular season with a 28-18 win over the Dallas Cowboys to clinch their first NFC East title since 1999. The 10-6 Redskins won seven straight games to close out the regular season and, as the No. 4 seed in the NFC Playoffs, will host the fifth-seed and equally red-hot Seattle Seahawks at FedEx Field at 4:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 6.

Moss: 'I'm Ready For Business Again'
The Redskins swept the season series against the Cowboys for the first time since the 2005 season. Moss, however, has come up big against the Cowboys throughout his Redskins career, as he has 84 receptions for 1,189 yards and seven touchdowns against the Redskins’ bitter rival. Moss is one of the few remaining players left from the last Redskins playoff team in 2007, but this is his first division title with the team. "It feels really good. Really sweet." While the Redskins are excited at this season’s success, Moss knows that their main goal still hasn’t been reached yet: the Super Bowl. "I’ve celebrated enough," Moss said. "I’m ready for business again."

Morris Thunders Into The Record Books
While the rest of the NFL may be experiencing Morris for the first time, Young said tonight's performance was a typical Morris performance. "It's the same thing I've been saying every week; the first guy isn't bringing him down. I don't know what else to say, he's just Alfred," Young said with a laugh. "He's still running guys over. He's just making plays. He's a tough runner, a humble guy, and you don't see that too often."

Shanahan's stunning Redskins turnaround - NFC East Blog - ESPN
"The credit goes to our head coach," said Redskins linebacker London Fletcher, echoing a sentiment seldom heard in NFL locker rooms but common in that of the Redskins over the past month. "Coach Shanahan, the way he laid out the plan for us, told us what we had to do, got us ready each and every week, this is a tribute to him. Our mentality was no different at 3-6 than it was at 9-6."

Initial random thoughts on the 2012 NFC East Championship Game – Blogging the bEast
I have no idea what the back judge was doing on the missed delay of game call. It was clearly at zero well before the Cowboys got the snap off. I hate the explanation that comes with that, by the way. Announcers always say "The official looks at the 0, then looks to see if the ball has been snapped." First of all, how long can that possibly take. Like… 1/20 of a second? I mean, it’s not like your eyeball is going to get stuck at a red light or a traffic jam within your cornea in the fraction of a millimeter that it takes to travel from focusing on the play clock to the center. So let’s just get rid of that. Institute a loud ass buzzer that takes out the guess work, like the shot clock in the NBA. Also, there’s no reason whatsoever why that call shouldn’t be reviewable.

Defense key to Redskins' revival, NFC East title - Washington Times
"It really is the perfect ending to the story," nose tackle Barry Cofield said. "It’s a culmination of … guys buying in week after week, coaches growing and getting better, players growing and getting better, and we all came together and played the type of defensive game that can win you a championship."

DALY: Just the tip of the iceberg for these Redskins - Washington Times
Watching Morris, on the national stage, puncture hole after hole in the Dallas defense — and set a Redskins season rushing record of 1,613 yards while doing it — it was hard not to think of something Kyle Shanahan said before the season. He was talking about rookie quarterbacks and what it takes for them to be succeed, and the way he looked at it, "they either had a top-five defense or a real good running game. They had to play well, but they were successful because they weren’t asked to do everything. If you ask a young guy to do everything, it’s a matter of time before it’s too much."

Redskins' Kory Lichtensteiger misses first snaps, Kai Forbath first kick - Washington Times
"I haven’t seen the film yet. I think I just picked my head up a little too soon. I wanted to see it go in, which is just a stupid mental error," Forbath said. "I’m just a little frustrated that the miss came on such an, I don’t want to say easy one because obviously it’s not. That proves it." The snap appeared clean, and Forbath said it wasn’t a matter of wind affecting his distance or the temperature, which dipped below freezing. But there were other factors, like footing. "I would never blame conditions, but we’re not working with the best field here," Forbath said.

Redskins fans in L.A. sing ‘Hail to the Redskins’

Joshua Morgan: Cowboys tried to Deebo the Skins
"We had to make a statement, honestly," the D.C. native explained. "We’re always over there, anyway, and they came over there, trying to Deebo everything. They came in there trying to bully us honestly, and we got the W." First usage of "Deebo" on an NFL post-game show? First I’ve come across, anyhow. "When we were 3-6 we just got angrier and hungrier, honestly," Morgan said, continuing the anger theme. "We started playing every game like our backs was against the wall. I mean, honestly, that’s what it was. We knew what we’d been working for since OTAs. And since OTAs coach always told us we had a special group of character guys. And the talent was obvious, so all we had to do was put it together."