Three Good/Three Bad: Washington Redskins vs New York Jets

Man.

I mean.

Whew.

That was a shitshow.

I'm not saying Robert Griffin III or Colt McCoy should be starting, necessarily, but that was the worst game by a Redskins quarterback I can remember seeing in a long time. Not only were the interceptions bad, but the decision-making throughout the game was awful and the throws were terrible. Holy hell, that was just miserable. That was like Blaine Gabbert bad.

The Good

#1. Bashaud Breeland

Breeland's first half alone easily qualified him as the best player on the Washington Redskins on Sunday, and it wasn't even close. Two fumble recoveries in a half doesn't mean much, as fumble recoveries can be very fluky stats, but he definitely deserved that second one. You know, the one where he just ripped the ball out of 6-foot-4, 229-pound Brandon Marshall's hands. It took an enormous amount of athletic ability to make that interception, and the concentration required to stick with the ball even after it was deflected is impressive.

His second half wasn't all that special, but it was basically him against the New York Jets at that point, so it's tough to hold it against him. After all, Breeland was just about the only reason the Redskins were winning at halftime; despite the score, the Redskins were definitely not the better overall team in the first half.

Breeland put together what might have been his two best games as a pro in back-to-back weeks (with the possible exception of Week 8 last year, when he helped shut down Dez Bryant).

#2. Dashon Goldson

I'm going to preface this by acknowledging Goldson made numerous mistakes in this game, including taking bad angles on several occasions. But when you get outscored 24-7 in the second half — and it wasn't even that close — it's really hard to find players who were exclusively good throughout the game.

Goldson did make a bunch of really strong tackles, leading the team with 13 total, he stood up Chris Ivory a few times and he saved multiple potential touchdowns. He played both the safety net role and the hard-hitting safety-at-the-line role in the game, and on an injury-ravaged secondary that wasn't great to begin with, that's about as much as you can ask for.

#3. Tress Way & Dustin Hopkins

It's generally not a great sign when the punter and kicker are among the team's best players in a game, but y'know, Redskins.

Way didn't have any amazing punts, but he was called into action six times and performed well on most of them. All of his punts gave the coverage team an opportunity to make a play on the return, and the coverage team did so on most of those occasions. He did a good job of not out-kicking his coverage, and most of his punts had good hang time and didn't leave the returner with much room to work with. Even the punt Way shanked in the second quarter took a Redskins bounce and still went 39 yards.

Hopkins nailed both of his field goals, including a 54-yarder, and is 10-for-11 on the season. Just as importantly, and perhaps more so, Hopkins kicked a beauty of an onside kick late in the game that the Redskins nearly recovered (and should have). The ball slipped right through Mason Foster's hands, but it would have been the Redskins' ball in Jets territory with about four minutes left and a 14-point hole to climb out of. It's not an ideal situation, of course, but it's not impossible, and the Redskins had just mustered up the tiniest bit of momentum on the blocked punt touchdown.

Honorable mentions: Chris Baker, Jeron Johnson, Deshazor Everett

The Bad

#1. Kirk Cousins

I usually try to avoid putting quarterbacks or other big-name players in this post, mainly because they get so much coverage elsewhere, but this is kind of unavoidable.

It's tough to say what was more dreadful, his accuracy or his decision-making. Honestly, I'm not trying to just pile on the guy, but what a catastrophe. His first half was only slightly better than his second half, stats be damned. He looked absolutely terrible, missed routine throws that he typically makes easily, threw to players who weren't open and forced throws he didn't need to make. It was a truly awful performance.

#2. Ryan Kerrigan

Remember the two-sack game he had a week earlier? The one in which he was a disruptive force all game? Yeah, that Ryan Kerrigan was nowhere to be found against the Jets. He got good penetration one time early in the game, Ryan Fitzpatrick dumped off a little screen pass behind him that went for a big gain and that was about the last time Kerrigan made any sort of impact on the game. The pass rush as a whole was pretty lackluster, however, and Chris Baker was about the only one getting near Fitzpatrick.

#3. Perry Riley

For the second game in a row, a running back had his way with the Redskins defense, and for the second game in a row, you can pin a hefty chunk of the blame on the inside linebackers. Keenan Robinson made more plays against the Jets than he did against Devonta Freeman and the Atlanta Falcons, but he couldn't compensate for Riley's disappearance. Riley got matched up against Chris Ivory in coverage a few times, and he got shook out of his shoes a few times.

Let's just move on, shall we?