Week 5: Redskins Vs. Patriots - Studs and Duds

Everything went just as expected...

The loss, the blame-game, the firing of Gruden and of course the deflection of the REAL issues by Bruce Allen. The season is almost certainly lost, but hope can still lie within change - right?

Below are my Studs and Duds of the Redskins game against the Patriots.

Studs:

Steven Sims Jr. - I made mention two weeks ago that Sims Jr. could be the Redskins version of the Chiefs Tyreek Hill. I still believe that is true. This kid is EXPLOSIVE and gets to 6th gear in a hurry! Not only is he a weapon in kick return, but he’s dangerous as a slot receiver and running the jet sweeps on offense as you saw against the Patriots. He’s one of the reasons why many fans, including myself, will still continue to tune in each Sunday.

Terry McLaurin - McLaurin was targeted seven times, and managed just 3 receptions for 51 yards with incompetent quarterback play, but it’s the way he goes about his business on the field that makes him a stud. His route running is a thing of beauty, and the demeanor which he carries himself is well beyond his years.

Jonathan Allen/Matt Ioannidis - Allen and Ioannidis played well up front against a Patriots make-shift OL. Allen had five tackles and a sack, while Ioannidis had five tackles and a half sack. Each player was credited for at least one tackle for a loss.

Tim Settle - Settle rather quietly had himself a nice game in a reserve role up front. He was getting consistent pressure, played in the Patriots backfield, and had a sack, tackle for a loss and a few QB hurries. I added him separately from the above tandem.

Tress Way - 10 punts for 500 yards! I know this says a lot about our inept offense, but my goodness!

Duds:

Colt McCoy - There is no more reason to pile on Jay Gruden as he’s no longer part of this team, but he was the one who inserted McCoy as the starting quarterback, saying he gave us the best chance to win. On the afternoon, McCoy was simply rotten, going 18/27 for 119 yards and an interception. He also fumbled twice, but the Redskins did not lose those. A lot of his completions were on short passes to Quinn and Thompson, which netted us very little yards.

Adrian Peterson - Calling a future Hall of Famer a dud may seem a bit harsh, but AP could just not get it going between the tackles, and averaged just over two yards per carry with a long of 7. It’s kind of funny to see, but Chris Thompson, who is about as frail as they come, averaged over 5 YPC with some of those going between the tackles.

Donald Penn - I though Penn has really held his own over the first four games of the season, but Sunday was not his best. Aside from committing some costly penalties, his blocking was very poor - both in the run and passing game. If my count is correct, he was responsible for two of the sacks on McCoy.

Tony Bergstrom - I think we all realize how very valuable Chase Roullier is at center for us. The drop-off between he and Bergstrom is massive. Tony was a walking sieve on the afternoon, and generated ZERO push up front in the run game.

Cole Holcomb/Jon Bostic - This is more a testament of the Patriots’ offensive game plan of exploiting our defensive weaknesses that it is a knock on the coverage abilities of our linebackers...but I have to call a spade a spade - our linebackers were abused all afternoon in coverage.

Greg Manusky - I know it’s not totally on the players, as they are just playing where they are told, but how can you have a guy like Ryan Anderson matched up with a running back one-on-one? Why were there so many times during that game where our OLB’s were dropped back into coverage? This team can’t get rid of Manusky soon enough.