LANDOVER — Pierre Garcon stomped his feet on the FedEx Field grass and tugged at the chin straps on his helmet. The rest of the Washington Redskins offense walked slowly back to the sideline.
For the third time in as many drives, the Redskins reached the Dallas Cowboys 11-yard line or closer and failed to come away with a touchdown. The first two tries ended in field goals. This one, though, was damning. With an opportunity to extend a three-point lead with 10:43 to play in the fourth quarter, Kirk Cousins forced a pass to Garcon, who was draped in double-coverage. Safety Barry Church intercepted Cousins’ pass in the end zone and took a knee. Two plays earlier, the Redskins called unsuccessful fade attempts to wide receiver Josh Doctson and tight end Jordan Reed.
Eleven plays later, former Redskins running back Alfred Morris scored on a 4-yard run and greeted Washington fans with his signature home-run swing, the decisive score in the Cowboys’ 27-23 victory on Sunday. The Redskins’ inability to score touchdowns when they had opportunities to in the red zone put them in a precarious situation for a second consecutive week. They turned the ball over on downs on their next possession. Thier final drive began from their own 10-yard line with 1:30 remaining and ended with Cousins’ heave into the end zone, which fell incomplete.
After the game, players sat at their lockers and flicked tangles of athletic tape to the floor as they faced the reality of starting their season with consecutive home losses. Cousins had a closed-door meeting with coach Jay Gruden before the quarterback met with reporters.
Waiting for this team next week is a game against the New York Giants (2-0) on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, where the Redskins have lost their last four consecutive road games against their NFC East opponent.
“You don’t want to get to a point everything is, ’OK OK, it’s cool,’” wide receiver DeSean Jackson said. “It’s not, you’ve got to fix it. I felt there’s been enough of that, ’everything is cool, we’ll figure it out and stay calm, be cool.’ There’s a lot of veterans in this locker room, lot of guys that want to win. Wish I had an answer for you. Hopefully we can correct it. Fix it. Come back to practice next week. It’s not a good feeling. It’s not something I’m sure anybody in this locker room wants to be part of, 0-2. Just got to find a way to win.”
For three minutes and 44 seconds, it seemed as if the Redskins had found the right formula. Washington upped the tempo on its first possession of the third quarter and Cousins completed 5 of 6 passes for 64 yards. He fired an 11-yard touchdown to wide receiver Jamison Crowder to give the Redskins a 17-13 lead.
The troubles came on the next two possessions. Cousins and the offense began on the Dallas 38-yard line after a failed onside kick attempt did not travel 10 yards. On second-and-5 from the Cowboys 10, Cousins’ pass to tight end Vernon Davis resulted in a 1-yard loss and his next pass was incomplete. Dustin Hopkins kicked a 29-yard field goal to tie the score, 20-20.
Washington’s next starting position was even better after cornerback Josh Norman forced a fumble and the Redskins took over at the Dallas 34. Cousins’ 16-yard completion to tight end Niles Paul and a roughing-the-passer penalty moved them to the 9. Running back Matt Jones was stuffed for no gain and the Cowboys were called for encroachment. Cousins’ next two passes were incomplete, resulting in another foiled drive and the Redskins settling for a short field-goal.
There were other missed opportunities, most notably in the first quarter when Cousins overthrew Crowder, who was open toward the right sideline for what would have been a 38-yard touchdown.
“We’ve got the New York Giants as soon as we leave here, so [Cousins] can watch the tape, find out what’s going on if he’s not sure what the indecision might be, why he’s missing some throws,” Gruden said. “It’s a tough game. He’s got people around his feet. He’s got to make some tough throws and usually ones he would normally hit but he missed a few today. We’ll coach him up. Can’t put it all on Kirk, you know. There’s a lot of other issues that we had today, that’s for sure—coaching, playing, offense, defense, we all had our hand in that one.”
The Redskins gained 424 yards of offense on Sunday. Last Monday, they gained 384 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yet by the end of both contests, the offense’s gains were rendered hollow by an inability to score touchdowns in the red zone.
“We know we’re 0-2, we know the season’s not over,” left tackle Trent Williams said. “But we’ve got to pick it up. Can’t just sit around and expect the light to turn on. We’ve got to kind of force the issue.”
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