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Adrian Peterson, the future Hall of Fame, continued to talk about "lack of energy". Josh Norman, the back of the star, was worried about the "adjustments" found but not realized. Jay Gruden, the head coach, looked sadly at a desk in front of him and said, "They surpassed us".
None of the Washington Redskins who dragged slowly into his FedEx Field dressing room late in the afternoon seemed able to properly describe the game he left behind. A 21-9 loss to the Indianapolis Colts burned on the outside dash in a decisive defeat.
Last Sunday did not prepare them for this feeling. Arizona's three-game defeat on the Cardinals' field last Sunday sparked euphoria, a feeling of explosion after several seasons of disappointment. Then, in less than three hours, this bravado was crushed.
Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, who did not play all season with a shoulder injury, got his hands on it, but took advantage of two strong stints, a solid offensive line and of an endless series of passes. in which two receivers intersect to create traffic for the opposing defensive backs, leaving at least one open pass-catcher. Enough of those choices allowed Luck to throw 179 yards and two touchdowns. Although neither of them seems to be a spectacular figure, especially if it was intercepted twice, they were good enough on a day when the Redskins did nothing offensive. An advantage of 334-281 in total distance meant nothing to Washington when Indianapolis converted 56% of its third declines.
[Washington’s offense falls flat in loss to Colts: ‘We had no chemistry at all’]
Last week Washington beat 182 yards on the ground, so the passing game seemed like an afterthought. On Sunday, the Colts did not allow the Redskins riders to break free. The openings in the line were quickly filled, short passes were defended. Peterson, who looked like his former Arizona character, had only 20 yards in 11 races.
Chris Thompson, who was the star of the Cardinals game with Peterson, did not even have 100 offensive yards combined. Maybe Washington could have survived those performances if he could find success in the passing game, but Josh Doctson lost a pass and another of his hands in the end zone.
In the end, everyone was frustrated.
"We did not have any chemistry at all today and it's me as a caller," said Gruden in a rare moment of self-congratulation by an NFL head coach. "I could not have rhythm games. The inner zone did not work. The outside area did not work, our reading options did not work very well. We became one-dimensional in our play passes. We were fired on two [play-action passes] for the love of God. "
The Redskins, who held the lead for most of the game in Arizona, played behind Sunday. Chance moved the Colts by 75 yards on 11 games to a touchdown on the first Indianapolis outing, a seven-yard pass to tight winger Eric Ebron who put Washington 7-0. Another 75-yard try, after a Redskins second quarter goal, dropped to 14-3 when running back Nyheim Hines ran for eight yards for a touchdown.
The last score, which came at the end of a final 75-yard run, was on one of these selection games. Norman was left alone with two Colts on either side of him, looking helpless as a pass of luck managed in the wide receiver TY Hilton hands, who put him into play for the landing that break Washington. Norman threw his arms in despair. At the time, the Redskins had shot 14-9 with field goals on consecutive possessions. The landing put an end to any hope of return.
[Redskins-Colts takeaways: Washington’s offense sure cooled off in a hurry]
That sums up the day for the Redskins. Whenever they approached, something pushed them away and nothing was more distressing than those role plays. They knew that the Colts were running them, seeing them during the last hours of the movie devoured last week, and they even talked about adapting to them – sometimes they even adapted.
"But when we did not do it, it was like the parade of elephants," Norman said. "We have just been eliminated. It sucks, but that's what it was. Yes, it was that kind of day. It was really like that [almost all] of their third conversions. "
Gruden later regretted not having done more to prevent his defensive backs, but then added: "That's professional football and if you have to play a lot of man to man, you have to expect to a choice. rooms. And we did not do a good job of ignoring them or exchanging them. "
[Sunday’s game summary: Colts 21, Redskins 9]
Several players used the phrase "league copy" to suggest that future opponents would use the same strategy in attack, or force Washington to prove that it could win a game by throwing the ball into the ground without relying on Peterson and Thompson. Redskins quarterback Alex Smith completed 33 of 46 passes for a total of 292 yards, yet many of them were late when they were late and rushed to catch up.
Everyone seemed confident of having answers to strategic failures, but the most important question was the lack of energy some of them were talking about. With a chance to win back many fans who seem to have dropped out of the team, as evidenced by the empty seats and an unspecified number of unsold tickets, the Redskins were flat. Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers will be competing next week.
"You have to manage the good with the bad and see what kind of team you are doing," said Gruden. "And it's an unfavorable situation."
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