Some thoughts on the game last night:
Offense looked good...for one quarter. Were moving down the field with ease. Had a chance on 4th and 1 and decided to kick the FG. Could have gotten more and people at the stadium were clamoring for them to go for it. If there was any time to go for it, it was probably then.
Later on, they'd go for it on 4th down and get stuffed.
Cousins showed some flashes of brilliance but in the end, the narrative that haunted him last year is the same so far this year. Cousins still hasn't beaten a team over .500, and the Steelers, like it or not, they're a damn good team. That's why, after sleeping on it, I can't really complain. Yes, several players were out. Should the game have been closer? Yes. But this is still a team that fields a top 5 QB in Roethlisberger and an elite receiver in Antonio Brown. To think the Redskins, a team HABITUALLY struggling on the big stage, would be able to shut them down and possibly win this game would be laughable.
Most of my concern came off defense. Again, most people don't expect to win a game like this when Antonio Brown and Roethlisberger are healthy. But there's also no LeVeon Bell or Wheaton. And Pittsburgh still was able to accumulate yards off these devastating, systematic drives to bleed down clock and keep the defense on the field. I was extremely concerned by the amount of 3rd down conversions that were converted with ease. Just run it with Toussaint, Williams, get the first, no issue. Defense was winded and never had a chance to make that stop. Most concerning play was on 4th and 1 when they just decided to air it out for the TD. The whole stadium was standing, waving their towels, and then Roethlisberger drops back, finds a receiver, it's a touchdown. And that place is stunned, at least all the Redskins fans (fair amount of Steelers fans too). To me, I would argue that would be the start of the end, not the fumble.
Moving on to the fumble, I could see why they call that. There wasn't anything conclusive that could overturn that call. Chalk it up to bad luck on MNF where we have habitually struggled at home on. I'm not worried about that, I'm worried about how deflated the team looked after that. There wasn't much opposition after that and the team kind of seemed deflated.
I have touted Gruden for his whole tenure, said he needed time to grow as a coach. Now, we are starting to see some flaws. This team doesn't play 60 minutes. Of course it's hard to play the full 60, but this team takes HUGE breaks off. After that 4th down call, after that fumble, someone out there has got to be busting the player's ass and firing them up. Get the **** back in it. Hurry the **** up. The people I went to the game with last night, they observed that there was NO urgency in the third when they should have no-huddled. Instead they took their sweet time and chewed up clock. Someone out there has to light a fire and this team, while not expected to play the FULL 60, has to play at least 80% of the game at full power or 75%. Come on. They looked anemic and the D couldn't make a stop after the 1st. Even after the Redskins closed down to within 24-16, they just couldn't get a damn stop when it mattered the most, and Pittsburgh moved down the field with ease.
So I was concerned about the defense and the overall effort on Monday Night. It's a short week until the next game against Dallas, a team that sure as **** will be inspired to win this game and knock Washington down a peg. As much concern as I expressed during this game, the game on Sunday is even more important.
Defend your NFC East title and pride against your bitter rival. Go out there and win on Sunday and take steps to recover following this beatdown. The next two games are against a Dallas team with a good young QB (albeit a rookie) and a Giants team that looked somewhat better than last year (they won a close game!). Need to be 1-1 in the division heading into week 4, if you want to keep those division hopes alive.