Written by Scott Allen at WashingtonPost.com
Worst nightmare: In his first game against the Redskins since Washington allowed him to depart via free agency during the offseason, Alfred Morris made his old team pay. Morris, who met with FedEx Field workers before the game as he always did when he played for the Redskins, capped his go-ahead touchdown run with 4:45 to play with his signature home run celebration. It was a return straight out of the movies, and for Redskins fans, it was a horror flick.
Best use of money: “Why did the Redskins pay Josh Norman $75 million to cover one half of the field?!” the critics wondered this week. One reason is that the cornerback has a knack for making plays wherever he lines up. With the game tied late in the third quarter, Norman forced a fumble by Cowboys rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott. Dashaun Phillips recovered at the Dallas 34.
Worst red zone route: The fade, even when 6-foot-2 Josh Doctson is the intended target. It failed four times against the Cowboys, including once after Phillips’s fumble recovery, which forced Washington to settle for a 22-yard Dustin Hopkins field goal and a 23-20 lead. Maybe try something else, guys?
Best decoy: Washington forced a three-and-out on the Cowboys’ next possession and was in position to build on its lead after Kirk Cousins found Doctson for a 57-yard completion to the Dallas 22. Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr and safety Byron Jones were expecting a deep ball to DeSean Jackson, who ran a go route down the middle of the field, leaving Doctson wide open. Cousins under-threw Doctson, or it would’ve been a touchdown, which was important, because…
Worst throw: On third and goal from the Dallas 6-yard line, Cousins threw a pass directly into the waiting arms of Barry Church. Eleven plays and 80 yards later, the Cowboys took the lead for good on Morris’s touchdown. Cousins struggled for a second straight game, missing a wide open Jamison Crowder for what should’ve been a 38-yard touchdown pass on Washington’s first drive and dodging a bullet late in the first half when Sean Lee dropped a potential interception deep in Cowboys territory.
Best temporary response: At the start of the second half, Fox’s Pam Oliver reported that Redskins Coach Jay Gruden challenged Cousins at halftime and said his quarterback needed to step up. “This game is not that hard,” Gruden reportedly said. Cousins, who wasn’t sharp in the first two quarters, made the game look easy on the Redskins’ first drive of the third quarter by completing 5 of 6 passes, including an 11-yard touchdown strike to Crowder that gave Washington a 17-13 lead.
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