The Redskins blew a 16-9 lead against the Cowboys and lost on the road 18-16 on Monday night. Their collapse was painful to watch for Redskins fans. After their touchdown put them ahead, they punted three times and then Rex Grossman was sacked and lost a fumble to end the game. The defense meanwhile gave up three field goals in the second half, the last of which came with 1:47 left and gave the Cowboys the lead.
While the offense failed to produce the entire fourth quarter, the defense had an excellent opportunity to close the door when they had the Cowboys in a 3rd and 21. Forced out of the pocket under pressure, Tony Romo completed a pass to Dez Bryant that went for 30 yards down to Washington’s 40 yard line. Dallas still would have needed to move the ball a few yards to set up a long field goal, but they received an extra 15 yards thanks to a facemask penalty.
While nobody questions that DeAngelo Hall touched Dez Bryant’s facemask, it was clear that he touched it accidentally while trying to make a tackle. He quickly moved his hand away from the facemask and at no point tried to bring Bryant down with it (watch video of the play here). It was a bad call by the referee because the language in the rule book states that a player must “grasp” the facemask to be penalized. At no point did Hall grasp Dez’s facemask. Needless to say, Hall was fuming about the call after the game.
“****ing terrible call. I told the ref he should ****ing lose his job. I told the ref after that call, that might have been the worst call of the game. He’s going to get demerit points for that call. Because that wasn’t no facemask.”
Hall is right about the call, and the referee made a mistake. But is that the reason the Redskins lost the game? Of course not. They still had a chance to win it at the end but Rex Grossman lost a fumble. And earlier in the game, they failed to get a hold down on a field goal attempt. Those three points were the difference. I know DeAngelo is upset because he couldn’t back up his trash talk from the week before, but the Redskins had all their chances and couldn’t win it. They can only blame themselves, not anybody else.
