KC/DC Bad News/Good News

Once again the Redskins outplayed their opponent in all areas but one, but wound up losing for the second time this year.

The Redskins' inability to hold on to the ball on two plays (three plays in all) led directly to 10 Chiefs' points. In fact, a fumble by running back Rock Cartwright led directly to a ten-point swing because the Redskins were already well within field goal range and the Chiefs returned the fumble 80 yards for a touchdown. Another fumble by Brunell came when the Redskins were on the Chiefs' 7-yard line. The Redskins also failed to take the ball away for the fourth game in a row. I’ll say more on the failure to get takeaways in a future post.

Other observations:
Brunell looked great except for when he ran with the ball like he was running a dirty diaper to a diaper pail. He keeps hitting guys right between the numbers with his passes.

Portis did not run like he did against the Chiefs in prior games, but his 77 yards were good enough to win.

Santana Moss keeps proving that I completely underestimated him. He came up with several more big plays including two touchdowns, one of which came on a rocket screen that never seemed to work when Coles was doing the running.

Sean Taylor absolutely leveled Priest Holmes in the fourth quarter and once again dislodged the ball with incredible force, but unfortunately it traveled all the way back to the Chief’s backfield where only Chiefs players were around to recover it.

The Redskins outgained the Chiefs 398 yards to 274 and were able to move the ball at will except for when they turned it over.

The Redskins defense absolutely stuffed the previously unstoppable Priest Holmes, except on one screen pass when Holmes ran 60 yards for a TD. Holmes rushed 14 times for 18 yards.

Bad News/Good News:
Bad News: The Redskins lost for the second time this season
Good News: Both losses are to AFC teams, which do not factor in the tie-breakers. The Redskins remain perfect in the NFC (3-0) and division (1-0)

Bad News: The Redskins fumbled three times and have lost the turnover battle in every game this year
Good News: The offense has answered its critics. The Redskins played in two loud road stadiums and moved the football with alacrity. Winning on the road in Denver and Kansas City is always tough and the Redskins were one call (Denver) and one play (KC) away from winning both games. The defense has been stifling since Gibbs came back and the offense has finally found a groove. There is no reason that they cannot play this way all year

Bad News: the Redskins lost their lead in the division to the Cowboys
Good News: The Redskins already beat the Cowboys, and the Eagles are the team to beat anyway. The Redskins play the 49ers at home and the Giants on the road before they meet the Eagles. They could easily be 5-2 when they face the Eagles on 11/6, which would give the winner of that game a significant lead in the division with half a season to play.