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This hasn’t been the best 30 minutes for international relations, at least not on the Washington side.
But as with every story worth telling, there are two sides to this one.
The Bills defense had four sacks on the season coming into this game. In the first half, they had four on Redskins quarterback John Beck. Some of these have been overload blitzes and trouble in the blocking scheme, but some of these have been coverage sacks. This is a total-team issue that needs to be addressed in the second half.
On the other hand, John Beck has weathered the storm and has protected the football very well. He’s dealing with three offensive linemen out of position due to injuries, his best pass-blocking running back on injured reserve, his best all-around tight end on injured reserve, and his No. 1 receiver out with a broken hand.
The Redskins need to find other ways to win, but it’s not going to be easy, by any stretch.
Things are a little brighter on the defensive side of the ball, with the Redskins defense doing a serviceable job at dictating the pace to the offense. Yes, the Bills are taking what the Redskins give them, but the Redskins aren’t giving them a whole lot. The Bills were ranked fourth in the league with 31.3 points per game, and the Redskins have limited them to 13 in the first half, including two goal line stands that kept them out of the end zone.
In short, it could be a lot worse.
The inside linebacker play has been a highlight of the first half, with London Fletcher, and his replacement Keyaron Fox, flying around near the line of scrimmage. Fletcher’s hamstring was a concern all week, but he’s been spelled as needed by Fox, who is proving to be productive on both defense and special teams.
The Fletcher-Fitzpatrick-Orakpo sandwich at the end of the first half was disappointed only by the play-making ability of Fred Jackson with the ball in his hands.
In other news, this is a unique football venue, with only one jumbotron, a series of hotel rooms overlooking the field, and strange seating all over the lower level of the stadium.
They should really consider playing baseball here.
Redskins still looking to get on the board north of the border, trailing 0-13.
Brian Tinsman 
It looks like the Redskins have this one wrapped up early. The defense won’t even bend and have the Bills completely shutdown. Beck has all the time in the world back there with that great pass protection and is just picking the Bill’s secondary apart. Not to mention the huge wholes that are opening up for the run game. Coach Shanahan really had the team prepared this week.
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Pez- what game are you watching ? There’s one word for this performance – pathetic
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It’s pure sarcasm!!!!
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This is by far the worst I’ve seen them play. Futile, ineffective and dysfunctional. I dont care about the injuries. I hate being a Skins fan. **** you guys.
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I have been a fan all my life, ’75, this is just frustrating. Injuries are a factor for every team, some are effected more than others. But no excuses for this. We are turning the Bills defense into one of the best in the league, statistically speaking. Buffalo falls into the bottom eight in the league for total defense. And we can’t put any points in two and a half quarters. Gotta fix this mess!!!
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Some are *affected
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against an aggressive buffalo pass rush, kyle the genius doesn’t call one draw play the entire game. and he calls only 2 screen passes. i’ve seen enough of this shanahan and shanahan comedy act. time to exit, stage right (right back to denver).
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yep I have been a fan since 1968 & am sick of excuses & poor play & game plan non-planning. buff. defense only had to play half the game but they played all the game to pad their SACKS STAT. for the year. Beck is still better than gross– man ( washed up ex-bear ). injuries do matter but that was only from last week when the skins got their ass kicked again. 3-0 to 3-4 pathetic, sad & horrible. stats. don’t matter only WINS matter.
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