SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010 WNBA REDSKINSNOTEBOOK Taylor felt he ‘lost control’withRedskins
Former Pro Bowler calls his year in D.C. the most frustrating of his career
BY JASON REID On his final day at Redskins
Park after the 2008 season, defen- sive end Jason Taylor stood in an emptyparking lot andtoldreport- ershis careerwasnot finished. Although Taylor was hobbled
by injuries during the season and uncomfortable in Washington’s rigid defensive scheme, he be- lieved he could still play and plannedtoproveit totheRedskins and their fans. He never got the chance. Washington released the six-time Pro Bowler after he de- clined to participate in the team’s offseasonworkoutprogram. ButTaylor is still going. TheNewYork Jets acquired the
ERIK S. LESSER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
ThoughMarissa Coleman, left, and theMystics jumped out to an early lead, Atlanta seized momentum with a 26-0 first-half run.
A nightmarish end to Mystics’ season Dreamadvances as
Washington’s offense misfires in 101-77 loss
BY KATHY ORTON
atlanta —The Washington Mystics did a lot this season to earn respectability on the court. They set a franchise record for wins and earned the top seed in theEasternConference. Butwhen it came to the play-
offs, itwas the same oldMystics. Washington did nothing in the Eastern Conference semifinals todispel its reputationfordisap- pointing inthepostseason. The fourth-seeded Atlanta
Dream was the latest to send Washington home early, win- ning 101-77, at Philips Arena be- fore7,890onFridaynight.Atlan- ta won the series, 2-0, and ad- vances to the Eastern Confer- ence finals against either the NewYork Liberty or the Indiana Fever. Washington has lost eight
consecutive playoff games. The Mystics haven’twon in the post- seasonsinceSept.25,2004.They haven’twona road playoff game sinceAug. 17, 2002, at Charlotte. “Wedidn’tbringit intheplay-
offs,” Washington Coach Julie Plank said. “That was a little bit disappointing, especially at the defensive end when that has been the staple. . . . We didn’t have it inthe last two games,but it’s not going to take away from the season thatwe had. I’mvery proudof our team.” Atlanta came into this series
betterknownfor itsoffense than its defense. But the reason the Dreamismakingitsfirstappear- ance in the conference finals in its brief three-year history is be- cause it completely took Wash- ingtonout of its offense. The Mystics, who made just
34.7 percent of their shots,went through several prolonged scor- ing droughts. Matee Ajavon scored 20 points, but they all came in the second half, long after the gamewasdecided. “I don’t think we were taking
accurate shots,” Ajavon said. “They did a great job of rushing us into things we didn’t want to do.”
Not only could Washington
not score, it couldn’t stop Atlan- ta. The Dream had too many crafty scorers. Angel Mc- Coughtry (21points), IzianeCas- troMarques (21points)andSan- cho Lyttle (20 points) had little trouble against the Mystics’ de- fense. Washington, which had held
opponents to a league-low 73.3 points per game this season, al- lowed Atlanta to score 95 and 101 points against it in the play- offs, an average of 98 points per game. “We didn’t react forwhatever
reason,” Plank said. “They really hurt us in transition, one-on- one. The pace was definitely to their advantage.
. . . When
they’re scoring points and we’re givingupsuchahighpercentage shooting on their part, it gets deflating.They just kept coming atus andcoming atus.” Itwasuncannyhowmuchthe
start of this game resembled the start of Wednesday’s. The away team made an unexpected line- up change and jumped out to a 9-0lead.Theonlydifferencewas
likely futureHallofFamer inApril as part of their aggressive offsea- son plan to reach the Super Bowl this season.Taylor is animportant
NFLNOTEBOOK Top pick Bradford to finish preseason as starter ASSOCIATED PRESS
the team wearing the road jer- seyswas theMystics. Nakia Sanford, who gave
Washington such a boost off the bench on Wednesday, took the place of Chasity Melvin in the starting lineup. But it was Mo- nique Currie who contributed themost toWashington’s strong start. Currie scored five points and
grabbed four rebounds in the first five minutes of the game. Despitemissingthreeofher first fourshots,Curriewasaggressive taking the ball to the basket and drawing fouls. Washington also did a better
job stopping Atlanta in transi- tion early on, forcing theDream tomiss eight of its first 10 shots. But the Mystics didn’t have an answer for McCoughtry, who scored 10 of Atlanta’s 17 first- quarterpoints. Things appeared to be going
in Washington’s favor when Lindsey Harding made a long jumpshot just inside thearcand then another one behind it to put theMysticsahead, 18-10,and force the Dream to call a time- out. But as happened onWednes-
day, the game quickly spiraled out of control forWashington in the second quarter. After Hard- ing’s shot fell through the net with2minutes58seconds left in the first quarter, the Mystics didn’t make another field goal until 2:44 remainedinthehalf. Washington missed 16 con-
secutive shots, and the Dream capitalized.Astheballdidevery- thing but fall through the net— hitting the iron, the backboard or rolling around the rim and poppingout—Atlantawentona 26-0runthat gave it a41-21 lead. “They changed to a zone” de-
fense, Plank said. “We missed some shots. . . .Missed shots led to their run-outs.” Twice theMystics calledtime-
out during the Dream’s scoring surge, but nothing stopped At- lanta’smomentum. Katie Smith finally ended
Washington’s droughtmaking a seven-foot jumpshot inthe lane, more than 10 minutes after Harding made her three-point- er.
Worse than making only 27.8
percent of their shots in the first half, the Mystics allowed the Dreamto sink 57.1 percent of its shots. As a result, Atlanta once again owned the second quarter and built a lead too great for Washingtonto overcome. “The second quarterwas very
difficult,” said Crystal Lang- horne (11 points, seven re- bounds). “We missed some shots.Theywerepushingitatus, and they kept coming. It was very difficult to play against them when they’re playing like that. You really need to slow them down, and we just didn’t do that.” After giving up 48 points to
the Dream in the first half of Game 1 — the most points al- lowedbytheMysticsbeforehalf- time this season —Washington gave up 50 first-half points to Atlanta onFriday. Washington’s third quarter
was nearly as poor as its second. The Mystics didn’t make a field goaluntilmorethan31/2
minutes
had expired in the half. They went 5 for 20 from the floor as Atlanta built a 35-point lead.
ortonk@washpost.com eLindsay.com Sam Bradford will finish the
preseason as the St. Louis Rams’ starting quarterback, at least partly because veteranA.J. Feeley might not be ready to play. Bradford had a big game in his
first start, going 15 for 22 for 189 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in a 36-35 victo- ry at New England on Thursday night. The rookie from Oklahoma
played the first half and complet- ed his first six passes. Rams Coach Steve Spagnuolo
said Friday that it’s unlikely that Feeley,who has a sprained thumb on his throwing hand, will be ready in time for the preseason finale on Thursday against Balti- more. Meanwhile, wide receiver
Donnie Avery could miss the entire season after tearing a right knee ligament late inthe firsthalf of a preseason game. Avery led the Rams with 47
receptions last season. He was injuredwith 1minute 32 seconds to go in the first half when he landed after an attempt at a leaping catch. He clutched his knee as the pass from Sam Brad- ford dropped incomplete. Avery was a second-round
draft pick out ofHouston in 2008 and is the most experienced member of the Rams’ largely untested wide receiver group.He has started 28 games his first two seasons and caught two passes for 48 yards Thursday. l FALCONS 16, DOLPHINS 6:
Atlanta gave up only a field goal while Miami starting quarter- back Chad Henne was in the game. Middle linebacker Curtis Lof-
ton led the Falcons’ defensive charge with 11 tackles, two for losses. Erik Coleman intercepted a pass in the end zone, and the Dolphins converted only 1 of 8 third-down situations with Henne, who played one series into the third quarter. Lawrence Sidbury (Oxon Hill)
had a sack, two quarterback hits and a tackle for a loss. The Falcons are hoping for defensive improvement after ranking 23rd in the NFL last year. Atlanta’s Matt Ryan threw his
first touchdown pass of the exhi- bition season. He led scoring drives of 60 and 54 yards, the second of which took more than sevenminutes. Ryan played one series into the
third quarter and finished 13 of 26 for 103 yards, with one inter- ception. He helped the Falcons convert 8 of 14 third-down situa- tions againstMiami (2-1). l COLTS: The NFL finally fig-
ured out how to slow down Pey- tonManning—change the rules. Apparently, the changes are
now under further review. One day after Manning drew
two penalties for illegal snaps at Green Bay, Indianapolis Coach JimCaldwell pleadedwith league
part of Coach Rex Ryan’s effective 3-4 scheme. He enjoys football more than ever as he prepares for his 14thseason. Taylorhadtwo tackles inFriday
night’s game, one of them unas- sisted. “I’ve been frustrated before in
my career,” Taylor said in a phone interview earlier this week “. . . ButWashingtonwas different. . . . I felt like I had lost control. . . . I wouldn’t say itwasastretchtocall itmymost frustrating year.” Owner Daniel Snyder and Vin-
ny Cerrato, Washington’s former executive vice president of foot- ball operations, moved quickly to acquire Taylor, theNFL’s 2006 de- fensive player of the year, after veterandefensiveendPhillipDan- iels suffered a season-ending knee injury on the first day of training campin2008. But Taylor, whose weight dur-
ing the season drops to about 240 pounds, was never considered an elite run-stopper, and Washing- ton’s 4-3 scheme under then-de- fensive coordinator Greg Blache emphasizedstoppingtherun.Tay- lor did not have the freedom to
pursue the quarterback as he did with the Dolphins. Taylor also movedtoleftendtoaccommodate Andre Carter after playing on the right sidehiswhole career. Taylor did not mesh well with
Blache, who was not in favor of acquiring the three-time all-pro pick,people familiarwiththe situ- ation said. Blache,who retired af- ter the 2009 season, has declined repeated interview requests to comment on his relationshipwith Taylor. “Itwas so, ‘Myway or the high-
way.’ Just strict, ‘No,’ to everything withBlache,”Taylor said. Taylor sprained his right knee
in a preseason game and twice underwent surgery on his left calf to relieve acute compartment syn- drome, a buildup of pressure on muscle groups. He had only 31/2 sacks—his lowest total since 1999 — in 13 games, including eight starts. Taylor re-signed with the Dol-
phinsandhadaproductiveseason in 2009. But Taylor, who turns 36 onWednesday,wantedsomething more than he believed the Dol- phins could provide—a chance to
reachthe SuperBowl this season. “What the Jets did in trying to
bringme in, andmaking it aprior- ity to recruit me as a free agent, I think it shows how much respect they have for me and for what I could bring to the game,” Taylor said. “I’mexclusively a playmaker. They’ve toldme to just kind of go dowhat youdo.”
Kelly,Moore stay home Starting quarterback Donovan
McNabb, out with a sprained an- kle, watched the game from the sideline, but two other Redskins didnot travel toNewJersey. Wide receiver Malcolm Kelly,
who has missed all three pre- season games and has practiced just once because of a hamstring injury, stayed home. So did Kar- eem Moore, the projected starter at free safety. Moore suffered a knee injury
during last week’s loss to Balti- more and had arthroscopic sur- gery earlier in the week. He’s ex- pected to miss four to six weeks. ReedDoughty startedinhisplace.
reidj@washpost.com
KLMNO
EZ SU PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL
D3
ELSA/GETTY IMAGES
Rams rookie Sam Bradford completed 15 of 22 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns while playing the first half Thursday night. St. Louis, though,may be without wide receiver DonnieAvery this season.
officials to re-evaluate a change that forces players to wait for the umpire to get into his new posi- tion before the ball can be put in play. The league wasted no time in
responding to all the complaints. “Themovement of the umpire
to the offensive backfield will happen in the regular season,” league spokesman Michael Si- gnora said in a statement given to the Associated Press. “We contin- ue to analyze and review the impact of the change in the preseason, andwemay announce some adjustments to the me- chanics of the position prior to Week 1.” Meanwhile, a person with
knowledge of the results told the Associated Press linebacker Gary Brackett is not expected to miss significant time after X-rays on his injured right handwere nega- tive. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because
the team has not disclosed a diagnosis. Brackett was injured during
Thursday’s loss at Green Bay when he appeared to hit his hand on the helmet of teammate Philip Wheeler. l STEELERS: Ben Roethlis-
berger is expected to be Pitts- burgh’s starter for the second straight week, though Coach Mike Tomlin says his top three quarterbacks will play Sunday in Denver. While Tomlin declined to iden-
tify which quarterback would open the game, Roethlisberger got extensiveworkwith the start- ers in practice all week. After Roethlisberger is pulled,
Dennis Dixon will get his first significant playing time with the starters. Dixon has started only oneNFLgame, andhe is expected to be Byron Leftwich’s backup when the season starts and Ro- ethlisberger’s suspension begins.
l JAGUARS: Jacksonville run-
ning backMaurice Jones-Drew is done for the preseason. Jones-Drew, who missed three
days of practice this week, didn’t make the trip to Tampa for Satur- day’s preseason game against the Buccaneers. Jones-Drew’s agent, Adisa Ba-
kari, said the Jaguars are resting the Pro Bowler the final two preseasongames for “precaution- ary reasons.” He adds that Jones- Drewwill be ready for the season opener. Bakari says playing his client
now “can only hurt the team.”He says the Jaguars know they need Jones-Drew in the regular sea- son, so they “decided they’re not going to play himnow.” l LIONS: Detroit placed de-
fensive end Jared DeVries on injured reserve, meaning he will miss a second consecutive season because of injury.
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