MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2010


KLMNO SEASONOFGIVING


Despite their 8-4 record, the Giants lead the NFL with 31 turnovers after QB Eli Manning threw a second quarter interception caught by Washington’s London Fletcher.


MR.THOMAS, IPRESUME?


Wide receiver Devin Thomas, cut by the Redskins earlier this season, partially blocked a fourth-quarter Hunter Smith punt and made the tackle on a first-quarter kickoff Sunday to help the Giants’ special teams.


EZ SU


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“We’ll get there. It’s going to take some time, but we will


get there. I promise you that.” —Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan


For defense, something is missing


JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST Giants running back Brandon Jacobs (27) leaves several Redskins in his wake en route to a touchdown in the third quarter. Phillip Daniels said the Redskins were “scared” to tackle Jacobs, who weighs 264 pounds.


Redskins’ tackling against Giants is main culprit in decisive loss


BY RICKMAESE


east rutherford, n.j. – Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan didn’t need to wait for the first question at his postgame news conference. “We can’t tackle that way,” he said. In the locker room, not a single Red-


skins player was about to argue with that blunt assertion. In their 31-7 loss to the New York


Giants Sunday, the Redskins showed a tackling style that consisted mostly of outstretched arms and idly swiping at a blur of blue laundry. The result was one of the Redskins’ worst defensive outings against the run in recent years. That much, players and coaches


agreed upon. But explaining why the team struggled to tackle the Giants — particularly running backs Brandon Ja-


cobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, who com- bined for 200 yards on 33 carries — wasn’t as easy. Was it the defensive line’s fault? “It wasn’t a situation where the front


line guys were missing,” said linebacker London Fletcher. So does blame fall on the linebackers’ shoulders? “I don’t play other linebacker posi-


tions. I know I got containment outside,” said second-year outside linebacker Bri- an Orakpo. “I don’t know what else is going on.” What about the safeties — the duo of


Kareem Moore and Reed Doughty, who seemed to spend much of the afternoon hugging air? “You’d just like to know that if you


miss, somebody else is going to come hit himright in the back,”Doughty said. “You say, ‘next play.’ That wasn’t happening.” When players gather at Redskins Park


Monday to dissect film, they’ll likely see that a lot ofdefensive players contributed to Sunday’s tackling calamity. Giants running backs had no problem making their cuts, slipping through the second


level and blowing up the team’s last line of defense. “They just ran the ball down our


throats,” said Orakpo. “We missed tack- les, we – I don’t know, man. It’s crazy, man. I’mjust embarrassed.” Entering Sunday’s game, the Redskins


had given up only four rushing touch- downs on five occasions since 1960. Even Philadelphia, which hung 59 points on the Redskins last month, only managed three rushing touchdowns. But Bradshaw and Jacobs each found


the end zone twice, accounting for all four of the Giants’ touchdowns. Most of the damage was done in the


first half, when the running backs rolled overWashington for 139 yards and three touchdowns. “The effort was there, but we missed


tackles,” Shanahan said. “You take a look at the missed tackles, it was one right after another.” On the game’s opening drive, the Gi-


ants ran for 57 yards and threw for only two. Jacobs made linebacker Rocky McIntosh whiff on the game’s second play and turned it into a 39-yard gain.He


THOMAS BOSWELL While others play through pain, it’s always Haynesworth that’s causing the headache boswell from D1


invasive. CouldHaynesworth have helped the


pathetic Redskins run defense that allowed 103 yards to Brandon Jacobs and 97 more to Ahmad Bradshaw?We’ll never know. But this was certainly the perfect Albert game. The Giants were without three injured offensive linemen and two top wide receivers. With the Redskins at 5-6, clinging to remote playoff life,Haynesworth’s 350 pounds could have had their greatest impact. Instead, Shanahan made his latest, loudest and maybe last statement: Albert, sit in the corner. Ever since Shanahan was hired,


Haynesworth has defied him. If Albert had a fewdefenders in the past, the number of players on his own team who are ready to roast him has now probably hit critical mass. IfHaynesworth ever plays another


game for the Redskins, I’ll be mildly surprised. I told four veteran Redskins leaders I planned to write that Haynesworth should be cut. I may have added something about using a shovel to remove a large steaming pile from the middle of their locker room. Tell me now:AmI wrong? “Blast away,” said a Pro Bowler. “Now


you feel our pain.” Another Pro Bowler kept punching


the air with his finger in approval, as if he were at a religious revival agreeing with the preacher as I ranted about how Haynesworth was a team killer who was antithetical to everything Shanahan was trying to accomplish. A third Pro-Bowler shook his head


and said: “Go ahead. I can’t say anything. Someday I will.Man, I’d love to be in the room when he and Shanahan met.” However, the clearest illustration of


theHaynesworth problem may not be a Pro Bowler or a player with a Redskins future but ancient Phillip Daniels, 37, who’s had a fine 15-year career and, these days, is sick as a dog—but won’t miss a practice, a meeting or a single down when the team needs him. Linebacker London Fletcher made a


long list of all the players, from Brian Orakpo and LaRon Landry to Donovan McNabb, who have played and practiced through injuries all season. But he underlined the name of Daniels. Last Sunday, long after the Redskins


had lost to the Vikings, Daniels was the last player in the locker room, too sick and exhausted to get out of his chair.He described how many places he ached, how he could barely sleep with chest


and head congestion. “How many Advil does a 6-foot-6, 310-


pound guy have to take to get rid of a headache?” I joked. “I only took two,” he said. “Hey, maybe


I should take more.” Though Daniels is no longer a


standout, he’s still valuable and knows practice is essential to the precise choreography of pro football.He stays sick because he keeps practicing. Is it smart? Who knows? But it’s certainly football. It’s surely the NFL. It’s absolutely Shanahan. And, in a sport where you see 330-pound men who have to ask each other for help putting on their shirts and ties after games, it’s a bonding through suffering that often goes with winning. If you don’t like it, find another game. The Redskins watch Albert and each


week many seethe. “Phillip was sick-sick this week,” said linebacker Chris Wilson. “He showed up.He’s a pro.” Haynesworth isn’t a pro. Talk to


Haynesworth and he’s genial, hardly seems to know what the fuss is about. Hey, they promised I could play in the 4-3, then they switched. They went back on their word. But, before the Redskins handed over a $20 million lump bonus to


Haynesworth nine months ago, Shanahan asked him point blank whether, once he got the money, if he’d be on board with the program. Pockets straight, therefore, attitude tight. Albert said, “Yes.” But ever since, he’s


acted out “No.” In recent weeks, sympathy has flowed


toHaynesworth in the wake of the accidental death of his brother. And he has, once he returned, played so well at times that he has put on film that he can still play.He’s a force, if he chooses to be. That’s his audition tape for his next team. But, once the Redskins were effectively removed from the playoff hunt last week, the problems started again. In AlbertWorld, what’s in it for the


big guy? Almost no one in the NFL thinks he’ll be a Redskin next year. So, at the very point when Shanahan must find out which players will “buy in” at the worst of times, when the Redskins must play for pride and for their future, Albert has, to coin a phrase, “bought out.”


“Shanahan is a hell of a coach,”


Daniels said. “I played against his Denver teams a lot. They have always been solid.No distractions, not always the greatest athletes but everybody on the same page. But he needs to get the


right people in here for him to work with, all on the same page. Everybody has to do the right thing.” Instead, the Redskins spent the hours


before the game talking about Haynesworth. “It was crazy,” Daniels said. . . . Game day, you expect everybody to play. But you need to practice, too. . . . The way he practices, that’s the way you’re judged around here.” As in all feuds, both parties have a


side.Haynesworth has a side. It’s just not a good one. This isn’t a 50-50 debate. From the dayHaynesworth took that last $20 million and said “Yes,” he’s been on the short end of a 90-10 proposition. Now, he’s turned into a combination


defensive tackle and fifth columnist. In the end, which may be soon, he’s going to succeed in sulking, gold-bricking and undermining his way out of town.He’ll keep the money; at the moment, he’s earned more than half-a-million-dollars per tackle for his two years. The decade- long Snyder nightmare will have one more chapter. But some day, ifHaynesworth ever


grows up, he’s probably going to wish he could relive this disaster. Until then, AlbertHaynesworth, just go. I don’t care how.


boswellt@washpost.com


later scored from eight yards, untouched the whole way. On the afternoon, Jacobs, who posted


his first 100-yard game since 2008, had only eight carries but caused plenty of problems. On his second touchdown, Jacobs made Doughty miss in the open field and scored from 28 yards. Jacobs measures 6 foot 4 and weighs 264 pounds. According to Redskins defensive end Phillip Daniels, players were “scared” to tackle him. “Whenyou tackle somebody, you don’t


think about the guy.Youthink about your technique and how you tackle,” Daniels said. “That’s the thing. A guy like that, you hit him around the kneecaps a few times, they don’t run the same. Butwelet them get started early and it’s a long day. That’s how it works.” Prior to this season, the Redskins


hadn’t given up 190 rushing yards in a game since 2006. They’ve now relin- quished at least that many twice this season. The Giants revealednosecret wrinkles


on Sunday. Players saw power, counter and stretch plays. Despite missing three


starting offensive linemen, the Giants blocked well up front and defensive backs were often left alone to handle Jacobs or Bradshaw. “Giants knew to put our safeties and


our corners in bad situations—our little guys to tackle their big guys,” Orakpo said.


Doughty, starting at strong safety in


place of injured LaRon Landry, acknowl- edged that Jacobs beat him on the third- quarter touchdown. But ideally, he said, he’dnever be forced to face Jacobs one on one. “Any time you get open-field tackling,


that’s not the situationyouwantto be,”he said. “We really got to get hats to the ball. You’ve got to have people gang tackling.” With four games remaining, Redskins


players say they’ll hit the practice field this week and focus more on fundamen- tals. But it’s a point of emphasis they acknowledge every one in the locker room really should know by now. “Tackling is the first thing you learn as


akid,” said Daniels. “There’snoexcuse for missed tackles.”


maeser@washpost.com


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