Yes, it's only three games but some things are obvious early on. The Redskins are in serious trouble at quarterback. And trouble at quarterback might as well be a computer virus; it ruins everything, even the defense.
What makes Mark Brunell's shortcomings even more glaring is that they've come in consecutive weeks against Kurt Warner, whose career had been left for dead, then against 41-year-old journeyman Vinny Testaverde, both of whom the Redskins could probably have had if they'd wanted them. No, it's not too early to play the "what-if?" game because Brunell has gone from ordinary against Tampa Bay to sub-par against the Giants to dreadful last night against the Cowboys. Brunell hadn't planted and rifled a pass through three games until that touchdown pass to Rod Gardner with 4 1/2 minutes to play, and by then it was too late to change the outcome. He'd thrown too many bad passes, taken too many sacks, looked too lost too many times to hurt the Cowboys, or for us to presume he's going to find his game this week or next.
"Last-place Redskins" has all too familiar a ring to it, but that's what the Redskins are after Week 3, behind the undefeated Eagles, the 2-1 Giants and 2-1 Cowboys. And though 13 games is a whole lot of season, it's fair to wonder how in the world the Redskins are going to score enough points to beat the good teams.
The game began the way a Redskins-Cowboys game ought to, with head-hunting tackles, and a series of plays being contested by replay, sending red flags flying from the sideline to the field. On the Redskins' second offensive possession, a deep and incomplete pass from Brunell to Laveranues Coles was first called a Cowboys' interception, but was reversed when it became clear the ball touched the ground before being caught. This was a pattern that would hold the rest of the night, right through the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys unsuccessfully challenged a sideline catch by the Redskins a couple of plays later. The Redskins thought they had recovered a muffed punt, only to have the zebras rule that the Dallas return man had fallen on the ball and was downed before he lost it in a scrum. And that was no little play. Instead of the Redskins having the ball at the Dallas 16, in great position even for this offensively challenged team to score, the ball was awarded to the Cowboys at their 16, which is exactly where Washington's troubles in this game began.
Testaverde, who was playing in big games for the University of Miami nearly 20 years ago, is nearly 41 and still winging it. He's the first quarterback at the age of 40 to ever pass for more than 300 yards in the first two games of a season. It's as if he's still flashing back to his years playing for Bill Parcells in New York when the Jets threatened to reach the Super Bowl. And it was Testaverde who marched the Cowboys out of immediate trouble on that disputed possession.
Still, Testaverde overthrew Terry Glenn on third and eight, which should have forced a Dallas punt. Instead, Redskins cornerback Walt Harris was hit with about the worst pass interference call an official could possibly make. Replays showed that if anything occurred, Glenn should have been called for offensive interference for grabbing Harris's jersey just before they tumbled into the end zone. It's silly to throw a flag for any reason there, especially since replays showed Harris making a play on the ball. But the penalty against the Redskins was a killer because it put the ball at the 1, and the Cowboys scored a gimme to go ahead, 7-0.
It was yet another case of points going on the board even though the Redskins' defense had done its job. And a seven-point lead against this Redskins' offense now seems insurmountable because the offense is so incompetent.
The blame has to start with Brunell, who through most of these three weeks has looked as done as Roy Jones Jr. Yes, the Cowboys have one of the best defenses in the league, though it was shredded by the Vikings in the season opener. And yes, Brunell had a couple of drops, most notably a pair of momentum-killing, crowd-silencing flubs by Coles who for awhile last night seemed haunted by the pads, then the footsteps of wood-laying Cowboys safety Roy Williams.
Still, Brunell seems to never know where the rush is coming from. He missed some 15-yard routes by 10 yards on overthrows. He threw behind receivers on the most basic medium-range passes. He was 2 for 10 in the first quarter, 10 for 21 at halftime. He nearly threw an interception just before halftime on third and goal from the 2, which would have left the Redskins scoreless at intermission instead of being down, 7-3.
Granted, Brunell's left hamstring is strained, which must have affected his mobility. But he played poorly enough that a coach might consider benching him, except that backup Patrick Ramsey's three-interception performance a week ago at Giants Stadium is still fresh in everybody's memory.
When the season began, who figured Testaverde, with more mileage than a 1985 Volvo wagon, would be so active, so accurate, and so much better than Brunell, who at 34 is seven years younger. Testaverde led the Cowboys right down the field for a 14-3 lead late in the third. And when the Redskins finally countered with a touchdown drive (aided by a late-hit on Brunell), Testaverde got the Cowboys close enough for a little trickeration to put away the game on fullback Richie Anderson's option pass to Glenn for a 21-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys had managed to dent the Redskins' defense in a way the Giants and Buccaneers could not. And there was no sense, even with 13 minutes to play, that the Redskins could put together enough sustained drives to beat the Cowboys.
