Pregame
(12:49) On draft day—day two of the draft, actually—we were
wondering what the Redskins were doing drafting two defensive tackles in Anthony
Montgomery and Kedric Golston since they seemed to be set at that position. Now,
about six months later, Montgomery and Golston are starting side by side with
Joe Salave’a and Cornelius Griffin inactive. Funny how the NFL works that way
sometimes.
(12:58) The glass is closed again today on a beautiful fall
day for a 1:00 kickoff. I’m pretty well resigned to this being the case for the
rest of the year. At some point your faithful correspondent might have to
abandon the press box and go sit in the stands to get some of the atmosphere of
the game.
First Quarter
(1:04 PM) Shawn Springs was not in the lineup on the
opening snap, and he entered the game for the first time this year on third and
eight.
(1:08PM) So far, not so good for the rookie DT’s.
Tennessee’s Travis Henry is finding lots of running room right up the gut.
They’ve got to hold their ground.
FG Bironas 32 Titans 3, Redskins 0 9:34 First quarter
(1:15 PM) First three plays an end around and two passes to
running backs. So much for pounding it out, at least in the early going.
(1:18 PM) Santana Moss is one slippery sumbitch.
(1:22 PM) Interesting formation with Portis shifting out to
a wideout spot leaving Sellers alone in the backfield. Sellers bashed up the
middle for eight yards.
Portis 10 run (Novak kick) Redskins 7, Titans 3 4:17 First
quarter
(1:23 PM) That was an important scoring drive for the
Redskins. You never want an underdog to hang around for long. Certainly, this is
still a ballgame but if the Titans hold the Redskins in their own territory and
the come back and piece together another scoring drive their confidence goes
through the roof and it takes a lot of pressure off of Vince Young.
(1:28 PM) Young had Drew Bennett open deep, but he floated
his pass up there for so long that Adam Archuleta was able to get to the ball.
(1:33 PM) Third and short and still not a sign of TJ
Duckett. What, were they worried that he wouldn’t carry out his assignment on
the quarterback sneak?
(1:36 PM) Santana Moss may get 20 touches before Clinton
Portis does at this rate?
Second quarter
Cooley 24 pass from Brunell (Novak kick) Redskins 14,
Titans 3 14:55Second quarter
(1:39 PM) We finally see the deep seem route to Cooley that
we saw them run so many reps of in training camp. That was a well-placed ball by
Brunell and a good catch by Cooley for the score.
(1:48 PM) We’re seeing a nice responding drive by the
Titans here. They’re running the ball well and Young is throwing accurate passes
to convert the second and third and short situations.
(1:50 PM) The defense clamped down once the Titans got a
first and goal and held them out of the end zone. Still, if the Redskins don’t
start shutting down Travis Henry it’s going to be a game for a long time
FG Bironas 26 Redskins 14, Titans 6 9:38 Second Quarter
(1:58 PM) Al Saunders seems to be determined to give
Antwaan Randle El a shot at breaking one. He’s called two handoffs to him and
we’re not even halfway through the second quarter.
(2:04 PM) We witnesses textbook awful tackling by Kenny
Wright on a 23-yard run by Henry. He had a chance to get after a 10-yard gain
but went for his feet and Henry got away easily.
B. Jones 3 pass from Young (Bironas kick) Redskins 14,
Titans 13 2:42 Second quarter
(2:20 PM) That was a very close call on the Randle El
fumble, not enough to overturn. The Redskins are doing exactly what they can’t
do, let the Titans hang around. You can’t let a lesser team answer a 14-0
scoring run with one that’s standing at 10-0 right now and could grow.