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LANDOVER, Md. -- The Washington Redskins' 50-year sellout streak ended Sunday. They’re going to need more help from the product on the field -- especially the offense -- to start another one. It did not help that the Redskins' offense, which looked sharp a week ago in Arizona, failed to generate yards, touchdowns or any level of excitement in a 21-9 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. In Arizona, they used an assortment of looks to confuse the Cardinals and hold the ball for nearly 40 minutes. Sunday, they managed just 65 yards rushing -- 117 fewer than in their opener. Of their 292 passing yards, 109 occurred on their final two drives after they fell behind by 12 points. Quarterback Alex Smith completed 33 passes, but 23 went to tight ends or backs. That’s fine if they’re controlling the ball and converting in the red zone. The Redskins did neither. It’s why they’re 1-1. The Redskins stadium capacity is 82,000, yet the paid attendance in the home opener was only 57,013. It’s clear they have work to do in order to get fans to return, and it starts with not just a more exciting offense, but one that leads to wins. Last week’s attack, which featured a heavy dose of runs, would have been just fine. Instead, fans were treated to a poor running game and no touchdowns. “Our offense is way better than what we did today,” Redskins running back Chris Thompson said. “There’s no way we should ever finish a game without scoring a touchdown with the offense we have.” The Redskins ran the ball 14 times on first down and five of those runs went for lost yardage. They gained 29 yards on two handoffs to receiver Jamison Crowder and the other 12 netted 14 yards. So the Redskins were often in a hole, one from which they never emerged. They managed to convert just 5 of 15 on third down, and only 2 of 7 in the first half. During the week, players talked about having multiple options on offense and how they could attack with the backs or the tight ends and get receivers involved as well. There was genuine excitement after the opener. Sunday doused that enthusiasm; whether that's temporary will be up to them.  In order for the Redskins to have any sort of consistent offense, they must be better on first down. Their offense is built for ball control, led by the steady Smith. His best traits are taking care of the ball and managing the game. Smith can make plays, but he’s best at doing so when the offense is in a good rhythm. They had none Sunday. Nada.
The Colts stuffed the Redskins by shifting and moving their defensive linemen, getting them into gaps and allowing the linebackers to stay clean. They consistently plugged holes, especially vs. Adrian Peterson. He finished with 11 carries for 20 yards -- 76 fewer yards than in the opener. “I just have to be a little more patient,” Peterson said. “We all have to be in sync. It’s not anything they were doing that we haven’t seen before. They just did a great job doing it. It’s a copycat league, so I’m sure Green Bay [on Sunday] will come in with some of the same stuff.” Because the Colts penetrated so well through the line, Peterson and Thompson could rarely get the corner. And because the Colts’ front was handling the Redskins up front, their linebackers often could sit in cutback lanes. The passing game didn’t help matters. Redskins coach Jay Gruden credited the Colts' soft zones down the field for forcing a lot of throws underneath. They tried play-action throws, hoping for downfield shots, only to be pressured. Two of the Colts’ three sacks occurred off play-action. “If we had it to do all over again, we’d have been less ambitious with some of our deep game and more geared toward moving the ball and getting the ball out of our hands and let the playmakers do their thing,” Gruden said. “As it turned out, we failed.” Smith said, “It’s easy to talk about right now, but in hindsight I wish we had done something different.” The Redskins had the element of surprise in their opener, showing a variety of looks that they hadn’t in the past, particularly in the run game. They adopted the run-pass option and zone-read game to suit Smith’s strengths. But Colts coach Frank Reich ran a lot of that as a coordinator in Philadelphia, and the Colts were ready. The Redskins know what they want to be on offense. One week they were the best version of themselves. Sunday they were the worst. They can't afford many repeats.
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