Ceci Ferrara
November 6, 2017
Sports Writer
Sports Insider Weekly
The Washington Redskins beat the Seattle Seahawks 17-14 in an impressive, improbable comeback win on Sunday to move to 4-4. The victory comes just one week after their deflating 33-19 loss to the Cowboys in which the Redskins lost not only the game, but several starters. A road game in Seattle–one of the most notoriously hard places for visiting teams to play in–seemed daunting. The odds were stacked heavily against them. But Washington prevailed.
Kirk Cousins, whose failure to protect the ball last week led to the loss, completed 21 of 31 attempts for 247 yards and no turnovers. While he didn’t throw any touchdowns, he did orchestrate the game-winning comeback in the final minute and a half–and it took just four plays and 35 seconds.
The Washington QB connected with Josh Docston, who dove to make a spectacular 38-yard catch and slid all the way inside the one, setting up the game-winning touchdown. Running-back Rob Kelley, punched it in for the go-ahead score. Seattle was unable to respond, ending the game with a failed Hail Mary.
“I was a backup myself [once], so it don’t matter,” said Kelley, who scored both of Washington’s touchdowns. “Anyone can play. If you’re not good enough to play, you wouldn’t be here.”
While the victory against Seattle — who had won 27 of their past 33 at home — was surprising, the Redskins weren’t exactly an offensive powerhouse. Their 23 carriers gained just 51 yards; an average 2.2 yards per carry. Cousins threw for less than 300 yards and zero touchdowns.
“Offensively we just sputtered,” Coach Jay Gruden said. “We couldn’t really run the ball, couldn’t really protect, didn’t do a lot of things.”
Then again, neither did the Seahawks. They missed three field goals from 39, 44, and 49 yards respectively, and committed 16 penalties for 138 yards–the most Seattle has ever committed at home.
Just one week after scoring 41 points in a brilliant win against the Houston Texans, the Seahawks looked completely lost. They missed both two-point conversions and Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson threw two uncharacteristic interceptions
“They kept us in the game,” Cousins said of the defense.
Washington is now 4-0 at CenturyLink Field since 2012–the only NFL road team to have a winning record in regular season games there since 2002.
