The Sports Xchange

ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Redskins led the visiting Miami Dolphins by 10 points after 28-plus minutes in yesterday’s season opener for both teams. Washington had outgained Miami by better than 11-1. But the Redskins, being the Redskins, still found a way to lose as the Dolphins outscored them 17-10 dealing Washington its 10th defeat in its last 13 home games.

“We’ve got to find a way to score more,” said running back Alfred Morris, who ran 25 times for 121 yards, his second-best day since Week 9 of 2013. “We can’t expect to get an early lead and just hold on. We have to find a way to finish plays, finish drives and get points on the board. It was very disappointing, but at the same time, (there’s) a lot that we can build off of this game.”

Indeed, Washington’s defense, under new coordinator Joe Barry, held Miami to 10 points. The offense converted six of 14 third downs and allowed new starting quarterback Kirk Cousins to be sacked only once in 32 drop-backs even with rookie guard Brandon Scherff and tackle Morgan Moses, making just his second start, going against the Dolphins’ dynamic duo of Ndamukong Suh and Cameron Wake.

“Nobody’s happy when you lose … but I do have optimism about where we’re going as a football team,” head coach Jay Gruden said. “Our defense played hard. Offensively, we rushed for (161) yards against Miami. Our right side had to step up against two very good players and I think they did that for the most part. Kirk played well. He was decisive with the ball. He managed the game, moved our team … we just didn’t make enough plays for him.”

However, the defense surrendered a nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive just before halftime that turned the momentum. The offense was shut out in the second half while failing on all five third downs. Kicker Kai Forbath missed a 46-yard field-goal try (after hitting a 45-yarder) and the punt coverage team was torched for Jarvis Landry’s game-winning 69-yard touchdown with 10:22 remaining. And the Redskins committed 11 penalties, including three in a row after Washington had third-and-5 at the Miami 23-yard line late in the third quarter.

With all of those negatives, the Redskins not only lost their third straight opener, they fell to 4-13 under Gruden and 7-26 since they won their final seven games of 2012 to win their only NFC East title of the millennium.

“It’s the mental toughness to finish drives, to finish games,” said new free safety Dashon Goldson, who didn’t play on a winning team in San Francisco until his fifth year but started the Super Bowl the following season. “I don’t think we responded as well when things happened that didn’t go as we liked. Penalties, calls we thought were bad and other things that went wrong, it might have gotten us out of it mentally a little bit. That can’t happen if you want to win games like this.”

Goldson is probably correct, but then the Redskins aren’t that used to games like yesterday. Only six of their 16 games in 2014 were decided by no more than one score (eight points). Washington was 3-3 in those games compared to 1-9 in the more one-sided contests. Only 20 of the current 53 players were with the Redskins before last season.

–Kai Forbath came into the season as the most accurate kicker (87 percent) in Redskins history. Forbath ended the first series of Sunday’s 17-10 loss to Miami with a 45-yard field goal. He was wide right from 46 yards on the next series. It would be his last attempt for Washington which cut him on Monday, largely because unlike so many kickers, his kickoffs were returned instead of sailing into or through the end zone for touchbacks. The Redskins replaced Forbath with neophyte Dustin Hopkins, who has spent time with Buffalo and New Orleans but has yet to try a regular-season field goal.

“Kai is very accurate inside 40 (yards), but you look at the total package (that) a kicker needs to bring to your football team, we were looking for a little bit of a stronger leg, especially on kickoffs,” head coach Jay Gruden explained. “If (Dustin) can be close to (Kai) with the accuracy, I think the kickoffs will put him over the edge. (He) worked out extremely well here today. He was a very successful kicker in college and he made the Bills (briefly in 2013) and kicked well for New Orleans in the preseason. We want to give him a shot and see if we can improve our kickoff coverage.”

–DeSean Jackson skipped some offseason practices to attend to such personal matters as his BET reality show and sitting courtside at the NBA finals. The receiver, who led the NFL with 20.9 yards per catch in 2014, missed the entire preseason after spraining his right shoulder during an Aug. 6 training camp practice. And now Jackson will be sidelined for three to four games after pulling his left hamstring on the first play of the second series against the Dolphins.

“Obviously, you’d like to have guys all throughout training camp,” Gruden said. “The shoulder limited him, but he was still able to do a lot of running so I don’t think (missing a month caused this injury). It’s a thing that happens to a wide receiver now and then. I think he got a little tangled up with (Dolphins cornerback Brent) Grimes which slowed him up. Then he saw the ball and took off and that’s when he pulled it.”

Speedster Rashad Ross, who was the NFL’s top receiver this preseason, will be active for Sunday’s game at St. Louis in place of Jackson. Backups Andre Roberts and Ryan Grant and rookie Jamison Crowder also figure to see more playing time opposite starter Pierre Garcon.

“You hate to lose a star, especially with his speed,” Gruden said. “We feel good about (our other) receivers, but no one can substitute that burning speed that scares (opposing) safeties and corners, backs people up. It’s a big loss for us. We’ll have to figure out a way to take some shots (downfield) because it’s very hard against the St. Louis Rams defense to go 15 plays, 80 yards.”

–Starting cornerback Chris Culliver was suspended for Sunday’s game likely as a result of him pleading guilty to two misdemeanors in June in the wake of a hit-and-run accident with a bicyclist in Santa Clars, Calif. in March 2014. Culliver had fled the scene and used brass knuckles to threaten a person. Culliver was put on probation for two years, sentenced to 40 hours of community service and ordered to pay restitution to the victims of the hit-and-run.

Bashaud Breeland, who started the final 12 games as a rookie in 2014 in place of the injured DeAngelo Hall, will likely replace Culliver against the Rams. Breeland was suspended for the Miami game for a violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

REPORT CARD VS. DOLPHINS

PASSING OFFENSE: B-minus — Considering that the Redskins lost deep threat DeSean Jackson in the first quarter before he caught a pass, they did fine. The young right side of G Brandon Scherff and T Morgan Moses neutralized the Dolphins’ Ndamukong Suh and Cameron Wake. QB Kirk Cousins, in his first action since Week 7 of 2014, completed 21 of 31 passes for 196 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in a conservative aerial attack. TE Jordan Reed led the way with seven catches for 63 yards and a TD. WR Pierre Garcon had six catches for 74 yards. Each had a catch of at least 22 yards. Third WR Andre Roberts had two drops. C Kory Lichtensteiger allowed the only sack.

RUSHING OFFENSE: A-minus — RB Alfred Morris powered for 121 yards on 25 carries and ran well up the middle and to each side. Rookie RB Matt Jones added 28 yards on six carries. All told, Washington gained 161 yards on 37 attempts against a solid Miami defense.

PASS DEFENSE: B-minus — Despite losing SS Duke Ihenacho in the first quarter and CB DeAngelo Hall for part of the second quarter, the Redskins held up OK. Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill did pick on Hall’s replacement, David Amerson, for a number of completions, including the 3-yard TD to WR Rishard Matthews. TE Jordan Cameron had four catches for 73 yards and WR Jarvis Landry added eight for 53 with each having a grab of at least 20 yards. OLB Ryan Kerrigan and reserve NT Chris Baker combined for a sack while rookie OLB Preston Smith forced and recovered a fumble on his first career sack. DE Jason Hatcher had a strong game with a sack, a pass defensed and four tackles.

RUSH DEFENSE: B — Take away Jarvis Landry’s 14-yard end-around and the Redskins held the Dolphins to just 60 yards on 17 carries. ILB Keenan Robinson, FS Dashon Goldson and SS Trenton Robinson were the top tacklers. SS Duke Ihenacho borke his left wrist tackling Dolphins RB Lamar Miller during the first quarter.

SPECIAL TEAMS: D-plus — The punt return unit surrendered Landry’s 69-yard, game-winning TD during the fourth quarter. P Tress Way outkicked the coverage, but no Redskin got close to making the tackle. K Kai Forbath maintained his habit of short kickoffs and was cut on Monday after missing a 46-yard field-goal attempt not long after he had hit a 45-yarder. The kickoff team allowed an average of 27 yards a return. Rookie PR Jamison Crowder averaged 11.5 yards in his NFL debut. KOR Chris Thompson took his lone chance back 36 yards.

COACHING: B-minus – Jay Gruden lost Jackson early and had to protect Scherff and Moses while building Cousins’ offense, but the coach still got too conservative as the Redskins failed to build on their 10-0 second-quarter lead and never scored again despite having possession for 37:54. The roster keeps churning, but the penalties (11 for 88 yards) keep happening. The coaches have to take part of the blame. New offensive line coach Bill Callahan and the new defensive staff, led by coordinator Joe Barry, get good marks for their debuts. Special teams coach Ben Kotwica should be on notice with a shaky opener — after the preseason season-ending injuries to stalwarts Adam Hayward and Niles Paul — following a rough 2014.