The Redskins won their first NFC East title since 1999, as they hadn't even played for first place on the final day of the regular season in the interim.
The Redskins needed to win seven straight to close the season to earn the division championship. However, players insist that they’re not satisfied with just winning the NFC East.
As many have said, trophies aren't awarded for a division title.
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Offense: B
Dallas’ offense came in on a roll, especially receiver Dez Bryant. But the Redskins shut Dallas down by intercepting three passes and holding the Cowboys to 296 total yards, the third time they’ve held a team to less than 300 yards in the past seven games. They didn’t do that in the first nine. Corner DeAngelo Hall might have played his best game with the Redskins, blanketing Bryant. He caught four passes for 71 yards, but two were against zone coverage. Corners Josh Wilson and Richard Crawford intercepted passes. Linebacker Rob Jackson fooled quarterback Tony Romo late in the game by covering running back DeMarco Murray. Jackson made a leaping interception to set up the clinching touchdown. Previous game's grade: BThe passing game didn’t work at all. Dallas did a good job taking away the Redskins’ zone read fake passing game by playing cover-2 or by using a single-high safety and having the other one spy underneath. Robert Griffin III completed just 9 of 18 passes for 100 yards. But the passing game wasn’t necessary, as rookie Alfred Morris ran 33 times for 200 yards and three touchdowns. The Redskins hurt the Cowboys’ edge rushers with zone read fakes, freezing DeMarcus Ware and/orAnthony Spencer on numerous occasions. The line did an excellent job opening cutback lanes. Griffin is still not himself, but he ran six times for 63 yards -- enough to keep the defense guessing. Previous game's grade: B+
Defense: A
Special teams: C
There was a mix of good and bad much of the night. The Redskins allowed a 39-yard punt return and had another 15 tacked on because of a face mask penalty on P Sav Rocca. That led to a quick touchdown. Rookie Kai Forbath missed his first field goal attempt of the season after 17 straight makes. But returner Niles Paul had his best night, averaging 30.7 yards on three kick returns. The kick coverage was good as Dallas averaged 18.6 yards on five returns. Previous game's grade: B
Coaching: A
Start with the coach, Mike Shanahan, who deserves kudos for keeping his team focused and confident when they were 3-6 en route to seven straight wins and a division title. Both sides of the ball made good adjustments. Defensively, Jim Haslett wanted to be aggressive and was throughout the game. They blitzed Romo all night through the "A" gap and it worked, causing pressure that led to interceptions and incompletions. They doubled tight end Jason Witten quite a bit. Offensively, the passing game wasn’t working, so the Redskins switched to a heavy run-based attack. The little adjustment: Washington used its backside tight ends or fullback to block the edge in the zone read. That wrinkle sometimes led to the linebackers not seeing the ball well and forcing them to guess. The ploy worked. Previous game's grade: B+
John Keim covers the Redskins for the Washington Examiner. Follow him on Twitter @CBSRedskins or @John_Keim.
