The Rex Show

Grossman can't lead Redskins past Cowboys

Rex Grossman almost had Redskins fans believing.

But while the man Mike Shanahan elevated to starter this week showed he knows how to get into the end zone, in the end, he still did not have enough to win.

Grossman's numbers looked good on the stat sheet in the 33-30 loss.  He threw for four touchdowns and 322 yards.  But he also was picked off twice, was sacked five times and lost a fumble.

Grossman looked way out of sync at times in the first half. 

On the Redskins' second possession, while running back Mike Sellers was running up the field, Grossman threw the ball behind him.  If he was confused, Cowboys safety Gerald Sensabaugh was not.  He stepped in and picked it off.

The Redskins fell behind 13-0, but Grossman would get his feet underneath him in the second quarter with some short passing.  He made a nice 27-yard completion to Sellers, and then tossed a screen to Ryan Torain that went 19 yards to put the Redskins on the board.

A typically porous pocket did not help Grossman get settled.  Things looked really bad in the start of the second half, when DeMarcus Ware stripped the ball from Grossman's hands.  On the play, Grossman had a doomed look on his face as he turned left and right looking for the pressure he knew was coming.  Ware appeared, right behind him, knocking out the ball and then knocking Grossman down.

Two minutes later, Tashard Choice turned the turnover into a touchdown, giving the Cowboys what seemed to be a commanding 27-7 lead.

But just when it looked like the game had gotten away from the Redskins, Grossman charged right back.  Grossman marched the offense in a quick two-minute drive, capping it off with a 10-yard slant to Santana Moss for a touchdown.

After the defense held the Cowboys to a field goal on the next possession, Grossman came right back, hitting Moss again for a 5-yard score.  A 2-point conversion by Chris Cooley made it a 30-22 deficit.  

On the Redskins next possession, Grossman snuck it in to Cooley for a touchdown this time.  Sellers caught the 2-point conversion to even the score at 30.

But these being the Redskins, those good feelings could not last.  Grossman held on to the ball too long, and the Cowboys made him pay. With five minutes left in the game, Moss dropped a pass that could have turned into a huge gain, and Grossman took two big sacks. 

After the punt, Jon Kitna had a short field to work with, and David Buehler sunk the Redskins' comeback with a 39-yard field goal.

The Redskins defense had used up all three of the team's timeouts by the time Grossman got the ball back with under a minute to play.  He slung the ball, but the game ended with a Terence Newman interception.

While he was the starter, McNabb managed to put some points on the board, but despite all his best efforts, could not manufacture wins. 

Grossman, in Sunday's "tryout," seemed to suffer the same fate.

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