Game Review: Redskins lose 27-24

The Redskins lost their season finale 27-24 in Candlestick Park to the San Francisco 49ers on a last second game winning field goal by PK Joe Nedney. The loss drops the Redskins to 8-8 after a 6-2. The Redskins haven’t been able to win 9 or more games in back-to-back seasons since 1991 and 1992, the final years of Joe Gibbs 1.0. 
The key to the game was TB Clinton Portis, who was ineffective with 80 yards on 29 carries and a game-changing fumble. Head Coach Jim Zorn continued to feed the ball to Portis even though he couldn’t do anything with it. With Washington holding the ball and leading 17-7 early in the 3rd quarter, Portis changed the game by fumbling in Redskins territory and completely altering the momentum of the match. Portis didn’t have a carry that went for more than 7 yards. 
Although the offense scored 24 points, most of the day was a grueling death march for the offense, apart from one very impressive drive to end the first half. The Redskins accumulated only 268 yards of offense, almost 100 fewer than the 49ers. Washington’s longest play of the day was a 23-yard scramble by Jason Campbell, the longest pass play was a 17-yard catch by WR Santana Moss, who had two critical drops in the second half. 
The 49ers, by contrast, had 4 receivers with a catch of at least 24 yards and the Niners averaged almost 5 yards per carry. The Redskins secondary, which has been so strong all year, was picked apart by QB Shaun Hill and his mediocre corps of receivers. CB Fred Smoot, who has been burned regularly all season, was particularly victimized today. S Kareem More was also a liability in pass coverage, as was WLB Rocky McIntosh. The Niners did a good job of getting their running backs isolated against Redskins linebackers and then taking advantage of their speed edge in those matchups. 
Offensively, this game was a lot like most Redskins games for the past two months, though the team did get more points. Defensively, the team took a step back, with the lack of a pass rush finally getting to the secondary. On special teams, KR Rock Cartwright again proved himself a real playmaker by giving the Redskins good field position on their final drive to tie the game.