The race for the NFC East still in Redskins hands

The race to the division began Sunday.  The hopes of a win against Houston would position the Washington Redskins to clinch the division by early December if the Saints beat both Dallas and Philadelphia.

Same Start Different Game

The offense started slow while the defense allowed a quick 10 points to the Texans offense.  It was not until the second quarter when Adrian Peterson bounced to the left outside and cut the lead to 10-7.  As the Redskins were driving again late in the second quarter, Alex Smith was intercepted for a pick-6 that extended the Texans lead to 17-7.  That interception was followed by another bad decision by Smith trying to force the ball to Kapri Bibbs.  The Redskins got lucky with the Texans missing a field goal after being gifted fantastic field position.

The Redskins defense opened the second half on fire forcing two turnovers on the Texans first two drives.  Unfortunately, the offense was only able to come away with one touchdown.  On the way to the Redskins first touchdown of the second half, tragedy struck.  Alex Smith was sacked by J.J. Watt and not only had a compact fracture of his lower tibia and fibula, but also received a spiral fracture up the shaft.

Disaster Strikes

The scene was ugly as the crowd at FedEx field grew silent.  Their embattled quarterback tossed his helmet aside and buried his anguished faced in his jersey knowing something went terribly wrong.  Both teams left their respective benches to wish Smith luck as an air cast was placed on his ankle and carted to the locker room for x-rays, and then to a local Prince George’s County hospital for further evaluation.

READ NOW: Alex Smith Breaks Tibia/Fibula; Career in Jeopardy

McCoy Motorcade

Colt McCoy entered the game and immediately went to work.  On his second play of the game, he threw a dart to Jordan Reed for a 9-yard touchdown pass.  This was Reed’s first touchdown reception since Week 1 at Arizona.  McCoy was able to lead the Redskins offense on another touchdown drive capped by Adrian Peterson which was sandwiched between two Texans field goals.

The defense was able to hold and force Houston into a field goal situation despite a horrific ghost defensive holding call against Josh Norman.  The miss gave Washington field position at their own 35.  After a couple of quick completions, McCoy took a deep shot to Doctson.  The ball fell incomplete as Reid jumped through the back of Doctson with no flag for pass interference in sight.  With 8 seconds left, and no timeouts, Gruden elected to send out an injured Dustin Hopkins to attempt a 63-yard field goal.  Hopkins came up about 4 yards short of winning the game.

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While a healthy Hopkins could have had a better shot and hitting the game winner, there were other key moments that put the Redskins kicker in that position.  The Redskins will be looking to rebound as they have a quick turnaround against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving.

LINE: WAS vs. DAL (-7.5); Thursday FOX or The Team 980, 4:30 PM