“It’d be much easier to keep it brief,” Cundiff said when asked what happened on his latest miss. “I don’t see any reason to go into extreme detail. It was just a miss. I think it’s a kick I should make. It was a makeable kick. I just didn’t hit it.
Cundiff’s miss appeared to suck the life out of the Redskins and their fans. Atlanta marched down field with an eight-play, 79-yard drive that took only 1 minute and 46 seconds and was capped by a one-yard touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez in the right corner of the end zone. Gonzalez, in his 16th NFL season, finished the game with 13 catches for 123 yards.
The half ended in a 7-7 tie, though Atlanta held the ball for 19:55 of the 30 first-half minutes, and had 16 first downs and 221 total yards (187 of them passing). Washington had only seven first downs and 138 yards of offense (93 of them rushing).
The Redskins threatened to score late in the third quarter, but instead lost Griffin for the rest of the game with what the Redskins are calling a mild concussion.
With the Redskins facing third-and-goal from the Atlanta 3, Griffin took the snap and rolled to his right, looking for a receiver in the end zone. He tucked the ball and tried to turn the corner, but was drilled by Weatherspoon, whose right shoulder slammed into the left side of Griffin’s head. Griffin lay facedown along the far sideline, and had to be helped up. He was wobbly as he headed off the field.
Cundiff made a 23-yard field goal to give Washington a 10-7 lead with six minutes left in the quarter. But all eyes were on Griffin, who sat on the bench and appeared to be treated for a bloody lip, then was taken to an observation area beneath the stands behind Washington’s bench.
After several minutes, Griffin came out and walked slowly to the locker room with members of Washington’s training staff and team doctor Anthony Casolaro.
Cousins warmed up on the sideline and entered the game for a three-and-out series before the fourth quarter ended. He threw a four-yard completion to Josh Morgan on his first NFL pass attempt but threw an incompletion on third down. The Falcons went down the field following a punt and scored on an 18-yard pass to Julio Jones. But Washington struck quickly.
Facing third-and-nine from his own 23, Cousins completed a strike down the center of the field to a wide open Santana Moss, who raced downfield for a 77-yard touchdown.
But, playing from behind after a 13-yard touchdown run by Atlanta’s Michael Turner, Cousins threw two interceptions in the final two minutes, and Washington missed out on a chance to string together back-to-back victories for the first time since Week 2 of the 2011 season.
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