LANDOVER — With less than eight minutes left in the game, T.Y. Hilton danced. The Colts wide receiver shook his hips from side-to-side, celebrating not just the scoring play that put him in the end zone, but how easy it was to get there.
As Hilton finished his routine, Redskins fans headed for the exits, leaving the team’s home opener disappointed. Again.
After a dominant performance last week to start the season, the Redskins laid an egg Sunday in a 21-9 loss at FedEx Field in which Washington trailed for the entire game.
“It’s obviously disappointing because you know what your capabilities are,” cornerback Josh Norman said. “We just did not show it tonight. We did not play Redskin football and that’s the most disappointing part about it.”
In Week 1, the Redskins’ defense went three quarters without allowing an Arizona Cardinals touchdown.
On Sunday, the Colts scored on their first drive — an 11-play, 75-yard excursion that saw them easily convert all three of their third downs along the way. Quarterback Andrew Luck took advantage of mismatch after mismatch before hitting tight end Eric Ebron for a seven-yard score on a fade route.
The Redskins’ biggest problem, though, was a scattered and inconsistent offense that couldn’t find a rhythm.
Last week’s dominant rushing attack? Gone. The Redskins managed just 65 rushing yards — 29 of which came on an end around from wide receiver Jamison Crowder.
Redskins running back Adrian Peterson had just 20 yards on 11 carries — just 1.8 yards per carry — after rushing for 96 in Arizona. Running back Chris Thompson wasn’t any better, finishing with only one yard on four attempts.
When the Redskins did hit big plays, they couldn’t capitalize.
Just before the half, after Alex Smith found wideout Paul Richardson for 34 yards, kicker Dustin Hopkins missed a 49-yard attempt with six seconds left. The Redskins went into the locker room to a chorus of boos, down 14-3.
“Those are the two big things looking at it: third down, red zone,” said Smith, who threw for 292 yards. “It was one of those days when you’re looking at a ton of opportunities, but we needed to be better down there.”
In the second half, the Redskins wasted more opportunities as the defense kept them in the game. D.J. Swearinger picked off Luck — the safety’s second interception of the game — but the Redskins settled for three points.
On the Colts’ next drive, the Redskins’ defense forced a three-and-out. But the Redskins managed only another field goal after the offense picked up 42 yards on 11 plays.
The Redskins were 0-for-2 in the red zone and just 5-of-15 on third down. That was a stark contrast to the Cardinals game, in which the Redskins scored on three of their four trips to the red zone and converted 46 percent of their third downs.
The Colts stymied the Redskins attack by primarily playing zone and stunting their defensive linemen up front. First-year defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus used many of the same concepts from his time with the Dallas Cowboys, who have beaten the Redskins four straight times.
“If we had to do it all over again, we’d have been more, obviously, probably less ambitious with some of our deep game and more geared towards moving the ball and getting the ball out of our hands and let the playmakers do their thing,” coach Jay Gruden said. “As it turned out, we failed.”
The Colts sealed the game in the fourth quarter with a lengthy 5:56 drive, capped off with Hilton’s wide-open three-yard touchdown. As on the first series, the Redskins on third down couldn’t stop the Colts, who converted four times on that drive en route to finishing 9-of-16 for the game.
The Redskins must regroup quickly because they have Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in town next week. Unlike the Colts, the Packers (1-0-1) are perceived as among the league’s elite.
“You want to put this thing behind you, but it still sucks,” Norman said. “A sour taste in your mouth because that’s the one you have to have. You’ve got to have those games. When you don’t, they sit with you.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.