The Washington Redskins may be abysmal at home in recent seasons -- they have not had a winning record at FedEx Field since 2007 -- but you could at least count on them to send the fans home happy in their home opener, having not lost one since 2006.
That is, until Sunday. The Redskins fell to the Cincinnati Bengals in a game that was really a tale of two halves.
Since most of you, as Redskins fans, are gluttons for punishment, here are some unsettling first-half tidbits. I suggest that you mute the highlights and listen to this instead.
The Bengals' first play from scrimmage was a 73-yard touchdown pass from a wide receiver to another wide receiver. The one who threw it, Mohamed Sanu, had more passing yards in the first half on one pass than Robert Griffin III had after 10 pass attempts (36).
In fact, the Bengals had more yards on the aforementioned pass than the Redskins' offense had combined in the first half (73 to 68).
Yeah, we're just gonna forget about this one, Josh Wilson.
The second half started off better as the defense settled down enough to allow the offense to score 17 unanswered points to tie the game at 24-24. Unfortunately, the adequate defensive play did not last long as Cincinnati took advantage of Washington's depleted defensive corps, first with a five-play, 80-yard touchdown drive and then a 59-yard catch by Andrew Hawkins that gave the Bengals a 38-24 lead.
Griffin's rushing touchdown cut the deficit to 38-31 and the Redskins had a chance to tie the game in the final minute, but a 1st-and-10 at the Bengals' 19 turned into a 3rd-and-50 after the Bengals sacked RGIII and two penalties -- the last one an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (for some reason) -- pushed the Redskins back to their side of the field. Griffin's Hail Mary attempt fell short to end the game.
Since a season-opening win against the New Orleans Saints, the Redskins have dropped two games to beatable opponents and the Redskins have allowed 30-plus points in five straight games and seven of their last eight dating back to last season. Of course, missing guys like, well, the entire defense certainly doesn't help.
You know what they say: you can put a lipstick on a pig, but at the end of the day, it's still a pig.