Redskins Choke Late in Loss to the Titans

In the first of two games on a Saturday night slate heading into NFL Week 16, the Washington Redskins took a trip to Nashville taking on the Tennessee Titans with playoff contentions on the line. The 7-7 Redskins put their trust in third-string veteran QB Josh Johnson while the 8-6 Titans had their own veteran QB Blaine Gabbert fill in for the injured Marcus Mariota. Washington desperately needed a win to keep their hopes alive in the tightly contested NFC Wildcard slots and needed everything out of their all-pro future Hall of Fame RB Adrian Peterson. On the other side, Tennessee's defense was to be on full-display with Head Coach Mike Vrabel doing the play-calling to stop the run game of Washington. The two teams were pretty even throughout three quarters but the ultimate X-factor was Titans' RB Derrick Henry. He ran for 84 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown as he continues his late-season campaign. Tennessee surely had their hands full with Adrian Peterson as he ran for 119 yards along with 78 receiving yards from WR Jamison Crowder. It was late in the fourth quarter when the game was down to the wire where Josh Johnson was to lead his offense down the field with less than three minutes left in the game. Only down by three points, Washington was looking to get into Tennessee territory to get a score and either grab the lead or force overtime. On a 3rd & 3 at the TEN 44, Johnson went back into the shotgun formation and fired a pass that was intercepted by Titans' Safety Kevin Byard. And as if things could not get worse, the Titans were forced to punt on that next offensive possession giving the Redskins another opportunity to tie or win the game. Unfortunately, Johnson and the Washington offense was put deep in their own territory after the punt by the Tennessee with less than a minute left. Johnson eventually gave the game away with a last second heave that was picked off by Malcolm Butler and returned for a touchdown to seal the game. Titans came away with a 25-16 win and have increased their chances of making the playoffs while the Redskins' season is convincingly over after the loss. Tennessee faces Indianapolis next week in a loser goes home matchup, but the Titans will have to rely on Gabbert to lead them to the postseason.