ASHBURN, Va. – The Washington Redskins have been through this movie before. Putting Mike Shanahan in the director’s chair has yet to change the script much at all.

For the 12th consecutive season, the Redskins have a three-losing streak. It’s the longest such run of annual misery in the NFL, according to STATS LLC, and it’s getting worse by the week. After a 3-1 start, they fell behind 20-0 in a 20-13 loss to Philadelphia, then lost by 13 points to Carolina before getting shut out 23-0 on Sunday by Buffalo at Rogers Centre.

The talk is no longer whether the Redskins (3-4) can be a playoff team. It’s whether they can be merely competitive.

“You see it on the field,” linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. “We’re not moving the ball on offence. Not stopping anybody on defence.”

At least this Redskins team has yet to show serious signs of imploding, in part because Shanahan went to great lengths to build a roster of high character players. Yet, for Alexander, that makes the losing even more perplexing.

“It would be easier to accept if guys weren’t showing up, and coming in late, staying out past curfew,” Alexander said. “If guys were doing that, you could say, ‘Oh, this is why we’re not winning.’

“It’s kind of hard when you’re actually doing all the little things right, and it ain’t showing up on Sundays.”

There were heated words on the sideline against the Bills when linebacker London Fletcher erupted at safety LaRon Landry for blowing the coverage on a touchdown pass. Players and coaches are downplaying the incident, saying it’s the type of frustration that happens in the heat of the moment, but it was not a pretty sight.

“The more adversity we face and the harder things get, it makes it tougher to stick together,” defensive tackle Barry Cofield said. “This is when you need your leadership and your coaching and things like that to really step in, so we’ll see.”

When the games start getting out of reach well before the final whistle, the focus shifts more to coaches and whether they are properly preparing the players. Sunday marked the first time Shanahan has been shut out in 24 seasons as an NFL head coach or offensive co-ordinator, an experience he called “humbling.”

“Everybody’s disappointed when you lose, there’s no question about it,” Shanahan said. “Especially when you lose the way we did, without scoring a point.

“You find out what type of character you have by the work ethic that the players have, how they come back, and hopefully we’ll put a full game together.”

The NFL issued a news release Monday proclaiming that nine teams are averaging at least 25 points per game, on pace to tie a league record. The Redskins haven’t scored 25 points in a game since Week 1 and have managed only eight touchdowns in their last six games.

The offence is reeling in part because of injuries and a switch in quarterbacks, but the defence doesn’t have that excuse. All 11 regulars started Sunday and nearly allowed a third straight 400-yard game. The Redskins have given up 36 plays of 20-plus yards this season, tied for third most in the NFL through Sunday.

Shanahan was asked for explanations and possible solutions on Monday. Among his thoughts:

— He alluded several times to the injuries that have debilitated the offence and forced a shuffle along the offensive line. The Redskins have lost running back Tim Hightower, tight end Chris Cooley and left guard Kory Lichtensteiger for the season and are currently without receiver Santana Moss and left tackle Trent Williams.

“We’ve got some young players that are playing that I think have a big upside at a number of positions. Obviously, it’s not going got happen overnight,” Shanahan said. “I’ve got a belief in these guys that they will play well — hopefully much better than we played yesterday.”

— That especially goes for John Beck, who completed 20-of-33 passes for 208 yards with two interceptions in his second Redskins start. He was also to blame for some of the nine sacks allowed by the Redskins, tying a franchise record. The 30-year-old quarterback’s rating (69.9) is only slightly better than that of benched starter Rex Grossman (66.5).

“John, like most young quarterbacks, is going to go through some growing pains,” Shanahan said. “There’s going to be some good games; there’s going to be some games that are a little off.

“I would say yesterday would have been one of the games that you’d say John was a little off.”

— The Redskins’ only consistent threat on offence, tight end Fred Davis, was wearing a walking boot on his left foot Monday. Shanahan said Davis has a mild ankle sprain and that it will be “hopefully not too long” before Davis can practise.

— Shanahan said he was “pretty comfortable with the play-calling” by his son, offensive co-ordinator Kyle Shanahan.

— The Redskins had a field goal blocked for an NFL-high third time this season. Mike Shanahan said the fault Sunday lay with kicker Graham Gano, whose boot was too low.

— Despite the latest in the streak of losing streaks, the coach plans no major change to the team’s weekly routine.

“The first thing you try to do is go back to the basics, and that’s good practices,” he said. “We’ll continue to try to do that, and do that day by day. It’s the only way you’ve got a chance.”

By Mike Prada

– Senior Editor

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Oct 31, 2011 – With only two running backs on the roster due to the injury to Tim Hightower, the Washington Redskins needed to make a move. It appears they finally have done so. The team has claimed former Dallas Cowboys running back Tashard Choice on waivers, according to a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Choice formerly played for the Dallas Cowboys, who released him last week after DeMarco Murray’s emergence. He has rushed 28 times for 75 yards, and also has 11 receptions for 71 yards this season. Choice’s best season was his rookie year, when he rushed for 472 yards at 5.1 yards per carry. He’s slowly tailed off since then.

The move is a mild surprise because many expected the Redskins to simply promote sixth-round rookie Evan Royster from the practice squad to replace Hightower on the roster. Instead, the team has decided to go the free agent route.

For more on the Redskins, visit Hogs Haven.

Read More: Tashard Choice (RB – WAS), Tim Hightower (RB – WAS), DeMarco Murray (RB – DAL), Evan Royster (RB – WAS), Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins

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Washington Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan said that in addition to poor pass protection by the team’s offensive line, quarterback John Beck wasn’t at his best Sunday. The coach said that not all of the Bills’ nine sacks could be blamed on the team’s patchwork line.

Beck completed 20 of 33 passes for 208 yards and two interceptions, and was sacked nine times. His quarterback rating of 53.6 in the Buffalo game was the second-lowest of his career, which is comprised of five games as a rookie in 2007 and two games and one quarter this season.

Redskins quarterback John Beck (12) is sacked in the third quarter. (Toni L. Sandys/Washington Post)At times, Beck appeared indecisive and held onto the ball too long. He occasionally overthrew open receivers.

Shanahan said the rough outing is part of the growing process.

“John, like most young quarterbacks, is going to go through some growing pains, as I shared with you guys before,” Shanahan said. “There’s going to be some good games, there’s going to be some games where he’s a little off. I’d say yesterday was a game where he was a little off.”

Beck took the blame Sunday for some of the Redskins’ sacks. He said he wanted to look at tape of the game, but believed that he was sacked several times because he didn’t get rid of the ball soon enough.

Shanahan agreed that Beck, as well as receivers or running backs, were responsible for some of the sacks.

“Everybody looks at the offensive line, saying nine sacks and says it was the offensive line, but that’s not always the case,” Shanahan said. “There’s a lot of people involved in sacks. Some times it’s pass protection, some times it’s routes, some times it’s quarterback. A lot of things will go into a sack, and of course this game is no different.”

By Mike Prada

– Senior Editor

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Oct 31, 2011 – As if the Washington Redskins’ offense could get any more banged-up, they may now have to deal with an injury to their lone remaining dangerous playmaker. Tight end Fred Davis, who has broken out in his fourth season, was spotted in a walking boot during the Redskins’ open locker room session. Coach Mike Shanahan would only say that Davis has a “grade one ankle sprain.”

“We don’t know yet,” Shanahan said when asked if Davis might miss game action. “There’s always concern.”

Davis has been the lone bright spot for an anemic Redskins’ offense, catching 36 passes for 517 yards and two touchdowns in seven games. The Redskins have already lost starting tight end Chris Cooley for the season with finger and knee injuries, so they may have to turn to third-stringer Logan Paulsen if Davis is also unable to play.

Quote via the Redskins.com live stream of Shanahan’s press conference. For more on the Redskins, visit Hogs Haven.

Read More: Chris Cooley (TE – WAS), Fred Davis (TE – WAS), Logan Paulsen (TE – WAS), Washington Redskins

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Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan has been in the NFL for a lot of years. He ran the Denver Broncos’ offense from 1984 through 1987, served as the Los Angeles Raiders’ head coach for an ill-advised season-and-a-half before heading back to Denver in 1991. From 1992 through 1994, he helped put together the offense that made Steve Young a repeat MVP candidate and brought that franchise its last Super Bowl win. He then won two rings on his own with the Broncos as their head coach from 1995 through 2008. And then, we have his very iffy tenure as the Redskins’ head man, which is in an uncertain second year.

We point this out not to give you a history lesson, but to bring to your attention that through all these seasons, with all these different teams and different players, Mike Shanahan had never suffered a shutout loss as an NFL head or assistant coach … until Sunday, when the Buffalo Bills blew his Redskins away to the tune of a 23-0 embarrassment.

Of course, since this was a “home game” for the Bills in their second home of Toronto, Shanny could always argue that he’s never been blanked in the United States. Somehow, we don’t think that will calm the Redskins Nation. As Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s D.C. Sports Bog pointed out Monday morning, Shanahan actually has a worse record through his first 23 games as Washington’s head coach than Steve Spurrier, Jim Zorn, or the second coming of Joe Gibbs(notes) — all three of those coaches went 10-13 in that time period, and Shanahan’s started 9-14.

Not exactly what team owner Dan Snyder hoped for when he brought Shanahan in as the latest big-name quick fix for a franchise that’s been broken in one way or another since Snyder’s been in charge. Starting out 3-1 after Shanahan put his reputation on the line for quarterbacks Rex Grossman(notes) and John Beck(notes), the Redskins have lost three straight, and both the offense and defense have been sliding downhill.

According to the WaPo’s Jason Reid, one of the reasons Washington’s offensive output may have been so pathetic against the Bills was that Shanahan, the supposed offensive mastermind, was busy “helping” defensive coordinator Jim Haslett with a unit that had been blown apart in the two weeks before. Little good it did — while the Washington offense gained just 178 net yards, the Bills put up 390. Linebacker London Fletcher(notes) was seen yelling at safety LaRon Landry(notes) on the field at one point about a blown assignment, and if you took out the 10 yards Beck put up on three scrambles, the Redskins gained just 16 rushing yards on nine attempts.

Yes, there are injuries affecting the offense. Left tackle Trent Williams(notes), receiver Santana Moss(notes), running back Tim Hightower(notes), and tight end Chris Cooley(notes) would all have made a difference had they been able to make the trip to Toronto. Perhaps the Redskins would have lost by 10 points instead of 23? Maybe they would have lost two in a row instead of three?

At this point, it’s not engaging in hyperbole to talk about Shanahan’s time with the Redskins in terms that would include wors like “disaster” and “debacle.” And if this backslide doesn’t stop soon, there’s another word that will be used in time.

Over.

Related: Tim Hightower, John Beck, LaRon Landry, Chris Cooley, Rex Grossman, Santana Moss, London Fletcher, Trent Williams, Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, Washington Redskins, A Higher Level of Nonsense