News & Politics

Monday Morning Quarterback: Redskins vs. Buccaneers

Because of—and in spite of—kicker Billy Cundiff, the Skins pulled off a last-second win.

For Washington sports fans, the weekend was an emotional rollercoaster. The Nationals
won, then lost, and maybe tonight will clinch the NL East title. Still, this town
remains a football town, and by Sunday afternoon the focus was on the Redskins, facing
the Buccaneers in Tampa, Florida. The expectation was that the Redskins would
have a tough time and probably lose. As it happened, they had a tough time and won.
While the first half rolled along nicely, the second half was an anxiety attack; everything
seemed to go wrong, and then right, in the fourth quarter.

The post-game Twitter reaction—equal parts joy, debate, and frustration—was mostly
about quarterback
Robert Griffin III and kicker
Billy Cundiff. RG3 could get fat on the love fans feed him no matter whether the team wins or loses.
This morning he’s Washington’s “superstar.” For Cundiff, however, it’s quite the opposite.
While his fourth-quarter 41-yard field goal won the game with mere seconds on the
clock, his three missed field goal attempts from earlier had some fans calling for
his head.

Head coach
Mike Shanahan has not indicated he’ll fire his 31-year-old kicker, but the morning is young. To
his credit, Cundiff owned his mistakes: “Obviously I was crap, absolute crap, early
in the game,” he told ESPN. “But, you know what, I got a lot of confidence from my
teammates . . . I cannot let these guys down. It’s nice to be able to come out of
here, as bad as I played, [and] still get the opportunity at the end.”

Here’s a sampling of what fans had to say on Twitter.