Redskins

Deactivated for the previous five contests, Richard Crawford picked an opportune time to make a lasting impression for the Washington Redskins. The rookie cornerback's 64-yard punt return set up rookie kicker Kai Forbath's 34-yard field goal that propelled Washington to a 31-28 win over the Ravens at FedEx Field Sunday. The outcome was significant as it kept the Redskins one game behind the New York Giants in the NFC East and one game behind the Seattle Seahawks and the Chicago Bears for the last wildcard berth.

When the Ravens cut incumbent Billy Cundiff in favor of undrafted rookie Justin Tucker, the Washington Redskins swooped in and signed Cundiff. But after five games during which Cundiff missed five of 12 field-goal attempts, Washington went with an unknown in Kai Forbath. That decision is paying huge dividends for the Redskins, who edged the Ravens, 31-28, in overtime Sunday on the strength of three Forbath field goals, including the 34-yard game winner. Forbath tried to downplay his heroics, chalking up his performance as a simple matter of doing his job. “I'm here to put some points on the board for our team to help us win,” he said.

It's entirely possibly that I'm fudging the online trends this morning to give more weight to news of a monkey in fancy coat wandering around an Ikea. It is just that depressing today and who knows if even  Ikea monkey can counteract this clinical case of Mondays. First up, The Redskins even without RGIII embarrassed the Ravens and mopped the floor with them in overtime. I'm telling you people the Ravens really need to think about just pulling a quarterback off the street.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh put on his big boy pants Monday and fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. It might have been a year or two too late, but the Ravens replaced the often criticized Cameron with quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell, who spent the three previous seasons as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. With this move, the Ravens are hoping to breathe some life into an offense which had no identity for the past five seasons, but it also puts more pressure on Harbaugh as well as quarterback Joe Flacco.

Joe Flacco may have thrown three touchdown passes in the first half, but he has turned the ball over on consecutive possessions at a time when the Ravens were in position to take control of the game. His fumble on the first of those two possessions was another case of him holding the ball too long and getting blindsided. The Redskins turned that one into a field goal. The second time he turned it over - on an interception deep in Redskins territory - he had little time to get rid of the ball and was hit just as he let it go. The Redskins also converted that opportunity into a field goal to make it a one-point game.

Ray Rice had just topped 100 rushing yards in a game for the first time since early October, but the frustration showed on his face. As the Ravens packed their bags before making the short drive back to Baltimore, he couldn't help but feel as if they had left yards and points - and a victory - out on the field. "It's the way you finish games," Rice said. "As a leader on this team, I like to finish teams out. " The Ravens rushed for a season-high 186 yards on 35 carries Sunday, including 121 from Rice, his highest total of 2012, and a career-high 53 yards from rookie backup Bernard Pierce.

It's probably fair to predict that the CBS broadcast crew will spend a lot of time talking up Robert Griffin III, who is - quite rightfully - the flavor of the month in the NFL. But look for today's game to be decided by Joe Flacco, whose ability to move the ball against a vulnerable Redskins defense will determine who leaves Fedex Field with a victory. The Redskins are a slight favorite going into the game because of the home-field advantage, but it's not really a big home-field advantage.

It was the anatomy of failure for the Ravens' punt team, a costly breakdown at the most inopportune time. Two minutes into overtime of a 31-28 loss to the Washington Redskins on Sunday at FedEx Field, the Ravens allowed a 64-yard punt return to Redskins cornerback Richard Crawford that directly led to a 34-yard game-winning field goal by kicker Kai Forbath . "We just didn't cover the punt the way we were supposed to," running back ...

Baltimore Sun staff members analyze the Ravens' 31-28 overtime loss to the Washington Redskins. Matt Vensel, reporter/blogger: The Ravens lost their second straight game for the first time since 2009 for myriad reasons, but mainly because they couldn't stop a pair of rookie quarterbacks with the game on the line. Robert Griffin III checked out of the game twice before Kirk Cousins tied the game with a touchdown pass and a run for a two-point conversion. But you can spread the blame around if you're into that.

The player that the Ravens spent all week trying to devise a way to contain was finally stopped. Robert Griffin III wasn't on the field after the Washington Redskins' rookie took one more punishing hit in an afternoon filled with them, the last by Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, injuring Griffin's knee and knocking him out of the game. All the Ravens' defense had to do was get one stop against a rookie backup quarterback and a victory and a playoff berth would have been theirs.