The Washington Redskins were dominated in every facet of the game Sunday, falling to the playoff-bound Kansas City Chiefs 45-10. In nine meetings between the two teams in their franchise histories, the Chiefs have won eight times — none more convincingly than this one.
The Chiefs (10-3) built a 17-0 lead after the first quarter on a Ryan Succop 33-yard field goal, a 2-yard Jamaal Charles run and Dwayne Bowe’s 21-yard touchdown catch from Alex Smith.
Kansas City extended its lead to 31-0 midway through the second quarter after Charles’ 5-yard TD catch and Dexter McCluster’s 74-yard punt return for a score.
The Skins (3-10) got on the board with Logan Paulsen’s circus catch of a 7-yard toss by Robert Griffin III, but Quintin Demps returned the Redskins kickoff 95 yards for another touchdown.
Kai Forbath nailed a 50-yard field goal as time expired on the half, and the Skins trailed 38-10.
The only second half score came in the fourth quarter when Knile Davis ran 17 yards through the Skins defense to provide the 45-10 final.
Griffin finished the game 12 of 26 for 164 yards, with one touchdown and one interception, but two other easy picks were dropped. Alfred Morris, the forgotten man in the Redskins offense the past two weeks, went over the 1,000 yard mark for the season, but finished with just 31 yards on only 12 carries.
Charles carved up the Skins defense to the tune of 151 yards on 19 carries, while Smith went 14 of 20 for 137 yards and two touchdowns.
The season-worst beating took place amid reports that coach Mike Shanahan and owner Daniel Snyder’s relationship is damaged beyond repair.
What is for certain is that the train wreck that is the Redskins season has three games remaining, and with no first round draft pick next season due to the trade for Griffin with the Rams, the Skins will have plenty of work to do in free agency this offseason to address major needs on the offensive line, defensive backfield and special teams.
The salary cap penalty will be over, so the Redskins front office can go about accumulating depth and special teams players that they just haven’t been able to do the past two offseasons.
Whether or not the current coaching staff will be here to guide them is a question still to be answered.