Alicia Abelson
WMAL.com
Landover, MD — (WMAL) The Redskins looked towards their season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday night as a tone-setter, seeing as they were going up against one of the stronger offenses in the league.
While both teams struggled to post points on the board, it was the Redskins who caught the early lead. Redskins kicker Dustin Hopkins was the star player on the field for the first quarter, completing 31-yard and 40-yard field goal attempts to give Washington the lead going into the second quarter.
With a continued drive from the first quarter, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was able to find Antonio Brown for a 29-yard touchdown reception on 4th-and-1. The Redskins looked for a strong response, and got just that. Kirk Cousins found DeSean Jackson to produce a 33-yard gain, but the Redskins were unfortunately pushed back by penalties and fell short of first down on a 4th-and-6 at Pittsburgh’s 38-yard-line.
The Steelers’ second drive of the quarter was just as successful as the first. Pittsburgh running back DeAngelo Williams rant the ball four times and caught a pass drive. Eli Rogers clinched the second touchdown of the game for the Steelers on a three-yard pass.
With just 27 seconds left in the half, the Redskins took a knee and headed into the locker room trailing Pittsburgh 14-6 with spirits still high.
On the first drive of the second half, Steelers kicker Chris Boswell added three points to the scoreboard after his successful 46-yard field goal attempt. The Redskins first drive did not go as planned, with Kirk Cousins first interception of the game by Steelers’ linebacker Ryan Shazier. Plays that ensued by the Steelers after the interception led to 26-yard touchdown by Antonio Brown.
In response, Kirk Cousins found DeSean Jackson on back-to-back passes for a first down, and then connected with Chris Thompson and Pierre Garcon three times to pursue deeper into Steelers’ territory. The play ended with another successful field goal attempt by Dustin Hopkins.
The Redskins were successful early in the fourth-quarter after finding Chris Thompson for his first rushing touchdown of his career on a one-yard play. With Dustin Hopkins gaining the extra point, the Steelers lead was cut down to eight points.
The Steelers were able to respond back with two touchdowns by DeAngelo Williams. On their last offensive play of the evening, Cousins threw his second interception of the night.
The Redskins ended up falling to the Steelers’ 38-16, but they’re looking on to next week and Kirk Cousins post-game attitude proves it, “We’ve got 15 games left. That’s life in the NFL.”
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