Whoopsie, Redskins RB tackled runner without the ball during punt return touchdown
Things didn’t go too well for the Washington Redskins in the first two quarters of their Week 15 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tied in the final seconds of the first half, Dede Westbrook scored a touchdown on a punt return, putting the Jags up 10-3.
It didn’t have to be that way. There was a chance for a Redskins player to stop the return and keep the score tied. That player was running back Byron Marshall.
Marshall was in range of Westbrook, and dove to knock him out of bounds. It was a heroic stop … or it would have been a heroic stop if Marshall had tackled Westbrook. Marshall instead tackled the lead blocker in front of Westbrook, a guy who didn’t have the ball and couldn’t have scored.
Byron Marshall tackling the dude without the ball, because why not? pic.twitter.com/ZDV7E4nXuB
— ((( Jacob Bogage ))) (@jacobbogage) December 16, 2018
Westbrook kept right on running into the end zone.
We all make mistakes. Even professional football players! But a brain fart that huge? Marshall is going to have to explain that to his teammates … and the coach … and the fans … and probably random people who see him on the street and demand to know why he didn’t tackle the guy who had the ball.
Luckily for Washington, it rallied to win, 16-13, and are surprisingly still in the NFC playoff picture.
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