The Washington Redskins defense smashed, pulverized, locked down and dismantled a heretofore potent Oakland Raiders' offense Sunday night in a 27-10 victory that wasn't even as close as the 17-point spread.
Washington held Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree and Marshawn Lynch to 128 total yards, 0-for-11 on third down, and 2.7 yards per play. If it weren't for two Washington turnovers, the Redskins' defense would have pitched a shutout.
"I think it was as good a defensive performance that I've seen in a long time by anybody," coach Jay Gruden said, via the Washington Post.
It was a thorough beating of an offense that had been unstoppable the first two weeks of the season. Gruden's defense battered Carr all game, sacking the quarterback four times. Carr threw two interceptions, after not having a multi-INT game all of last season. Washington's front gave Lynch no room to run.
The Redskins secondary swarmed Cooper and Crabtree. The duo combined for two catches and 13 total yards on the night.
After the game, Washington cornerback Josh Norman blasted the Raiders' receivers. The postgame rant, Norman said, stemmed from pregame banter in which the wideouts claimed they'd go off for 200 yards.
"What was personal, other than them getting their tails whupped?" Norman said, via ESPN.com. "I mean, first and foremost, you don't come up in here and say what you're going to put up on somebody. Two hundred yards? [Crabtree] didn't catch two balls. He only caught one, huh? So please, whatever you do, do not run your mouth if you're a wide receiver and expect to show up on Sundays, because I'm telling you, we are here and we are waiting.
"Don't come out here and tell me what you're going to do. Show me. You're going to have to run through me to get that."
Norman spent his night on the left side of the defensive formation, as usual. He lined up 11 times against Cooper and five snaps versus Crabtree, allowing a meager one catch for seven yards to the latter.
"Whatever that young cat said, Coop, go and take it back," Norman said. "Crabtree? I have nothing to say to you. Yes, I may be Cover 2, but I'm Cover 1 too. I'm Cover 1, Cover 2, Cover 3 and Cover 4. All of them. All of the ingredients to make a perfect attack. We do all the extra stuff. When you come out on this field, you going to see about us."
The spat with the Raiders' receivers isn't the first for Norman, who has gotten into verbal back-and-forths with Odell Beckham Jr. and Dez Bryant. It's not Crabtree's first rodeo either. The Oakland wideout had a previous beef with Richard Sherman.
"Sherm was right. [Crabtree] ain't going to say he's sorry, but I don't think he's sorry," Norman said. "He sucked, to be honest with you. You don't come out here and do that extra stuff, man. We don't play that out here."
