Michael Reaves/Getty Images
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — It was necessary on Sunday to remember, despite six weeks of conflicting evidence, that the players on the Miami Dolphins and the Washington Redskins are not actually bad at football. Really, they are among the best in the world at what they do.
It is when they have been asked to do football-type stuff with their teammates, against other teams — pass, catch, tackle, block — that they have demonstrated all the competence of a slumbering air traffic controller.
Even though the Dolphins (0-5) and Redskins (1-5) had spent the entire season beating themselves, neither team had won — until Sunday, that is, when Washington escaped with a 17-16 victory that unfolded like a low-budget action film: bursts of excitement, a modicum of suspense and a predictable ending.