With Regards To Shaun Suisham

Entering the game against Dallas on Sunday, Redskins' kicker Shaun Suisham had not missed a field goal on the season; 12 attempts, 12 makes. He would leave the game 14 for 16, and the source of heavy criticism from all sides. In missing a pair of attempts on Sunday, Suisham left Dallas's struggling offense the chance to win on a solitary touchdown, which they did.

Rather than a 12- or 15-point lead--a two-possession lead-- Washington gave the ball to Dallas after a missed 50-yard attempt in the fourth quarter up six, allowing Tony Romo and co. to drive 60 yards for a touchdown, the lead and, ultimately, the win. Basically, the misses kept the Cowboys in the game when, with the offense struggling as they did, they had no business being there at all.

"I feel awful," Suisham said to the Washington Post after the loss. "The guys worked so hard today. You got a tight game like that, and you miss a couple field goals, it's very frustrating and disappointing."

One would imagine so. If the ex-Cowboy had hit on just one more of his four tries, Dallas's ability to come back, with the offense trapped in the throes of a sort of offensive purgatory, would have grown more than a little questionable.

The first miss, at the end of the second half, came on the heels of a long delay, born of confusion on the part of referees. Whether the delay iced Suisham, who went to the sidelines to kick balls into a net, no one can be certain. Suisham, for his part, said the stoppage was no excuse.

"Obviously, I didn't handle it well, because I missed," he said. "That was not the reason I missed the kick."

Suisham's second miss, which he shanked to the right, would have put Dallas on their heels. Instead, the momentum swung ever so slightly in Dallas's favor, as Romo found his accuracy on the ensuing drive, going 8 of 9 through the air on the way to the game-winning score.