But in the locker room afterward, the players who make up a defense that has allowed more yards than any team in the league concentrated on disasters that were physical rather than statistical.  "We had wide-open layups," cornerback DeAngelo Hall said, "and didn't make the layups."  "They're huge," safety Reed Doughty said.  "We blew it," linebacker Brian Orakpo said.  The plays in question: Two dropped interceptions by cornerback Carlos Rogers and another easy one by free safety Kareem Moore. The first two might have given the Redskins field position they could have converted more easily to points. The last one would have stopped a drive that ended in an Indianapolis touchdown.  So the tenor among the Redskins: Don't tell us about statistics, because we could have changed the game with simple fundamentals.  "Those are game-changing-type plays as far as takeaways we could've had, especially because they were early in the football game," inside linebacker London Fletcher said. "You could take away possessions."  The Redskins, who entered the game allowing a league-worst 410.2 yards per game, chose to attack Manning and the Colts by almost exclusively employing a package that used six defensive backs, four linebackers and a lone down lineman. Manning countered with his usual routine: A no-huddle offense that gives him the opportunity to change plays at the line of scrimmage, constantly keeping the defense reeling.  On the Colts' first possession, the Redskins forced a third-down. Manning looked for wide receiver Austin Collie down the left seam, but Rogers had a bead on it. The sixth-year cornerback has notoriously bad hands, but he made an athletic play to get them on the ball. When he came to the ground, though, he couldn't hang on. The play was ruled incomplete, and the first opportunity was gone.  The next one came with the Colts up 7-0, just past the midway point of the first quarter. On second down from the Washington 45, Rogers went to break up a pass to tight end Dallas Clark. Again, he got his hands on the ball. Again, he couldn't hold on.  The last indignity: On second down from the Indianapolis 23, when Manning again looked downfield for Collie. This time, it was Moore who got his hands on it. This time, it was Moore who let the opportunity slip away.
The final statistics would seem to point out exactly how the Washington Redskins lost, 27-24, Sunday night to the Indianapolis Colts. They gave up 469 yards. They allowed the Colts 6.9 yards per offensive play. They were killed by the running of Joseph Addai (128 yards) and the passing of Peyton ...