It was the kind of catch you just expect Larry Fitzgerald to make, because he's simply done it so many times before — fourth down, a gotta-have-it-grab from the guy you go to when you gotta have it. But the ball dribbled out as Fitz hit the ground. So close, just like the rest of the day for the Cards.

"None bigger than the one I needed to make at the end of the game there," Fitzgerald said. "Going a whole 60 minutes not scoring a touchdown offensively, that's obviously below standard."

It's been a whole 60 minutes two games in a row. Plus the second half of the game before that. It's not that the offense is doing nothing. The Cards had 141 yards rushing Sunday, and reached the red-zone six times. It's that they can only get three points at a time, which makes winning so hard.

Blaine Gabbert will remain the starter at quarterback. Gabbert took the blame but had no specifics on why the offense stalls so much. As well as Gabbert began his games as a Cardinal, the recent work, even behind the beat-up offensive line, will give the Cardinals' braintrust a lot to consider when looking at Gabbert for the future

-- Larry Fitzgerald is 18 yards shy of 1,000 yards receiving this season, and he would have been a lot closer had he been able to make that catch.

-- Speaking of missed catches, tight end Troy Niklas was understandably upset with himself for not pulling in that last would-be touchdown. He was a stand-up guy to talk about it. Truth be told, if he doesn't pull a sure interception away from linebacker Zach Vigil early in the drive, he wouldn't have even had a chance to get the TD.

-- Bruce Arians was right. One touchdown would've been enough. I think of two specific times: After the long onsides kick to open the second half — the fans, who booed the Redskins off and on all day even though they led the whole game, were ready to turn if the Cards could've put it in the end zone — and then, of course, right before the half. Two straight plays to D.J. Foster were open for TDs. Foster didn't look soon enough for the first one — off his helmet incomplete, and it's possible he and Gabbert didn't see the same hot read — and the second one was batted away with Foster by himself in the end zone. Epic levels of frustration there.

-- If Brittan Golden was going to end up with a fractured arm on his last excellent punt return of 15 yards to set up a short field, it would've been nice to reward him with a win. Golden is one of those guys you root for, busting his butt to have whatever role he can fill.

-- Chandler Jones sack counter: He got one Sunday, giving him 15 on the season, putting him third on the franchise single-season list and putting him 1½ shy of Simeon Rice's franchise record with two games left. Jones also pressured Washington QB Kirk Cousins a ton of other times.

-- You know D.J. Swearinger wanted this one. And he made sure to let the Cardinals sideline — and coach Bruce Arians — know it on one of the last plays of the game, an incompletion to Fitz on third down, the play before Gabbert's final throw.

-- Speaking of that final throw and Swearinger, there was a moment where Swearinger's emotion almost cost the Redskins dearly. After the ball came loose from Fitz — on fourth down — Swearinger ripped his helmet off in celebration. The problem? You can't take your helmet off on the field. If it had been third down, the Cards would have had an automatic penalty. But because it was fourth down and it came after the incompletion, it ultimately didn't hurt Washington.

-- Phil Dawson seems to be well past his accuracy problems, right?

-- Speaking of special teams, Andy Lee has had a tremendous second half of the season. He's punting like he did when he was dominating as a 49er all those years (and making life miserable for the Cardinals).

-- If you would've told me the Cardinals would outrush Washington, 141-31, I would've expected a win going away. The defense did enough to win.