The St. Louis Rams came very, very close to beating the Washington Redskins this week, but their hopes were fumbled away when Donnie Avery fumbled a first-down pass.

We've piled on Avery plenty for his bad game - two bad games, actually - but he was the least valuable receiver or tight end according to Football Outsider's "Week 2 Quick Reads." He caught one pass in six attempts. Here's FO on Avery's play of the game:

Although our system doesn't punish him for what happened afterwards, Avery's fumble on the Redskins 5 cost his team the game. It was also Avery's only catch of the day. Had Avery just dropped the pass, the Rams would've been able to kick a 26-yard field goal that would have given them the lead. Instead, they lost the ball and never got that close to the end zone again.

The lesson, hang on to the ball. The Rams need points however they can get them, and win this week could have had huge implications going forward. We'll try again this week.