Fourth Quarter
Misdirection: The Redskins haven’t run a single play to try to make the Giants pay for being aggressive. Maybe something has to work for you to base the misdirection off of and nothing has worked for the Redskins all day. Regardless, at some point when the game is still somewhat in doubt it might have helped.
Triple play: Three drops today for Robert Royal, the last of which apparently cost the Redskins a touchdown. Feel free to hold on to one, Robert. It pretty well sums up the Redskins’ day.
Way off: I’ve certainly been wrong in my predictions before and I’m sure that I will be again. But rarely have I been so wrong, my call being a 31-14 Redskins win. I did expect the Giants offense to move the ball some and I even said that Tiki Barber might pop a long one or two. Of course, I didn’t expect both of them to be in the first quarter before the Redskins had so much as a first down. Eli Manning played pretty well, but he wasn’t the reason the Giants won so convincingly.
The unit that I wrongly gave no credit to was the Giants defense. The Washington offense could get nothing going at all. When the game was anywhere near in doubt, the Redskins did not take a snap past their own 42 and they mustered just 10 yards rushing. That’s being owned.
Make no mistake about it, this was a case of good defense, not necessarily bad offense. I don’t think that Pierce or Hasselbeck tipped them off or anything, this was just a case of the Washington offense being physically beaten on the line and in the defensive backfield. When Brunell did have time to throw, which wasn’t often, he had nobody to throw to. I severely underestimated that unit.
Did I miss on the Mara factor? Perhaps, but it’s hard to believe that an owner’s death is worth 36 points.
Regroup: The good thing is that the Skins are still just a game out of first place near the midway point of the season. We’ve seen that there is not necessarily any positive carryover from week to week. Perhaps there won’t be any negative carryover from this game to next Sunday night.
History? I’m sure that someone will come up with this for sure, but I would have to doubt that any NFL team has ever scored 50 points in one game only to be shut out the next.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
GameBlog--Third Quarter
Third Quarter
Microscopic: Well, I said before the game that they might have to reinvent the quarterback rating system for Mark Brunell after this one. I was right, but in the wrong direction. At halftime his rating sits at a punt 19.3. Ever hear of no place to go but up?
Powerless: The Redskins had to know that they were going to hand it to Barber on first and 20 and that Shockey would be the main target on first and goal at the 10. Yet they were powerless to stop it, mere spectators. This defense hasn’t played this poorly, ever.
Bouncing the right way: Our old friend Chad Morton coughs it up on a punt return and it bounces right back to him. The Redskins can’t make a break and they can’t get one. They’re really run into a buzz saw today in every way.
Not sure: I don’t quite understand why the Giants are exposing Eli Manning to getting hit with a 26-0 lead, a running game that’s on a roll, and a Washington offense that’s dead in the water. Keep him in the game, sure, but don’t have him dropping back to pass two times in three downs.
Foreign territory: The Redskins take their initial snap in Giants territory on the last snap of the third quarter. Total domination.
Microscopic: Well, I said before the game that they might have to reinvent the quarterback rating system for Mark Brunell after this one. I was right, but in the wrong direction. At halftime his rating sits at a punt 19.3. Ever hear of no place to go but up?
Powerless: The Redskins had to know that they were going to hand it to Barber on first and 20 and that Shockey would be the main target on first and goal at the 10. Yet they were powerless to stop it, mere spectators. This defense hasn’t played this poorly, ever.
Bouncing the right way: Our old friend Chad Morton coughs it up on a punt return and it bounces right back to him. The Redskins can’t make a break and they can’t get one. They’re really run into a buzz saw today in every way.
Not sure: I don’t quite understand why the Giants are exposing Eli Manning to getting hit with a 26-0 lead, a running game that’s on a roll, and a Washington offense that’s dead in the water. Keep him in the game, sure, but don’t have him dropping back to pass two times in three downs.
Foreign territory: The Redskins take their initial snap in Giants territory on the last snap of the third quarter. Total domination.
GameBlog Second Quarter
Second Quarter
Eventually: The Giants were going to get a touchdown. The offense just has to get something going and they probably will. Still, you have to play under control and not let Barber bust those big runs. They get the pass rush going and then, boom, they’re getting burned on the long run again.
To the max: It looks like Gibbs is going back to some max protect schemes to let Brunell get into some sort of a rhythm. It worked on the pass to Moss for their initial first down.
Streak over: Feeley finally missed a FG for the first time this year, good starting field position for the Redskins. Need to take advantage of it.
Not yet: But at 16-0 this one is dangerously close to being over. All the Redskins have to hang their hats on is the fact that they’ve been totally dominated and it’s “only” 16-0. Still, we have to see a pulse in the offense.
The worst: This is the worst game that Chris Samuels has had in, gosh, two weeks since Allen of Kansas City beat him like the proverbial rented mule. When he’s not getting beaten, he’s holding. The Redskins are in need of some serious halftime adjustments.
Body bags? It’s starting to look like it, folks. Clearly their worst 30 minutes of football this year.
Eventually: The Giants were going to get a touchdown. The offense just has to get something going and they probably will. Still, you have to play under control and not let Barber bust those big runs. They get the pass rush going and then, boom, they’re getting burned on the long run again.
To the max: It looks like Gibbs is going back to some max protect schemes to let Brunell get into some sort of a rhythm. It worked on the pass to Moss for their initial first down.
Streak over: Feeley finally missed a FG for the first time this year, good starting field position for the Redskins. Need to take advantage of it.
Not yet: But at 16-0 this one is dangerously close to being over. All the Redskins have to hang their hats on is the fact that they’ve been totally dominated and it’s “only” 16-0. Still, we have to see a pulse in the offense.
The worst: This is the worst game that Chris Samuels has had in, gosh, two weeks since Allen of Kansas City beat him like the proverbial rented mule. When he’s not getting beaten, he’s holding. The Redskins are in need of some serious halftime adjustments.
Body bags? It’s starting to look like it, folks. Clearly their worst 30 minutes of football this year.
GameBlog First Quarter
You can reach me by email at WarpathInsiders@comcast.net
First Quarter
Rough start: It seemed like the Redskins were the ones that were too charged up on the first play. Sean Taylor took a bad angle and got caught inside on Barber’s long run.
Aggression pays off: Sending the Giants backwards after they got a first and goal was, obviously, huge. Once again, though, the ball was on the ground and the Redskins didn’t get it.
Jittery: A skittish start by the Redskin offense with a rare three and out. A dropped pass and a high pass, possibly a throwaway by Brunell, not the way to make a statement on the road.
Ineffective: After that initial sack, the Giants have been doing a great job of picking up the blitz. Manning has bee able to stand in and throw against a secondary without too many players in it. They’ve adjusted, now Gregg Williams will have to.
Danger zone: They’ve withstood New York’s initial offense burst giving up only three points. Now they have to be careful offensively, especially after the holding call on Samuels.
Dumb: Sean Taylor, dumb penalty. It cost the Redskins three points.
Take it: Still, with the Giants having the ball for 24 plays and about 12 minutes, you can’t be real upset at a 6-0 game.
First Quarter
Rough start: It seemed like the Redskins were the ones that were too charged up on the first play. Sean Taylor took a bad angle and got caught inside on Barber’s long run.
Aggression pays off: Sending the Giants backwards after they got a first and goal was, obviously, huge. Once again, though, the ball was on the ground and the Redskins didn’t get it.
Jittery: A skittish start by the Redskin offense with a rare three and out. A dropped pass and a high pass, possibly a throwaway by Brunell, not the way to make a statement on the road.
Ineffective: After that initial sack, the Giants have been doing a great job of picking up the blitz. Manning has bee able to stand in and throw against a secondary without too many players in it. They’ve adjusted, now Gregg Williams will have to.
Danger zone: They’ve withstood New York’s initial offense burst giving up only three points. Now they have to be careful offensively, especially after the holding call on Samuels.
Dumb: Sean Taylor, dumb penalty. It cost the Redskins three points.
Take it: Still, with the Giants having the ball for 24 plays and about 12 minutes, you can’t be real upset at a 6-0 game.
GameBlog Pregame Redskins vs. Giants
Among the push back received here in response to the (Truly) Bold Prediction piece forecasting an easy Redskin win was, not so fast, the Giants “create a lot of turnovers”. On the face of it, that’s true. They lead the NFC with 19 takeaways, getting nine interceptions and 10 fumbles. Let’s take a closer look, however, and see just how significant these numbers are.
Of the nine interceptions the Giants have, six have come off of the arms of Aaron Brooks and Mark Bulger (three each). Among qualifying passers in the NFL Brooks is 30th in the NFL with nine picks thrown on the season, Bulger is 25th with eight. To be sure, their performances against the Giants did contribute to their high numbers of interceptions, but the Giants have been far from along in receiving the largesse of Mr. Bulger and Mr. Brooks.
Their other three interceptions came off of Kurt Warner, Josh McCown, and Drew Bledsoe. Warner is not among the qualifiers as he has been out hurt much of the year. McCown and Bledsoe has each thrown six INT’s on the year. Those are not turnover ATM performances like Brooks and Bulger have put on, but 14 qualifying QB’s have thrown fewer.
One of those is Mark Brunell, who has a total of two interceptions this year, none in the past three games. If the Giants are hoping to make a living off of interceptions, they should reconsider their plans.
Of the 10 fumbles they have recovered, half came against New Orleans (3) and St. Louis (2). They rank 1-2 in number of lost fumbles in the NFC on the season.
To the Giants’ credit, three more of their recoveries of opponents’ fumbles came against Dallas and that’s pretty impressive since that represents half of the Cowboys’ total of lost fumbles for the season.
Washington has coughed it up seven times this year, putting them about in the middle of the NFC pack when it comes to fumbles lost.
Certainly, you always have to protect that ball when it’s in your arms, but that will be doubly important this week. It will be extremely difficult for the Giants to stay close to the Redskins if Washington doesn’t put the ball on the ground.
Mike Sellers
For a number of years, my impression of this guy was that he was not the core Redskin type, certainly not as would be defined by Joe Gibbs. It started when he bolted for Cleveland after the Redskins gave him a shot after went to Walla Walla Community College and then the Canadian Football League. He then proceeded to badmouth the organization and get busted for cocaine possession. That cost him his job with the Browns, even though the charges were later dropped. I was much less than thrilled when the Redskins brought him back prior to the 2004 season and my lack of enthusiasm seemed justified as he drew a number of personal foul penalties. One of my first thoughts going into the offseason was that they’ve got to get rid of this thug.
Then along comes the ’05 season and all of a sudden the guy is catching touchdown passes and hasn’t even so much as glared at an opponent after the whistle. After last week’s game I went and talked to him in the locker room and he’s a sharp, engaging guy. And the I hear Gibbs talking about him saying that when the team needed someone to play running back in practice last week, Sellers jumped right in there and did the chore with great enthusiasm.
Then it occurred to me. Whether it’s Mark Brunell at the glamour position or Mike Sellers as a special teams/blocking grunt, we should just believe—make that just know—that Joe Gibbs knows who should be on this team and who should be playing much better than any of us do. (image placeholder)(image placeholder)
Of the nine interceptions the Giants have, six have come off of the arms of Aaron Brooks and Mark Bulger (three each). Among qualifying passers in the NFL Brooks is 30th in the NFL with nine picks thrown on the season, Bulger is 25th with eight. To be sure, their performances against the Giants did contribute to their high numbers of interceptions, but the Giants have been far from along in receiving the largesse of Mr. Bulger and Mr. Brooks.
Their other three interceptions came off of Kurt Warner, Josh McCown, and Drew Bledsoe. Warner is not among the qualifiers as he has been out hurt much of the year. McCown and Bledsoe has each thrown six INT’s on the year. Those are not turnover ATM performances like Brooks and Bulger have put on, but 14 qualifying QB’s have thrown fewer.
One of those is Mark Brunell, who has a total of two interceptions this year, none in the past three games. If the Giants are hoping to make a living off of interceptions, they should reconsider their plans.
Of the 10 fumbles they have recovered, half came against New Orleans (3) and St. Louis (2). They rank 1-2 in number of lost fumbles in the NFC on the season.
To the Giants’ credit, three more of their recoveries of opponents’ fumbles came against Dallas and that’s pretty impressive since that represents half of the Cowboys’ total of lost fumbles for the season.
Washington has coughed it up seven times this year, putting them about in the middle of the NFC pack when it comes to fumbles lost.
Certainly, you always have to protect that ball when it’s in your arms, but that will be doubly important this week. It will be extremely difficult for the Giants to stay close to the Redskins if Washington doesn’t put the ball on the ground.
Mike Sellers
For a number of years, my impression of this guy was that he was not the core Redskin type, certainly not as would be defined by Joe Gibbs. It started when he bolted for Cleveland after the Redskins gave him a shot after went to Walla Walla Community College and then the Canadian Football League. He then proceeded to badmouth the organization and get busted for cocaine possession. That cost him his job with the Browns, even though the charges were later dropped. I was much less than thrilled when the Redskins brought him back prior to the 2004 season and my lack of enthusiasm seemed justified as he drew a number of personal foul penalties. One of my first thoughts going into the offseason was that they’ve got to get rid of this thug.
Then along comes the ’05 season and all of a sudden the guy is catching touchdown passes and hasn’t even so much as glared at an opponent after the whistle. After last week’s game I went and talked to him in the locker room and he’s a sharp, engaging guy. And the I hear Gibbs talking about him saying that when the team needed someone to play running back in practice last week, Sellers jumped right in there and did the chore with great enthusiasm.
Then it occurred to me. Whether it’s Mark Brunell at the glamour position or Mike Sellers as a special teams/blocking grunt, we should just believe—make that just know—that Joe Gibbs knows who should be on this team and who should be playing much better than any of us do. (image placeholder)(image placeholder)
Friday, October 28, 2005
(Truly) Bold Predictions: Redskins Will Win Big
You can reach me by email at WarpathInsiders@comcast.net
I have to apologize for I have misled you, the loyal readers here. Prior to each of the six Redskins games this year, I have written a prediction as to how I thought the upcoming game would go and give my thoughts on what the final score might be. I have labeled these pieces “Bold Predictions”.
Looking back, though, most of the predictions have been anything but bold. I’ve added qualifiers (if Jake Plummer turns it over), caveats (unless the Chiefs turn some big plays) and other rather wimpy elements. I wanted to pick the Redskins to hang a big number on the 49ers but I chickened out and went with a comfortable but not dominant victory. Far from bold, as advertised, my predictions have been lame, milquetoast, bland predictions, not even worthy of capitalizing.
It stops this week, here and now.
The Washington Redskins will beat the New York Giants on Sunday and they will beat them easily.
It’s not that the Giants aren’t a quality football team. They are. But the Redskins are better. Much better. Mark Brunell is playing better than any quarterback in the league right now. Much better than Eli Manning, which is enough for this Sunday.
In fact, of the 22 starting positions, based how they’re playing right now, most coaches in the NFL would pick many more Redskins than Giants to start for their teams. Three of the four DL positions and MLB would go to the Giants on defense and on the other side of the ball, Giants would start at one WR spot, TE, and that’s it. OK, I’ll take a push in Tiki vs. Portis but only a push. That makes the tally 15 Redskins, six Giants and one draw. That’s not a slight edge for the Redskins, it’s a landslide. Again, they’re just a better team.
Certainly the game is not about Barber vs. Portis or Eli vs. Brunell, it’s about matchups, offense vs. defense, blockers vs. the front four, receivers vs. cornerbacks. Did someone say Santana Moss against Will Allen or Curtis Deloatch? The East Rutherford fire department had better be on alert all day long as these guys are going to get torched repeatedly.
In fact, I’ve seen no rational explanation as to how anyone of the Giants defense is going to stop anyone on the Redskins offense. In terms of yards allowed, they’re last in the entire NFL. That doesn’t make them the worst necessarily, but they’re not very good.
The last time that they faced a QB-RB combo of the quality of Brunell and Portis was in San Diego in Week 3. Tomlinson ran over them for 192 yards and Drew Breese was 19-22-191, a quarterback rating of 133.1. San Diego drove 65, 85, and 82 yards to touchdowns the first three times it had the ball. They added TD drives of 70 and 77 yards later on.
To be sure, LT is a better back than Portis, who should hang up a mere buck fifty. As for Brunell, they may have to reinvent the QB rating scale.
On the other side of the ball, New York won’t be enjoying one of the advantages that they have over most of the teams that they play. Jeremy Shockey presents a matchup problem for a lot of secondaries. Not so against the Redskins as they have Sean Taylor, who possesses linebacker size and DB speed. Shockey will be neutralized.
Barber might pop a long run, the Washington defense’s bugaboo this year. Manning will make some plays, but not enough of them to overcome the hole that his team’s defense will leave them in.
Finally, let’s dispense with two of the supposed intangible advantages that the Giants. The first is that they want to win the game in honor of team patriarch Wellington Mara, giving them “extra” incentive as if first place in the division near the midway point of the season isn’t incentive enough. Two words—The Triplets. Remember how the induction of Smith, Aikman, and Irvin into the Dallas Hall of Rings, or whatever it is, was supposed to have the Cowboys so sky high that they were supposed to smash the Redskins. How did that work out, Roy Williams? In fact, the desire to win one for Mara may work against them. They may be too pumped up and play out of control and wear out by the third quarter.
As far as Antonio Pierce knowing the Redskins defense, so what? Gregg Williams knows Pierce pretty well. You don’t think that he and Dale Lindsey spent a little time down the hall with the offensive coaches detailing to them Pierce’s weak points?
The Redskins are getting on a roll. You can say that putting up 52 points against an inferior opponent is just an isolated, one-week occurrence, but the record says otherwise. In Gibbs first run here, the Redskins put up 40 or more points 17 times. Their record after those games was a stellar 14-3. In fact, the last time they put up over 50 points, against Atlanta in 1991, they went on the road to Pittsburgh and scored 41 on the Steelers.
The Giants will come out playing hard, but by halftime the Redskins superiority will become apparent. It may not be over enough by the time the fourth quarter comes around to empty the bench like they did last week, but be assured that it will indeed be over.
Redskins 31, Giants 14
I have to apologize for I have misled you, the loyal readers here. Prior to each of the six Redskins games this year, I have written a prediction as to how I thought the upcoming game would go and give my thoughts on what the final score might be. I have labeled these pieces “Bold Predictions”.
Looking back, though, most of the predictions have been anything but bold. I’ve added qualifiers (if Jake Plummer turns it over), caveats (unless the Chiefs turn some big plays) and other rather wimpy elements. I wanted to pick the Redskins to hang a big number on the 49ers but I chickened out and went with a comfortable but not dominant victory. Far from bold, as advertised, my predictions have been lame, milquetoast, bland predictions, not even worthy of capitalizing.
It stops this week, here and now.
The Washington Redskins will beat the New York Giants on Sunday and they will beat them easily.
It’s not that the Giants aren’t a quality football team. They are. But the Redskins are better. Much better. Mark Brunell is playing better than any quarterback in the league right now. Much better than Eli Manning, which is enough for this Sunday.
In fact, of the 22 starting positions, based how they’re playing right now, most coaches in the NFL would pick many more Redskins than Giants to start for their teams. Three of the four DL positions and MLB would go to the Giants on defense and on the other side of the ball, Giants would start at one WR spot, TE, and that’s it. OK, I’ll take a push in Tiki vs. Portis but only a push. That makes the tally 15 Redskins, six Giants and one draw. That’s not a slight edge for the Redskins, it’s a landslide. Again, they’re just a better team.
Certainly the game is not about Barber vs. Portis or Eli vs. Brunell, it’s about matchups, offense vs. defense, blockers vs. the front four, receivers vs. cornerbacks. Did someone say Santana Moss against Will Allen or Curtis Deloatch? The East Rutherford fire department had better be on alert all day long as these guys are going to get torched repeatedly.
In fact, I’ve seen no rational explanation as to how anyone of the Giants defense is going to stop anyone on the Redskins offense. In terms of yards allowed, they’re last in the entire NFL. That doesn’t make them the worst necessarily, but they’re not very good.
The last time that they faced a QB-RB combo of the quality of Brunell and Portis was in San Diego in Week 3. Tomlinson ran over them for 192 yards and Drew Breese was 19-22-191, a quarterback rating of 133.1. San Diego drove 65, 85, and 82 yards to touchdowns the first three times it had the ball. They added TD drives of 70 and 77 yards later on.
To be sure, LT is a better back than Portis, who should hang up a mere buck fifty. As for Brunell, they may have to reinvent the QB rating scale.
On the other side of the ball, New York won’t be enjoying one of the advantages that they have over most of the teams that they play. Jeremy Shockey presents a matchup problem for a lot of secondaries. Not so against the Redskins as they have Sean Taylor, who possesses linebacker size and DB speed. Shockey will be neutralized.
Barber might pop a long run, the Washington defense’s bugaboo this year. Manning will make some plays, but not enough of them to overcome the hole that his team’s defense will leave them in.
Finally, let’s dispense with two of the supposed intangible advantages that the Giants. The first is that they want to win the game in honor of team patriarch Wellington Mara, giving them “extra” incentive as if first place in the division near the midway point of the season isn’t incentive enough. Two words—The Triplets. Remember how the induction of Smith, Aikman, and Irvin into the Dallas Hall of Rings, or whatever it is, was supposed to have the Cowboys so sky high that they were supposed to smash the Redskins. How did that work out, Roy Williams? In fact, the desire to win one for Mara may work against them. They may be too pumped up and play out of control and wear out by the third quarter.
As far as Antonio Pierce knowing the Redskins defense, so what? Gregg Williams knows Pierce pretty well. You don’t think that he and Dale Lindsey spent a little time down the hall with the offensive coaches detailing to them Pierce’s weak points?
The Redskins are getting on a roll. You can say that putting up 52 points against an inferior opponent is just an isolated, one-week occurrence, but the record says otherwise. In Gibbs first run here, the Redskins put up 40 or more points 17 times. Their record after those games was a stellar 14-3. In fact, the last time they put up over 50 points, against Atlanta in 1991, they went on the road to Pittsburgh and scored 41 on the Steelers.
The Giants will come out playing hard, but by halftime the Redskins superiority will become apparent. It may not be over enough by the time the fourth quarter comes around to empty the bench like they did last week, but be assured that it will indeed be over.
Redskins 31, Giants 14
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Why Not the Redskins?
You can reach me by email at WarpathInsiders@comcast.net
There’s a new eBay commercial asking, “What is ‘it’”? In this ad campaign, “it” is anything and everything. In the NFL when the calendars are about to turn to November, “it” takes on a different meaning. “It” isn’t something that put your finger on, but you know “it” when you see “it”.
What is “it”? “It” is the talent, the swagger, the moxie, the smart, the guts and whatever else it takes to successfully navigate the road to the Super Bowl.
Do the Redskins have “it”? Before the season started, even those with the burgundy and gold glasses permanently perched on their noses would have been hard pressed to make a case for the Redskins, 6-10 in 2004, going to the Super Bowl XL. In September, they were a year or two away at best, primarily because the offense was a mess and the Eagles were the dominant force in the division. Saying that they had an outside shot at a wild-card playoff spot was considered to be a bold statement, anything beyond that was a mix of wishful thinking, fantasy, and lunacy.
Of course, similar things were said of the Carolina Panthers in early 2003. And the 2001 Patriots, the 2000 Ravens and the 1999 Rams and Titans had the same slim to none chance of making it to the title game as the Redskins were given in August. Somewhere along the line, however, they all got “it”. At some point during the season, the players started to seriously think, why not us? The teams’ home cities went nuts, the fans gripped onto the team with a fevered frenzy. Team apparel both flew off the store shelves and emerged from years of sitting in the closet. The national media started to talk and write as if they knew it all along, that they told everyone (off the air, of course) that this was their sleeper pick.
It’s too early in the 2005 season to say that the Redskins have what the Panthers, Rams, and the others had in their magical seasons. But it’s not so early that we can’t take a look at some of the elements of “it” that the Redskins have going for themselves this year.
Coaching: Joe Gibbs has “it” or, rather, them--three Lombardi Trophies. Any questions?
Quarterback play: Mark Brunell isn’t playing as well as he did when he twice took a team to the doorstep of the Super Bowl. He’s playing better. For the first time in his career he has thrown for three touchdowns in back to back seasons. His QB rating and TD to interception ratio are both much better than it was in 1996 and in 1999, the two seasons he took the Jaguars to the AFC title game. He’s a savvy veteran with a very hot hand, a priceless asset.
Playmakers: Santana Moss can take it to the house any time he gets his hands on the ball and he has. We just discussed Mark Brunell, who makes most of his big plays with his arm, but has made a few with his feet as well. Sean Taylor makes crunching hits to separate offensive players from the ball with great frequency and he nearly scored on his first interception of the season. Marcus Washington’s season started to turn the corner from solid to spectacular when he got the sack and strip of Alex Smith on Sunday. They’re the players that the others can turn to when the team needs a spark. And those are just the ones who have demonstrated playmaking ability this season, leaving out players who have turned the big play in the past like LaVar Arrington, Clinton Portis, and David Patten. If they start to add a big spark here and there, watch out.
No glaring weakness: The Redskins don’t excel in all phases of the game, but there is no one area that the other team can point to and say, that’s where we’re going to go to beat them. The presence of Moss and Patten precludes overplaying the run and Portis makes it a bad idea to play too soft in the box. Even Mike Sellers can make a team pay for turning its head the other way. The offensive line is gelling to the point where they might actually earn a nickname. The defense can get burned for the long play on occasion but it’s solid against both the run and against the pass. The kicking game is not spectacular but solid and you’d be hard-pressed to find a hole in any phase of the game planning.
Battle all the way: The teams that have “it” don’t win every game, but they’re in almost every one until the end. This desire and ability to battle to the end results in some close losses and, as we saw in Dallas, some magical wins.
Again, it’s early; we’re not even halfway through the season. But in a just few weeks, we’re going to look up and Thanksgiving will be approaching and the pack will be starting to separate. Some of those pulling out in front will be the usual suspects and others will be surprises.
Why not the Redskins?
There’s a new eBay commercial asking, “What is ‘it’”? In this ad campaign, “it” is anything and everything. In the NFL when the calendars are about to turn to November, “it” takes on a different meaning. “It” isn’t something that put your finger on, but you know “it” when you see “it”.
What is “it”? “It” is the talent, the swagger, the moxie, the smart, the guts and whatever else it takes to successfully navigate the road to the Super Bowl.
Do the Redskins have “it”? Before the season started, even those with the burgundy and gold glasses permanently perched on their noses would have been hard pressed to make a case for the Redskins, 6-10 in 2004, going to the Super Bowl XL. In September, they were a year or two away at best, primarily because the offense was a mess and the Eagles were the dominant force in the division. Saying that they had an outside shot at a wild-card playoff spot was considered to be a bold statement, anything beyond that was a mix of wishful thinking, fantasy, and lunacy.
Of course, similar things were said of the Carolina Panthers in early 2003. And the 2001 Patriots, the 2000 Ravens and the 1999 Rams and Titans had the same slim to none chance of making it to the title game as the Redskins were given in August. Somewhere along the line, however, they all got “it”. At some point during the season, the players started to seriously think, why not us? The teams’ home cities went nuts, the fans gripped onto the team with a fevered frenzy. Team apparel both flew off the store shelves and emerged from years of sitting in the closet. The national media started to talk and write as if they knew it all along, that they told everyone (off the air, of course) that this was their sleeper pick.
It’s too early in the 2005 season to say that the Redskins have what the Panthers, Rams, and the others had in their magical seasons. But it’s not so early that we can’t take a look at some of the elements of “it” that the Redskins have going for themselves this year.
Coaching: Joe Gibbs has “it” or, rather, them--three Lombardi Trophies. Any questions?
Quarterback play: Mark Brunell isn’t playing as well as he did when he twice took a team to the doorstep of the Super Bowl. He’s playing better. For the first time in his career he has thrown for three touchdowns in back to back seasons. His QB rating and TD to interception ratio are both much better than it was in 1996 and in 1999, the two seasons he took the Jaguars to the AFC title game. He’s a savvy veteran with a very hot hand, a priceless asset.
Playmakers: Santana Moss can take it to the house any time he gets his hands on the ball and he has. We just discussed Mark Brunell, who makes most of his big plays with his arm, but has made a few with his feet as well. Sean Taylor makes crunching hits to separate offensive players from the ball with great frequency and he nearly scored on his first interception of the season. Marcus Washington’s season started to turn the corner from solid to spectacular when he got the sack and strip of Alex Smith on Sunday. They’re the players that the others can turn to when the team needs a spark. And those are just the ones who have demonstrated playmaking ability this season, leaving out players who have turned the big play in the past like LaVar Arrington, Clinton Portis, and David Patten. If they start to add a big spark here and there, watch out.
No glaring weakness: The Redskins don’t excel in all phases of the game, but there is no one area that the other team can point to and say, that’s where we’re going to go to beat them. The presence of Moss and Patten precludes overplaying the run and Portis makes it a bad idea to play too soft in the box. Even Mike Sellers can make a team pay for turning its head the other way. The offensive line is gelling to the point where they might actually earn a nickname. The defense can get burned for the long play on occasion but it’s solid against both the run and against the pass. The kicking game is not spectacular but solid and you’d be hard-pressed to find a hole in any phase of the game planning.
Battle all the way: The teams that have “it” don’t win every game, but they’re in almost every one until the end. This desire and ability to battle to the end results in some close losses and, as we saw in Dallas, some magical wins.
Again, it’s early; we’re not even halfway through the season. But in a just few weeks, we’re going to look up and Thanksgiving will be approaching and the pack will be starting to separate. Some of those pulling out in front will be the usual suspects and others will be surprises.
Why not the Redskins?
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Skins-Niners GameBlog--Final
You can reach me by email at rtandler@comcast.net
Fourth Quarter
Ramsey coming in: Do they let him throw the ball? They didn’t throw at all their last possession. It would be kind of a shame to give Ramsey some extended playing time and have him do nothing but hand off. BTW, Brunell’s QB rating for the game is a sizzling 147.9
Portis done, too: He’s on the sidelines with the hat on, the traditional garb for the great performer taking the rest of the day off.
Come to think of it: They may not need to throw. Betts is tearing off huge chunks of yardage and Rock Cartwright just got Washington’s fourth rushing TD of the day and of the season. While it would be good to knock a little rust off of Ramsey, you almost have to take a touchdown if they’re going to give it to you.
The bench empties: They’re putting in defensive replacements as well; Omar Stoutmire, Matt Bowen, Nic Clemons seeing his first real NFL action.
Twice: Alex Smith has lost his grip in the starting portion of his throwing motion not once, but twice today. It’s Football Follies, Live at FedEx Field.
Getting the job done: The Redskins are doing what good teams need to do. They’re taking care of business at home and they are about to complete a rout of a decidedly weaker opponent.
Fourth Quarter
Ramsey coming in: Do they let him throw the ball? They didn’t throw at all their last possession. It would be kind of a shame to give Ramsey some extended playing time and have him do nothing but hand off. BTW, Brunell’s QB rating for the game is a sizzling 147.9
Portis done, too: He’s on the sidelines with the hat on, the traditional garb for the great performer taking the rest of the day off.
Come to think of it: They may not need to throw. Betts is tearing off huge chunks of yardage and Rock Cartwright just got Washington’s fourth rushing TD of the day and of the season. While it would be good to knock a little rust off of Ramsey, you almost have to take a touchdown if they’re going to give it to you.
The bench empties: They’re putting in defensive replacements as well; Omar Stoutmire, Matt Bowen, Nic Clemons seeing his first real NFL action.
Twice: Alex Smith has lost his grip in the starting portion of his throwing motion not once, but twice today. It’s Football Follies, Live at FedEx Field.
Getting the job done: The Redskins are doing what good teams need to do. They’re taking care of business at home and they are about to complete a rout of a decidedly weaker opponent.
Skins-Niners GameBlog--Third Quarter
You can reach me by email at rtandler@comcast.net
Third Quarter
Promotion: Arrington is now in with the first-down package, which I guess makes you a starter, sort of.
Big-time players making big-time plays: The Redskins’ money players are making the plays in this game. M. Washington the sack and strip, Portis with the three TD’s, the last of which was set up by a Sean Taylor interception, Moss setting up one score with a long reception and scores another. That’s what you need to see.
Random thought: After this game, is Joe Gibbs going to have to say, “Hey, it’s not my job to stop the Redskins from scoring.”?
Might want to make an addition: Add LaVar Arrington to the “big-time” list. He has two tackles for losses and another play where he did his heat-seeking missile routine on Smith that missed being his first sack of the year by a yard.
Half a hundred: The Redskins haven’t hung 50 on anyone since they did it to the Giants in the Meadowlands in 1999. The last time they did it at home was in 1991 when the laid some wood to the Falcons by 56-17. They’ll practically have to fall on the ball each lay and have San Francisco do the same to keep from scoring 50.
Third Quarter
Promotion: Arrington is now in with the first-down package, which I guess makes you a starter, sort of.
Big-time players making big-time plays: The Redskins’ money players are making the plays in this game. M. Washington the sack and strip, Portis with the three TD’s, the last of which was set up by a Sean Taylor interception, Moss setting up one score with a long reception and scores another. That’s what you need to see.
Random thought: After this game, is Joe Gibbs going to have to say, “Hey, it’s not my job to stop the Redskins from scoring.”?
Might want to make an addition: Add LaVar Arrington to the “big-time” list. He has two tackles for losses and another play where he did his heat-seeking missile routine on Smith that missed being his first sack of the year by a yard.
Half a hundred: The Redskins haven’t hung 50 on anyone since they did it to the Giants in the Meadowlands in 1999. The last time they did it at home was in 1991 when the laid some wood to the Falcons by 56-17. They’ll practically have to fall on the ball each lay and have San Francisco do the same to keep from scoring 50.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Joe Gibbs, Don't Read This: Bold Predictions
You can reach me by email at rtandler@comcast.net
Anyone see Joe Gibbs around? No? Is the coast clear? You sure? Because I don’t want to get laid in to by Gibbs like the five writers who penned what I’m about to say.
The Redskins not only should beat the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, they should beat them easily.
First, let’s get the obligatory disclaimers out of the way. This is not Texas vs. Prairie View. On any given Sunday and all that. The Niners not the worst team in NFL history and the Redskins are not by any stretch of the imagination a powerhouse at this point in time. It wouldn’t be the greatest upset in NFL history if San Francisco were to emerge victorious in this one.
Still, it’s very difficult to imagine how the Redskins could lose on Sunday. To begin with, they aren’t taking the 49ers lightly. Their coach won’t let them and, besides that, any team that has lost two in a row isn’t going to be looking past anyone. The assumption going in is that both teams are focused and giving it 100%.
San Francisco’s starting quarterback is Alex Smith, the first pick overall in this year’s draft. In their last game, he got his first start and registered a quarterback rating of 8. That’s not a typo, that’s a single-digit rating. His performance, 9-24, 4 INT, 0 TD, made a Mark Brunell circa early 2004 performance look positively Manning-like. And the game was against Arizona, not quite a juggernaut defense. He could well turn out to be a good quarterback, but in a few years, not on Sunday.
Make no mistake; coach Mike Nolan is committed to Smith. Tim Rattay, who began the season as the starter and was the only QB on the roster who has demonstrated any ability to play the position competently, was traded to Miami earlier this week. That means Plan B is Ken Dorsey, who really isn’t a plan at all.
It’s not as though whoever the quarterback is has a stud running back to tote the rock. Kevan Barlow has 265 yards in five games and Frank Gore has 108. As a team, they have an even 300 yards rushing. That’s a pace that would net the team as a whole less than 1,000 yards for the season combined.
All this has added up to a grand total of six offensive touchdowns for San Francisco (they have three more on returns). They’ve had the ball an average of 24 minutes a game, meaning that through five contests, the 49er offense has taken nearly a whole game off.
Now, it’s not as though the Redskins have been world-beaters. A bad break here and there and their record is the same 1-4 as the Niners sport.
The difference is, of course, that a good break here and there and the Redskins are 5-0. A leprechaun with a horseshoe imprinted with 7’s draped around its neck strolling on the sidelines couldn’t have conjured up enough good luck to give the 49ers a winning record.
Again at the risk of drawing the wrath of Coach Gibbs, this game is not a question of if, but by how much. Do the Redskins get on a roll and hang up a high number on San Fran or do they win by something closer to the 11-point spread?
That depends on the major sore spot for the Redskins this year, turnovers and the lack of takeaways. They could survive another 0-3 ratio this week and win, although the game would still be in some doubt into the late going. If they have a plus turnover ratio and/or return an interception of fumble for a score, the parking lots at FedEx will be empty early as thousands listen to the end of the Redskins rout on their radios on their way home.
You can figure out which I think will happen:
Redskins 35, 49ers 10
Sunday, October 16, 2005
GameBlog Redskins vs. Chiefs
You can reach me by email at rtandler@comcast.net
Turning Point: It’s usually a joke to say this, but it was the opening drive: A sharp, crisp, impressive drive with a horrid ending. Thirteen plays, almost seven minutes, all for naught when Jarred Allen, not of the Canton Allens, whips Chris Samuels and knocks the ball out of Mark Brunell’s hand. No tuck rule here, although Brunell had started his passing motion. At least three points down the drain there. On the road, against a quality team, you can’t let chances like that get away from you. This drive set the tone for the game.
They made it look easy: The Redskins’ second drive was a case of them just forcing their will on the KC defense. The Redskins had good rhythm, they got a big play and a lot of moderate gainers and just got it in with what will probably be Santana Moss’ shortest TD catch of the year. It looked like the same play they’d scored a few times earlier on this year. For a brief moment, I thought that Mike Sellers had shrunk dramatically as he had made the last two TD catches on that rollout play. Brunell threw to the same spot, only it was Moss there and not the big TE.
It had to happen: You can only ask for so many third-down runs by Brunell before he eventually coughs it up. Unlike his efforts against Dallas, Seattle, and Denver, he had defenders in the vicinity before he got the first. He couldn’t slide and he probably wasn’t aware of Allen behind him. The Chiefs made a deli sandwich special #8 sandwich out of Brunell and lost it.
Maybe it’s just me: Tapping the helmet of the quarterback, like Marcus Washington did to Trent Green on Chiefs’ first drive of the second half is 15 yards for roughing the passer, but a blow to the middle of the neck like Patrick Ramsey got in the opening game is not. Does anyone else find that a bit odd? All that being said, Marcus Washington has to know better than to do that. If you’re going to get the 15 yards anyway, at least get your money’s worth out of it.
Afterburners: Santana Moss has them. How often do you see a receiver make a run like that and the nearest player to him is on his own team and he’s trailing by five yards. There wasn’t a Chief in the picture. After about 50+ WR screens thrown since Gibbs returned, one finally pays off.
Son of Killer: It’s hard sitting on the bench all season, playing only special teams, and then carrying the ball in the third quarter of a tied NFL game. Still, you can’t cough it up, Rock Cartwright. You just can’t. The whole drive was identical to the first drive of the game in terms of momentum. Everything was working for the Redskins. It was a second and three play that he lost the ball on. If you move the ball like they have been and fail to put up points, you won’t win. Go back to the first paragraph here. You can’t give up chances to score. When they turn it around on you, that’s just one of those things that happens, but lose the opportunity to score is bigger.
Early Exit: with 1:40 to play, Moss catches his tenth pass of the game to convert a third down just prior to the Redskins’ TD that tied the game at 21. He wouldn’t catch another one the rest of the day.
The Game Winner: This was one right out of the playbook of Gibbs I and probably Vermeil I as well. Two play fakes, one to the back, one to an end around and then throw the screen. No doubt the original versions of these plays called for the left offensive tackle, Willie Roaf in this case, to hold in order to prevent the timing of the play from being disrupted. If not for the hold, Philip Daniels is in Green’s face and the play is dead. And, on the chalkboard back in the early 80’s and on the PowerPoint today, there’s a linebacker who doesn’t react to the play, who is engaging a blocker in front of him while Holmes is dashing by just behind him. Of course, Warrick Holman is playing in front of a linebacker who is benched in part because he overreacts to plays. I guess it’s better not to react at all.
Great Hit, Bad Luck: The Redskins haven’t forced many fumbles this season, but when they have the ball certainly hasn’t bounced their way. Early in the fourth, Sean Taylor, as he seems to do at least once each game, came in like a guided missile and popped the ball out of Homles’ grasp. It went into the air and, like a guided missile, albeit a tumbling one, it went straight into the hands of Tony Gonzalez. No crazy bounce, no ball resting on the ground waiting to be snared by a defender, just an easy grab for the tight end.
Fourth and inches: There’s not a chance in hell that Holmes made the first down when Vermeil decided to go for it with 10 minutes left to go. That spot was generous by a full half yard. The taped reaction they showed from Vermeil immediately after the play was a reaction of disgust because he knew that they didn’t make it, not one of celebration. It may not have had an effect on the outcome of the game, but it may have. That play happened at the KC 41, the Redskins got the punt after the next three plays at their own 15. In a seven point game, 45 yards of field position is huge. Not that KC would have played the same defense, but the Redskins did gain 45 yards on the subsequent drive. Perhaps Gibbs should have challenged. We were never shown a different angle, but there’s not a chance that he made that.
Why?: The play after the two-minute warning is a head-scratcher to say the least. You can run and set it up so that you punt from near midfield to a team with no timeouts left with about 1:15 to go. It didn’t cost the Chiefs the game, but that’s why it came so close.
Long time: There were 59 seconds left on the clock when the ball was snapped on the third and 10 play from the KC 48. The play got the first down, but by the time that Brunell threw the ball away in the end zone from the 33 on the subsequent play, only 29 second remained. I’m generally not in favor of spiking the ball unless you’re inside of 10 seconds left in the half, but using up over half the time left in the game hurt a lot. Had Brunell been able to buy 10-15 seconds in exchange for a down, he would have been able to throw short of the end zone in the middle of the field and would have had a chance to stop the clock.
Keepaway: The Redskins have a horrid turnover ratio, but it’s not the fault of the offense. Yes, they’ve turned the ball over more than the average team and that, on the face of it, cost them the game today. Subtract three points from the Redskins on the turnover on their first drive, add seven to KC on the Cartwright fumble and you have ten points in a seven-point game But the important thing is the ratio, the differential. And that number was awful for the Redskins today, and it has been all year, because the defense can’t take the ball away from the other team. The Chiefs put the ball on the ground twice today, the Redskins three times. Washington lost all three, KC recovered both of theirs. That defies the odds and don’t give me that stuff about practicing it. Recovering a fumble in the NFL is almost 100% luck with the rest due to dirty play in the pile. The Redskins have been extremely unlucky.
You are what your record says you are: And the Redskins are a 3-2 team, tied for second in the division and tied for last in the division. They could have won either of the two games they’ve lost and they could easily have lost any of the games they won. If they can get good enough and lucky enough to take the ball away from the other team on occasion, they will be just fine.
Turning Point: It’s usually a joke to say this, but it was the opening drive: A sharp, crisp, impressive drive with a horrid ending. Thirteen plays, almost seven minutes, all for naught when Jarred Allen, not of the Canton Allens, whips Chris Samuels and knocks the ball out of Mark Brunell’s hand. No tuck rule here, although Brunell had started his passing motion. At least three points down the drain there. On the road, against a quality team, you can’t let chances like that get away from you. This drive set the tone for the game.
They made it look easy: The Redskins’ second drive was a case of them just forcing their will on the KC defense. The Redskins had good rhythm, they got a big play and a lot of moderate gainers and just got it in with what will probably be Santana Moss’ shortest TD catch of the year. It looked like the same play they’d scored a few times earlier on this year. For a brief moment, I thought that Mike Sellers had shrunk dramatically as he had made the last two TD catches on that rollout play. Brunell threw to the same spot, only it was Moss there and not the big TE.
It had to happen: You can only ask for so many third-down runs by Brunell before he eventually coughs it up. Unlike his efforts against Dallas, Seattle, and Denver, he had defenders in the vicinity before he got the first. He couldn’t slide and he probably wasn’t aware of Allen behind him. The Chiefs made a deli sandwich special #8 sandwich out of Brunell and lost it.
Maybe it’s just me: Tapping the helmet of the quarterback, like Marcus Washington did to Trent Green on Chiefs’ first drive of the second half is 15 yards for roughing the passer, but a blow to the middle of the neck like Patrick Ramsey got in the opening game is not. Does anyone else find that a bit odd? All that being said, Marcus Washington has to know better than to do that. If you’re going to get the 15 yards anyway, at least get your money’s worth out of it.
Afterburners: Santana Moss has them. How often do you see a receiver make a run like that and the nearest player to him is on his own team and he’s trailing by five yards. There wasn’t a Chief in the picture. After about 50+ WR screens thrown since Gibbs returned, one finally pays off.
Son of Killer: It’s hard sitting on the bench all season, playing only special teams, and then carrying the ball in the third quarter of a tied NFL game. Still, you can’t cough it up, Rock Cartwright. You just can’t. The whole drive was identical to the first drive of the game in terms of momentum. Everything was working for the Redskins. It was a second and three play that he lost the ball on. If you move the ball like they have been and fail to put up points, you won’t win. Go back to the first paragraph here. You can’t give up chances to score. When they turn it around on you, that’s just one of those things that happens, but lose the opportunity to score is bigger.
Early Exit: with 1:40 to play, Moss catches his tenth pass of the game to convert a third down just prior to the Redskins’ TD that tied the game at 21. He wouldn’t catch another one the rest of the day.
The Game Winner: This was one right out of the playbook of Gibbs I and probably Vermeil I as well. Two play fakes, one to the back, one to an end around and then throw the screen. No doubt the original versions of these plays called for the left offensive tackle, Willie Roaf in this case, to hold in order to prevent the timing of the play from being disrupted. If not for the hold, Philip Daniels is in Green’s face and the play is dead. And, on the chalkboard back in the early 80’s and on the PowerPoint today, there’s a linebacker who doesn’t react to the play, who is engaging a blocker in front of him while Holmes is dashing by just behind him. Of course, Warrick Holman is playing in front of a linebacker who is benched in part because he overreacts to plays. I guess it’s better not to react at all.
Great Hit, Bad Luck: The Redskins haven’t forced many fumbles this season, but when they have the ball certainly hasn’t bounced their way. Early in the fourth, Sean Taylor, as he seems to do at least once each game, came in like a guided missile and popped the ball out of Homles’ grasp. It went into the air and, like a guided missile, albeit a tumbling one, it went straight into the hands of Tony Gonzalez. No crazy bounce, no ball resting on the ground waiting to be snared by a defender, just an easy grab for the tight end.
Fourth and inches: There’s not a chance in hell that Holmes made the first down when Vermeil decided to go for it with 10 minutes left to go. That spot was generous by a full half yard. The taped reaction they showed from Vermeil immediately after the play was a reaction of disgust because he knew that they didn’t make it, not one of celebration. It may not have had an effect on the outcome of the game, but it may have. That play happened at the KC 41, the Redskins got the punt after the next three plays at their own 15. In a seven point game, 45 yards of field position is huge. Not that KC would have played the same defense, but the Redskins did gain 45 yards on the subsequent drive. Perhaps Gibbs should have challenged. We were never shown a different angle, but there’s not a chance that he made that.
Why?: The play after the two-minute warning is a head-scratcher to say the least. You can run and set it up so that you punt from near midfield to a team with no timeouts left with about 1:15 to go. It didn’t cost the Chiefs the game, but that’s why it came so close.
Long time: There were 59 seconds left on the clock when the ball was snapped on the third and 10 play from the KC 48. The play got the first down, but by the time that Brunell threw the ball away in the end zone from the 33 on the subsequent play, only 29 second remained. I’m generally not in favor of spiking the ball unless you’re inside of 10 seconds left in the half, but using up over half the time left in the game hurt a lot. Had Brunell been able to buy 10-15 seconds in exchange for a down, he would have been able to throw short of the end zone in the middle of the field and would have had a chance to stop the clock.
Keepaway: The Redskins have a horrid turnover ratio, but it’s not the fault of the offense. Yes, they’ve turned the ball over more than the average team and that, on the face of it, cost them the game today. Subtract three points from the Redskins on the turnover on their first drive, add seven to KC on the Cartwright fumble and you have ten points in a seven-point game But the important thing is the ratio, the differential. And that number was awful for the Redskins today, and it has been all year, because the defense can’t take the ball away from the other team. The Chiefs put the ball on the ground twice today, the Redskins three times. Washington lost all three, KC recovered both of theirs. That defies the odds and don’t give me that stuff about practicing it. Recovering a fumble in the NFL is almost 100% luck with the rest due to dirty play in the pile. The Redskins have been extremely unlucky.
You are what your record says you are: And the Redskins are a 3-2 team, tied for second in the division and tied for last in the division. They could have won either of the two games they’ve lost and they could easily have lost any of the games they won. If they can get good enough and lucky enough to take the ball away from the other team on occasion, they will be just fine.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Bold Predictions and, of course, LaVar
You can reach me by email at rtandler@comcast.net
The LaVar Arrington issue has heated up after of his DNP in Denver and the salvo of words being batted back and forth between Joe Gibbs and Arrington through the media. On the John Thompson show on WTEM radio in Washington Arrington, who makes regular appearances on Thompson’s show, said the following about his paucity of playing time:
Without being overly dramatic here, what Williams is trying to do is break Arrington down so that he can build him up. The analogies between football and the military are often overdone, but Williams is essentially putting Arrington through boot camp. It’s a very difficult process to tear down teenagers so that you can remake them the way that best suits the Army; it’s even more traumatic and difficult when you’re dealing with a 27-year-old multimillionaire who is used to the adulation from the crowd and trips to Hawaii at the end of the season. In fact, we’re seeing that it’s a very ugly process. Whether or not it’s successful remains to be seen. We have 12 games left this season to see how it looks going into the offseason.
One other note: This has absolutely nothing to do with Dan Snyder or anyone else being upset with Arrington over his contract dispute. Gibbs and Williams don’t play that way, period. If Snyder tried to tell either one of them to bench or play any player because of some perceived embarrassment over a contract, there would be two letters of resignation on Snyder’s desk the next morning. Williams may be taking the right approach and he may be taking the wrong one, but his is about what Gregg Williams sees as being the long-term good of the on-field performance of the Redskins. Nothing more, nothing less.
Prediction Analysis
For those of you who are new here, whenever I make an incorrect prediction on a Redskins game, I come back to take my lumps and take a look at why.
The Redskins have never won in Kansas City. In fact, they’ve been pounded the only two times they’ve played in Arrowhead Stadium, losing by a combined score of 59-19 in 1992 and 1995. The only close game they’ve played in KC came in old Municipal Stadium when Hank Stram’s Chiefs knocked off George Allen’s 5-0 Redskins 27-20 on a late touchdown pass from Len Dawson to Otis Taylor.
The Chiefs still have a strong offense, led by quarterback Trent Green, running back Priest Holmes, and tight end Tony Gonzalez. The big difference between these Chiefs and Stram’s bunch is that the team that beat Allen’s Skins played some pretty good defense, led by end Buck Buchannon and Hall of Fame linebacker Willie Lanier. Today’s Chiefs, well, not so much. They are 27th in total defense, a performance that can be expected to continue given that they finished 31st last year.
Every year, the Chiefs say that they have the cure for the defense, be it a new coordinator, a slew or draft picks or a key free agent. And every year they wind up near the bottom of the league statistically.
Of course, a defense isn't all about the stats. You need to look at other things, such as how that defense reacts when its team holds a 24-6 lead at home as halftime approaches. A great defense will crush the opposition at that point and not allow them another inch. A good defense will hang on to the lead one way or another. In their last game, the Kansas City defense coughed the lead up and they lost to the Eagles. Philly ran off 31 unanswered points. The Chiefs have had their bye week to, depending on your point of view, either stew on the collapse or work to correct the issues that led to it. They could either fret over it or they could step up with their best performance of the year on Sunday with their professional pride on the line.
The relevant question, of course, is can this Redskins team exploit this defense to put up the 20+ points that they likely will need to win this game? They will if Clinton Portis has anything approaching the success he’s had against KC in the past. While with the Broncos, Portis averaged a shade under a buck fifty a game and scored 11 touchdowns, including five the last time he played them in December of 2003. While Arrowhead is a House of Horrors for most of the league, it’s been a Field of Dreams for Portis.
Portis could finally have his breakout game this week, with 200 or so yards and a couple of TD’s. Even if he doesn’t, he should have a solid game with about a hundred and a quarter and maybe even his first touchdown of the year.
Overall, this is the worst defense the Redskins have faced this year. Mark Brunell should have plenty of time to find David Patten, who started to get untracked last week with seven catches, and Santana Moss. It seems that 30+ points is a possibility, but that would be a quantum leap. Let’s say that they can put up 21, maybe 24.
Will that be enough to win? Yes, with a big if. The Redskins defense is beginning to show something of a penchant for giving up the big play. A perfect example was last Sunday after they forced five straight three and outs. The next offensive series for Denver lasted just three plays, too, but the third was Bell’s 55-yard touchdown run, his second long scoring run of the game. There was the 70-yard pass on the flea flicker against Dallas, Shaun Alexander’s 37-yard run to set up a touchdown after he’s been held in check all day. As noted above, the Chiefs have the weapons to pull off one or two such plays both on offense and on special teams, where Dante Hall lurks as a dangerous returner on every kick.
They’ll need to, because they won’t make a living grinding it out against the Redskins. Nobody has.
One long strike by the Chiefs, the Redskins win. Two or more and KC is victorious. The call is one big play for the Chiefs and one huge win for the Redskins:
Washington 24, Kansas City 17
The LaVar Arrington issue has heated up after of his DNP in Denver and the salvo of words being batted back and forth between Joe Gibbs and Arrington through the media. On the John Thompson show on WTEM radio in Washington Arrington, who makes regular appearances on Thompson’s show, said the following about his paucity of playing time:
I've put myself in the doghouse somehow. . .Like Coach Williams says, I've got to show them in practice. Well in practice, give me some reps [repetitions] so you can see what I can do. If you're not going to play me, then don't play me. Just don't make things up about why I'm not playing. I'm healthy. I'm of sound mind and body. Don't try to slander me. It's being insinuated that I'm not smart enough to play this defense. That's absurd.Gibbs responded after Wednesday’s practice, sort of:
If you have a guy that you say he needs to prove he knows the schemes, if he doesn't do much of anything, how do you get the opportunity to see if he's improved. That's where I'm at.
I'll probably address this for the last time. The only comment I heard today is something about LaVar said that nobody has talked to him. I've talked to LaVar more than any player I've ever coached in 30 years, probably three times more. I've had great conversations with him and told him exactly what he needs to do.A lot of heat, to be sure, but not much light. All we’re left with, really, is speculation. Here’s mine. First of all, Gibbs totally delegates the defense to Gregg Williams. Gibbs is the spokesman, the face of the team and while I’m sure that he and Williams confer about matters concerning the defense, including Arrington, who plays and who doesn’t is Williams call, period. So whatever is being done regarding Arrington, it’s Williams doing it.
Our coaching staff here has got tons of experience, and, I believe, plays the best guys. So at whatever point LaVar is the best person to be in there, I'm convinced he'll be in there. That'll pretty much end it for me, and I want to concentrate on playing Kansas City.
Without being overly dramatic here, what Williams is trying to do is break Arrington down so that he can build him up. The analogies between football and the military are often overdone, but Williams is essentially putting Arrington through boot camp. It’s a very difficult process to tear down teenagers so that you can remake them the way that best suits the Army; it’s even more traumatic and difficult when you’re dealing with a 27-year-old multimillionaire who is used to the adulation from the crowd and trips to Hawaii at the end of the season. In fact, we’re seeing that it’s a very ugly process. Whether or not it’s successful remains to be seen. We have 12 games left this season to see how it looks going into the offseason.
One other note: This has absolutely nothing to do with Dan Snyder or anyone else being upset with Arrington over his contract dispute. Gibbs and Williams don’t play that way, period. If Snyder tried to tell either one of them to bench or play any player because of some perceived embarrassment over a contract, there would be two letters of resignation on Snyder’s desk the next morning. Williams may be taking the right approach and he may be taking the wrong one, but his is about what Gregg Williams sees as being the long-term good of the on-field performance of the Redskins. Nothing more, nothing less.
Prediction Analysis
For those of you who are new here, whenever I make an incorrect prediction on a Redskins game, I come back to take my lumps and take a look at why.
Plummer is at his most effective getting outside of the pocket and making plays on the move. If you force him to make decisions quickly and get rid of the ball, he can be rattled. And a rattled Jake Plummer means turnovers.Plummer was kept in the pocket for the most part and he was very inaccurate from there, but not inaccurate enough for him to have any picked off. The 55-yard TD run by Tatum Bell ended a string of five straight three and outs by Denver and took the pressure to have to make any plays off of Plummer
If the Redskins can coerce one of those multi-INT efforts out of Plummer on Sunday, they will win and they could win easily. If not, it will be yet another game that goes into the final minutes, or extra minutes, until it’s decided. If that happens, it’s anyone’s game.This was a good call here--no Denver turnovers and a down to the wire game. It didn’t turn out as I expected, though:
Redskins 17, Broncos 13Bold Predictions
The Redskins have never won in Kansas City. In fact, they’ve been pounded the only two times they’ve played in Arrowhead Stadium, losing by a combined score of 59-19 in 1992 and 1995. The only close game they’ve played in KC came in old Municipal Stadium when Hank Stram’s Chiefs knocked off George Allen’s 5-0 Redskins 27-20 on a late touchdown pass from Len Dawson to Otis Taylor.
The Chiefs still have a strong offense, led by quarterback Trent Green, running back Priest Holmes, and tight end Tony Gonzalez. The big difference between these Chiefs and Stram’s bunch is that the team that beat Allen’s Skins played some pretty good defense, led by end Buck Buchannon and Hall of Fame linebacker Willie Lanier. Today’s Chiefs, well, not so much. They are 27th in total defense, a performance that can be expected to continue given that they finished 31st last year.
Every year, the Chiefs say that they have the cure for the defense, be it a new coordinator, a slew or draft picks or a key free agent. And every year they wind up near the bottom of the league statistically.
Of course, a defense isn't all about the stats. You need to look at other things, such as how that defense reacts when its team holds a 24-6 lead at home as halftime approaches. A great defense will crush the opposition at that point and not allow them another inch. A good defense will hang on to the lead one way or another. In their last game, the Kansas City defense coughed the lead up and they lost to the Eagles. Philly ran off 31 unanswered points. The Chiefs have had their bye week to, depending on your point of view, either stew on the collapse or work to correct the issues that led to it. They could either fret over it or they could step up with their best performance of the year on Sunday with their professional pride on the line.
The relevant question, of course, is can this Redskins team exploit this defense to put up the 20+ points that they likely will need to win this game? They will if Clinton Portis has anything approaching the success he’s had against KC in the past. While with the Broncos, Portis averaged a shade under a buck fifty a game and scored 11 touchdowns, including five the last time he played them in December of 2003. While Arrowhead is a House of Horrors for most of the league, it’s been a Field of Dreams for Portis.
Portis could finally have his breakout game this week, with 200 or so yards and a couple of TD’s. Even if he doesn’t, he should have a solid game with about a hundred and a quarter and maybe even his first touchdown of the year.
Overall, this is the worst defense the Redskins have faced this year. Mark Brunell should have plenty of time to find David Patten, who started to get untracked last week with seven catches, and Santana Moss. It seems that 30+ points is a possibility, but that would be a quantum leap. Let’s say that they can put up 21, maybe 24.
Will that be enough to win? Yes, with a big if. The Redskins defense is beginning to show something of a penchant for giving up the big play. A perfect example was last Sunday after they forced five straight three and outs. The next offensive series for Denver lasted just three plays, too, but the third was Bell’s 55-yard touchdown run, his second long scoring run of the game. There was the 70-yard pass on the flea flicker against Dallas, Shaun Alexander’s 37-yard run to set up a touchdown after he’s been held in check all day. As noted above, the Chiefs have the weapons to pull off one or two such plays both on offense and on special teams, where Dante Hall lurks as a dangerous returner on every kick.
They’ll need to, because they won’t make a living grinding it out against the Redskins. Nobody has.
One long strike by the Chiefs, the Redskins win. Two or more and KC is victorious. The call is one big play for the Chiefs and one huge win for the Redskins:
Washington 24, Kansas City 17
Monday, October 10, 2005
The Refeee Tucked It Up
Here is the third-quarter play from the NFL Gamebook:
3-5-DEN 7 (9:25) 16-J.Plummer to DEN 0 for -7 yards. FUMBLES, and recovers at DEN 0. 16-J.Plummer tackled in End Zone, SAFETY (32-A.Jimoh). Play Challenged by DEN and REVERSED. 16-J.Plummer pass incomplete to 80-R.Smith.
Here is what happened. On third and five from his own seven, Jake Plummer went back to pass. He took a short drop back to about the one. The right-hander pumped and didn’t throw. No defender was anywhere close to making contact with him. As the ball started to come down, he sort of tried to get control of it with his left hand. He failed to do so, making contact with the ball only briefly with his left hand if at all The ball came out of his right hand and, solely from the momentum provided by his arm, the ball bounced into the end zone. With no defender anywhere near him still, Plummer ran back and recovered the ball while still on his feet. Before he could look for anyone to throw to or try to run, the Redskins’ Ade Jimoh tackled him in the end zone. The official in the end zone signaled a safety.
Mike Shanahan brought out the red flag. Referee Peter Morelli reviewed the play on the sideline, came back out, conferred with other officials, and then went back under the hood to review again. He then turned on the microphone and stated:
The relevant word here, of course, is “tuck”, shorthand for the Tuck Rule. It became famous a few years back when the Patriots’ stayed alive in their first Super Bowl run after it was applied after what everyone thought was a game-ending fumble by Tom Brady that the Raiders had recovered. The officials, after a replay review, said that the applicable rule was Rule 3 (“Definitions”), Section 21 (“Pass and Passer”), Article 2, Note 2 of the official NFL rules. That rule states the following:
Also of relevance in Sunday’s game is what immediately follows in the rule book, which is Note 3::
In this particular case, Morelli also applied Rule 3, Section 21, Article 2, Note 2 to this play and ruled it an incomplete pass.
He was wrong.
First of all, does anyone else find Morelli’s explanation for the reversal curious? Here it is again:
He had to go under the hood twice to figure that out? If all that was required was that the quarterback’s arm be moving forward at some point during the play, why go to replay at all? Plummer was in the clear, he wasn’t surrounded by defenders, there was no dispute that his arm was moving forward at some point during the play. If no official was watching the quarterback, which is hard to believe, then it should have taken Morelli about six seconds under the hood to determine that Plummer’s arm went forward. End of review.
But Morelli did not do so, he had to review further. That’s because the rules do not make a quarterback immune from fumbling if he moves his arm forward and any point during the play. No, that’s not the case, otherwise there would be no need for Note 2, the key phrase being, “even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body.”
His arm needs to be moving forward and something else needs to happen after that for the Tuck Rule to be applicable.
So, here’s the nut of the issue:
Exactly at what point in time was Plummer “attempting” to tuck the ball back toward his body?
If the words “attempting to tuck the ball toward his body” mean anything, and words in rulebooks are supposed to mean specific things, Morelli has to recognize something to indicate that Plummer was “attempting” to tuck the ball away. You can watch the play again and again (and, sorry, we won’t put up video of the play here. We respect copyrights here and we don’t illegally post videos here despite what other sites may choose to do. And we have that policy in spite of the fact that this network is owned by the entity that broadcasts the games. We don’t have their permission, we don’t do it.) and you can’t find a time where you can say that Plummer was attempting to tuck the ball away. You may find a point in time where he’s thinking, “Shoot, I’d better get this thing tucked away,” but the rule says nothing about intent or thought, it says “attempting”. It just didn’t happen.
I could look at that replay, in fact, and think just as well that Plummer is attempting to recock his arm by bringing his left hand towards the ball. That would bring Note 3 from above into play, meaning that it’s a fumble.
So, Morelli looked at the video and, based on his supposition that Plummer moved his left hand towards the ball in an attempt to tuck and not to recock or just to desperately flail at a ball that he knew was about to come out of his hands, reversed the call on the field.
Such a judgment may have been acceptable had the ruling on the field not been a fumble and safety. The standard for reversing a call on the field is supposed to be “indisputable visual evidence”. That’s visual evidence. Not getting inside the quarterback’s head and drawing a conclusion about what he was trying to do.
The reversal, therefore, was not a proper one.
One other complaint about the reversal; it was a sloppy one. There was 9:22 left on the third-quarter clock when ball slipped out of Plummer’s hand and hit the ground. When Denver punted, there was 9:15 left. The clock should have stopped as soon as the ball hit the ground on the “incompletion”. So the chase for the ball and Jimoh’s tackle took time off the clock, but they didn’t exist because the pass was incomplete. They should have reset the clock to around 9:22. It was the finishing sloppy touch on a very sloppy call.
By the way, don’t bring up this section of the NFL Rules Digest from NFL.com under “Protecting the Passer”:
First of all, it’s just a digest of the rules, not the actual rules. Second, this only applies when a defensive player contacts the quarterback and that clearly did not happen.
Finally, there is no conspiracy theory being posited here. I don’t think that anyone is out to get anyone or that somehow the league wanted the Redskins to lose. Frankly, I think that anyone who believes that things are somehow fixed or that grudges are carried out in any systematic fashion and still watches the games is a moron. I just think that Morelli made a human mistake, one that cost the Redskins two points and, possibly the football game.
3-5-DEN 7 (9:25) 16-J.Plummer to DEN 0 for -7 yards. FUMBLES, and recovers at DEN 0. 16-J.Plummer tackled in End Zone, SAFETY (32-A.Jimoh). Play Challenged by DEN and REVERSED. 16-J.Plummer pass incomplete to 80-R.Smith.
Here is what happened. On third and five from his own seven, Jake Plummer went back to pass. He took a short drop back to about the one. The right-hander pumped and didn’t throw. No defender was anywhere close to making contact with him. As the ball started to come down, he sort of tried to get control of it with his left hand. He failed to do so, making contact with the ball only briefly with his left hand if at all The ball came out of his right hand and, solely from the momentum provided by his arm, the ball bounced into the end zone. With no defender anywhere near him still, Plummer ran back and recovered the ball while still on his feet. Before he could look for anyone to throw to or try to run, the Redskins’ Ade Jimoh tackled him in the end zone. The official in the end zone signaled a safety.
Mike Shanahan brought out the red flag. Referee Peter Morelli reviewed the play on the sideline, came back out, conferred with other officials, and then went back under the hood to review again. He then turned on the microphone and stated:
After reviewing the play, the quarterback’s arm was going forward, it is a tuck. Incomplete pass, fourth down.
The relevant word here, of course, is “tuck”, shorthand for the Tuck Rule. It became famous a few years back when the Patriots’ stayed alive in their first Super Bowl run after it was applied after what everyone thought was a game-ending fumble by Tom Brady that the Raiders had recovered. The officials, after a replay review, said that the applicable rule was Rule 3 (“Definitions”), Section 21 (“Pass and Passer”), Article 2, Note 2 of the official NFL rules. That rule states the following:
When a Team A player is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional forward movement of his hand starts a forward pass, even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body. Also, if a player has tucked the ball into his body and then loses possession, it is a fumble.
Also of relevance in Sunday’s game is what immediately follows in the rule book, which is Note 3::
If the player loses possession of the ball while attempting to recock his arm, it is a fumble.Don’t forget that, it becomes critical later on here.
In this particular case, Morelli also applied Rule 3, Section 21, Article 2, Note 2 to this play and ruled it an incomplete pass.
He was wrong.
First of all, does anyone else find Morelli’s explanation for the reversal curious? Here it is again:
After reviewing the play, the quarterback’s arm was going forward, it is a tuck. Incomplete pass, fourth down.
He had to go under the hood twice to figure that out? If all that was required was that the quarterback’s arm be moving forward at some point during the play, why go to replay at all? Plummer was in the clear, he wasn’t surrounded by defenders, there was no dispute that his arm was moving forward at some point during the play. If no official was watching the quarterback, which is hard to believe, then it should have taken Morelli about six seconds under the hood to determine that Plummer’s arm went forward. End of review.
But Morelli did not do so, he had to review further. That’s because the rules do not make a quarterback immune from fumbling if he moves his arm forward and any point during the play. No, that’s not the case, otherwise there would be no need for Note 2, the key phrase being, “even if the player loses possession of the ball as he is attempting to tuck it back toward his body.”
His arm needs to be moving forward and something else needs to happen after that for the Tuck Rule to be applicable.
So, here’s the nut of the issue:
Exactly at what point in time was Plummer “attempting” to tuck the ball back toward his body?
If the words “attempting to tuck the ball toward his body” mean anything, and words in rulebooks are supposed to mean specific things, Morelli has to recognize something to indicate that Plummer was “attempting” to tuck the ball away. You can watch the play again and again (and, sorry, we won’t put up video of the play here. We respect copyrights here and we don’t illegally post videos here despite what other sites may choose to do. And we have that policy in spite of the fact that this network is owned by the entity that broadcasts the games. We don’t have their permission, we don’t do it.) and you can’t find a time where you can say that Plummer was attempting to tuck the ball away. You may find a point in time where he’s thinking, “Shoot, I’d better get this thing tucked away,” but the rule says nothing about intent or thought, it says “attempting”. It just didn’t happen.
I could look at that replay, in fact, and think just as well that Plummer is attempting to recock his arm by bringing his left hand towards the ball. That would bring Note 3 from above into play, meaning that it’s a fumble.
So, Morelli looked at the video and, based on his supposition that Plummer moved his left hand towards the ball in an attempt to tuck and not to recock or just to desperately flail at a ball that he knew was about to come out of his hands, reversed the call on the field.
Such a judgment may have been acceptable had the ruling on the field not been a fumble and safety. The standard for reversing a call on the field is supposed to be “indisputable visual evidence”. That’s visual evidence. Not getting inside the quarterback’s head and drawing a conclusion about what he was trying to do.
The reversal, therefore, was not a proper one.
One other complaint about the reversal; it was a sloppy one. There was 9:22 left on the third-quarter clock when ball slipped out of Plummer’s hand and hit the ground. When Denver punted, there was 9:15 left. The clock should have stopped as soon as the ball hit the ground on the “incompletion”. So the chase for the ball and Jimoh’s tackle took time off the clock, but they didn’t exist because the pass was incomplete. They should have reset the clock to around 9:22. It was the finishing sloppy touch on a very sloppy call.
By the way, don’t bring up this section of the NFL Rules Digest from NFL.com under “Protecting the Passer”:
When a passer is holding the ball to pass it forward, any intentional movement forward of his arm starts a forward pass. If a defensive player contacts the passer or the ball after forward movement begins, and the ball leaves the passer’s hand, a forward pass is ruled, regardless of where the ball strikes the ground or a player
First of all, it’s just a digest of the rules, not the actual rules. Second, this only applies when a defensive player contacts the quarterback and that clearly did not happen.
Finally, there is no conspiracy theory being posited here. I don’t think that anyone is out to get anyone or that somehow the league wanted the Redskins to lose. Frankly, I think that anyone who believes that things are somehow fixed or that grudges are carried out in any systematic fashion and still watches the games is a moron. I just think that Morelli made a human mistake, one that cost the Redskins two points and, possibly the football game.
Sunday, October 09, 2005
GameBlog Fourth Quarter
Fourth Quarter
Still plenty of time to overcome an 11-point deficit. I want them, though, to flash up on the screen what Shanahan’s record is when is team has a lead of 10+ points in the fourth quarter.
If the Redskins can get a turnover, they will win. If not, they won’t.
Ade Jimoh with a game-saving play on Lelie. Good job,.
That blocked punt could have the same effect as a turnover. Could, mind you, I still think the Skins will need a regulation takeaway if they’re going to take this one. But the blocked punt does improve the chances greatly.
Huge non-catch by Thrash on that punt. It would have been a tough catch in the rain and I’m not necessarily blaming him as it would have been very risky play to make. Still, Thrash does almost everything right and that wasn’t one of those plays.
Flags going the Redskins’ way. Not sure that they’ll be able to take advantage, but they’re being given—and given is the apt term here—some good opportunities.
Win or lose, the Redskins have shown their mettle in this game. Cliché time here—there ain’t an ounce of give-up in them.
A tipped ball away. 94 yards to score, they can’t get another two yards to tie it. Still in first place in the division, I think that before the year started anyone would take 3-1 at the quarter mark of the season.
Nevertheless, you have to think that they let an opportunity slip away here.
Still plenty of time to overcome an 11-point deficit. I want them, though, to flash up on the screen what Shanahan’s record is when is team has a lead of 10+ points in the fourth quarter.
If the Redskins can get a turnover, they will win. If not, they won’t.
Ade Jimoh with a game-saving play on Lelie. Good job,.
That blocked punt could have the same effect as a turnover. Could, mind you, I still think the Skins will need a regulation takeaway if they’re going to take this one. But the blocked punt does improve the chances greatly.
Huge non-catch by Thrash on that punt. It would have been a tough catch in the rain and I’m not necessarily blaming him as it would have been very risky play to make. Still, Thrash does almost everything right and that wasn’t one of those plays.
Flags going the Redskins’ way. Not sure that they’ll be able to take advantage, but they’re being given—and given is the apt term here—some good opportunities.
Win or lose, the Redskins have shown their mettle in this game. Cliché time here—there ain’t an ounce of give-up in them.
A tipped ball away. 94 yards to score, they can’t get another two yards to tie it. Still in first place in the division, I think that before the year started anyone would take 3-1 at the quarter mark of the season.
Nevertheless, you have to think that they let an opportunity slip away here.
GameBlog: Third Quarter
Third Quarter
Washington is a homecoming opponent again. Denver is installing two guys into its Hall of Fame or whatever they call it. I’m sure they were expecting an easy win. I trust that Gibbs and company pointed this out to the team.
Three consecutive three and outs for the Broncos. Nothing is working for them except for the fact that the Redskins can’t get a turnover out of Plummer’s shaky play. I’d like to say that it will happen sooner or later but the Redskins’ track record doesn’t give one much confidence in that statement.
I was just corrected, that was four straight three and outs. A fifth here, deep in Denver territory, would be most helpful.
I’ve got to think that the tuck rule will be invoked here. That was a textbook example. Heck, if I’m the Redskins I might challenge the call if Denver doesn’t. I’d rather have them punting with a rush from the end zone than getting a free kick from the 20.
If it’s a safety, I wonder if it counts as a three and out.
Denver is now out of challenges, although their second one was successful. Let’s see, can I spell pyric victory without spell check? Nope.
Those third-down conversions aren’t coming as easily this week as they were last week against Seattle. That was not a good sequence for the Redskins as they gave up field position in addition to not scoring points. You have to do one or the other.
You can’t hold ‘em down forever. It looked like a give-up almost, not wanting to let Plummer put it up in the air. But just like on the other, fourth-down run he got through the blitz and there was nobody there. Hopefully, this will wake up the Redskins’ offense. Plenty of time left.
Again, no field position advantage gained by the Redskins due to the intentional grounding and the poor punt by Frost. The Redskins may pay again.
Washington is a homecoming opponent again. Denver is installing two guys into its Hall of Fame or whatever they call it. I’m sure they were expecting an easy win. I trust that Gibbs and company pointed this out to the team.
Three consecutive three and outs for the Broncos. Nothing is working for them except for the fact that the Redskins can’t get a turnover out of Plummer’s shaky play. I’d like to say that it will happen sooner or later but the Redskins’ track record doesn’t give one much confidence in that statement.
I was just corrected, that was four straight three and outs. A fifth here, deep in Denver territory, would be most helpful.
I’ve got to think that the tuck rule will be invoked here. That was a textbook example. Heck, if I’m the Redskins I might challenge the call if Denver doesn’t. I’d rather have them punting with a rush from the end zone than getting a free kick from the 20.
If it’s a safety, I wonder if it counts as a three and out.
Denver is now out of challenges, although their second one was successful. Let’s see, can I spell pyric victory without spell check? Nope.
Those third-down conversions aren’t coming as easily this week as they were last week against Seattle. That was not a good sequence for the Redskins as they gave up field position in addition to not scoring points. You have to do one or the other.
You can’t hold ‘em down forever. It looked like a give-up almost, not wanting to let Plummer put it up in the air. But just like on the other, fourth-down run he got through the blitz and there was nobody there. Hopefully, this will wake up the Redskins’ offense. Plenty of time left.
Again, no field position advantage gained by the Redskins due to the intentional grounding and the poor punt by Frost. The Redskins may pay again.
GameBlog: Second Quarter
Second Quarter
The defense needs to tighten up here. Denver is getting running room.
Shawn Springs is out with an injury. No word as to what is injured or how long he will be out for.
The Redskins pay as “Uh-oh” Jimoh is beaten on a fade by Ashleigh Lelie. I’m not quite sure why the catch by Patten was offensive PI and this one was not as Jimoh got the same stiff arm that Patten gave his defender, but apparently there was a difference.
If Springs can’t come back in, they’ll need to get Jimoh some help. A lot of it.
That’s three TD’s in three opposition possessions for the Redskins defense. Not the dominating unit they have been. Denver’s run is working and it’s setting up the pass.
Plummer got away with one there, throwing up that dying duck on third and two. It’s unclear how the Redskins avoided interception that one. The strategy is sound, however. Keep him in the pocket and get someone in his face and good things will happen for the defense.
Is it going to get to the point where other teams put a spy on Brunell? Another superb third-down conversion with his legs.
Portis looks to be pretty concerned on the sideline, but I don’t know if it’s all that serious. He hasn’t been take off for X-rays or anything, so that’s a good sign. Frankly, I’m much more concerned about Springs. We didn’t see him out there on the last series, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t there.
I don’t want to be too terribly hard on Jimoh, but the guy told me himself during training camp that he hoped that his primary contribution on this team was playing special teams. If he doesn’t particularly want to be out there, I sure don’t want him out there either.
Washington manages a field goal with the big play being, big surprise here, a long pass to Moss, this one for 32 yards. I can’t figure out why Brunell decided to throw away that pass when he was across the line. He could have slid a made a yard or two. Heck, he could have take a knee where he was and it would have been third and seven.
Consecutive three and outs forced by the Washington offense. Again, Plummer is extremely jittery when he’s kept in the pocket and he’s been forcing passes into coverage. They’ve shut down the run for the last two series as well.
Good late drive by the Redskins although it resulted in no points.
The defense needs to tighten up here. Denver is getting running room.
Shawn Springs is out with an injury. No word as to what is injured or how long he will be out for.
The Redskins pay as “Uh-oh” Jimoh is beaten on a fade by Ashleigh Lelie. I’m not quite sure why the catch by Patten was offensive PI and this one was not as Jimoh got the same stiff arm that Patten gave his defender, but apparently there was a difference.
If Springs can’t come back in, they’ll need to get Jimoh some help. A lot of it.
That’s three TD’s in three opposition possessions for the Redskins defense. Not the dominating unit they have been. Denver’s run is working and it’s setting up the pass.
Plummer got away with one there, throwing up that dying duck on third and two. It’s unclear how the Redskins avoided interception that one. The strategy is sound, however. Keep him in the pocket and get someone in his face and good things will happen for the defense.
Is it going to get to the point where other teams put a spy on Brunell? Another superb third-down conversion with his legs.
Portis looks to be pretty concerned on the sideline, but I don’t know if it’s all that serious. He hasn’t been take off for X-rays or anything, so that’s a good sign. Frankly, I’m much more concerned about Springs. We didn’t see him out there on the last series, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t there.
I don’t want to be too terribly hard on Jimoh, but the guy told me himself during training camp that he hoped that his primary contribution on this team was playing special teams. If he doesn’t particularly want to be out there, I sure don’t want him out there either.
Washington manages a field goal with the big play being, big surprise here, a long pass to Moss, this one for 32 yards. I can’t figure out why Brunell decided to throw away that pass when he was across the line. He could have slid a made a yard or two. Heck, he could have take a knee where he was and it would have been third and seven.
Consecutive three and outs forced by the Washington offense. Again, Plummer is extremely jittery when he’s kept in the pocket and he’s been forcing passes into coverage. They’ve shut down the run for the last two series as well.
Good late drive by the Redskins although it resulted in no points.
GameBlog First Quarter
GameBlog First Quarter
First Quarter
The Redskins defense has got to come up with some takeaways (leading with the obvious here). They have got to influence field position, if nothing else. Pretty sloppy handoff there between Brunell and Portis, no excuse for that on this level. Perhaps Portis is a bit too keyed up.
A good individual play by Tatum Bell there. Good defense called, Bell just found the right spot and was able to get through the line.
It seems like they’re trying to get Patten untracked, going to him a couple of times here in the early going. They may be setting up Denver’s rookie corner Foxworth for a pump and go in the later going.
Broncos challenge a sideline catch for a first down by Santana Moss. It will be interesting to see how good an angle the cameras have on it. The play was on the far sideline from the cameras and they may not have a good enough view to make a challenge.
They did have a good angle. It was an old baseball bang-bang play where he caught the ball almost exactly as his knee hit the ground. Had it been called incomplete, the call would have stood as well.
Terrible, terrible offensive PI call. A stiff arm is not illegal. Patten’s arm was out and the DB ran into it. Just demands that the Redskins score a TD on this drive.
Justice served. Anyone have Sellers on their fantasy team? Great counter-punch by the Redskins. Let’s see if the defense can get the ball back in Brunell’s hands. Two months ago, would anyone believe that a sober person was typing those words?
I said during minicamp that if Brunell was forced into action this year, the results might not be disastrous. I’d like to say I called how sharp he’s been, but this is way beyond what anyone thought he was still capable of. I thought that Gibbs was just being nice to a player he couldn’t cut when he said that the final chapter of Brunell’s story had not yet been written. I, along with a lot of others, thought wrong.
Denver is doing a good job is picking up the blitzes, but I think that Williams will stay with them. They are keeping Plummer in the pocket and that will pay dividends sooner or later.
First Quarter
The Redskins defense has got to come up with some takeaways (leading with the obvious here). They have got to influence field position, if nothing else. Pretty sloppy handoff there between Brunell and Portis, no excuse for that on this level. Perhaps Portis is a bit too keyed up.
A good individual play by Tatum Bell there. Good defense called, Bell just found the right spot and was able to get through the line.
It seems like they’re trying to get Patten untracked, going to him a couple of times here in the early going. They may be setting up Denver’s rookie corner Foxworth for a pump and go in the later going.
Broncos challenge a sideline catch for a first down by Santana Moss. It will be interesting to see how good an angle the cameras have on it. The play was on the far sideline from the cameras and they may not have a good enough view to make a challenge.
They did have a good angle. It was an old baseball bang-bang play where he caught the ball almost exactly as his knee hit the ground. Had it been called incomplete, the call would have stood as well.
Terrible, terrible offensive PI call. A stiff arm is not illegal. Patten’s arm was out and the DB ran into it. Just demands that the Redskins score a TD on this drive.
Justice served. Anyone have Sellers on their fantasy team? Great counter-punch by the Redskins. Let’s see if the defense can get the ball back in Brunell’s hands. Two months ago, would anyone believe that a sober person was typing those words?
I said during minicamp that if Brunell was forced into action this year, the results might not be disastrous. I’d like to say I called how sharp he’s been, but this is way beyond what anyone thought he was still capable of. I thought that Gibbs was just being nice to a player he couldn’t cut when he said that the final chapter of Brunell’s story had not yet been written. I, along with a lot of others, thought wrong.
Denver is doing a good job is picking up the blitzes, but I think that Williams will stay with them. They are keeping Plummer in the pocket and that will pay dividends sooner or later.
Redskins vs Broncos Gameblog: Pregame
Redskins vs. Broncos GameBlog: Pregame
There seems to be a chance of rain throughout the game, according to the link in WarpathInsider.com’s Game Information Center. There is a forecast for snow, but that should hold off until well after the game is over. Most of the beat writers have flights out Monday morning, though, and they could be scrambling like, well, Mark Brunell on third and long to try to get out of town.
There is a line of thinking that says that rain would favor the Redskins as the underdog is typically helped as the weather conditions make things more unpredictable. That might be the case if the Broncos were clearly superior to the Redskins, but they’re not.
Not that it matters much, but you’d be hard pressed to find a single national-type writer who is picking the Redskins to win. Of course, if you examine the records of many of these “experts” you’ll find that you could have picked games just as successfully by flipping a coin so it doesn’t mean that much. Still, this is not a game that warrants such a one-sided group opinion. The Redskins may well lose, but this is a pretty even game.
The thing is that the national perception will lag far behind the truth, that the Redskins are indeed an improved football team, 6-2 in their last eight games. They will look at a late Seattle field goal miss and say that the Redskins are lucky, probably because they didn’t see the ball bounce right out of Clinton Portis’ hands and into those of a Seattle DB to set up that FG attempt. A well-designed, gutsy 70-yard touchdown bomb has morphed into a desperate “Hail Mary”. So the “Redskins are lucky” beat goes on. A win today will go a long way towards dispelling that myth.
There seems to be a chance of rain throughout the game, according to the link in WarpathInsider.com’s Game Information Center. There is a forecast for snow, but that should hold off until well after the game is over. Most of the beat writers have flights out Monday morning, though, and they could be scrambling like, well, Mark Brunell on third and long to try to get out of town.
There is a line of thinking that says that rain would favor the Redskins as the underdog is typically helped as the weather conditions make things more unpredictable. That might be the case if the Broncos were clearly superior to the Redskins, but they’re not.
Not that it matters much, but you’d be hard pressed to find a single national-type writer who is picking the Redskins to win. Of course, if you examine the records of many of these “experts” you’ll find that you could have picked games just as successfully by flipping a coin so it doesn’t mean that much. Still, this is not a game that warrants such a one-sided group opinion. The Redskins may well lose, but this is a pretty even game.
The thing is that the national perception will lag far behind the truth, that the Redskins are indeed an improved football team, 6-2 in their last eight games. They will look at a late Seattle field goal miss and say that the Redskins are lucky, probably because they didn’t see the ball bounce right out of Clinton Portis’ hands and into those of a Seattle DB to set up that FG attempt. A well-designed, gutsy 70-yard touchdown bomb has morphed into a desperate “Hail Mary”. So the “Redskins are lucky” beat goes on. A win today will go a long way towards dispelling that myth.
Friday, October 07, 2005
LaVar Gibbs and Bold Predictions
LaVar, Gibbs, and Bold Predictions
Arrington
Before getting started here, a few non-words about Arrington. It’s really simple—he’s not playing because he’s not playing within the defensive scheme. Will he be back next year? Next year is 13 games away, possibly more, and too much is going to happen to make anything but a wild guess about whether or not Arrington will wear the B&G next year. Not that I’m foreign to making a wild guess from time to time, but I’ll pass on this one.
Gibbs
We’ve discussed media templates here before and one of the prime ones surrounding the Redskins is some variation of “the game has passed Joe Gibbs by”. He was stuck in the 1980’s world both strategically and mentally, with a game plan that went out of vogue with disco music.
Like most of the templates, this wasn’t made up out of thin air, there once was some basis in fact for it. Even Jon Jansen said that the team was running plays from 1992. The awful results from the offense last year speak for themselves.
A template, however, is static. Joe Gibbs is dynamic. As soon as the 2004 season ended, he got down to work in a way that few of us ever will get down to work on anything. For most of the offseason, the work days of Gibbs and his coaching staff started at 12 hours and usually went longer, six and seven days a week. They looked at what was wrong with the offense from every possible angle--plays, game plans, personnel, game management, everything. Gibbs got some new weapons, jettisoned some old ones, went into OTA’s and minicamp and installed the revamped offense.
Some elements, like a max protect pass package, are old. Others, like the shotgun, are new to Gibbs. The Redskins haven’t lit up the world offensively, but they have scored enough to win three games out of three and rank 14th in the NFL in offense. That may not be very impressive, but it is better than 17 other teams, including Mike Shanahan’s Broncos.
And it means that Joe Gibbs gets it. He can adjust, he can get it done. It doesn’t mean that the Redskins will go undefeated this year; it doesn’t mean that they will even win a playoff game. It just means that those who said that the game had passed by Gibbs were wrong.
I don’t expect the legion of Gibbs doubters out there to suddenly grow a pair and come out and admit that they were wrong like Terry Bradshaw did on FoxSports.com.
It's damn impressive what the Redskins have accomplished thus far.
Let's go back to last year. Remember, at the end of last season, Gibbs came out and said, "Let's not be so quick in writing off Brunell." Patrick Ramsey, yes, he's pretty good, but Brunell can still play.
Now, I was one of those guys who openly questioned Gibbs when he said that. Did he really believe that? I was saying, "Hey, get the young kid in there. You can't win with Brunell."
Why did I do that? Because I'm following into a trap like everyone else. Pick up the papers back in Washington. The writers thought Gibbs was dead wrong about Brunell. I've learned my lesson. There is no way I know more about what's going on in Washington than Gibbs. I just see it from a studio and I'm impressed that the Redskins are 3-0 and in first place.
Such statements as Bradshaw’s are nice but not necessary. As long as they drop this outdated template, that will be fine with me.
Bold Predictions
Whenever the Redskins play an AFC team I feel like it’s a game that’s being played on the moon or something. It’s very foreign and very hard to figure out. When you play a team only once every four years there just isn’t much to go on.
But, hey, I’ve made a living here on making a lot out of not very much, so here goes.
I do know one thing for sure—this is a statement game for the Redskins. Win and a quality road victory (make that a second one after Dallas) will force the detractors to take some notice.
The Broncos, after years of having a reputation for being a high-powered offense but a mediocre defense and something of a soft underbelly, are now playing it rough. It’s back to the days of the Orange Crush with the defense leading the way. Or make it the Brown Crush (sorry, can’t come up with anything more poetic there) as ¾ of their starting defensive line played for Cleveland last year. Wherever they came from, they are ranked fourth in run defense and sixth in overall defense. They physically beat up on the Jacksonville Jaguars last week and the Jags are quite physical themselves.
The Redskins still aren’t a smooth-running offensive machine and it’s unlikely that they’ll score a ton against this defense. Without some help from the defense (more on that in a minute) it’s hard to see the Redskins putting up more than 14-17 points, whether Champ Bailey, who missed last week’s game and is listed as questionable this week, plays or not.
And that could be good enough to win. The Denver offense is middle of the pack at best. It’s not as good as the Seattle offense that the Redskins beat last week. Shaun Alexander is better than either of the Broncos’ backs, Darrell Jackson and Bobby Engram are better than Rod Smith and Ashley Lelie and Matt Hasselbeck is much better than Jake Plummer.
This is the week that Gregg Williams does less talking about the blitz and faking the blitz and starts bringing it. Plummer is at his most effective getting outside of the pocket and making plays on the move. If you force him to make decisions quickly and get rid of the ball, he can be rattled.
And a rattled Jake Plummer means turnovers. Last year, he threw 20 interceptions, not a bad number for a guy who started 16 games at all. However, they tended to come in bunches. Plummer had six games in which he threw no picks. But seven times he had games with two or more completions to the other-colored jerseys.
If the Redskins can coerce one of those multi-INT efforts out of Plummer on Sunday, they will win and they could win easily. If not, it will be yet another game that goes into the final minutes, or extra minutes, until it’s decided. If that happens, it’s anyone’s game.
The call here is that Gregg Williams will get inside Plummer’s head and he will throw those two or three picks. Champ Bailey will play and will get beaten by Santana Moss. Clinton Portis won’t have a spectacular game in his homecoming, 80-90 yards or so. It won’t be spectacular, but it will be successful. Nick Novak kicks another late field goal and the Redskins hold off a late Denver bid and win.
Redskins 17, Broncos 13
Arrington
Before getting started here, a few non-words about Arrington. It’s really simple—he’s not playing because he’s not playing within the defensive scheme. Will he be back next year? Next year is 13 games away, possibly more, and too much is going to happen to make anything but a wild guess about whether or not Arrington will wear the B&G next year. Not that I’m foreign to making a wild guess from time to time, but I’ll pass on this one.
Gibbs
We’ve discussed media templates here before and one of the prime ones surrounding the Redskins is some variation of “the game has passed Joe Gibbs by”. He was stuck in the 1980’s world both strategically and mentally, with a game plan that went out of vogue with disco music.
Like most of the templates, this wasn’t made up out of thin air, there once was some basis in fact for it. Even Jon Jansen said that the team was running plays from 1992. The awful results from the offense last year speak for themselves.
A template, however, is static. Joe Gibbs is dynamic. As soon as the 2004 season ended, he got down to work in a way that few of us ever will get down to work on anything. For most of the offseason, the work days of Gibbs and his coaching staff started at 12 hours and usually went longer, six and seven days a week. They looked at what was wrong with the offense from every possible angle--plays, game plans, personnel, game management, everything. Gibbs got some new weapons, jettisoned some old ones, went into OTA’s and minicamp and installed the revamped offense.
Some elements, like a max protect pass package, are old. Others, like the shotgun, are new to Gibbs. The Redskins haven’t lit up the world offensively, but they have scored enough to win three games out of three and rank 14th in the NFL in offense. That may not be very impressive, but it is better than 17 other teams, including Mike Shanahan’s Broncos.
And it means that Joe Gibbs gets it. He can adjust, he can get it done. It doesn’t mean that the Redskins will go undefeated this year; it doesn’t mean that they will even win a playoff game. It just means that those who said that the game had passed by Gibbs were wrong.
I don’t expect the legion of Gibbs doubters out there to suddenly grow a pair and come out and admit that they were wrong like Terry Bradshaw did on FoxSports.com.
It's damn impressive what the Redskins have accomplished thus far.
Let's go back to last year. Remember, at the end of last season, Gibbs came out and said, "Let's not be so quick in writing off Brunell." Patrick Ramsey, yes, he's pretty good, but Brunell can still play.
Now, I was one of those guys who openly questioned Gibbs when he said that. Did he really believe that? I was saying, "Hey, get the young kid in there. You can't win with Brunell."
Why did I do that? Because I'm following into a trap like everyone else. Pick up the papers back in Washington. The writers thought Gibbs was dead wrong about Brunell. I've learned my lesson. There is no way I know more about what's going on in Washington than Gibbs. I just see it from a studio and I'm impressed that the Redskins are 3-0 and in first place.
Such statements as Bradshaw’s are nice but not necessary. As long as they drop this outdated template, that will be fine with me.
Bold Predictions
Whenever the Redskins play an AFC team I feel like it’s a game that’s being played on the moon or something. It’s very foreign and very hard to figure out. When you play a team only once every four years there just isn’t much to go on.
But, hey, I’ve made a living here on making a lot out of not very much, so here goes.
I do know one thing for sure—this is a statement game for the Redskins. Win and a quality road victory (make that a second one after Dallas) will force the detractors to take some notice.
The Broncos, after years of having a reputation for being a high-powered offense but a mediocre defense and something of a soft underbelly, are now playing it rough. It’s back to the days of the Orange Crush with the defense leading the way. Or make it the Brown Crush (sorry, can’t come up with anything more poetic there) as ¾ of their starting defensive line played for Cleveland last year. Wherever they came from, they are ranked fourth in run defense and sixth in overall defense. They physically beat up on the Jacksonville Jaguars last week and the Jags are quite physical themselves.
The Redskins still aren’t a smooth-running offensive machine and it’s unlikely that they’ll score a ton against this defense. Without some help from the defense (more on that in a minute) it’s hard to see the Redskins putting up more than 14-17 points, whether Champ Bailey, who missed last week’s game and is listed as questionable this week, plays or not.
And that could be good enough to win. The Denver offense is middle of the pack at best. It’s not as good as the Seattle offense that the Redskins beat last week. Shaun Alexander is better than either of the Broncos’ backs, Darrell Jackson and Bobby Engram are better than Rod Smith and Ashley Lelie and Matt Hasselbeck is much better than Jake Plummer.
This is the week that Gregg Williams does less talking about the blitz and faking the blitz and starts bringing it. Plummer is at his most effective getting outside of the pocket and making plays on the move. If you force him to make decisions quickly and get rid of the ball, he can be rattled.
And a rattled Jake Plummer means turnovers. Last year, he threw 20 interceptions, not a bad number for a guy who started 16 games at all. However, they tended to come in bunches. Plummer had six games in which he threw no picks. But seven times he had games with two or more completions to the other-colored jerseys.
If the Redskins can coerce one of those multi-INT efforts out of Plummer on Sunday, they will win and they could win easily. If not, it will be yet another game that goes into the final minutes, or extra minutes, until it’s decided. If that happens, it’s anyone’s game.
The call here is that Gregg Williams will get inside Plummer’s head and he will throw those two or three picks. Champ Bailey will play and will get beaten by Santana Moss. Clinton Portis won’t have a spectacular game in his homecoming, 80-90 yards or so. It won’t be spectacular, but it will be successful. Nick Novak kicks another late field goal and the Redskins hold off a late Denver bid and win.
Redskins 17, Broncos 13
Sunday, October 02, 2005
GameBlog vs. Seattle Final
You can reach me by email at rtandler@comcast.net
First Half
Seattle is wearing its all-dark uniforms. It’s only 78 degrees at game time, but they’ll be in direct sun for most of three quarters. Probably only a slight difference, but that has to take something out of you as the game goes on.
Well, my call was to go deep on the game’s first play. We’ll find out here shortly.
It was for Moss, but it was a short-to-intermediate route that bounced as Moss caught it.
They game Thrash a pretty good cushion on a 13-yard completion for a first down.
The offensive line is just blowing the Seahawk defense away here on virtually every snap so far. Brunell has had good protection, too, except on the first pass. Virtually anyone could run or pass behind this bunch today. Perhaps they’ve been reading some of the recent criticism of their play in the papers.
Fourth and inches at the Seattle 20, Gibbs leaving his rookie kicker and holder on the sidelines and going for it. Portis takes the low guided Cruise missile route to the first down.
Now they have to go on anyway after a third and seven sack. Disaster as the kick never got off the ground and was blocked. Not only that, but they smacked it back about 20 yards giving them the ball at midfield. Good drive, bad ending. They got done what they needed to do in terms of establishing some offensive rhythm (15 plays), but couldn’t finish it off.
Frost and Novak are discussing what happened on the sidelines. The snap was good, the hold seemed OK, but it only takes a little bit off for a kick to go astray.
It gets them a 52-yard field goal. That one by Josh Brown was also low, as many long kicks are, but it has enough distance and snuck in the lower left corner of the end zone.
James Thrash is becoming Mr. Clutch, moving the sticks with regularity. Two third-down conversions for him in the first 10 minutes of play.
As the first quarter moves on, the Seattle DL is getting quite a bit more active. They’re getting some penetration, although they don’t seem to be able to generate a pass rush without a blitz (as is the case with the Redskins). Still, another drive that was productive without any points being scored.
If I’m Danny Smith, I put into each punter’s contract that it’s a $1,000 fine if you punt it into the end zone from inside midfield and a $1,000 bonus for each time it’s downed inside the 20. A 20-yard net on a punt like Frost just got is pretty worthless, you might as well go for it.
Good play call by Holmgren on third and three, a play action right, leaving the TE with lots of running room.
Not sure why there wasn’t a holding call on Hasselbeck’s second and 20 pass attempt. Cornelius Griffin was right in front of him and the offensive lineman was behind him and hanging on for dear life. No matter as Philip Daniels just needed about two steps of penetration to bat down Hasselbeck’s third-down pass.
Often overlooked about Santana Moss because of his speed are his hands. He has a great ability to snatch the ball out of the air and put it away in one quick motion.
We’re starting to see Gibbs’ offense at work. Third and two, Cooley lined up at fullback, no TE’s lined up, three wides, a little pass to Cooley good for 11 yards.
It’s back to Brunell having all day to throw again. Robert Royal seemed to be his fourth option on a third and ten play. It seemed like he would have had time to go back to his first and second options if he wanted to, but Royal just got the first.
Moss’ hands on display again on the catch in the end zone that was reviewed. He got the ball into his body so quickly that he got possession before he hit the ground. It was close, but it was the correct call from the view here.
Finally, a first-half touchdown. Nice touch by Brunell on the little pass to Royal on third and goal. Sixteen play drive, 85 yard drive. Four third down conversions from as little as one yard and as long as ten, Brunell 7-9 for 71 yards. Seattle generally seemed to have no idea what the Redskins were going to do and, when they did, they were unable to stop it.
Still, when a game goes like this and you’re dominating on both sides of the ball and you look up at the scoreboard and you’re only up by four, you have to be somewhat concerned. Another score before halftime would make the breathing a bit easier.
Third and 11 for Seattle in Redskins territory, crowd roaring, false start. Seems like old times.
It may seem dumb to make a diving fair catch rather than just let the ball go, especially when time is running out in the half, but Thrash possible prevented the ball from bouncing off of a teammate, which could have been disaster. If he doesn’t field the punt on the dive, he certainly pushes it out of bounds. Smart football, smart football player.
Second Half
Halftime stats show Alexander with 12 yards rushing, showing that you can’t gain yardage while you’re on the sideline. Brunell has a triple-digit QB rating at 104.7, probably a first for him with the Redskins even for a half.
Some dumb football by Seattle on the second-half kickoff. On a high kick, the receiver called for a fair catch, sort of, but took off anyway. It cost Seattle five plus the few yards that the return was for.
Good drive going on by Seattle, they’re giving Hasselbeck time to throw, or, rather, they’re having him throw quickly. They’ll need to tighten up the coverage some if they’re going to stop the West Coast Offense death by a thousand paper cuts.
A sack was critical, as was a picked-up flag on Springs that would have resulted in a first down. For Seattle, it was death by a 47-yard FG try that was short. Without the sack yardage, it would have snuck through. They said that Springs made illegal contact with a receiver and he essentially admitted it, but it was after Hasselbeck was already underneath Lamar Marshall.
The offensive line is inconsistent so far, sometimes getting a good push, sometimes Seattle can blow up plays in the backfield.
Mike Sellers isn’t just an offensive tackle with an H-back’s number. He can actually catch passes and score touchdowns. That PI call to set up the score looked pretty shaky to me, but it’s not as though such flags haven’t been thrown against the Redskins over the past several years.
To show my East-Coast bias, I never realized what a good receiver Darrell Jackson is. He catches anything thrown in his ZIP Code.
A blitz—and a good blitz pickup—leaves Engram all alone on third and ten. Looks like Seattle may get closer here.
They do on an Alexander TD run up they middle. Not a good series by the Washington defense there. They paid for blitzing on a couple of occasions, the last one converting the third and 10. Credit Seattle with doing a good job of picking it up.
It’s OK to throw to a receiver who’s at a dead stop short of the first down if the receiver is Clinton Portis. Great move to pick up the first on third and nine.
We have had a big-time Chris Cooley sighting today. After being mostly silent after his TD in the Bears game was nullified, he’s picked up some nice yardage today. Gibbs is finding ways to work him open—usually wide open—and he’s catching the ball with all kinds of running room.
Nick Novak needed that one—a 40-yard field goal with plenty of distance and right down the middle.
That’s the second straight kickoff that’s been high and short. Seattle did make the fair catch on this one. Are they kicking off that way intentionally?
A Smart play by Cedric Killings. He slammed on the brakes when he recognized a second and 15 screen instead of shooting in on the quarterback. He turned and helped make the tackle after a short gain. Looks like all that NFL Europe playing time did him some good.
Another smart play sighting. Portis swept out on third and two and instead of stopping and cutting in an attempt to make a big run, he turned sideways, slid through a crack, and make the first down by plenty.
Sack specialist Demetric Evans in the game at left end. Let’s see if he can get something going as far as a pass rush from the front four.
Fourth and one at their own 34. Will Seattle actually go for it. Lots of time left, a stop ends the game. They’re almost certainly going to pass as Alexander has been hitting a brick wall for most of the day.
Good call—or maybe good play by Hasselbeck—to pick up the first on a scramble. Well, you can’t allow a 14-yard completion on third and 15.
Alexander is picking up some steam as this game goes on. You certainly can’t accuse Mike Holmgren of giving up on him.
First and ten at the 12 for Seattle. The Redskins didn’t take advantage of their early domination and they could end up paying for it.
They do as Seattle ties it up. Drove it 90 yards, 14 plays down the Redskins’ throat with the screaming crowd that grew quieter on each third-down as it seemed inevitable that Hasselbeck would convert. No hint of being a soft team on the road there, that’s for sure. And my dark uniform theory is pretty much out the window as well.
That’s the way the ball bounces. Seattle’s got a shot to steal the win.
Wide left. New life. Dodged a bullet, not time to go downstairs just yet.
A mini recreation of the last five minutes in Dallas in overtime with Brunell picking up key yards on a scramble and Moss making the catch and run that win it.
Post Game
It was a happy locker room, but under control. They realize that they’ve won nothing yet and there’s a long way to go. Still, there was a little more excitement there today. As Gibbs left the podium in the interview room and Moss was approaching the front of the room, the two exchanged enthusiastic congratulations. Later, I was passing by Brunell, who might recognize me from Redskins Park but we’ve never had a one-on-one conversation, and he gave be a big smile and slap on the back like I was an old college buddy.
I asked Novak about the short, high kickoffs and he confirmed that they were by design. He almost told me what they call that type of kick, but he caught himself, afraid of giving away company secrets.
Novak’s a good kid, easy to root for. When he was asked whether or not he watched John Brown’s potential game-winner at the end of regulation, he said that he did, but that he didn’t openly root for Brown to miss, not wanted to create “bad karma”. When a reporter followed up and asked what he meant by that, Novak looked puzzled that anyone wouldn’t get it. He asked back, “Don’t you understand what bad karma is?” A classic response to a dumb question.
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