Have the Redskins Found the Winning Formula?

Do the Redskins have their swagger back?

We thought that they did following their thrilling overtime win over Jacksonville in Week 4. The carryover momentum from that game, however, lasted less than two quarters into their next game. That was when the Giants started to take control of their contest in the Meadowlands.

That was the first of three straight losses. The string was broken with another exciting victory when the Skins snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by blocking Mike Vanderjagt’s last-second field goal attempt and getting the game-winning three points from Nick Novak. Sometimes a win like that can get a team on a roll. But, no, the offense couldn’t generate anything consistently in Philadelphia the next week, the defense gave up some big plays and it was back to square one in the momentum department.

After last Sunday they have another chance. The Redskins played well on both sides of the ball, something that they didn’t do in those other games mentioned above, and pulled out a hard-earned 17-13 win over the Carolina Panthers, who thought that they were about to get on a serious roll.

Now some of you may scoff at the notion that last Sunday’s game represented anything that a team could build any momentum off of. Carolina’s play calling was frightfully bad at times (how could you call and throw so many six-yard passes on third and eight?) and Washington did have to hang on for dear life at the end. The game was not a thing of beauty by any stretch.

But nine out of every ten games in the NFL are ugly wins for one of the participants. The formula that the Redskins used on Sunday was tried and true. The defense kept them in the game while the offense moved the ball enough so that the D could stay off the field for a while after they stopped the Panthers. Because of the effectiveness of the defense the offense didn’t have to press. They knew that they didn’t have to score every time they got their hands on the ball. Because Jason Campbell was playing well enough to move the chains, the defense didn’t get tired and desperate.

Eventually, good things happened for the Redskins. A blocked punt, a deadly accurate pass from Campbell to Chris Cooley, a fourth-down tackle and a clinching interception and the Redskins walked off smiling.

In winning the Redskins found their formula for success. They couldn’t bottle up what they did against the Jaguars because you’re not going to score 36 points every game. Their takeaway from the Dallas win was to play hard until the clock says 0:00—and even for a play after that—and good things can happen. But you can watch NFL games for a decade and not see an ending that unfolds like that one did. With the Sunday Ticket and a remote you can see around a dozen every week like the Skins beating Carolina. If the Redskins can continue playing like that they will be able to climb their way back to respectability.

Moderation is a virtue

The Redskins had one of the easiest training camps of any NFL team this summer. Joe Gibbs scheduled very few two a days, minimal sessions in full pads and they had a day off less than a week after camp started.

On the other end of the scale was the camp conducted by Atlanta’s Jim Mora Jr. Most days there were two practices with at least one of them in full pads. Union rules prohibited him from scheduling three a days and having the players wear full pads in meetings and at lunch, but if he could have he probably would have. It took so long for the players to get a day off that they felt like they were being paroled when they finally got one.

Early in the season it sure did look like Mora had it right and that Gibbs needed to go to school on the younger coach. At the end of October the Falcons were 5-2 and looking like they were on their way to the playoffs.

But then the leaves started to fall and so did the Falcons. The are 0 for November, losing four straight this month.. Has the brutal regimen in August contributed to their collapse in the fall?

Of course, we can only guess. But one eye-popping stat suggests that they may well be running out of gas. In the second half of the four games of their current skid they have been outscored by a staggering aggregate of 67-20.

When the first of January rolls around it’s likely that the Redskins and Falcons will wind up in the same spot, around .500 and on the outside of the playoffs looking in. The Redskins can blame part of their woes on their light camp workload not having them ready to go when the season started. They will be fresh in December but they will be playing golf in January. Atlanta may well have flamed out and peaked too early. Perhaps both organizations need to consider some degree of moderation in how tough or how easy they are on their players during the summer so that they might still be playing well into the winter.

Gregg Williams in the Crosshairs

You can reach Rich Tandler by email at WarpathInsiders@comcast.net

Normally, one would say ho, hum. Another article ripping the Redskins for being an organization is disarray. Wake me up when they get past the part about Dan Snyder being a megalomaniac and fantasy football owner. Most such articles never do.

This one, however, merits close examination. This article is not from one of your typical foaming at the mouth, Snyder hating, Art Monk dissing, card carrying Redskins bashers. It’s by Tom Friend, currently with ESPN and formerly with the Washington Post. He was the Post’s Redskins beat writer for much of the team’s glory years under Gibbs. What he has written about the Redskins in the past has been mostly fair and has stayed away from the conventional myths that surround the team (i. e. Snyder as fantasy GM). For a national writer he seems to be pretty knowledgeable about the team. So, when Friend writes an article that takes Joe Gibbs to task and rips one of his assistant head coaches and beats up on a lower level assistant we should take a closer look.

It’s a long article, a few thousands words, and it needs to be read in its entirety. I’m going to summarize a few things here, but you really have to read the whole thing if what is following here is going to make any sense.

In summary, Friend says that:

• Gregg Williams is arrogant and mean spirited. When his defense was one of the best in the league he could get away with being that way. Now that his defense is statistically the worst in the NFC his style is wearing thin—to the breaking point, in fact—with his players. He stubbornly insists on sticking with a variation of the Cover 2 defense that has the safeties also playing the run and the mish mash isn’t working. Instead of getting the best of both worlds, the defense is getting the worst of it.
• Steve Jackson, who coaches the safeties, is pouting over not being promoted to secondary coach. Williams threw him a bone and let him run meetings with the safeties, meaning that they have been meeting separately from the cornerbacks. This has led to communication breakdowns in the secondary, leading in turn to busted coverages and big pass plays by opposing teams.
• Joe Gibbs has passively watched all of this unfold, something that he never would have done in the 1980’s. In fact, it seems to Friend as though Gibbs has lost his fire after cranking it up for the five-game run to the playoffs at the end of last year.

On the first read, anyone who cares about the Redskins has got to be saying, “Holy crap,” or perhaps something much stronger. Not only is it a scathing indictment of the team’s present state but it makes the team’s future look rather dim as well. More upheaval on the coaching staff and player turnover seems to be in the offing when next year rolls around. On top of that, the whole question of “if Gibbs can’t save the franchise, who can?” seems to be heading towards finding out who the alternatives to Gibbs are.

It’s an indictment, yes, but is there enough here to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that this article accurately portrays the state of affair at Redskins Park? The thinnest aspect of the piece is that it is built primarily on profanity-laced statements made by one defensive player who remained anonymous. To his credit, Friend does point this out in the latter part of the article when he lends a few paragraphs to rebuttal of what he wrote. There is a lot of conjecture by Friend here, a lot of analysis presented as fact.

There are some contradictions in here as well. Williams supposedly let players like Antonio Pierce and Fred Smoot walk because the players didn’t matter; the success of the defense was all about his schemes. But why, then, did he push to sign Adam Archuleta and Andre Carter? And there’s this:

Scapegoat No. 3: Rogers. He's the cornerback that was left on an island on the go-ahead touchdown Sunday against Tampa Bay's Joey Galloway. Williams blitzed and missed, costing the team the score. Afterward, Williams took public blame for the call, a rarity, but a Redskins player said, "No, he didn't. In meetings, Carlos still heard about it."

So, what, Williams, behind closed doors in a meeting, was not supposed to say anything to the player who was nowhere near the receiver who scored the game-winning touchdown? I think that we’re reaching here.

That doesn’t mean that there isn’t some truth, perhaps a lot of truth, in what Friend wrote. While it’s unlikely that the one defensive player who talked with him represents the view of most of the unit, there are always players who don’t like a coach’s style or disagree with is tactics. This player probably has company in feeling the way he feels about Williams. The way that the defense has been performing with a supposed upgrade in personnel certainly doesn’t speak well about Williams’ schemes.

It’s certainly possible that a turf war led to the corners and safeties meeting separately. That’s an assertion that would be too easy for someone to refute if it wasn’t accurate. Was Jackson pouting and not coaching during practices and during the Tampa Bay game? What may look like pouting to one—arms folded, distant look on the face--may actually be a state of deep thought. We don’t know. The player may know or he might just think he knows. If you don’t like somebody you’re usually going to have a negative take on whatever he does.

Has Joe Gibbs been watching all of this going on, condoning it with his silence? Or, worse, has he been totally unaware of? The third option, of course, is that all of this is being blown out of proportion and there’s nothing for Gibbs to correct.

Just like with all of this, I think that the truth lies somewhere in between the confused, messy picture of an organization in disarray that Friend paints and the ideal scenario of a tight, well-oiled machine running the Redskins’ football operations. When you’re winning, the flaws are largely ignored and the good traits are magnified. When you’re losing the bright spotlight shines on all of the warts.

It’s as simple as this, really: This is the kind of stuff that’s going to get written about you when you are falling as short of expectations as the Washington Redskins are. When the Redskins were winning five straight to get into the playoffs last year Gibbs was calm and unflappable. Now they’re 3-7 and he’s detached and burned out. When I talk to him he seems like the same guy to me. If the Redskins win three in a row, Williams will be a hard-nosed innovator who demands the best out of his players. Now, he’s stubborn, arrogant, and mean. Again, he’s the same guy who has been exchanging jabs with the press every Thursday during the season for the past three years.

Are there big problems at Redskins Park? Yes. Are they as bad as Tom Friend and his anonymous source make them out to be? Probably not.

Rich Tandler is the author of The Redskins From A to Z, Volume 1: The Games. This unique book has an account of every game the Redskins played from when they moved to Washington for the 1937 season through 2001. It makes the perfect stocking stuffer for the Redskins fans on your shopping list. For details and ordering information go to http://www.RedskinsGames.com

What Redskins Fans Have to be Thankful For

You can reach Rich Tandler by email at WarpathInsiders@comcast.net

Even in the midst of a disappointing season Redskins fans have plenty to be thankful for:

Jason Campbell—This isn’t in any particular order, but Campbell is on the top of the list when it comes to what Redskins fans should be thankful for. He has a ton of talent and a calm, unflappable demeanor. There will be worse games for Campbell than the one he had in his debut last Sunday, but there also will be many that are much, much better. The best part about it is that we will get a chance to watch as it all unfolds.

Marcus Washington—Here is a guy who dedicated himself to working harder than ever after striking it rich in the free agent market. His positive attitude and enthusiasm for the game are apparent and catching, both on the field and in the locker room.

Shawn Springs—This man stands out for being bright and articulate in a locker room that’s full of smart, well-spoken individuals. Springs is a good player to go to when you want to gauge the mood of the team; he’s loose and joking when there’s an air of confidence around Redskins Park and he is intense and determined when things aren’t going well and they’re all looking for answers.

Chris Samuels—He never has quite made it into the elite level of NFL left tackles, but he’s been solidly just behind that small group for seven years. While he has a bad game from time to time, it’s still noticeable when he gives up a sack because it’s an unusual occurrence.

Troy Vincent—Skins fans should be very thankful that the Eagles and Bills gave up on him. He’s one of those players who isn’t getting older, he’s getting smarter.

Santana Moss—There are a lot of fast receivers out there, but what sets Moss apart are his hands. Nobody can snatch a ball out of the air like him; he could catch a ping pong ball in a tornado. On top of that, he cares not a bit about his individual performance. If he catches one pass for seven yards and the team wins, he’s happy; catching a ton of passes for a lot of yards in a loss is meaningless to him.

Clinton Portis—Not many backs who are threats to break off a long gainer every time they get their hands on the ball implore their coaches to call for them to run up the gut. Portis is the exception to the rule, a fast back who can move the pile inside. His personality is refreshing in the midst of an NFL that has so many players who seem to be robots.

Sean Taylor—Yes, he seems lost out there at times this year and he occasionally goes for the big hit when he should just wrap up and make the tackle. But Taylor can deliver the kinds of hits that give opposing receivers a severe case of alligator arms and he’s breathtaking when he gets his hands on the ball.

The U—The University of Miami is in a down cycle and its thug reputation was revived with its recent on-field brawl. But the program produces winners, including the three Redskins listed immediately above. One shudders to think what the Redskins would be without them.

Themselves—Redskins fans do get crazy. When things are going well they are so high you have to peel them off of the ceiling. In tough times you have to keep the razor blades locked up. But it’s all a part of being passionate and that’s what makes it such a fun and interesting group.

Joe Gibbs—He may have lost his fastball and maybe he should leave the personnel decisions to someone else. But no other team has a Hall of Fame coach roaming its sidelines and no team has a coach who is more committed and dedicated it its success than Joe Gibbs is to the Redskins.

Rich Tandler is the author of The Redskins From A to Z, Volume 1: The Games. This unique book has an account of every game the Redskins played from when they moved to Washington for the 1937 season through 2001. It makes the perfect stocking stuffer for the Redskins fans on your shopping list. For details and ordering information go to http://www.RedskinsGames.com

Will Campbell Be "Our" Quarterback?

I was on my way home from Redskins Park on Wednesday and the guest on SIRIUS NFL Radio (which I listen to waaay too much) was Carl Peterson, the GM of the Kansas City Chiefs. Among the topics was the announcement that had been made earlier in the day that Trent Green had been cleared to play after suffering a concussion in the season opener and that he would start at quarterback for the Chiefs this Sunday. Green got the nod despite the fact that Damon Huard performed well in his absence.

Why make this move? “Trent Green is our quarterback,” Peterson said.

No further explanation was needed. Green is the face of the Kansas City Chiefs. When you think of that team in this decade, Green behind center is what comes to mind. If he’s healthy, he plays; there is no decision to be made. Green has a solid track record of accomplishment, of getting the job done for the Chiefs.

And, even though he started his career bouncing around as a third stringer and cut his teeth as a starter in Washington and in St. Louis, Green’s identity is that of a Chief.

When Peterson said that Green is “our” quarterback, he wasn’t just speaking on behalf of the Chiefs organization, he was talking for all Chiefs fans in Kansas City and wherever else they may be.

Mark Brunell has been the Redskins’ starting quarterback for the better part of the last two and a half years. He’s had his ups and downs but even in the up times the city and the team’s fans at large haven’t embraced him. Brunell has never been referred to as “our” quarterback in the sense that Peterson used that term in talking about Trent Green. He has been and always will be a Jacksonville Jaguar since he spent his prime years on that team.

The Redskins have not had an “our” quarterback in a long time. Taking just the years between the end of Joe Gibbs’ first stint as head coach here and now, 1993 through the first nine games of 2006, the Redskins have had 16 different quarterbacks start games. Only two quarterbacks—Gus Frerotte in 1996 and Brad Johnson in 1999—have started all 16 games in a season. Frerotte is the leader in starts in that time frame with 46. Johnson only lasted two seasons here and while Frerotte was a nice story as a seventh-round draft pick fans were always looking to replace him, not embrace him.

Mark Rypien could have been the man but he only started every game in two seasons, 1990 and the 1991 Super Bowl season and other than in ’91 there were always doubts about him. Doug Williams won a Super Bowl but he started out as a Tampa Bay Buc and he played in just five games in that championship 1987 season before the playoffs. Williams’ high water mark in starts for the Redskins was in 1988 when he started 11 games. He was well liked, perhaps beloved for a time, but he never was “our” guy.

You have to go back to Joe Theismann to find the last one who was “our” quarterback. For seven straight seasons he was the guy behind center. He didn’t even like to come out of the game for a single snap, even when the score got out of hand. His entire NFL career was spent in Washington. Theismann was a brash, arrogant, quarterback who loved to hear himself speak, but he was “our” brash, arrogant blowhard.

Before him there was Billy Kilmer, who didn’t qualify from a steadiness perspective as he started every game just once season, 1971, but became “our” guy with his gritty play and off-field hell raising. For a while, he was only “our” quarterback to half of the city as the other half embraced Sonny Jurgensen, the team’s last true superstar at the position. Before Kilmer arrived, Washington was Sonny’s town. Jurgy was the very embodiment of the concept of “our” quarterback. Going back further, there was Eddie LeBaron and, of course, Sammy Baugh.

Considering that the most recent quarterback embraced by all of Washington as “ours” ended his career over 20 yards ago, we are due to have another one. Jason Campbell will make his first start at quarterback on Sunday. He has all of the physical tools plus the looks, demeanor, and personality to become “our” man. The Redskins drafted him and have been grooming him for this moment for the past year and a half. If he succeeds, it will be as a Washington Redskin.

Will Jason Campbell become “our” quarterback? It’s not something that can be anointed; it has to be earned. Campbell will start the process of earning it on Sunday.

The Tuesday Take: Lucky or Good?

You can reach Rich Tandler by email at WarpathInsiders@comcast.net

It has been widely said that the Redskins were lucky to beat the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, that they won on a fluke that wouldn’t happen again in a million years. That fluke, they say, came after a series of other breaks that went the Redskins’ way. While the Redskins did have some good fortune in the course of the sixty minutes plus one snap of play, it’s not like they were all playing with four-leaf clovers in their shoes. A look at some of the plays and situations that were considered to be the equivalent of blind hogs finding acorns:

• The safety and Parcells’ failure to challenge it—It’s pretty apparent that Julius Jones was able to get the ball out of the end zone before he was down and the officials erred in calling it a safety. Parcells kept the red flag in his pocket. Good break for the Redskins, right? Maybe, maybe not. If the play is called correctly or if Parcells had successfully challenged, it would have been second and ten at the one-foot line. We don’t know what would have happened after that. I don’t have the Elias bureau’s numbers at my disposal, but I’m confident is saying that in that down, distance and field position situation that the team that is on defense will score more than two points more often than not due to the field position that will result after either a turnover or a punt from the end zone. The two points may have been a gift but it was one that came with an opportunity cost of the probability of even more points. On top of all that, we don’t know how the rest of the game would have unfolded had the play been called correctly.
• Parcells’ strategic error in going for two after Dallas’ first touchdown—This wasn’t a case of Parcells getting brain lock and making a mistake. He stated after the game and again on Monday that he goes by the chart from the beginning of the game to the end and the chart said if a TD puts you up by one, go for two. What’s lucky about that? In addition, the Redskins had to make a play to stop the conversion from being successful. That’s not an east feat against a team with a mobile quarterback, a talented running back, a Pro Bowl tight end and a big possession receiver. If they don’t, it’s 8-5 and Parcells is a brilliant tactician. And, again, we don’t know how that one point or those two points would have affected the dynamic of the rest of the game. (By the way, am I the only one who thinks that Joe Gibbs would have been panned as a doddering old fool who has lost it if he had been the one who failed to challenge the safety and made the iffy decision to go for two so early in the game?)
• Terrell Owens’ drop—True, the Redskins were nothing but spectators as Tony Romo’s pass dropped into Owens’ outstretched hands when a completion would likely would have given Dallas a two-touchdown lead. That was a break, but it also was a case of luck evening out. With the score 5-0 the Redskins had the ball at their own 34. Mark Brunell went over the middle to Chris Cooley some 15 yards downfield. The tight end was wide open and had built up a full head of steam. He wasn’t headed for a sure score as was Owens, but the play would have gone deep into Dallas territory. Cooley juggled and then dropped the ball. If the Redskins go on to score a touchdown there it’s 12-0 and Dallas faces a much tougher road. This just in—receivers drop passes. It’s part of the game.
• The final facemask penalty—Prior to the 15 yards being marked off, the Redskins first had to block Mike Vanderjagt’s kick cleanly and then they had to recover the ball. No luck there, just veteran Troy Vincent using his 15 yards of experience to make a play. Sean Taylor had to have the aggressive mentality to try to make something out of it, running away from the goal line to try to set up a good return. Meanwhile Kyle Kosier, who a second or two before had expected to be walking off the field celebrating at that moment, was in a desperate fight to get Taylor down. He grabbed and turned Taylor’s facemask in the process. I’m not listening to any of this garbage that says that it should have been just a five-yard, incidental variety of penalty. Here’s the picture that was run here yesterday:
  
  
  
  When you see both the jersey number and the helmet emblem of the ball carrier facing right at you, it’s a personal foul and 15 yards every single time. Even after that, Taylor still had to pick up some nice blocking by guys who just seconds earlier were expecting to be walking off the field stunned after a close loss. But Kedric Golston, Andre Carter and Marcus Washington, among others, made their blocks and Taylor was able to get just far enough to make the penalty matter. Instead of getting a shot in overtime, the Redskins get another opportunity to let their inexperienced kicker boot the longest field goal of his career to win it.

Don’t get me wrong here. It would not have been an injustice had the Redskins lost. They played the Cowboys even for 60 minutes and made one more play when the absolutely had to than did Dallas. But to say that the Redskins were lucky even to be in the game and luckier still to win it is not giving the Redskins enough credit.

In the hunt

Don’t look now, but if the Redskins are close to being in the thick of the playoff hunt. Actually, they are on the fringes of it right now at 3-5. They are a game out of being tied for the second Wild Card spot and they play most of the teams that are directly in front of them at 4-4. They get the Eagles home and away, Carolina at home and St. Louis on the road. They also host the Falcons, who are two games up on them at 5-3.

At this point, the Redskins have to be considered pretenders rather than contenders. They haven’t shown that they can put a string of good performances together. But if they can go into Philadelphia and beat an Eagle team coming off of their bye, they will have to get some consideration.

Rich Tandler is the author of The Redskins From A to Z, Volume 1: The Games. This unique book has an account of every game the Redskins played from when they moved to Washington for the 1937 season through 2001. For details and ordering information go to http://www.RedskinsGames.com