***
We all have a pretty good knowledge of Washington. We have faced them twice a year since the world began about 3,500 years ago. The team is off to a slow start at only 2-4. They struggled to beat arguably the two worst teams in the entire league (Rams, Bucs). Those victories came by a combined five points. That makes the Redskins sound pretty awful, but things aren't always as they seem. This is a typical Skins team. They play good D and bad O.
Washington is 5th in the league in total defense and scoring defense. They’ve been good on that side of the ball for years. The offense has never matched the defense, but things have gotten out of whack this year. The Redskins can move the ball okay (23rd in yards), but scoring points is a huge problem. They average just 13.2 points per game. Running back Clinton Portis has the same number of rushing touchdowns as the punter – one.
WAS doesn't lack talent. These guys any good ... Portis, Betts, Moss, Randle-El, Cooley? Their problems are a mixture of things. QB Jason Campbell is inconsistent. The O-line is having problems. I don't think Coach Jim Zorn is helping matters. He's catching most of the heat right now, but his players simply aren't executing well. One very troubling note...WAS has played 4 of the worst defenses in the league (TB 27, DET 28, KC 29, STL 30).
Onto the players...
JASON CAMPBELL --- His numbers look good (rating of 84.3, 66% Comp.), but the Skins don't convert on 3rd downs and don't score TDs. Those are the situations when a QB makes clutch throws and shows what he's really made of. Physically Campbell is what you want in a QB. I think the Skins screwed up this year in going after Mark Sanchez and Jay Cutler and missing out on both. They basically told Campbell he was unwanted. That's going to affect a player, especially a QB.
SANTANA MOSS --- 22-379-2. Numbers look good. Take away his 10 catches in the Lions game and that changes to 12-201-1. Isn't getting the ball enough. Moss has 3 catches of 42 or more yards this year. He still is a major weapon.
YOUNG RCVRS --- Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly, and TE Fred Davis are 2nd year guys that were brought in to add size and youth to the offense. They have combined for 18 catches and 0 TDs.
STEPHON HEYER --- Meet the new LT. Heyer took over at RT this year when Jon Jansen was let go. He's more aptly suited for that side. Chris Samuels hurt his neck recently and Heyer was shifted to the left side. STATS.com already has him down for 5.5 sacks this year. He was beaten by Tamba Hali for a safety at the end of last week's game. Heyer can be an adequate starting OT, but I think LT is going to be tough for him.
MIKE WILLIAMS --- He played his way out of the league for a while, but got an invitation to TC this summer. Mike shocked me by making the roster. He started out playing G, but will start at RT this week. His weight is under control. I haven't had a chance to really watch him closely this year. I'm curious to see if he can be an effective player or if this is a crazy move by WAS. Williams was a top 5 pick by the Bills back in 2002, but never played up to his potential.
AL HAYNESWORTH --- Weird year so far. Big Al has played pretty well, but he hasn't necessarily had the great impact that some fans may have hoped for. He's also battled injuries. I thought for sure he was really hurt vs the Lions, but he came back to the game. Big Al will be tough for the interior guys to block.
ANDRE CARTER --- Leads the team with 5.5 sacks. Speed rusher. Has benefited from Big Al pushing the pocket. Carter only had 4 sacks all of last year. Much easier to get to the QB when he can't step up in the pocket. Carter also has a pair of FFs.
BRIAN ORAKPO --- Athletic rookie is making the move from DE in college to SAM. Plays the run pretty well. Does well as a blitzer and when they use him to rush the passer from the DE spot. Has 3.5 sacks, 1 TFL. Learning how to cover. Got burned by CAR for TD when he lost the TE in coverage on a simple route.
LARON LANDRY --- 2nd on the team in tackles. Also sits in the middle of the defense and plays centerfield. Has the speed and range to cover a lot of ground. Big time hitter. Hasn't made a lot of coverage plays, but he helps to prevent big plays by the offense.
DEANGELO HALL --- Talented cover corner. Has 3 picks. Struggles as a tackler. For some reason that sounds painfully familiar. Hmmm...
SPECIAL TEAMS --- P Hunter Smith has been injured, but is expected to play. He's the best guy they've had back there this year. PK Shaun Suisham hasn't missed a FG yet, but has mostly hit short ones. No one is doing well as the PR. The Skins average 4.8 yds per PR. Rock Cartwright has been a good KOR in the past, but is only averaging 22.5 per return this year. Their long KOR is just 29 yards.
MISC NOTES
* WAS leads the NFL in fewest drops with only 4. That certainly helps Jason's completion percentage.
* With all the high picks and FA dollars spent on front seven players, SS Reed Doughty leads the team with 3.5 TFLs. Sorta weird.
* WAS is tied for the NFL lead with 11 FFs. We have 7.
* The Skins have only 3 picks all year. Several teams are tied with them. Only Dallas has fewer (2).
* WAS does have a 2-1 record at home.
_
Saturday, October 24, 2009
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6 comments:
I'll be at the game Monday. Last year's Eagles @ Skins game was a real bummer. The drunk girl yelling "Wack-o for Flacco" in my ear the whole time didn't help matters, either.
I'm also not looking forward to Cooley RAC-ing all over our defense.
Man. I feel like a real Negadelphian. A decisive victory on Monday will go a long way to helping my confidence.
Spoon may help out a lot with Cooley.
I sure hope so. In fact, I expect so.
I'm just having a rough football week. First, the Hokies lose a heartbreaker to Georgia Tech's high school offense. Then, the Eagles forget to show up on Sunday.
I've known for several months that I'd be going to the Eagles-Skins game and this week's UNC-Hokies game, but now I'm all pessimistic about going to both. Yuck.
Could be worse.
Spoon! C'mon Tommy you gotta do better than that.
You alluded to 22's tackling, is that bad technique? There are suggestions that he doesn't like contact. However, when Sheldon got his first pick in the Panthers game Asante was one of the first defenders to find someone to block and throw his body at them. It looked like a good block, but he did just go out of picture as he delivered. To me he looks to have awful technique who likes to throw his body at the target without it being under control, and usually misses.
This sounds just like our kind of game to lose. A team that is underperforming but still tough and likely underestimated coming into the game.
I can envision that the Redskins 3rd down woes will be alleviated by us, and the playmakers will begin to find the endzone.
Donovan Mcnabb will have 3 ugly picks in the first half which will prompt Andy Reid to fire us up into pass only mode to try and get Mcnabb "into the groove" with a 90/10 pass run ratio the rest of the way.
When we lose 28-14 Andy will say "I need to put my players in a better position to make plays" and Dave Spadaro will talk some nonsense about how we don't really need to just call more running plays.
Welp I'm not sure what to say except the Jets showed everyone how you handle a bad team today. Hopefully Andy was taking notes but I'm sure he was just daydreaming about new pass and misdirection plays we can run against the Skins.
Side note: Adrian Petersons mauling of William Gay today was almost criminal. I swear assault charges could be pressed. AP is a monster and a freak of nature running back. Its a shame Childress is ruining that team by going to the pass heavy attack, Adrian Peterson running less than 20 times a game is outrageously stupid. Maybe Andy infected Childress with whatever insanity he has. They're going to need that running game to be clicking late season when Favre breaks down after throwing 50 freaking passes a game. Air Favre payed huge dividends today too, nice to see Brett hasn't forgotten the lost art of the game ending interception.
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