Strategy and Matchups - WAS

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I always want us to win division games, but this week has extra significance. We need a good performance to show that last week was one bad game and nothing more. Winning isn't enough. The offense must come out and play well. Last week's showing was very discouraging. Another game like that from Donovan will lead to talk about whether it's time to bench him for Kolb.

I'm confident that the team will be ready to play, but the Redskins are tough on us. We scored 12 and 33 points against them in 2007. Last year we had 17 and 3. The 33-point game featured 2 long TDs. The other games have lacked big scoring plays. The WAS defense is tough to move the ball on when you have to sustain long drives.

One of the differences from '07 to '08 was our ability to run. Westy had 196 yards in 2007. Last year he had 24 carries for 78 yards. We must be able to run the ball to make the rest of the offense effective. WAS prefers to play their Safeties back if possible. We need to run the ball so that they have to send a guy down in the box. That will open up some passing lanes.

I don't expect us to come out and pound the rock. I do think it is important for us to run more than we did last week. The players will have a lot to do with how much we run. Last week we totaled 15 yards on 7 1st down runs. Marty and Andy won't stick with the run when it isn't working. If only they felt the same way about the passing game. Westy and Shady must get a lot of touches. Our best games vs WAS have come when the RBs were heavily involved.

The player with the most pressure on him will be Donovan McNabb, of course. He was sloppy last week and it cost us a game. Can't have that again. The problem is that WAS isn't a team he generally fares well against. Last year Donnie had 3 straight bad games (NYG, CIN, BAL). Then he turned things around on Thanksgiving. We can't afford a slump like that. We've got 3 straight division games. We must win 2 of 3 to stay close to the top. McNabb has to be decisive and accurate. He needs to run when he sees the chance. Donovan has enough weapons that he no longer has to carry the team. However, he must get the ball to the guys so they can make plays.

Obviously better blocking than last week would help the skill guys quite a bit. The return of Todd Herremans should help. Nick Cole and Max Jean-Gilles struggled. Max will probably head to the bench. Jason Peters missed most of the last week and King Dunlap struggled in his place. Peters will return to LT. The O-line got no push and did a lousy job in pass pro. That must change.

Todd's reward for coming back from an injury? A possible matchup with Albert Haynesworth. Big Al is battling injuries and not a lock to play. I think he'll be out there. After watching us block last week I think dead guys will be coming back to life to get a chance to play against our line. Todd will certainly help us inside. We must control Big Al. No one really shuts him down completely. Andre Carter's speed will be tough on Peters, but hopefully chip blocks will slow him down. Winston Justice will be in for an interesting day. He'll face Phillip Daniels in the base defense and then Brian Orakpo on passing downs. That is size on some plays, speed on others.

I hope we come out and throw some crossing routes to try and get into a rhythm. Let's mix in deep balls. I would love to see Celek, Weaver, Westy, McCoy, and Avant all get their share of throws. Let's move the chains. I know we need some big plays. WAS is too good on D for us to just dink 'n dunk them.

We were dreadful last week on 3rd downs (2 of 16). That will be a key area to watch in this game. 3rd down is the money down in football. We must execute better. This goes on every player in the offense. Everyone had a hand in the problems against Oakland. Guys need to step up and make clutch plays.

We had success early in the first meeting last year with misdirection plays and some creative things. I wonder if this is the week we'll see the Wildcat really play a key role. I've believed all year that the Wildcat was mainly for games where we thought we needed an offensive boost. Since WAS had our number last year this game would make sense.

Our defense probably isn't quite sure what to expect. Sherm Lewis will be calling the plays. The 6 game tapes we have could be pretty meaningless. WAS has used a lot of packages on offense so far. They are expected to cut down on that and use more base personnel. We did the same thing last year and it helped us quite a bit. Lewis is also likely to use more of a vertical passing attack. The Skins have struggled to move the ball consistently. They do have big play ability. Campbell has a big arm and Santana Moss has the speed to get downfield in a hurry.

The base of the Skins offense has been the running game. I assume that will still be true. I think we need to focus on stopping Portis and putting WAS into known passing situations. That puts extra pressure on the OL and Campbell.

LT Stephon Heyer will have his hands full with Trent Cole. We need Trent to win this battle and make plays, vs the run and pass. WAS has run at Trent in the past with some success. VA will miss the game, but Juqua and Clemons are good enough to bring pressure off the left side. Setting the edge will be key vs the run. Having VA would help in this regard.

Chris Gocong will need to be stout on run plays that come his way. Akeem Jordan will be asked to handle the FB quite a bit. He must play well on run plays, whether they come at him or go away. Omar started at WLB last year in the first meeting and was invisible. WAS ran at will in that game.

We get to see the debut of Will Witherspoon at MLB. He will get a big test with the power running of the Redskins. There are a couple of things that help Witherspoon fit in right away. He played in a similar defensive system in St. Louis. Their scheme is run by former Eagles assistant Steve Spagnuolo. There will be some differences, but a veteran like Witherspoon should be able to adjust on the fly. Also, he faced Washington earlier this season. I’m sure he’s given an extensive scouting report to the coaches and his new teammates. The Redskins did run for 125 yards in that game, but scored only nine points.

Spoon could help out with Cooley. Sean McDermott can set the defense so we cover the TE with any number of players. We struggled the last couple of weeks with Winslow and Miller. I'm sure Spoon, Jordan, Gocong, and Macho will take turns trying to cover him.

Moss will be a challenge for the whole secondary. The CBs need to stick to him as closely as possible. The Safeties must stay behind him. We can live with Moss getting a big play if that happens. Just keep him out of the end zone. The difference in last week's game was Miller going for a long TD while our big plays were limited to just big chunks of yards.

We should have an advantage on Special Teams. DeSean ran back a punt for a TD last year against the Skins. We'll take points any way we can get them.
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