So there seems to be mounting pressure from the outside (fans and media) on Jason Campbell's performance and needing to step it up. Peter King said that there is no one under more pressure this week than Jason Campbell.
Was listening to Sportstalk yesterday with Kevin Sheehan and the topic was JC. The majority of callers were down on JC and the funny thing was they were getting excited about Chase Daniel and Marko Mitchell. Fans are SO funny and fickle. It's like the QB du jour. Who ever plays well in a single game, that is the guy they will support. Last year, it was all about Colt. This year Colt is fighting for the 3rd spot.
Anyway, going back to JC. There was an article in today's Post on JC and Zorn being comfortable with where they are at. The game plan last week was to take some shots downfield and that is what they did. The first one was a couple yards underthrown and it would have been great to hit it but I was happy that we took the shot because the deep ball was something completely lacking last year. The deep ball to Santana was a miscommunication. Moss broke inside and JC threw it outside. People get really wound up about this but that is the purpose of preseason to iron these things out. People may think that Zorn is praising JC to the media to keep his psyche positive. However, Zorn has always been a straight shooter and I genuinely think he feels comfortable with JC as the QB. I still feel good with JC and believe he will have a good year.
There is a good test for him this Friday at home against the Pats. I think it will be important for JC and the offense to have success. They will be playing the entire first half so we need to get some points. If for nothing else, just to get the fans and media off of his back.
As I have mentioned several times, I will reserve my full judgement once the regular season starts but right now I feel good about JC because he seems to understand the bigger picture and comfortable with the direction of the offense and his understanding of the offense and becoming a leader.
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I made it clear in previous posts that I wasn't thrilled with JC's performance on Saturday. I thought the deep balls he threw were forced. Just because the gameplan is to go deep doesn't mean throw deep for the sake of throwing deep. I don't have much of a problem with the first one as Kelly was open. The only issue with that throw was Moss was WIDE open about 20 yards downfield. The 2nd deep ball was not thrown to the right spot. I hope you're right and it was just miscommunication between JC and Moss.
I'm still a JC fan. I want nothing more than to have him succeed and show Snyder that the offseason love affair with Cutler and Sanchez was not needed, but I need to see him read the field better and take what the defense gives him rather than what looks like A. Campbell going to someone because that's what Zorn expects or B. Campbell dumping the ball off because he might be afraid to go downfield.
I am loving this Marko Mitchell guy. He's big. He has good hands. He seems to be running crisp routes and he comes off the line hard regardless of the route he's running. If he comes in and takes the two spot eventually, then good. No one else seems to want it.
I hope Daniel succeeds. I hope Brennen does too. We're going to need depth at QB but there's no way either one of them should be considered a contender for the starting spot.
This is life in the NFL. I see a lot of similarities in how JC is being treated to how Rex was treated in Chicago.
No need to rehash all of our older discussions. Right now, JC needs to get a couple of good performances under his belt. The problem I see for him is that the O-line is going to struggle. Defenses tend to be a little more conservative in the preseason games. They don't do as much in the way of specific blitz packages and preparation for teams as they do in the regular seson.
JC is going to get beaten up a bit, the running game will struggle a bit, and the fans will be calling for Colt or Chase.
I think I have mentioned that I was fine with the first ball. I'm sure when JC released the ball that he was comfortable that Kelly was open for a TD. It was a 50-60 yard pass in the air and came up a yard or two short. I am fine with that. Again, even if we don't complete the pass, we need defenses to respect the deep ball to spread the defense and help the running game. I didn't have the luxury on tv to see Moss but Kelly was open (maybe not as open) and if JC hits him all is well in D.C. Apparently the one ball that Zorn wasn't happy with was the one to Moss on third down that sailed high.
From Zorn, there was a miscommunication b/t Moss and JC and Moss broke inside and JC threw it outside. This can be corrected. Same thing with the pass to Davis. Davis began to curl in but stopped and JC threw to where Davis should have been.
It is Zorn's offense but JC runs/manages it. Zorn mentioned that JC did have quite a few checkoffs and did a good job of managing the game when he was in there and getting guys in position to make plays. If this is true, it cannot be overlooked. This is where his maturity and understanding of the offense comes into play. Last year, different people on the offense had to help JC know where people needed to line up. This year he is taking control of the offense.
Marko seems to be making a name for himself and he seems like a nice guy and hard worker so I would like to see him make the team. Lets not get too excited about the guy yet. He is running against guys that have little chance of making their respective teams. We only get a small view of his total body of work in training camp and while what we have seen has been positive, we really don't know how good he is. Still, he has size and athleticism and those are good things.
Daniel and Brennan can duke it out for the third string job. Both of them seem like fine third stringers. Despite them being the darlings of the Skins, they seem pretty far from being starters in this league.
QBs are treated pretty much the same across the board. I used to think that fans would only give the top echelon QBs a break but even that is suspect now. Look at Tom Brady. Two years ago people thought that he may be the greatest QB to have ever played the game. Last year, people were falling for Cassel and believed he might be the better option for the Pats future.
So to only draw the comparison between Rexy and JC is silly in my mind. The big issue with Rexy was that he never gave fans/media much confidence in the way he spoke. Whenever I heard him talk, it sounded like a guy that was questioning his own abilities. I am certain I am not alone in this thinking as all of the analysts felt it too. Not to mention his peers saying that Rexy easiest guy to get to mentally.
Also, Rexy had a number of boneheaded plays.
JC speaks with great confidence and assuredness.
We'll see how the season plays out but right now I am comfortable with him.
You may be fine with JC, but it is clear that many people are not. Personally, I think he is a good player that will develop further just as I thought so about Rex.
Rex ended up stuck behind a horrible offensive line with no running game. Then, when the D sucked two years ago everyone blamed him.
I don't think people are clamoring for Cassell in New England. Eli and Peyton are safe. There is no issue in cities like Jacksonville, Houston, Baltimore, Cincy, Seattle, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Miami, Green Bay, etc. So I disagree that this is something that happens everywhere.
The biggest problem at the end of last year for the Redskins was their O-line and their wide receivers. So what did they do in the offseason? They worked on their D. They aren't even giving JC a chance to succeed. Too bad, but next year there will be a new starter in DC.
Robs...not sure I agree with you. If JC's gone next year, it will be squarely on his own shoulders. The starting O-line is good. He had loads of time in the few series he was in on Saturday and he was 1 for 7. If that happens in the regular season, we won't be seeing JC in a 'Skins uniform much longer.
'Skins fans are fickle but we're smarter than you think. If the O-line gets decimated like during the 2nd half of last year, then I'm sure there will be a loud outcry from a small minority of fans for Colt if JC struggles, but the majority of fans will see through the nonsense and know that JC didn't get a fair chance. I think most fans agree that JC was stuck behind a make-shift O-line during much of last season and that he was doomed to fail at that point. That sentiment has to be tempered with the fact that a QB in his 5th season should be able to make plays regardless. If he's unable to make things happen, it will be obvious.
Obviously, we'll have to see.
I don't think we can really say how the O-line is going to perform once teams really scheme, and I have my doubts that the Redskins line will hold up.
Last year it was what brought the Redskins down and I don't see any reason to believe this year will be any different.
Robs, I wouldn't go so far as to say that people were clamoring for Cassel in NE. However, there was discussion that Cassel may be the better option since he was younger and healthier than Brady who is coming off of major knee surgery that wasn't healing well at first. The point is that even though Tom Brady was widely considered by many to be one of the greatest QBs to have ever played the game is vulnerable to not being safe. It's all about what have you done for me lately.
You mentioned a few teams with out issues at the QB position. There are a number of teams with issues and if things go poorly those QBs will have little leeway with the fans/media including:
San Francisco
St. Louis
Detroit
Minnesota
Tampa Bay
Buffalo
NYJ
Denver
Oakland
Cleveland
Jacksonville
Tennessee
You watch, if any of these teams starting QBs struggle, the fans/media will be on them.
Again, what did Rexy in was his boneheaded plays. When he made mistakes, he made terrible mistakes. When he was bad, he was REALLY bad. On top of it, he seemed to doubt himself when you listened to him speak. Again, the media, the fans, his peers all picked up on this. Maybe that is just the way he spoke but the perception was that he was not confident. You don't get that same sense from other struggling QBs. That was the big difference with Rexy. You may think that the entire NFL and it's viewing community had it out for Rexy. I am telling you that is wrong.
There has been quite a bit of talk about the poor play of the O line at the end of last year and that is what led to the offensive woes. This has been out there in the media quite a bit so the fans are aware of it. Zorn said today on Kevin Sheehan's show that JC had no chance at the end of last year and that if you look at the tape, nearly every snap he took to pass, he was under duress.
Point is that fans recognize that the O line is a problem and that it isn't all on JC. Still, fans are silly and will expect JC to make the plays regardless of the circumstances he is dealing with (poor line play, WRs that drop balls, lack of quality WRs, learning new system).
The O line has looked good so far in preseason but I will agree with you that defenses do not show all of their blitz packages and coverages so you really do not know what will happen until the regular season.
Now on the flip side, the offense is not showing all of their cards and that is why we should all relax on JC. Again, where I take comfort is that JC and Zorn seem confident in where they stand at this point. I think we can expect to see us to spread the ball out more and take shots downfield. The question mark will be the O line play but all we have to go on at this point is what we see in preseason and they have looked good so fine.
Bottom line, we can speculate but we really won't know for certain how everyone will play until the regular season.
That said, I do think it would be good for JC to do well on Friday just to get all the sticks out of everyones arses and unbunch their panties. If he doesn't, we can expect the sticks to inch in further and the panties to ride up even more.
JKD...If the O-line struggles, will you give JC a pass if he struggles as well?
The reasons why I ask are because 1. This is JC's 5th year in the league; 2. He should benefit from being in the same system as last year 3. Remember that Pittsburgh won a Super Bowl last year with a worse O-line than the 'Skins had. Big Ben made plays regardless.
I will understand if his productivity tapers off as O-linemen go down, but I still expect a QB to make plays. JC shouldn't be solely reliant on his teammates to be productive. Again, if he struggles, I think whether or not he, himself, at fault will be obvious.
How many playoff games has JC won? How many Super Bowls has he been to? How many TD passes has he thrown? How many 100+ QB rating games has he had? How many wins has he had as a starter?
Rex wins out on all of these factors and was still booted out of Chicago.
My point was this - that QBs are not treated "pretty much the same across the board." There are some places that are far harder to play in - New York, Chicago, and Philly come to mind.
I'm not going to rehash all of my discussion about Rex. I'll just say this. I believe JC is getting shafted by a growing number of fans and he was not helped by his organization this off-season.
Deeps - I have no idea how you are comparing Ben and JC. Ben's numbers were very mediocre last year. The reason the Steelers won was clearly because of their dominating defense. If JC was on the Steelers I'm sure he would have similar or better numbers than Ben and would have been in the playoffs.
In the end, I suspect he won't have a great year (it won't be his fault) and he won't be the starting QB of the Redskins in 2010.
Deeps, I will have to watch out the offense unfolds during the season. I do remember last year though (particularly the Steeler game) where JC literally barely had time to drop back before he had a guy in his face. I don't care if you had Joe Montana, Dan Marino, John Elway, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning all rolled into one, they won't be able to make the play.
On top of that, the WRs were dropping balls left and right and there wasn't a whole lot of talent there. You take Moss away and there wasn't a whole lot after him.
Now I am not totally absolving JC. He certainly has plenty of room for improvement but I like what I see and believe he has the talent and skills to do well but in order for him to succeed, he needs help from the WRs, to the O line, to the coaching scheme, to the RBs. I do think there will be good improvement this year.
Robs, if Rexy was SO good, why didn't anyone want him this year? Why was he pretty much relegated to third stringer to the only team that signed him? Why do NFL players believe he is the weakest minded QB in the league? Why does every analyst and his mother think he sucks? I know you don't want to rehash the whole thing. That's fine. It's all just a conspiracy against Rexy. Poor guy.
I will agree that QBs are not treated quite the same across the board. Certainly in larger markets and in areas that has become accustomed to succes and who have had strong QBs in the past, the pressure is greater but all those teams I listed have a solid following and their QBs are not firmly entrenched and should their starters struggle, they will be booed.
The Steelers struggled with injuries with their running game last year and their O-Line was a mess. Roethlisberger held it together and made plays as needed to lead the team to a Super Bowl. His status as a QB in the NFL jumped to elite as a result of last year...not quite P. Manning or Brady level, but just a notch below.
My point is, Big Ben was able to make plays to make the offense just dangerous enough to win it all. See the final drive in the Super Bowl if you don't believe me. That drive was all Big Ben and it was indicitive of what he did during the final stretch of the season. JC doesn't have to be great, but he has to be able to make plays expected of a QB when the opportunity presents itself. He hasn't done it yet and I don't believe any excuse will be good enough to protect him if the offense fails.
I think the D made all of the plays for them. He had a great drive at the end of the Super Bowl, but he was a very, very average QB last year. His stats bear that out. It really, really helps to have the NFL's number 1 scoring, yardage, and pass defense (#2 against the run).
In the playoffs here are his passing totals:
Divisional Round against SD - 181 yards, 1 TD, 0 Int.
The Steelers rushed for 165 yards (Willie Parker had 146 yards and 2 TDs)
AFC Championship against Baltimore - 255 yards, 1 TD, 0 Int
Solid performance but the Steelers D had 3 Ints and forced one fumble.
In the Super Bowl he was solid and he will always be remembered in Pittsburgh for his final drive, but 256 yards, 1 TD, and 1 Int was nothing spectacular.
James Harrison's 100-yard interception TD right before the half was the critical play in the Super Bowl. Instead of Arizona being up 14-10 at halftime, Pittsburgh went up 17-7.
There you go throwing out numbers and ignoring the intangibles again. At least you're consistent.
It's not about being "spectacular." It's about making plays when needed. Sure Harrison's TD return was huge, but the Cardinals took the lead later in the 4th quarter anyway. Ben made huge plays on that final drive to win the game. He avoided a possible safety by avoiding pressure and finding Holmes open downfield on a long 3rd down. He also somehow threaded the needle and got that TD pass to Holmes in the corner of the endzone to win the game.
As much as those plays stand out, they are not the only big plays Ben made during their run to the Super Bowl. Sure his stats were just slightly above average, but when you're O-line stinks and your running backs are injured, you can still stand tall and do what it takes to win. The good QBs do that. Campbell has not so far. If he's going to turn the corner, he needs to start making his teammates better rather than relying on his teammates to raise his level of performance. I brought up Roethlisberger because that's what he does. He has good receivers and a good TE, but he had to extend plays by improvising throughout the season. He made more good plays than bad despite being sacked 46 times. After 5 years, Campbell better be able to do the same thing or he's out in 2010.
When you have the number 1 defense in the NFL giving you the ball regularly at the 50 yard line it makes life a whole lot easier.
You can suck Big Ben's dork all you want, but he is a very average QB who plays for a team with an exceptional defense.
He didn't do anything in his first Super Bowl, and while he made a few plays on the final drive this last Super Bowl, the Steelers won because of Harrison's play. It was a 14 point swing.
If Ben was on the Redskins he'd basically be JC but with more interceptions.
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