I have no aspirations of the Skins going to the playoffs and it has largely been a disasterous year but the last month the Skins have really started playing the best football of their season. Yesterday, they had an opportunity to be the first team to beat the very powerful Saints. Going into the game, I thought we would put up a decent fight but didn't expect to win the game. However, the Skins came out aggressive and physical and never really looked back and we found ourselves with a very good chance to win the game only to blow it at the end. It was devastating. Still, that's what happens. Good teams find ways to win and bad teams find ways to lose. All that said, here are a few thoughts:
1. JC had a great game. A large part of this was due to the O line playing very well. Still, it appeared the game plan was sound, the play calling was good, the protection was solid, and his decision making was on point. The guy spread the ball around and it was good to see what this offense could be.
2. O line was good. I know I already mentioned this but felt that their play deserved it's own point. They didn't allow a sack and gave JC adequate time to make the play and opened up good running lanes for the backs.
3. Devin Thomas and the young WRs stepped up. Thomas had a career day with 100 yards receiving and 2 TDs. I also liked him back as the kick returner. The young WRs accounted for 14 receptions for 166 yards and 3 TDs. We just need to give them the opportunity and they can perform. Looks like they are finally coming around.
4. Playcalling was fantastic. We were aggressive from the get go. Before we would run stretch plays for nothing on first and second downs followed by a third and long where the receiver would go a yard or two short of the first down marker and then get tackled. Yesterday we attacked. We threw short passes on first/second downs close to or over the first down markers and were able to consistently move the chains. What was even better was that all through the second half we stayed aggressive and tried to put up more points.
5. Defensively we played pretty well in the first half but again we get beaten with the big play. Landry got burned twice on double moves. The second one was the most egregious because it came with about a minute left and the Saints needing a TD to tie. As a safety, you have to know not to let anyone behind you. His overaggressiveness caused the breakdown.
In a nutshell, yesterday came down to three critical/key plays:
1. Kareem Moore intercepting the ball right before the first half on a 3rd and 26. If he just stays down, we go into the half 17-10. Instead he tried to run and make a play and was easily stripped of the ball allowing the Saints to recover and run in for a 40+ yard TD making the score 17-17 going into the half. That was a huge momentum shifter.
2. Suisham missing the 23 yard chip shot with less than 2 minutes in the game that would have made it a 2 possession game and the Saints not having a timeout. No words can describe the shock I felt when he missed that. I literally went from thinking we had this game in the bag to utter shock in a matter of seconds. The broadcasters were essentially handing the game to the Redskins before that miss. They showed Brees and Payton on the Saint sideline and they both had a look of resignation before the kick. Once he missed, the Saints were exuberant and just like the last few weeks, you knew that bad things were coming.
3. Sellers fumble in OT. Frankly, I don't think there was enough evidence to overturn the call but it is what it is and we gave them the ball with great field position. It's tough because again, we won the coin flip and were moving the ball and had an opportunity to win the game again but we squandered it.
It's a painful and disappointing loss and I don't like to take consolation in a close loss. Still, no one would have given us a chance to be in that position. Also, again, the last several weeks, I feel like we are a very different team than we were early in the year. We look more like the team I thought we would be going into the season.
It will be an interesting off season. JC is really making a case to be the starter for the team. I have always liked him and felt like he is a NFL starting QB. It's interesting though because he has his share of haters and even yesterday a friend got on him for his INT. For goodness sake, the guy threw for nearly 370 yards, 3 TDs and had a QB rating of like 111. Still, people will focus on the INT. People expect perfection from him. Seriously, yesterday was the first day in a long time where I can remember he had ample time in the pocket and you really got a chance to see what he can do.
The other interesting issue is Levi Jones and if he is playing well enough to earn the starting LT job next year. This has been an interview for him and he is shining. Will be interesting to see what becomes of him.
Also, with the dramatic increase in performance over the last 5 weeks, would it even make sense to bring back the entire staff and continue on? I don't think this will happen and expect Zorn to be fired but in some ways that may be taking another step back. Zorn has said that it takes a full 3 years for his system to be fully understood and it seems just now it is starting to click. Sherm Lewis is the playcaller but it is still the same system. It would be tough to move to a different system and start over again, especially for JC (assuming he is back) and the young WRs.
Moving to Lewis, the playcalling has been dramatically better over this stretch compared to Zorn. In fact, if you look at the one thing that has changed from the beginning of the year to the last few weeks, it was the change in playcalling. Clearly, it was an issue. Will be interesting to see if Lewis is retained next year. Will be interesting to see if Lewis gets the head coaching nod. If someone else is brought in, will they want to keep the WC offense? Will they want to keep Lewis?
The one thing is at least we are playing with pride and I like the fight our guys are showing. The mistakes happening now are correctable where as the issues we were facing at the beginning of the year were more fundamental in nature. Assuming we continue to play the rest of the year the way we have played the last few weeks, will be interesting to see what moves are made in the offseason.
11 comments:
I was at the game yesterday and I must say, that was a truly entertaining game. We were unstoppable on offense and our D was solid with a few exceptions. Regardless, I don't think I've ever felt as shocked after losing as I did while leaving the stadium. I remember talking about the fact that we were 17 point underdogs and how we had a realistic shot at winning by 17 late in the 4th quarter...It's absolutely amazing that we lost that game.
I too don't have any false hopes this season, but a loss like this is heartbreaking. The effort and excitement was lost due to a few EXTREMELY unfortunate events and one or two instances of bad execution. I am shedding a tear as I write this.
The game came down to a few plays. 1. The shanked punt that somehow landed on Keith Barnes' back as he was blocking the gunner on the Saints' punt late in the 2nd quarter. 2. Almost immediately following that ridiculous play, Kareem Moore gets stripped of the ball after making a great catch to pick off Brees on a 3rd and 26. 3. The botched 23 yard field goal and finally 4. the Sellers play that was ruled a fumble after the side judge ruled the player down by contact, yet the play gets reviewed and the ball is given to the Saints.
You couldn't imagine all that happening in a game unless you were playing Madden in some crazy arcade mode where anything can happen...But that's how things shake out for bad teams. The 'Skins are playing MUCH better than earlier in the season, but we're still not that good. The Saints are having a miracle season and all of the luck is on their side.
Anyway...at least our draft position didn't get any worse...*tear*
Finally the Skins are more entertaining to watch. As they aren't going to the playoffs this year, I think the best thing that could have happened occurred: They showed well and they kept their draft status high.
The players like Zornye (pronounced like Kanye). I think that is very important because at the end of the day, the players will give it their all to win to gain the respect of their coach. However, I would like to see the team decrease on the mistakes. I don't know what a different coach would do to decrease the mistakes, so maybe it's just more time playing as a team. I think if the team continues to play better and better for the rest of the year, the chances of Zornye staying will increase to 50%. Zornye may luck out.
I think Cerrato is in trouble because he has been blaming Snyder for the free agency signings such as Haynesworth in league meetings per Chris Russell on 1067 The Fan.
I would like to see a hard nosed GM hired and let him make an evaluation of the whole franchise during the 2010 season. I would like Samuels retire and a first round left tackle to be selected. I would like a right tackle drafted in the second round.
I would like to see Clinton Portis, Randle El, Carlos Rogers, and Fred Smoot on other teams next year. I would like to see Landry moved to strong safety and a rookie drafted in the third round to play free safety. Despite what JKSdad thinks, the original plan was for Taylor to be the free safety and Landry to be the strong safety.
I would like to see a running back selected in the fourth round.
I would like to see Davis and Cooley on the field at the same time, with Thomas and Kelly as the wide receivers. I think Moss should be the slot receiver.
JKSDAD: I would like to see Campbell signed for three reasons: 1) If they will be moving forward with Zornye, they need to transition to a younger guy in the next three years. 2) If Zornye goes and they hire a coach with more of a traditional offense (i.e., not West Coast), I think Campbell will be even more successful. 3) There are not other free agents that will be any better than Campbell. Even if they draft a QB in April, the organization is not well organized to develop a young QB quickly to translate into success on the field the way that Atlanta and Baltimore have.
Detroit gave NO a run earlier this year.
3-9 is 3-9.
The NFL season has its share of surprises but at the end of the season you are your record.
The good teams find a way to win, but what Robs is ignoring is that the 'Skins were the better team in each of the last three games for 58 minutes. We outplayed the Cowgirls, Eagles, and Saints and then gave the games away in the end. I'm not saying the 'Skins are a good team...because we're not winning...but we might be the best 3-9 team in history. Right now, I'm laughing at the fact that I just wrote that.
I agree with just about everything that Scott said except, 1. I believe there's a better chance that Robs will become a 'Skins fan again than there is of Zorny coming back and 2. Campbell will not benefit from another system change even if it is to a more traditional scheme. He just needs some continuity at this point.
BTW...Jimmy Clausen is now Mel Kiper's highest rated QB for the upcoming draft.
Agree largely with Scott and Deepie.
What Robs fails to realize is that we aren't talking about improvement in just one game. The Redskins have been playing better each week starting with the second half of the Falcon game several weeks ago. We dominated the second half of the Falcon game and had very good opportunities to beat Dallas, Philly, and the Saints. Still, we found ways to lose all of those games but the point is that we are improving and we aren't basing the improvement on one game.
The other thing is that the mistakes that are costing us these games are correctable. Early in the season, we had fundamental issues with the offense, the playcalling, the coaching, etc. Those things seem to be working themselves out. Getting caught on double moves can be corrected.
Typically, I have my disagreements with Scott's assessments but by and large I agree. We need to draft a LT and then a RT with our first two picks.
I agree now that it would probably be best to have Laron as the SS but I am okay with him at FS because of his speed and also because I like Doughty/Horton at the SS spot. I think we are a better team with Landry at FS and Doughty/Horton at SS rather than Landry at SS and ?? at FS.
I would like to get a later round RB and agree that Portis is losing his luster. I think Portis still has some gas in the tank but his attitude of being an elite back and not having to practice and having direct channels to Snyderatto are the bigger concerns.
I have always been a JC supporter so I would like to see him back. I would also like to see the young WRs (this includes Marko Mitchell) get more playing time.
I agree that I would like to see Rogers and Randle El less if at all. I am okay with Smoot as a backup.
I am surprised to hear Scott say that he would like to see JC back since he is so critical of him. Scott seemed frustrated by JC even on Sunday and focused more on his one INT rather than the 370 yards, 3 TDs, and 111 QB rating.
Scott is interesting because he said early in the year that he would rather score 30 points and lose than score 9 points and win.
I agree with Deepie in that I don't think JC will benefit with another system. Not only will he struggle but the young WRs will as well. Zorny has said that it takes 3 years to fully understand and execute his system. It seems that that is finally starting to happen. It would suck if just after the system is starting to be truly understood, we strip our players of it and start with a new system.
I too believe that Zorny doesn't have much chance of returning but it would be interesting if the Skins finished strong, if Snyderatto would consider it.
I think we have all been saying for years that we would like to see Cerrato out and a true GM with autonomy to handle the team. I don't know if this will happen. With the playcalling and offense seemingly better and the young WRs now stepping up, it may be enough for Cerrato to validate to Danny boy he knows what he is doing.
We'll see. It'll be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks and in the offseason.
Thanks for the high praise.
Fine, they are playing better but "near wins" are still losses.
Every week there are upsets or games that are closer than one would expect.
Pittsburgh was beaten by Oakland. Miami stunned New England. Earlier in the year Detroit played NO tough. Cleveland nearly beat Cincy. That is all irrelevant.
The fact is that at the end of the season you are your record.
The Deadskins play Oakland this week. If they lose then things will go back to looking bleak.
Assuming they win, but they lose to the Giants, Cowboys, and Norv - and let's say they get blown away in 2 of those games - again we will be looking at a bleaker outlook.
We'll see what happens.
Robs, you're right but you are talking about what could happen in the future.
We are all talking about what has taken place of the past several weeks. Not one game. You are right, there are anomalies and upsets each and every week. You can't look at one game and say all is well or all sucks.
Look at the Bears, they have really struggled the last several weeks after a pretty good start. They look lost and many issues have been exposed. Without any early draft picks, they will have some severe issues for some time.
Again, you talked about future events. I can do the same. What if we thrash the Raiders? What if we play the Chargers, Giants, Cowboys tough and win a couple of those games? All of a sudden we look a whole lot better. Frankly, that scenario seems a whole lot more likely than your scenario given the trend over the last 5 weeks. Seems to me you have to look at the past in order to help predict the future. Still, we'll see what happens. We may very well get blown out by 30 points in every game.
No, I am saying look at the overall record - that is a good indicator of how good a team is. It is a long season and there are ups and downs, but in the end you are your record.
The Deadskins won't thrash those teams. Given the team is 3-9, I fully expect them to struggle against the 4-8 Raiders.
The Bears and Deadskins have issues to resolve - no question about that - but we'll see how both teams finish and then it will be time to assess.
Absolutely. In no way, shape, or form do I think we are a great team. We are 3-9. There's no getting around that. However, I do like the way we are playing over the last several weeks and it is certainly encouraging.
The Bears may have the better record (barely) but they have a whole lot more problems than the Redskins. Funny how you kept trying to pass them off as one of the elite organizations in the league similar to the Pats and Colts. The Bears have issues up the yin yang. They try to come across still as the monsters of the midway and try and scare people. The only people they are scaring at this point are their own fans.
Good luck, Bear fan!
I recognize their faults. They have work to do in the off season.
We'll see what happens.
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