Looked like it was going to be an easy win but the Skins will find a way to make it tight in the end. The good thing was that they were able to find a way to win it. It was an exciting game (frustrating at times) but I thought it was a good learning game for RG3 and this young team. Here are my grades:
1. Offense: B+: Good mix of run and pass. Morris was solid again in the ground game. He fits the zone blocking scheme well and can find that hole and he is pretty tough to bring down. WRs were all pretty solid. Good to see Hankerson, Garcon, and Morgan all play a part in the passing game. Line was solid for the most part. It’s a tough TB D line and protection and run blocking was solid the entire game. RG3 was very good again. Sound decision making. Good in both the run and pass. No real mistakes. However, the highlight was his being able to drive the ball down the length of the field and get us in a position for the game winning field goal. This guy continues to impress me each week and he is proving to be well worth the price we paid.
2. Defense: C: Once again the run defense was stout. The pass defense was okay. However, once again, we gave up big plays. The first one was Josh Wilson on Mike Williams. Wilson let Williams blow by him and then it appeared that there should have been safety help but Madieu Williams was late to get over there. I am not sure on the safety responsibility on the play but it just appeared to me that he needed to get over there. The second big play was the deep ball to V. Jackson. D. Hall looked to have pretty good position but it looked like he misjudged the ball and slowed up for just a half second and when he dove to tip the ball was just short. I was a little disappointed with D. Hall on the play but I was more frustrated with the pass rush as we sent extra pressure but didn’t get in on Freeman fast enough. Frankly, the pass rush the entire game seemed a little weak. The only guy that was consistently getting pressure was Kerrigan who I thought had a great game. Speaking of pass rush, where is Jarvis Jenkins? Not sure how much he is playing I am assuming he is getting more time because of the Carriker injury but I have rarely heard Jenkins name being called. Finally, the TB first touchdown with Freeman throwing to Jackson in the corner…what was D. Hall doing. He is playing bump and run against a 6’5” physical WR. If he misses, it’s an easy TD which is exactly what happened. He needs to back off. That is poor positioning. We have to be able to get more pressure from the up front guys and then we have to somehow figure out how to stop the big plays especially since Matt Ryan and Julio Jones and Roddy White are coming to town this Sunday.
3. Special Teams: D: Cundiff sucks! He almost cost us that game. He probably saved his job for this week with the game winning 41 yard FG. However, missing three FGs in the game (two very makeable ones) is not going to cut it. Banks had a nice punt return and coverage was fine.
It was a big win on the road for us. Again, there were frustrating moments and this had a classic Skins finding a way to lose written all over it. That said, it was nice that we were able to claw back and find a way to win. It may have been ugly but I’ll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day. As mentioned, I also thought that this was a good learning experience for RG3 and this team. So I am getting all I hoped out of this team thus far. I said all along that I just wanted to be competitive and expected to be around .500 on the year and that is exactly what we have been a quarter of the way through the season. The only surprise is that I expected less from the offense and more from the defense and that hasn’t been the case. I am loving everything we are getting from RG3. I love the way we are using him for the most part as the offense looks very dynamic. I also love the running of Morris. On the flip side, I am very disappointed in the secondary and the coaching of the secondary. The good news on that is that I feel the coaching can correct some of the problems we are having back there so hopefully that group improves.
In the end, a good victory and on to preparing for the high flying Falcons.
HTTR!!!
7 comments:
I was and am impressed with RG3. He tooK some hard hits again this week. You have to wonder how long he can keep this up. I almost think its borderline reckless for the shannys to ask him to run or not provide protection for their investment. You can say he is dynamic for sure but its not smart to use him dynamically in risky plays because of The price paid to get him. One serious injury in this injury prone game is all it takes to set this franchise back. Unfortunately for RG3 shanny has to produce thus season and will play him recklessly if neeeded to win. He played well. Alfred morris is Playing well too. The defense is a major problem for this team. I think the O line is below average too. I say that because if u put rex back there They wont be able to protect him. RG3 is making a lot happen on his own to keep plays alive and turn out positive. Its very risky.
The next quarter of the season is brutal. I think they will win one at the most. Youll really see the weaknesses exposed this up coming weekend against the falcons.
I didn't have a big problem with how the Shannys used RG3 this week. They did not run the option so he avoided all of those ridiculous hits. He took a good shot on the first TD. After that, any hits he took were a result of him not sliding or a late hit.
He took a late hard hit in the end zone that resulted in a 15 yard personal foul. He took a hard hit on his last run setting up the game winning FG. I don't think the Shannys are telling him to take defenders head on. It's on RG3 to know that he has to slide or head out of bounds on those plays. I didn't have much of an issue with the way he was utilized in this game.
As far as the O line is concerned, every team in the NFL wants a better O line. Every team in the NFL wants their QB to not be hit 100% of the time. The fact is that this is a physical game and QBs will take sacks. I'm not saying this is a stellar group. I never have. However, I do believe they are an under rated group. The media will promote and promulgate the story and the fans buy into it. If you look at the stats, it has been a solid O line as we are one of the top rushing teams in the league and we don't take an exorbitant amount of sacks.
The secondary is a concern. The personnel needs to be better but I have mentioned the coaching needs to be better as well. There are things that are correctable and that is what I am focused on and what I find disappointing when defensive break downs occur as a result of poor planning. Certain physical limitations of personnel are things we sometimes have to live with but good coaching understands the limitations and does their best to assist personnel to be successful. I don't feel our defensive coaches have done that and that's what I find disappointing.
No doubt it will be a tough go with Ryan and Co. but I expect better coaching and we have to limit the big plays.
Seems like a typical Deadskin game. Their D is OK to bad, their O-line is OK to bad, their QB is really good.
In the end, the Deadskins will struggle to win against better teams and will end up with a losing record again.
Hopefully Bob will stay healthy and continue to shine and perhaps a year from now they will be able to get to 8-8 or 9-7 and challenge for a playoff spot.
I really would not have a problem with him taking hits and planned runs or playing recklessly but the issue here is that the skins have invested wayyy too much for them to be allowing him to play Without caution. At this rate he will get
...Injured seriously before they pay back what they owe for him. I hope not but it is likely to happen. I revise my prediction. If RG3 makes it thru the season they will go 6-10.
JSR, the Shannys have told him to head out of bounds and/or slide to protect himself. RG3 has even said that the Shannys have told him this and he is trying to be more mindful of this.
Where the Shannys are guilty of setting him up for a big hit is when he runs the option but they did not do that in the TB game.
Robs, it's the secondary and secondary coaches that have hurt this team. The offense has been very good as statistically we are one of the best offenses in the league in both yards per game AND points per game. RG3 is one of the top QBs in the league. Morris is one of the top rushers in the league. WRs have been solid. Offensive coaching has been good. Even the O line deserves credit for the offensive production.
Look, every team wants better production from their O line. Everyone will complain about O lines. The Puckers, Pears, Cowboys, Steelers, Eagles all have lines that are considered less than stellar. Honestly, how many teams have stellar O lines?
The defensive front seven has been solid. They have shut down the opposing teams run games and gotten decent pressure on the QB. The weakest part of the team and the part that has failed us is the defensive secondary. However, I have made it very clear (with examples) that it isn't just the personnel but the coaching as well.
What's worse is that the secondary has suffered injuries so it's a weak group that is depleted. We can't do much about the injuries or the talent level of this group but what can be done is lining these guys up in proper positions or providing them help to increase their chances of success. That is where I get most frustrated.
We have a tough schedule coming up. I never said playoffs this season but we are getting what I wanted out of this season in that we are competitive and frankly we are getting WAY more out of RG3 than I could have ever hoped. It honestly looks like we have found a franchise QB that we can build around and we have some young skill players to help him.
The fact is that if we had better production in the secondary, we would easily be 4-0 right now.
Going against the Falcons (arguably the best team in the NFC) this week we will really see how well Haslett and Raheem Morris game plan and prepare our defense. That will be one of the big things to watch for this weekend. We have shown the propensity to give up the big play that has to be minimized (hopefully eliminated) this week.
Agree that better secondary play would mean a 4-0 record. The offense looks to be be pretty solid with a good mix of running and pretty much mistake free passing. Bob is living up to the hype and maybe even exceeding expectations. Morris is a true gem. The guy is proving it week in and week out. Garcon and Hankerson are solid. Moss is Mr. old and reliable. The TEs are above average. As long as Trent Williams can stay on the field, the O-line will be decent.
The D is a mess. With Osackpo and Carriker out, the front 7 aren't creating enough pressure, which exposes the weak secondary even more. Getting Meriweather back would have helped, but it will probably be a few more weeks before that happens. Nancy and Fletch are the only bright spots on a defense that was supposed to carry the team this year.
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