Pretty disappointing game coming off of the bye week. The Skins looked ill prepared. Here are a few thoughts on the game:
1. Special teams were far from special. This group SUCKED! Allowing a punt return for a TD and a long kickoff return and a missed FG. Not to mention that our special teams coach was flagged for a penalty for standing too close to the field and making contact with an official (not that it mattered much as the play still resulted in a TD). This group has been mediocre at best all season. Now we lose our long snapper for the year with a meniscus tear. B Mitch, being a former special team standout, pointed out how important it is to have guys that are fearless and aggressive and want to make plays. This is a place for young guys looking to make a name for themselves. Lorenzo Alexander was a big loss for us. He wanted to stay. We wanted him to stay. We just didn't have the money to pay him. He was that guy. He was a captain and a guy that led by example on special teams. Shanny mentioned Alexander by name in yesterday's press conference and how we need someone else to step in to fill those shoes. Some one has to step up and lead this group and it has to get better.
2. Defense was good. Thought the defense played well in particular thought D. Hall was tremendous. It seems when he has to lock on to a WR for the game, he plays his best. Still, thought the D as an entire group played their best game.
3. Offense struggled. There were three problems I had with the offense: a) RG3 looked his most comfortable and looked much more mobile; however, he struggled with his passes. He had several throws that were just bad spirals and missed the mark. While disappointing, I chalk it up to a bad game. He is still working back into the flow and the passes will come as he gets more time. I also thought he should have run more. The Cowboys were filling the box and playing man to man and there were several times when he side stepped defenders and had room to run down the field given that only DBs were back covering WRs. I'm not saying he should have been looking to get to the end zone but pick up 5, 7, 10 yards and hit the deck. He did it a couple of times but I thought he had many more opportunities to get easy yards with his legs. This would have also made Dallas alter their defense.
b) WRs needed to get separation in man to man coverage. This was more frustrating as our WRs were losing their one on one battles. They need to do a better job of beating man to man coverage. In many of the plays/replays I could see, they were not getting open. This bothered me.
c) Offensive coaching. This area probably bothered me the most. Okay, we get the defense that Dallas was playing. We see that our WRs are not getting separation. Make some adjustments. I'm not an O coordinator but Kyle Shanny gets paid big bucks to make something happen. Cris Collingsworth suggested that the Skins use some bunch formations to have the DBs back off the line and create some confusion for them. I'm not aware of the game plan and whether there were any adjustments made but for the common man watching on tv, it didn't look like it and this is what gave me the most heart ache.
In the end, I felt it was a game we could have won. I'm not devastated. This is not a floundering franchise (i.e., JAX). Problem is that while the rest of the NFL is in midseason form, our offense is still trying to get to speed. RG3 is looking better week to week but he/the offense is still not there. Again, my hope is that the improvement continues and we start to see later this season what we showed last season. If we can do that and not suffer any injuries, we will improve. We have a solid young group (QB, WRs, RB, TE) that if given a full offseason to train and with the cap penalty lifted, we can make big strides. On to the Pears.
20 comments:
Bring back Chase Minnifield - he will get things done on special teams. He is also a pretty good return man. Had to throw that out.
They should also see if Otis Wonsley and Mike Nelms had sons. They have to be better than the guys who were there on Sunday night.
It seems pretty clear to me that RG3 was not ready for the start of the season. Sunday night was the first game where I thought he had his legs. If I were a Deadskin fan, I would like what I saw physically and I would be encouraged. His throws were off at times, but that will come.
I think the coaching staff has done a horrible job this year. RG3 should not have started the season, but even if Cousins had played I doubt the results would be much different. The D and special teams have not really played well either. I don't know whether the organization is floundering or not, we will see what the record is at the end of the year. But what I do know is that this Deadskin team is not very good.
Might as well bring back Moseley and Mike Bragg or Jeff Hayes.
Hindsight is 20/20. Not sure what would have happened if Captain Kirk had started. I'm okay with what has transpired. Whenever RG3 was going to get in there, it was going to take him a few games to get up to speed. We all hoped he would have come in and been Superman but that is unrealistic. I've said now for several weeks that what I had hoped to see is improvement week to week and that is what is taking place. Hopefully we will see the offense we should be later this season.
I am less concerned about the record this season. Again, I want to see progress and guys staying healthy because if that happens along with the cap penalty being lifted, I believe this team can make some large strides.
Vegas thinks so highly of your Pears that they have this week's game even.
Pears are mediocre at best. Just another team that's part of the muddled middle.
You get 3 points for being at home when it comes to Vegas odds. That means the Bears would be 6 point favorites in Chicago. I'd say that is pretty good.
Don't worry, the Bears will thump the Deadskins by more than 15 points this week.
Devin Hester will return a punt, RG3 will fumble and the Bears will return it for a TD, Forte will rush for at least one TD, and Cutler will feast on the porous secondary - he'll have 2 TDs. I expect the Bears to score at least 40 points this week.
Of course if the Bears weren't "mediocre" they would beat the Deadskins by 70.
A little tip for you. When you type your Pear responses you might want to remove the Jeff George II doll from your butt. It is affecting your brain.
If the Pears were playing at home, wouldn't it just be a 3 point favorite? I suppose you are saying on a neutral field it would be a 3 point Pear advantage? So every game is a 6 point swing depending on who has home field advantage? Whatever. The Pears are mediocre.
Devin Hester is old and I didn't even realize he was still in the league.
Pear defense gives up a TON of yards. Losing DJ Williams won't help. They aren't that good.
I will say that the Pear passing offense is a little concerning. It's quick strike so it's hard to get your hands on Jeff George II. Not sure Amerson's availability given his concussion but we could use a bigger, more physical CB this week.
I'll end it with the proverbial, "We'll see."
Now you understand the Vegas line rules. Bears by 6 at home is a heavy favorite. If you are favored (or even) on the road that means that there is a major difference between the teams. Vegas thinks the Bears are much better than the Deadskins.
So, if the Bears are "mediocre" then the Deadskins are horrible.
I want a clean hundred dollar bill when the Bears win. Not one that you pull out of your arse.
Fine, if the Pears win, I will give you a clean hundred dollar bill. I'll shove it right up your ugly, hairy ass! One way or another, if the Pears win, that bill is going in someone's ass!
BTW - it will only be $80 as you owe me $20!
This should be fun! Looking forward to this weekends Bears skins game. About the Dallas game: i think this team is what it is. Last year many of the weaknesses were masked by a gimmicky offense that became wildly successful. This offensive line has problems. They couldnt block a bunch of no names on the Dallas d line. RG3 is learning this year. He is learning to become a pocket passer. What we are seeing is what should have been last year. Basically the same team from last year except that the Read option has been basically a non factor this year. Hes basically playing like a rookie and making rookie mistakes.
A loss to the bears and a loss to the broncos would lead to 1-6 record. Id like to see how Dan the Man takes that. Will he lower ticket prices by 10% next year?
JSR, the offense is fine. The problem is that RG3 had no training camp/preseason work and started the season gimpy. That makes it pretty hard for a QB to be successful. What we are seeing now is a guy that is improving week to week but still trying to get up to NFL game speed. Like any team, as the QB struggles, the offense struggles. I am confident it will get better each week.
Not sure what you mean when you say he is making rookie mistakes. What mistakes would you characterize as "rookie mistakes" in the Dallas game?
The O line is fine. You could make a claim of every offensive line that they need to play better. If you can tell me five teams in the NFL that have no issues with the O line, I'd love to hear them.
I have said a number of times that the hope right now is to see improvement from RG3 and the offense week to week. I think there is enough talent there to be successful but while most teams are in midseason form, because of RG3's not having offseason work and continued recovery from his injury, we are behind and playing catch up. With reps, he will get better. You can say that it would have been better to have started Cousins at the beginning of the year and this or that but hindsight is 20/20 and there is no use in talking would've/could've/should've. The fact is that we are where we are and we have to move forward.
There is a strong enough core of players that given a full offseason and good health and the cap penalty being lifted, this team can turn it around very quickly. I would not compare the Skins with a team in disarray like JAX who have question marks all over the place.
JKSD, your last response points to the fact that RG3 was not ready to start the season. This was a coaching error. RG3 being gimpy - which is what I have been saying for weeks - means that that he needed a few more weeks of rest just to be physically ready to go.
I don't think Cousins would have offered a whole lot more - perhaps they could have earned one more win with a little luck, but the D and special teams have not been good for much of the season.
As for rookie mistakes, I think RG3 is making the types of mistakes that you would expect of rookies. For example, he is holding the ball far too long. He needs to throw it away at times when the play isn't there. He also isn't demonstrating great pocket awareness which is why he fumbles so often when he is getting hit/sacked. He isn't really stepping into his throws at times and at times he throws off his back foot. It is affecting his accuracy. These are things that usually improve with experience and they are typically rookie-type mistakes.
As for the O-line, it really does not look like it is playing well. From what I have seen, I have not really been impressed. They don't seem to be opening up the holes they did last year and there seems to be more pressure on passing plays than last year. That is just my observation from what I have seen.
Rob, everyone wanted RG3 to be Superman to start the season. I hoped for that but it is unrealistic. He was cleared to play but he had very limited offseason and no preseason work, for him to feel comfortable coming off of the injury was difficult but couple that with him not having any live action it is difficult to perform at the level he did last season. Again, whether it was the right call to play him in Game 1 or play Cuz is debatable. Hindsight is 20/20. I still don't know what would have been best. He was cleared to play but he looked tentative.
As far as RG3 holding on to the ball in the Dallas game, in many of the plays I saw, WRs were not open. He can't throw the ball early to a WR not open just to get rid of the ball. You have to make the right decisions. Throwing the ball just to get rid of it, is more indicative of a rookie mistake.
Throwing off of the back foot, he did that mostly in Game 1 against the Iggles. If you look at the game, a good portion of that is a direct result of the Iggles blitzing and a guy in his face. If he steps into the ball, he is stepping right into the defender.
Regarding pocket presence, he has good pocket presence in the sense that he moves well. That much should be clear given his elusiveness in his career. I suppose he has to protect the ball better both when passing and running and not just rely on his hand strength to hang on to the ball. So that is something he could learn.
We can break down film all you want. Point is it is VERY simple to put blame on one particular thing but you really have to look at the bigger picture to understand why something happens. It's like the play D. Hall broke up in the end zone. Most people would look at that play and think D. Hall was beaten. Not the case. Meriweather blew his assignment and D. Hall made a GREAT play to cover that mistake up. The same is true for many of the things you are putting on RG3.
The one thing that is clear is that he is still playing catch up. He is improving week to week and I expect that to continue. He was very solid last year when he was 100% and had a full training camp. It makes a difference.
Regarding the O line, it has been fine. Again, show me a few teams with stellar O lines. Somebody please tell me. A claim can be made that every team needs better O line play. It has been difficult for the O line because if you watch the games, every team we are playing are stacking the box and forcing RG3 to beat them. I put it on the coaches to do a better job of putting him in positions to be successful. Still, he hasn't been sacked a ton. As far as the running game, Morris is #3 in yards per carry for RBs with a 5.2 average (only behind James Starks and Ben Tate neither of which are full time RBs). I know the easy thing to say is that the O line stinks but numbers don't support that. Given that they are facing stacked boxes each game, I think they have done a solid job.
It's fine to have your opinions and we can leave it at that but Robs I like to think you have a pretty good understanding of things and can see beyond the surface.
I am not putting anything on RG3 - the Deadskins may have been able to win one more game with some luck if Cousins were in. RG3 was slow the first few weeks (up until now). Even you say he was gimpy. It is clear he wasn't physically able to perform like last year - that means he should have been allowed more time to heal.
A healthy RG3 is the only way the Deadskins were going to make any real headway this year. There are far too many flaws with the team to compete without a super dynamic RG3. The Deadskins blew it by putting him on the field when he physically wasn't ready.
As for "rookie mistakes", if the play isn't there, he needs to throw it away. If receivers aren't getting open, he either needs to run or throw it away. I would prefer he throw it away. Throwing it away is not a rookie mistake - that is good football.
We don't need to break down the film. My impressions of RG3 are what they are and the O-line doesn't look that good to me. You think it is OK. Just a difference of opinion.
Well the mistakes that im talking about are holding on to the ball longer than he should resulting in high number of fumbles, im not sure but i think hes been sacked more times this year through 5 games and thrown more interceptions through 5 games. He has flat out missed many targets. Those are normal things. Hes a young qb thats still learning. Hes not a seasoned pro by any means. There are other issues that are leading to his mistakes.
the offensive line. They got bullied by scrubs this past weekend. Whether any other offensive line is top notch or not has no relevance to the Skins o line problems. There is no dominant offensive line in the league like the hogs or the 90 Cowboys lines. There are offensive lines like the Packers and Broncos and Patriots and Chiefs that are not dominant but good enough to let their Qb make plays. RG3 has not been able to make plays partly because the O line is struggling with pass blocking for a normal pocket passer. That may be contributing to RG3 lack of success in the passing game. It was masked last year by the read option. The 1500 yrds by Morris were due to the threat of read option. In my opinion the offense is not fine. They have no viable second receiver that can get open. Mustering only 16 points agaisnt a weak Dallas D is not very good. Especially when the team last week put up 50 on the same dallas d. Looking at the Stats many of the yards the skins gained are from the first two games during the second half when the defenses went into soft zones. Kyle and Mike are supposed to be offensive geniuses? Right now It really looks like they have no clue and no answers.
How healthy he was to start the season is debatable. He was cleared and able to play. He did look a bit gimpy but how much of this was physical vs. mental and him not getting the reps is unknown to us. Should he have started the season? Who knows and frankly at this point who cares because it is in the past.
He did throw it away and/or ran. Thus, you would agree that is "is not a rookie mistake - that is good football." He did not throw a bunch of ill advised passes nor did he take a bunch of sacks.
It's fine to have your impressions of the O line. You said that they weren't creating holes for Morris yet the guy is the #1 full time back in terms of yards per carry. RG3 is not taking a bunch of sacks despite the fact that all the teams have been stacking the box and blitzing often. I can't (and don't need to) change your mind but I find it interesting that there is the blanket statement that they don't "look good." As you said, it is a difference of opinion but at least my opinion has some statistical support.
Again, name five teams with what you would consider to be a good O line.
One other point I will make - and I think I have mentioned this in the past - RG3 is not special as a pocket passer. He has a good arm and he can make plays from the pocket, but his strength is running the ball and making plays with his legs.
If RG3 and his Dad think he is going to turn into Peyton Manning or Tom Brady they are just wrong. He needs to have his legs - and the fact is he hasn't had them until this past week.
I think you are a bit emotional and in denial about RG3. He has 6 TDs and 5 Ints and he has 6 fumbles (only 2 lost). Clearly he could not run until this week (it was the first week he warmed up without his knee brace) and clearly his accuracy has not been there. He has not really been playing that well. His cosmetic statistics after the Deadskins are getting blown out are the only thing that make him look reasonable so far.
There is no question that physically he was nowhere near ready to be the dynamic player he was last year at the start of the season. If you think it was just mental then you are kidding yourself.
As far as the O-line goes - what does it matter about other O-lines? Sure, the Giants O-line has been worse - big deal. I'm sure we can find teams that have played better and teams that have played worse. I'd say the Bears O-line has been much better than the Deadskins' O-line. That is a line that is starting two rookies who should be much better by the end of the year. So what? The Deadskins line looks like a weak unit to me. With the Bears D depleted by injury, I am counting on getting pressure on RG3 because of the line troubles. If that happens, the Bears will win easily.
The word on RG3 coming out of school was he wasn't just a guy that could run but he was a passer. All last year people were saying he isn't Vick (an athlete who plays QB) but he was rather a QB that was an athlete. He doesn't have to be Manning or Brady. His legs are a big part of his game but he has shown that he can throw the ball too.
I have never said that he was stellar to start this season (look over my comments). Again, everyone wanted him to be Superman to start the season. It was unrealistic. He's been looking better each week and I've been saying that is what we could/should hope for now for several weeks. I have been consistent in that message.
I have said that he looked gimpy to start the season but he looked capable of playing. Again, whether they should have started Cuz is moot at this point because we are where we are.
Other O lines matter because I want to understand your definition of a good O line. It's easy to say something is great or something sucks but with no backing it is pretty meaningless and is nothing more than words and an opinion. That's fine but it doesn't mean much to me. I will say in the little I have seen of the Pears their line looks improved but you have said for years their line is good. You thought Webb and Gay Creamy were good and neither guy is on their team any more. Seems like you were the one that was defensive and in denial. You say the Skins O line isn't good but stats don't support that. Again, it's fine and I will take your opinion for what it is.
JSR, on one hand you are saying that the Skins O line isn't good but on the other you are saying that RG3 is holding on to the ball too long.
I don't think anyone would say that the Puckers O line is good. Both the Pucker and Pats O lines have given up more sacks than the Skins. They are also not providing as many yards per carry for their backs. As far as the Dallas D and your mention of giving up 50 points the previous week. First, that was against Denver who has been rolling through everyone. Second, the previous three weeks they gave up 16, 7, and 21 points respectively so lets not make it seem that that D is allowing 50 points weekly.
Look, there is no question that RG3 is still playing catch up and is trying to get comfortable and in football shape. The good news is that he has looked better with each week. That's all that can be expected. I will say that I think the coaching needs to be better at times. Of course, this is easy for a layman to say when I am not part of the strategy. Who knows if guys are missing assignments or what but for me, it does look like we need to put guys in better positions to be successful and make adjustments if the D is not giving us what we need to be successful.
Its tough to compare one offensive line to another. The skins run a different scheme than say the Broncos or Ravens. They play different opponents and are tested differently. The skins offensive line may not be "bad" but they are not showing that they are adequate to allow for RG3 to have time to break down defenses and make plays. If every offensive line in the league is not much better as you say, then the problem lies with RG3s ability to diagnose the plays breakdown and make the right decision because other qbs ARE able to break down defenses and make plays despite the parity of inadequate offensive lines. In my opinion i dont think RG3 is the problem. Its the O that is proving inadequate.
JSR, you're right that no two situations are exact. I feel the O line is adequate.
I feel the "problem" lies with RG3 trying to get comfortable. He is getting more and more comfortable but to have gotten very little work in the offseason really hinders a player's ability to perform. Peyton Manning struggled at the beginning of last season and he had some preseason work.
I also think that part of the problem is the offensive coaching. In the Dallas game, their defense was stacking the box and playing man to man. Our WRs were not getting separation. RG3 can't just force the throws in those situations. To me, coaching really comes into play here. They have to recognize that we aren't being successful and make the necessary adjustments. Even Collingsworth mentioned in the third quarter that we should use some bunch formations to back the DBs off and confuse them. Shannys get paid big bucks to put our guys in position to be successful.
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