It was a humbling experience for the Skins as they were outplayed and outcoached Thursday night and took a whipping against the Giants 45-14. It just got plain ugly. A few thoughts on the game:
1. Kirk Cousins. I love it! All the fans that were saying that Kirk should be the guy and ready to annoint him as the second coming of Peyton Manning are now shifting back and saying bring back RG3. Again, fans are SO fickle. Look, Kirk was unbelievably bad in that game but it was one game. My own thoughts are that Kirk is a solid QB but RG3 still has tremendous up side. Fans and media will say Kirk is more like Andy Dalton but it's only because they are not running QBs. I highly doubt that true NFL evaluators would think they are nearly the same as fans seem to believe they are. As far as creating an offense catered to the QB, I think Gruden is trying to do that with RG3 still keeping some read option and setting up deeper passes. Everyone is SO quick to give up on RG3 after only two seasons. We all know that the guy was nearly flawless in his rookie campaign and struggled last year but do people understand how difficult it was for him to perform last season? He was coming off of an ACL injury in which he didn't get any preseason work or much training camp at all and then was still hobbling around the year with a cumbersome brace. I get that some of this was his fault but it's like asking a marathon runner who hasn't trained for 8 months to get out and win a marathon. It's not going to happen. People just need to settle down. RG3 looked pretty good to start this season. It's interesting how quick fans are willing to throw things away and dismiss things. Again, Kirk was bad but it was one game and people need to settle down.
2. Defense was offensive. No pass rush to speak of and coverage was not great. I don't think the coverage was as bad as most people want to make it out. The bigger issue I had was the lack of a pass rush. I get that there are injuries up front (Hatcher, Cofield, Orakpo, Baker, Jenkins) and that the Giants are shifting to more of a west coast style of offense so the ball is coming out quicker. Still, what was most disappointing is the defensive coaching. Eli is prone to make mistakes under pressure but he is equally prone to picking you apart if he has time. Why not send more disguised blitzes? Especially later in the game we had nothing to lose. The few times I saw a blitz I felt like Eli rushed his passes. This was not done enough. Maybe Haslett thought we could get pressure with the front four and have more in coverage to protect against the quick passes. Didn't work. Keep in mind, I am only speaking as what I would consider a smarter than average fan but I still don't know what the schemes and gameplan were.
3. Giants D. Similar to the Texans, they played one safety very deep and we couldn't get past that. I am assuming our coaches are smart enough to adjust to that one safety playing so deep but outside of a few drives, our offense never really got going. Again, much of this was poor QB play.
I don't need to say much more. It's obvious this game was a debacle. It happens. It's not fun but you have to put it past you. The Buccaneers took a drubbing against the Falcons the previous week and there were feelings of the Buccaneers being a HUGE disappointment this season and the Falcons looking like Super Bowl contenders. This week the Bucs beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh and the Falcons lost to the Vikings led by rookie QB Teddy Bridgewater. Again, things can change SO drastically in one week.
It's good to get some additional rest. We'll need it as the defending champ Seahawks visit Washington next Monday night. Should be a loo loo.
In other football news of interest:
1. The Puckers beat the Pears and look rejuvenated. Rodgers had a great day and quelled the angst that was rising in GB. He looked perturbed in his post game press conference saying something to the effect that he likes when his team is questioned and almost seemed like he wanted an apology from fans for questioning him and his team. For the Pears, it's pretty simple. Jeff Cutler throw picks. He LOVES to throw picks!
2. The Iggles could not find a way to win this week. In a game where the SF offense was looking to give the game away, the Iggles couldn't get their own offense to work. Struggling for nearly the entire game until the end when they had a chance to take a lead but couldn't find a way. Foles has been inconsistent this season and McCoy is no where to be found (which is bad for my fantasy team). Still, they are 3-1 and get to face the Rams this week.
3. The Texanas beat the Bills in a close one. J.J. Watt has to be the NFL Defensive MVP right now. The guy picks off a pass and returns it the distance for a TD. He is one of those rare guys that can make a difference all by himself.
After a quarter of the season, there are still SO many questions for each team. Welcome to parity in the NFL.
6 comments:
No one said the Skins would be great this year. You just want to see some positives each week to build on. They did not have many positives against the Giants. Unless you count taking lumps and a beating a positive. I think the loss to the Giants falls on the coaches more than the execution by the players. Anytime a team gets beat that badly, it has to be the coach not preparing the team adequately, and not making in game adjustments. This could be due to Grudens inexperience.
I feel like the Skins need something that forces the other team to adjust or strikes fear in the other teams heart. I feel like they haven't had that since the Read Option two years ago. What you want is to get to a point where other teams have to make adjustments for what you're bringing on the field. To make them feel unsure that they can stop you. All the good teams have that. The Skins just don't or it hasn't been discovered yet. I don't think any team is scared of the offense or the defense.
That being said...
I think the Skins have a great opportunity come Monday night next week. A chance to really build some character, confidence and measure themselves against the best. If they can keep it competitive, confidence will spread like wild fire. The Seahawks are beatable away from that mad house they call home and if they can somehow get a win... I don't expect the Skins to win but they should be able to keep it close depending upon the game plan and in game adjustments. The probability of being blown out twice in a row is small. The ten days rest is good, but the Seahawks had a bye this week. I think it all comes down to containing Percy Harvin, containing Wilson (no bootlegs), and being able to run the ball effectively and get into 3rd and shorts. The idea is to do whatever it takes to not get blown out.
I still think Cousins is the safer option at QB. I think even if Robert comes back, its just a countdown until he gets injured again. In a perfect world where no injuries are present, Robert would be the man. You need sustainability, consistency, and talent at QB. We all know the talent is there in both of them. Maybe more so with Griffin III but I think sustainability is where Cousins has the advantage. The question is whether Robert's talent over Cousins, out weighs the other factors. Robert also brings that factor that has to make opposing defenses adjust for him. The skins just need to find a way to exploit that. That does not mean making him run around and get injured again.
The Giants game was terrible. It was the perfect storm. I think the game plan was not good (although I don't know what the game plan was but from what I could tell it wasn't good). I think the execution was poor. Throw in the number of injuries we had and trying to work on a short week and it added up to the drubbing that we took.
The Skins have been solid in the other games they have played this year. Costly turnovers in the red zone of the Texans game were the difference there. The Iggles game went down to the wire and could have gone either way. We crushed Jax.
I think Seattle is the cream of the NFC. It's a tall order to stop them but as you said, at least we are playing at home as it is nearly impossible to beat them in Seattle. Hopefully Cousins shakes the Giant clunker off his bacak and plays better. We also have to get the run game going more. Each game this season, I feel like we need to get Morris more involved. I know everyone loves deep passes but our identity has been the run game. Understand that can change under a new coach but I would like to see more of Morris.
RG3 suffered a very strange injury and his professional career has been marred by injuries thus far but he is young and the ankle injury seemed like a freak injury. There is no reason to believe he can't be a top flight QB in this league. Coming out of college he proved he could make every throw needed in the NFL. He had a stellar rookie season. So he has shown he can do it. Hopefully he doesn't rush things and comes back fully healed with some practice under his belt. Again, I like Kirk but he has had his struggles in the NFL so far. He is a young guy with limited starts and I know until a few days ago, there was a large following that wanted to name him the franchise QB but he has had his issues as a starter and not been consistent. People wanted to compare him to Dalton. It's all so ridiculous. It was a nightmare of a game so it will be interesting to see how they bounce back from that type of game.
NFL fans are amusing, one week they were all on Captain Kirk bandwagon and next week he became Jerk Cousins. It was funny to wake up next morning listening to a local radio show with sad Titanic music playing in the background and Eli Manning being compared to a glacier which sunk the Redskins. I know Redskins got embarrassed but sometimes it can happen that a game can get away from you quickly especially considering the injuries they had going into this one. Eagles & Redskins had a tough physical game, both of them lost this week and at least some of it can be attributed to those injuries.
Regarding RG3, it's tough to be bullish on a guy who can't stay healthy. I know diehard Redskins fans will be willing to forget about this one, call it a fluke and welcome him back with open arms if this Cousin's experiment fails. But the bottom line is that he missed time again. He might have a much higher ceiling then Cousins but he might have already scaled it in his rookie year and he’s not going to climb any further. He might entertain by having a couple of mind blowing games but will it last long enough to be meaningful over a season?
Eagles offense was pathetic on Sunday. Right now McCoy can’t run 2 yards to save his life behind that offensive line, I think his avg at one point was 0.5 yards/carry. They are lucky to have a good start and need to sneak out a couple of wins over the next 4 to stay in contention so that they can hopefully make a run to close out the season when their offensive line gets healthy again.
There are a lot of questions about RG3 but we have seen what he can do when he is healthy so why not see again what he can do once he is healthy? I know most people want to write him off just like Cousins now after his horrible performance. Can't do that. It's just dumb. Given what the Skins gave up for RG3, they will give RG3 every chance to be successful in the league. Again, just a short time ago, people thought he could revolutionize the position with his skill set and now some of the same people are writing him off. Let the guy get healthy and lets see what he can do. Last year is not a good indicator of his talent as he was hampered by his injury and he never got any type of real offseason football work in. Again, it's like asking a marathon runner who hasn't trained for a year and still hobbling a bit to go out and win a marathon. It is unrealistic. I know people wanted him to come back and work miracles. It is just not realistic. I just say give the guy a legitimate chance before writing him off. Fans are silly.
Eagles are 3-1 but there are significant questions with them. They struggled mightily with the Jaguars in the first half. They were the beneficiaries of two bad calls late in the Indy game that contributed to the outcome. The Skins game could have gone either way. The offense was offensive against the 49ers and despite Kapernick's best attempt to give that game to the Iggles they could not capitalize. Foles has been inconsistent and McCoy has been non-existent the last two games. The O line has been bad so this may be contributing to both Foles and McCoy's play and the line should get more healthy. Still, people are questioning McCoy's health and how good Foles is. Still, they are 3-1 no matter how they got there and they play a depleted Rams team in Philly so that should make things right. Schedule starts getting a little tougher for them after that so we'll see how good they are.
Injuries are a part of the game. All teams have them. Its the good ones that are deep enough and balanced enough to over come the injuries. Every QB has good and bad games. There is just so much uncertainty and inconsistency at the qb position for the skins that there will be knee jerk reactions whenever anything good or bad happens. The skins can succeed of they can become more reliant on their running game and make Morris/Helu the center of their offense. Itll take the pressure off of Cousins. It will reduce the possibility of ill advised throws as he did 4-6 times against the Giants. I really want to see Morris run the ball more, more screens, and more play action from the skins.
I think the Skins and the Eagles and the Giants have a big problem on hand. The Cowboys look good. Romo is not 100% yet but Murray is playing out of his mind. They have many weapons on offense, Witten, Bryant, Murray, Williams. Everyone knows what happens when you have a dominant running attack and those kinds of weapons to throw to. The lethal pick your poison scenario unfolds. Their defense basically shut down one of the better offenses in the league in the Saints. They look pretty dangerous as a complete team.
True. Injuries ARE a part of the game but the Skins have had an extraordinary number of injuries that include their starting QB, their TE AND backup TE, much of their D line (Orakpo, Hatcher, Cofield, Jenkins, Baker), their best DB, starting LG. These are among others. It's hard to overcome this number of injuries and to key positions where they have taken the injuries. I'm not making excuses but it certainly makes things more difficult.
I agree that they should turn to Morris more.
As far as the Cowboys, not sold on them yet. Their wins have all come against teams with losing records and that are a combined 3-8. They do have potential but I'm not sold on them yet.
Frankly, I'm not sold on really anyone. I do think the Seahawks, Broncos, Bengals, and Chargers look strong but outside of them, there are questions on pretty much every other team.
We should find out more in the next few weeks who are the contenders and who are the pretenders.
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