Well, another game that leaves you wondering how good or bad this team is. Is it that the Giants are that much better than us (very likely) or is it that they can't play up in the big games? It has been many years since the Redskins have shown that they can compete when the bright lights are on, the national stage is not their favorite as they seem to lose everytime they are on Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football or any nationally-televised game that they are in, they choke like dogs and can't make a single play. One of the greatest examples of this was yesterday as DeAngelo Hall (the only Redskins corner who can actually catch) was sitting back waiting on the ball to hit him in the hands and Shawn Springs comes in to break it up...what the FUCK!!!! You can put that on the hustle play reel but the matter of the fact is that they need to make these turnovers to get things going. That play alone sums up the way that the Redskins played in this game...mediocre!
This team is not as bad as they looked yesterday (I HOPE!) but they don't seem to be in sync and they don't look like they are going to improve anytime soon because they lack a cohesive unit that can put the game on their shoulders and dominate. The run game would be that antidote but Portis, the only Redskins player that seems to be earning his paycheck in the last couple of weeks, is broken down beyond belief. He seems to have every part of his body in pain and is usually running against an 8 or 9-man box everytime because opposing teams know that the Offensive line is pitiful and, god love what he has done for this team in the past but put Jansen out to pasture. On the key 4th down play he just missed blocking anyone! That is inexcusable! Put in Heyer and deal with his shortcomings but Jansen has got to go. The offense as a whole is pretty much pitiful because we have a quarterback who needs to be protected forever and receivers that can't seem to get open, and when they do, they can't make a catch! How many times do you have to see Randle-El drop a ball or anyone of the rookies go up spectacularly but fail to come down with the ball? The coach needs to go into this week challenging EVERY single one of the offensive lineman to earn they paycheck and not get beat on every single stunt move or blitz. The team has a fantastic tight-end and only use him as a check-down receiver on 3rd and 10 and ask him to get 7 yards everytime with 3 guys on him...are you serious?
I will hesitate to criticize Zorn other than to ask him to keep doing what he is going to do but to add in some deep balls like the one that Campbell underthrew a wide-open Randle-El on that pass in the 3rd quarter. Why can't we line up both rookies on the edge, run Cooley up the middle to draw one of the 2 deep safeties and go over the top? Could we try it? Could the Offensive lineman hold their fat asses in front of the defenders long enough for Campbell to go through the progressions and air it out? I think it's worth a try, especially this week coming up against a very aggressive Baltimore Defense that is going to have 0 respect for this joke of an offense. If you go deep on them they will at least have to think about the fact that you can do it and have the will to do it. The fiip side to this argument is that the offensive line is a true joke and they can't give Campbell the 3 seconds he needs to step up and throw the ball down the field.
The defense is probably the most frustrating aspect of this team. They seem to be 2 steps away from hitting the quarterback on every play but never get there. I think Andre Carter has been a step away from 20 sacks this year but that is just not good enough! They do not make any plays! I look around the league and every team has a guy that blows by his man and comes in on the quarterback for the sack and occasionally forcing fumbles (i don't think they have more than 2 forced fumbles all year!) or make him throw quicker than he wants and gets the ball intercepted. Every game you have the defense stopping teams on first and second down just to give up 3rd and 8+ repeatedly. This defense needs to get better with the pass rush and everthing will be better quickly. The one bright spot I've seen on the defense is that they now have a corner, DeAngelo Hall, that can make a nice catch and gets interceptions (2 in the past 3 games!) and should be locked up for the next couple of years as long as he doesn't go back to being an asshole. Another very frustrating aspect to this team is the repeated problem of people trying to hit with their shoulders and forearms but they don't wrap up! How many times did the Giants players lower their shoulders and bounce off of shoulder tackles to get a first down? Those are the plays that end up losing the game for you. When you have a team in 3rd and 10 and their back catches it 3 yards down the field he should not get 15 yards and a first down after getting hit 5 yards down the field, if they would just tackle with the proper technique they would have given up 10 less points!
It doesn't take much for this team to turn this horrible past month behind them but they have to start by doing basic things; Protect the quarterback, wrap up on defense and get some sort of special teams unit that is at least competent. If the Redskins could go back in to the mold that got them to 5-1, running the ball and playing good defense, they could get past the Ravens, Eagles, 49ers, and Bengals. The last 4 games of the year do not seem to be impossible to get by. They have to play a good Ravens team (not convinced that they are as good as their record), an Eagles team that is up one week and down the next and 2 very winnable games on the road which seems to better for them anyway. If they can go 3-1 in the last 4 games they will most likely get into the playoffs because the Cowboys still have to play the Steelers and Giants and the teams in the NFC South are all playing against each other so you know that they will each likely get 1 or 2 more losses.
To summarize, all is not lost! The team still has time to correct the mistakes that they are obviously not good enough to overcome and they should be in much better shape. The beauty of the NFL is that teams can go on runs and get better from one week to the next. There are teams that look dead in November only to rebound and make a strong push towards that playoffs year after year. The Redskins themselves have done it in 2 out of the last 3 years. This year, the Colts looked dead a month ago and now they are in the wildcard spot. So let's all take a deep breath, wait until next Monday to scream about the ship sinking and the sky falling, hopefully they can remember that they have a good enough team to pound the ball down the Ravens throat and pull out a win. If the receivers can make some catches and the defense can get a bit more pressure they should be able to get some things at Baltimore who is coming off of a semi-bye week after playing the Bungles.
Here's to hope...the only thing that we have left!
Keywords: Washington Redskins
