Yesterday the Washington Redskins were a half away from losing to 2 of the worst teams in the NFL in back-to-back weeks, only an inspired defensive game and a few timely plays prevented them from going to 1-3 and most likely ending Jim Zorn's reign in Washington. The good news was that they finally opened up the offense a bit and went downfield in the second half, the first resulting in a touchdown to Moss and the second was a forced passed by Campbell who seemed intent on making Talib look like Champ Bailey as he hauled in his 3rd, a very poorly-thrown ball, interception. Even though he did not look good at all and seemed to be the same Campbell we are used to seeing, he did come through in the 3rd quarter and helped turnaround the game for the squeaker, but none-the-less, a win.
OFFENSE
Jason Campbell was nothing short of horrible in the game's first half yesterday, he was sacked twice on the first 2 plays of the game as he continued to look nervous and was not decisive at all, allowing the defense to collapse on him instead of pulling down the ball and taking off as he did a few times in the second half. The fumble on the 2nd play could have been the disastrous play that has buried this team so often over the last few years. He patted the ball, looked around everywhere and missed his outlet throw to Sellers who was wide open on the sideline then Campbell was hit and fumbled the ball. Less than a few minutes into the game everyone in the stands let out the familiar, "Here we go again!" yell that has so frustrated Redskins fans over the past dreadful decade of a once-proud franchise. He was able to make a few throws but instilled no confidence in those who look at him and compare him to the other quarterbacks in the league, and people still wonder why Cerrato tried to get Cutler or Sanchez,? Nobody can tell me that they don't look much, much better than Campbell ever has.
This game was almost lost and eventually won by the play of Campbell, his long-bomb to Santana Moss was the best throw that he has made all season. He finally placed the ball in a position for the receiver to run under it and the Redskins, for maybe the 3rd or 4th time all year, employed a double-move that toasted Talib who was sitting on the underneath route that Moss had run for the entire game. It finally showed that Zorn is capable of making some adjustments that made him earn his money. Portis was solid, not great, but did have 2 very good runs, including one that he ran up the middle, stopped and cut back to the right to get a first down. The offensive line was OK, as they have been all year, they didn't run block very well but aren't helped by the fact that the Redskins run about 4 different running plays, the worst of all being the stretch runs that have not been successful at all year. It seems that they stretch the play out but Portis cannot make the burst up the seams that he could have a few years ago, therefore making the running plays ineffective. They continue to be unable to get Kelly, Thomas, and Davis involved in the game and are nearing the point were these guys either make plays or they should be cut loose from the team, they are taking the spot of other players who can attempt to make something happen. I still think that it's the coaches fault as they, through 4 games, do not every call fade routes for Kelly and tell Campbell to just throw the ball up high, unlike what he did on his second interception where he threw it flat and low, allowing Talib to step under Kelly to catch the ball.
The problem with the offense is simply a lack of speed everywhere. The have no running back with speed other than Aldridge but he doesn't seem very likely to play, ever. Portis, Mason, and Betts are the same runner, they can get some yards between the tackles (except for Betts who can only occasionally catch the ball out of the backfield to get a few first downs, he can't get more than 2 yards per carry anymore) but lack the homerun capability that most other teams have. Their receiving corps, other than Santana Moss, have no deep threat speed and seem like they can't ever get open. The best receiver on this team, without any doubt is Cooley. He goes up the sideline, over the middle, square-ins, drag routes, etc....and does it better than any other player on this team and catches everything that is thrown his way.
DEFENSE
While they deserve all of the credit for getting the win yesterday they continue to make the same mistakes that have cost them in the past against a good offense, they would have no chance. They still play 8 or 9 yards off of the receivers, most of the times you couldn't see Hall in the TV screen, that is unacceptable, period. They are playing against below-average receivers and giving them so much cushion that any slant or quick-hitting throw is always going to be completed, that needs to change. The pass rush was much better, they showed some intensity when going after the rookie QB, Jarmon and Orakpo look like very good players and are much needed for any future success this team could have. Tryon looked good as a corner, he showed some speed on the corner blitz and Hall showed, once again that he is the only corner that can make plays on this team. Rogers, though he played tight coverage all day and delivered a monster hit on the receiver after a short pass that seemed to fire up the rest of his teammates, cannot catch anything. His struggles with catching, sure-fired interceptions that should have gone for 6 points the other way, simply pitiful to say the least.
Horton and Landry shored up a solid secondary play with Reed Doughty as their biggest playmaker as he makes every play that he has to and looks very solid most of the time. The secondary looks to be solid but never seems up to playing that shut-down coverage that every other team seems to be able to play against the Redskins offense, until that happens, they don't deserve to get too much credit.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The best player that the Redskins have, Hunter Smith, got hurt and Suisham came in to make some key plays, the punt from his own endzone was key to keeping the game under control. Randle-El continues to show that he should never field another punt again as he doesn't attack the ball and routinely calls for the fair-catch even when he has 5 or more yards between him and the closest defender, they should put Thomas back there and see if he can do something on special teams as his role on offense is non-existent. The kicker made his only attempt and, even-though he had his extra point blocked, it was not his fault, it was a missed assignment by Yoder who forgot to block Tampa's best player, Ronde Barber.
COACHING
They get a better grade than against Detroit because they made the adjustments at halftime that opened up the offense and seemed to confuse Tampa's QB on defense that turned the game around. The fact that they mixed in their zones with some man-to-man play seemed to work in the second half, not to mention that Haynesworth was once again a monster in the middle that routinely gobbled up 2 or 3 lineman and allowed Orakpo to do what he should be doing on every down, rush the passer with speed and power. On offense, Zorn finally opened up a bit and let Campbell throw the ball downfield and not just the quick, dink-and-dump routine that has proven to not work most of the time. Zorn also showed that he was willing to change the running scheme (FINALLY!!) because the stretch play was not giving them any good results.
The team showed signs of life in the 3rd quarter and parts of the 4th, not enough to instill any confidence in the team's fans who know that this team looks slower, less impressive than almost every other team in the league outside of the Bucs, the Browns, and the sorry-ass Raiders. Every other team in the league has players that can take a short pass and take it the distance, who on the Redskins can do that other than Moss? Nobody! That is the problem with this offense, no defense has to worry about covering anyone other than Moss because they have no speed to get past the secondary and therefore allows the defense to play tight, with 8 men in the box to eliminate the running game taking away the play-action pass which seems to be the only way that Campbell can have enough time to figure out what he wants to do.
The Redskins have less talent, less playmakers, and less talented coaching than most teams in the league and routinely play to the level of their competition. Coaching, playing, scouting, every factor in the composition of an NFL team need to improve if this team is going to be anything other than mediocre. They routinely make simple mental mistakes that cause them to miss a block, run the wrong way, and make bone-headed plays that kill the little momentum that they can generate with their play. They have to be almost perfect to have any chance against teams like the Giants, Eagles, and other teams that have an identity and know what they are trying to do when they get the ball.
This team seems to just try to get a first down or two to get into the infamous "rhythm" that Zorn is always looking for, mostly negating any chances that they could take to try to get the ball downfield quickly and produce scores on drives of less than 4 plays, something that would allow them more freedom if teams were forced to back off a bit from the line of scrimmage, giving them more running room and opening up the defense to underneath routes that can keep the defense guessing. They are too predictable, too stubborn and too thin-skinned to make this a successful season. The next time I hear one of them complaining that the fans are booing I'm going to puke, if you play like crap, charge people an arm-and-a-leg to get in after they spent 2 hours in traffic what do you expect? Campbell said yesterday in an interview had he knew that his career and Zorn's were on the line in the 2nd half and said that he was bothered by the booing to which I would say, BE A MAN! Stop telling everyone that it's a work in progress, that the rhythm and all of the other nonsense that you spew and play better. Every team in the NFL except for a few show signs of life in every game and take shots downfield, if the Redskins can understand that concept there still may be a glimmer of hope for this season, if not, prepare for Mike Shanahan as the coach and Colt McCoy as your starting quarterback.
If the Redskins could bottle up that 3rd quarter from yesterday and reproduce it throughout an entire game, then, and only then, will the fans stop booing, like they say, Make me!
