Redskins at Rams results

The Washington Redskins have gone from Superbowl champions to the worst team in the NFL in the spam of two games.....at least in the eyes of the fans.  After beating the Saints in New Orleans, the Redskins lost to the Rams in St. Louis in a very close game, by the score of 31-28.  What most fans will remember of the game, unfortunately, is the unsportsmanlike play by Josh Morgan, when he threw the ball at Cortland Finnegan after being tackled short of the first down mark.  But before getting into that, and the other negatives about the game, let me first look at the positives.

The best thing about the game for Redskins fans was RG3.  He was able to impress by with abilities once again.  He had a long bomb to Leonard Hankerson for a TD that was a thing of beauty.  RG3 threw the ball 68 yards, and it landed right in Hankerson's hands.  Hankerson did not have to slow down, or speed up, or change directions, or stretch out for the catch.  He was running at full speed, and simply opened his arms and the ball landed perfectly.  However, he did almost drop the pass, but was able to keep a hold of it and take it a few yards to the endzone.  RG3's arm strength was well known, but he showed that he is damn accurate with the long balls as well.  He also had another deep pass to Aldrick Robinson, but the 2nd year WR was not able to make the play as the ball bounced off his shoulderpads.

RG3 also showed off his rushing abilities, carrying the ball 11 times for a total of 82 yards and 2 TD's.  It appeared that he was able to run fairly easily when they had QB sneak play called.  On one of the TD's, he was able to split two would-be-tacklers very quickly and smoothly, and make it to the endzone.  The only concern is that over the length of the season, if he continues to rush as many times, his body will not be able to handle it, or that he will leave himself open for a very nasty hit.  I'm hoping that day won't come, as the Redskins need RG3 to be healthy for a very long time.

The rest of the offense played well also.  Alfred Morris had another good rushing game, going 89 yards on 16 carries, but he was not able to find the endzone.  The great thing about Morris is that whenever he is hit, he has so much momentum, that he almost always falls forward another yard or two.  And he is a rookie, so if he is also able to stay healthy, the Redskins have a fine RB leading the rushing game.

The WR core played ok, as they were able to make catches, but they were not that good at yards after the catch, mainly due to the fact that Pierre Garcon did not play in this game.  He is their number one WR, and the main person for YAC yards.  He should be back next week, and should be able to contribute once again.

The Offensive line also played well, allowing only one sack on RG3, but he was rushed a number of times.  This unit is doing a pretty good job, but the last two weeks they have not been fully tested, because both of their opponents had D-line issues.  With more time playing together, the unit can protect RG3 pretty well.

Now onto the negatives.  In regards to refs, I will just say that they have been horrendous in the entire league.  Even though they were horrible, making extremely back calls and multiple no calls, they were doing it to both sides, for the most part.  However, the real refs know about player reputations, and who to watch out for, which in this case would be Cortland Finnegan, the CB of the Rams, and the entire Rams team, because of their head coach Jeff Fisher.  Fisher, when he was with the Titans, had a team that in his tenure led the league in most personal fouls, with 163.  The 2nd highest teams were the Giants and Cardinals, with only 137.  In those 10 years, the Titans committed 67 unnecessary roughness penalties, 46 roughing the passer, 18 unsportsmanlike conducts, and 32 in other variations of personal fouls.  This team was also the same team that had the famous head stomp by Albert Haynsworth.  Cortland Finnegan was also with the Titans, before coming to the Rams.  In 2010, he was fined $5000 for throwing Giants WR to the ground by his helmet, then $10,000 for unnecessary roughness when he hit a Broncos' lineman who had lost his helmet, and then ejected from a game against the Texans and fined $25,000 for getting into a fist fight with Andre Johnson.  Finnegan is a very good CB, but he is considered one of the dirtiest players in all of sports.

Although a major negative in the game, it was nothing the Redskins could do anything about, other than to hold their composure, which they did for the most part.  What the Redskins had problems with, to start, was surprisingly the Defense.  For years now the Redskins had relied on the D to keep them in games, in hopes of being able to get lucky and score enough to win games.  It appears that this season the roles have been reversed.  The Offense is able to score points, but the D is not able to stop the other teams.  They gave up 32 points to the Saints, which can be chalked off to the fact that they are a formidable offense, and this week they gave up 31 to the Rams.  Now the Rams do have a good QB in Sam Bradford, and a very good RB in Steven Jackson, but Jackson was sidelined after the 1st quarter, and a rookie RB was killing the Redskins defense.  Sam Bradford was also able to easily find receivers open throughout the game, mainly Danny Amendola, who racked up a total of 15 catches for 160 yards and 1 TD.  It appeared that the Redskins could not cover any of the Rams' WR's, specially Amendola, until the end of the game, when they finally cut back on the zone scheme defense.  For the day, Bradford was 26 of 35 passing, for 310 yards, and 3 TD's, with only one INT.  On top of that, the Redskins gave up 151 yards on the ground.  The Rams were also about to convert 7 out of 12 3rd downs, which means the Defense was not able to get off the field and give the Offense a chance to score points.

The Redskins also gave up a blocked punt, for the 2nd time in as many games.  Although the reason for the blocked punt was given as one of the linemen releasing too early, this is not looking good for the special teams.  This on top of the fact that Brandon Banks fumbled another return.  He is not being used in the passing game, and his sole purpose is to return kicks, for which he isn't doing a great job, and he is having major problems hanging on to the ball.  If this continues, they will need to find a different solution.

Besides the Redskins defensive coaches not being able to adjust fast enough to what the Rams were doing, another major bad point in the game was the head coach, Mike Shanahan.  There were two calls make by Shanahan, which in my and many other's minds were completely wrong and dumb.  His first was at the end of the first half, when the Rams were going for a long FG.  Mike called a timeout right before the ball was snapped, a "move" that he has been credited with creating.  The idea behind this is to get into the mind of the kicker and make him miss on the second attempt.  This move has only worked a very, and I mean very small number of times, and this was not one of them.  The Rams actually missed the kick on the 1st attempt, but since Shanahan called a timeout, the kick did not count and they were able to retake it, which he nailed.  That gave the Rams 3 points which they should not have had.  The second dumb move came at the end of the game, and this one I have a major issue with.  The Redskins were pushed back to 4th and 15, because of Josh Morgan's mistake, and well out of FG range.  Their kicker, Billy Cundiff, has been in the league since 2002.  His career long successful FG kick is 56 yards, which he kicked in 2005.  That is also the last time he made a FG longer than 55 yards.  Since then, he is 1 for 10 in kicks over 50 yards, and in his career, he is only 5-20.  From those stats, anyone can see that he is NOT a long distance kicker.  If I, and many other fans, know these stats, then I sure hope that the coaches know it as well.  Which is why I am baffled at the fact that they brought him out to try a 62 yard FG!!!  Just to add to that point, the NFL record for the longest FG is 63 yards...  So that means that the coaching staff, mainly Mike Shanahan, since he makes the calls, thought that a guy who hadn't made a FG of more than 56 yards in his career, and who had missed 9 out of 10 FG of over 50 yards, would somehow be able to make a 62 yard FG, with a Offensive line that has had issues protecting FG attempts, and the game on the line.  This instead of having RG3, who was having a very good day against the Rams defense, specially when he ran the ball, trying to give the Redskins a first down.  If that is not the worst decision in the game, I am not sure what is.

I am hoping the Defense can get it together this week, as they have a pretty good Offensive team coming to town, because if they cannot, then it will be a very long day, and a very high scoring game.

Redskins at Rams

Redskins at Rams

Sunday September 16, 2012

4:05PM EST

The Washington Redskins are 1-0, and going to St. Louis to face the Rams, who are 0-1.  The Redskins and Rams have played 8 times since 2000, mainly due to the fact that they have been at the bottom of their own Divions.  Most of the games have been close between the two clubs, the Redskins having won 5 out of the 8 meetings between the two teams.  For some reason, no matter how well the Redskins are playing leading up to this game, they find a way to play very badly.  Could it be that the Rams have a great Defense?  Doubt it, or else they would not be as bad as they have been.  I think it is mainly due to the fact that the Redskins have played down to their opponents' level recently.  Regardless of the reason, this meeting could possibly result in the same thing, at least that is what most people fear.

The Rams are coming off a loss to the Detroit Lions, 27-23, with a poor showing on the Offensive side.  They were only able to get 14 first down, and racked up only 250 total yards on Offense, 77 of which were rushing.  Their stud running back, Steven Jackson, was only able to get 53 yards on 21 carries, and did not find the end-zone, in fact none of the RB's got to the end zone.  Sam Bradford did not have a great outting either, although not as bad as the RB's.  He was able to connect on 17 out of 25 passes, for 198 yards and 1 TD with 0 INT's.  He was sacked 4 times, which is mainly due to the fact that the Rams are having some injury issues on the Offensive line.  Although not much stock can be placed in only one week of Football, these stats due favor the Redskins, who had a pretty good day against a very potent Saints Offense last week.  The Defensive front 7 of the Redskins should have a good day against this offense, and should find Bradford on a couple of occasions.  They should also be able to limit Jackson's yards, since from the looks of it, the Rams are committing to the run this year, and the Redskins have been good at stopping the run.

The Rams did not do a great job on Defense, but they were able to contain Megatron, Calvin Johnson, keeping him from finding the endzone.  But he was able to grab 6 passes for 111 yards, with a 51 yard completion on one of the catches.  However, they were able to make Matthew Stafford's day a tough one, picking him off 3 times.  Stafford finished the night completing 32 of 48 passes, for 355 yards and 1 TD, along with those 3 INT's, one of which was returned for a TD by the Rams' newest CB, Cortland Finnegan.  The Rams' Defense was in bend-don't-break mode, giving up a total of 429 yards to the Offense of the Lions, with Kevin Smith rushing for 62 yards and one TD on 13 attemps.  The Rams are having some issues on the Defensive line, which was only able to get to Stafford one time for a sack.  This does not bode well for the Rams, if the Redskins are able to continue on the Offensive onslaught they started in New Orleans.  If the offensive line for the Redskins can protect RG3 as well as they did against the Saints, and if RG3 is as accurate as he was last week, then they should have a very good day against the Rams Defense.

As mentioned, this type of game is considered a trap game, a game that the Redskins have historically played as bad as their opponents.  But if we are to learn anything from week 1, this Redskins team is nothing like those of the past 15-20 years.  The Offense looks like a real Offense, with a real QB at the helm, and real WR's that can catch the ball and run with it.  The RB position looks solid, after the performance Alfred Morris had.  The Defense held their own against a powerful Saints Offense, but that has been the norm for the past number of years.  The Redskins can easily win this game, if they do not beat themselves by making stupid mistakes and if they do not underestimate the Rams, which want to make up for the loss agaisnt the Lions last week.

Redskins at Saints Result

So the game was played, and it did not go anything like most people had thought it would go.  As I had mentioned in my previous posts, it was a close game, and in fact it came down to the last play of the game with 2 seconds left on the clock, but I had no idea it would have played out like it did.  So let us get to it and go over what all happened.

As the picture at the top shows, the Redskins were able to beat the Saints, in New Orleans, by the final score of 40 to 32.  Yes, the Redskins actually scored 40 points!  The last time they did this was in 2005!  On top of that, all 40 points were scored by the Offense and special teams.  The Redskins were able to score 10 points in each of the quarters, which is insane if you are a Redskins fan.  The Offense looked amazing, and the Defense was able to make plays when it needed to the most.

Robert Griffin III finished the day with completing 19 of 26 passes, resulting in 320 yards and 2 TD's.  He did not throw a single interception, although one should have been intercepted, the CB lost the ball when he hit the ground.  He also ran the ball 10 times, both by design and scrambling, for a total of 42 yards.  Some of the run plays were by design, as mentioned, but some were the result of RG3 getting away from the Defensive rush and making a play instead of being sacked.  In fact, he was only sacked only once, and that was when he was tripped and had fallen down.  According to stats, RG3 was rushed only 8 times out 31 drop backs, which shows that the Offensive line stepped up huge and protected RG3 very well, and also that RG3 got rid of the ball very quickly, which will go a long way in keeping him healthy and injury free.

Besides the stats, watching RG3 play, it brought home the point that finally, after many years of poor QB play, the Washington Redskins have a legitimate QB, a franchise QB, now and for the foreseeable future.  Granted, it is just one game, but the future is bright, if he can stay healthy and continue to grow.

Not all was good, however.  The Offense looked crisp and efficient, it looked professional and it looked as though it knew what it wanted to do, and knew how to do it exactly.  In short, it looked very much like the Saints Offense last year.  But the Defense had trouble with said prolific Offense.  Drew Brees was only sacked twice, and was able to throw for 339 yards and 3 TD's.  Yes he did also throw 2 INT's, but one of them came as a result of a Hailmary pass attempt at the end of the game.  Although his accuracy was low, only 24 out of 52 attempts, he was still able to almost tie the game at the end.  Although the Redskins won't be facing such an air attack on a weekly basis, they will have to deal with a much better rushing attack.  The Saints stopped trying to rush the ball and went straight to the air, but other teams will not.  In fact, the Redskins' next opponent is a very good rushing team.

But not all is doom and gloom.  The Defense was able to stand up and make plays when it needed to, like the last play of the game to stop Drew Brees.  Also, with a potent Offense which takes advantage of field position and scores, the Defense does not have to be as tough and strong as it used to be in the years past.  They can take more risks, knowing that the Offense can make up for their mistakes.

Does this win change my mind on how the rest of the season will go?  Very little.  I still believe the Redskins will finish the season with an 8-8 record.  However, I now believe that those 8 loses will be close games, and the Redskins will be there till the end of the game in all the 8 loses, and the 8 wins can potentially be blowouts.  So as a Redskins fan, I am very much looking forward to the rest of the season, and am excited to see this Offense, specially RG3, grow and develop into a power to contend with.

Redskins vs Saints

Redskins vs Saints

Sunday September 9, 2012

1:00pm EST



The regular season of the NFL is finally here, and it was kicked off on Wednesday with a game between the Cowboys and Giants.  This weekend will be the first full weekend of Football, and there are a number of games of interest.  None of which are more important (at least to me) than the game between the Redskins and the Saints, which will be played in New Orleans.  There are several aspects of this game that are interesting, not only to the fans of both teams, but nationally.  I will try and go through them as fluidly as possible, but those of you that know me know that my mind jumps around a lot, so I apologize ahead of time.

Looking at the national interest, the first aspect is the Redskins QB, Robert Griffin III.  This will be his first regular season game, where the Defense will be coming after him and will try to confuse him with trick plays and false schemes.  A lot of people will be paying close attention to how RG3 plays against the Saints, to see if he is as good as promised, or will be start out rough as most rookies do.  Normally I would say this would be one of the most difficult opponents for a rookie QB, as the Saints have been a tough defensive unit.  They have been known for blitzing almost every down, from multiple directions, confusing QB's as to where the blitz will be coming from next.  Their front seven have been very good at applying pressure on the QB and making him throw bad passes.  This fact, combined with the ball hawks that the Saints have playing at the DB positions have resulted in multiple interceptions.  Again, normally this would be a bad thing, but due to the "bounty" scandal, some of the main Defensive players for the Saints won't be playing this week.  These include Jonathan Vilma, a very good LB, along with Will Smith, one of the best DE's in the game.  There is a possibility that Smith will play this weekend, if a judge rules to hold off on the suspension, but that is still up in the air.  The Saints are also going into the season with a new Defensive Coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo.  Although that would normally be a bad thing for a team, it appears that Steve has the Redskins' number.  He had been the Head Coach for the Rams for the past several years, and the Redskins had struggled greatly against the Rams, not being able to score many points.  Granted this is a new era for the Redskins Offense, but the scheme has not changed much.

Another national point of interest is how the Saints are going to respond to the hardships they have faced.  Not only were they hit with suspensions, Vilma and Smith on the field, their GM, Mickey Loomis, and Head Coach Sean Payton, have both been suspended, along with the Assistant Head Coach Joe Vitt, but the city of New Orleans has been hit with another hurricane.  The Saints have been known to bounce back from such hardships before, having won the Super Bowl after they were hit with Katrina, so many will be paying close attention to how they will respond this time around.

As far as the Saints' Offense is concerned, they will most likely not miss a beat.  Although Payton was the playcaller and the mastermind behind the Offense, Drew Brees has been the QB for several years, and has worked closely with Payton on the Offense, and knows the system as well as the suspended Head Coach does.  To add to that, the Redskins are having some issues on the Defensive side of the ball.  Although the front seven for the Redskins are very strong, there is some major questions in the backfield.  With the indefinite suspension of Tanard Jackson, and the injury to Brandon Merriwether, the Safety position is hurting.  This added to the questions regarding the CB's can be a problem, specially faced with the type of aggressive offense the Saints have.  Drew Brees shattered Dan Marino's record for most passing yards, and looks to continue on the roll.  This will be a major test for the Redskins' Defensive unit, to see if they can at the very least contain the Saints.

Both teams have players on Special Teams that can break open a game on a Kickoff or Punt Return.  The Redskins kept Brandon Banks on the roster mainly for this reason, as he is a very elusive and quick return specialist.  The Saints replaced their star return player last year, by letting go of Reggie Bush and picking up Darren Sprolles, and he was able to pick up exactly where Bush left off.

Since both teams are facing possible issues on the Defensive side, this looks to be a high scoring game.  The only question would be if the Redskins and RG3 can keep up with the Saints or not.  If both sides are able to drive the ball and score, it will most likely come down to which team can get lucky on Defense and either cause a turnover or stop the Offense from scoring.

Having said all that, I believe this will be a close yet high scoring game, and the Redskins do have a very good chance of pulling out a win.