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.