2014 Regular Season Schedule

Here is the 2014 Regular Season Schedule for the Washington Redskins, created by me.  Click to see larger size, and feel free to save and share it.

Redskins hire Jay Gruden as Head Coach

So the Washington Redskins have hired Jay Gruden as the head coach for the team for the 2014 season.  Before coming here, Jay was the OC for the Bengals.  While there, the Bengals have had a potent offense, being in the top 10 in scoring per game.  Jay's offense could and did move the ball down the field, and had plenty of deep plays, and they scored a lot.  Under Jay, the Bengals scored an average of 21.5 points per game in 2011, 24.4 ppg in 2012, and 26.9 ppg in 2013.  And each season, they moved up one spot in their division, winning it last year.  Granted, some of those number are attributed to the changes to rules for defensive players, as well as the decline in defensive strength of the other teams in their division, but the Bengals were still able to put up points and stay in games.

Those numbers look pretty good, when looking at them as a Redskins fan.  The first problem is the QB situation.  Would RG3 fit the style of offense that Jay runs?  From what has been reported, Jay wanted to get Andy Dalton instead of Collin Kaepernick, which ended up happening.  It would seem that Jay prefers to have a more traditional QB, who stands in the pocket and reads the defense and delivers the ball, and not so much a mobile, running QB.  Would he prefer to have RG3 or Kirk Cousins?  Now I'm sure the Redskins would not have hired Jay if he had said he wants to start Kirk over Robert, since they have invested their future in Robert and hopefully would not be giving up on him that quickly.  But the question will remain if Robert can learn and adapt to the style of Jay's offense.  I for one don't think there will be any problems with Robert learning the system, since he himself has said he wants to be a pocket passer and not a running QB.

Another question is how would Alfred Morris fit the system.  Morris is more of a zone-blocking type of RB, which was the system Shanahan was utilizing.  Jay's offense is more power running, and not so much zone-blocking.  Having said that, Morris is a power runner, who can break tackles and move the pile, so even though his style now might better fit a zone-blocking offense, there should be no problems with him leading a power running system.  But that brings to question the offensive line.  The current O-line, except for Trent Williams, are undersized quick linemen.  They have proven they are not able to overpower a defensive line, given how neither Robert nor Kirk had much time in the pocket against a good pass rush.  So I would think the first change would be to bring in new linemen and strengthen the O-line.  This will be the only way the Redskins can run a power running system, as well as give the QB enough time in the pocket to pass the ball.

Next down the line is the defense.  As it stands, it appears as though Jim Haslett will continue to be the Defensive Coordinator of the team.  During the season last year, most of the fans wanted him fired because of the failures of the defense.  But once Shanahan was fired, it seems as though a lot of people have either forgotten about Haslett, or are appeased enough to be ok with Haslett staying on-board.  Whatever the case, if Haslett does stay the DC, I would not be surprised if the Redskins go back to a 4-3 defense.  They do not have the proper players for a 3-4 defense, which is one of the reasons they have been aweful this past number of years.  They are not able to create enough of a pass-rush to cause the QB to make bad throws, which would turn into INT's.  The only way they have put pressure on the QB has been to blitz, which leaves the DB's shorthanded and vulnerable, unless they are damn good at covering WR's, which they are not.  So by going to a 4-3, the Redskins would be able to, in theory, bring more pressure and give the DB's a chance to make a play on bad passes.  Assuming that they have the same players, and do not make any changes, the defense would look like the following for 2014 :

Left DE - Kerrigan
Left DT - Cofield
Right DT - Bowen
Right DE - Orakpo

 

Left LB - Tapp
Middle LB - Riley JR
Right LB - Jackson

 

Left CB - Hall
FS - Meriweather
SS - Doughty
Right CB - Amerson

To me, that would be a pretty good defense.  It would put Kerrigan and Orakpo back into their natural spots they played in College, with their hands in the dirt, which would allow them to put more pressure on the QB.  The interior line would be very good at blocking the run, with Carriker and Jenkins as backups.  The three LB's are good enough at covering any receiver to be able to stay with them, and possibly make a play on the ball, and they are sure tacklers.  The CB's are both ball-hawks who are good at covering a WR and spotting the ball while in the air.  Both Safties are good tacklers, and although they aren't the best at coverage, they are able to recognize plays and not be beat on a pump fake or play-action.  That is all considering that they not only keep the players they have, but they also do not get any help from the draft or free agency.

The next problem would be the special teams.  There are no mentions of who would be heading the special teams as of now, so no telling how they will be.  However, they will have Richard Crawford back from injury, who was very good at returning punts in 2012.  I just hope that Niles Paul is not returning kicks, even if he is on the team.

The remaining question is, who is calling the shots now?  Is it Dan Snyder?  Or Bruce Allen?  I highly doubt Jay Gruden will be anything like Mike Shanahan, and want to be in total control.  So it would fall on either Bruce Allen, who is the GM, or back to Dan Snyder, the way it was before Shanahan came into town.  From the way things are looking, it appears to be Bruce Allen making the calls, since the coaching staff is now full of guys who have worked with and are friends with Allen from previous jobs.  That can be a good thing or a bad thing, only time will tell.

One thing is for sure:  No matter what happens, no matter how good or bad the Redskins are, no matter if they make great decisions or horrible decisions, if the Redskins have any Monday Night Football games, there will be plenty of talk, true or not, about how good the team is doing during the game, as well as how great the QB is performing, by the new head coach's older brother, Jon Gruden.

2014 QB Situation

So the 2013 NFL regular season has come to an end for the Washington Redskins, with them finishing in last place in the NFC East with a record of 3-13.  That is a huge disappointment, specially considering that this same team won the division in 2012.  What happened to the team is more than just a simple QB issue with the injury to Robert Griffin III from last year, but the Washington area fans being who they are, people were blaming him for how the season turned out and clamoring for the backup QB.  This is a trend that has been going on in this area for years, and I do know it happens in other fan bases as well, but it seems to be more prevalent here, simply because the Redskins had been bad for many years.  The fans always fall in love with the backup QB, no matter who is starting and who is the backup, and they believe he will be the savior of the team and the season.  The list is pretty interesting when you look at it, going all the way back to 1994 :

Starting QB	Backup QB
Robert Griffin III	Kirk Cousins
Rex Grossman	John Beck
Donovan McNabb	Rex Grossman
Jason Campbell	Todd Collins
Patrick Ramsey	Mark Brunell
Brad Johnson	Jeff George
Gus Frerotte	Jeff Hostetler
Heath Shuler	John Friesz

In most, if not all, of those cases, the backup QB did not turn out to be the savior the fans thought they were.  There is usually a reason a QB is backup and not the starting player, and that is because they aren't as good as the starter.  Are the exceptions to this?  Of course there are, there are exceptions to every rule, but in most cases, the backup QB is not as good as the starting QB, or else they would have started from the beginning.  The only difference this year was that the backup QB can actually play and can be a starter on some of the teams out there.

Robert spent all of the off-season rehabbing from the knee injury, and not spending time with his receivers, and it showed.  He was not good.  A lot of his passes were off target, and he made some bad choices.  He was slow in delivering the ball at times, and other times he telegraphed where he was going to throw the ball.  But was all of that on him, or was part of it on the coaching staff and the play calling?  If it was on him, then starting Kirk would have alleviated those problems.  However, if it wasn't all on him and the play calling and coaching was also at fault, then you would end up with the same results with Kirk behind the center.  So let us take a quick look at the two QB's and how they performed this year. Robert played in 13 games, and Kirk played in 5.  Following are the stats for their performances :

QB	Comp	Att	Percent	Yards	TD	INT	Fum	Sacked
Griffin	247	456	60.1%	3203	16	12	4	38
Cousins	81	155	52.3%	854	4	7	3	5

So just by looking at the numbers, it does appear that it wasn't all on Robert.  Kirk was less accurate than Robert, his TD/INT ratio was worse, and he had more fumbles lost per game.  Granted, some of that does fall on the receivers not catching the passes, but Robert had the same receivers and the same issues.  So simply putting in a QB that had experience in a pro-style offense, and was not a "gimmick" QB did not solve the problems.  On top of those stats, the scoring was a sign as well.  In the 13 games Robert started, the Redskins scored an average of 21.5 points, but in the 3 that Kirk started they only managed 18.3, and those 3 games were against the worst defenses in the league.  So the problem is most obviously elsewhere, and I believe that was the play calling.

I am well aware that Mike and Kyle Shanahan claimed that they were calling the same plays for Kirk that they did for Robert.  Now I am not an expert, nor do I have the luxury of looking at game tape and figuring out if they were in fact the same or not, but looking at the games, it sure did look to me like they were different plays being called.  For starters, Kirk seemed to do a lot more bootleg and rolling out than Robert did, which does not make sense to me, since Robert is the more athletic QB out of the two.  Also, with Robert in the game, the majority of the plays had one or two RB's as well as a WR or TE in the backfield with him.  This meant that if the play was a passing play, Robert would only have at most 2 receivers running routes, which made it a whole lot easier for defenses to cover.  Yes he would have the option to run the ball more in that formation, but with his knee and the brace on it, everyone knew he wasn't as big a threat running the ball as he was last year.  I also don't recall too many, if any, 5 WR formations when Robert was the QB.  Kirk had more targets to throw to, which forced the defenses to keep more players back to cover those receivers, which in turn meant that Kirk had more time to stand in the pocket and throw the ball.  Which was another major difference that I noticed.  The Offensive line was not able to stop a pass-rush whatsoever.  This was true for both Kirk and Robert, but Robert barely had time to step back and look downfield before a defensive player was in his face.  This was most likely due to the fact that the defensive players only had to worry about a couple of receivers running routes, and could blitz more to get to Robert.

So the lack of time in the pocket was mainly because of the poor Offensive line.  But here is where the blame falls on the coaching staff.  If you know your O-Line can't protect your QB, and believe me, EVERYONE knew that, then you get creative.  You run more bootleg plays.  You move the pocket.  You spread the defense.  Those things did not happen when Robert was in the game.  They only showed up mainly when Kirk became the starting QB.  Which again doesn't make sense to me, because if you do any of those things with Robert, not only will you give him more time to stand and look off safeties (Which was a knock on Robert, that he wouldn't do that.  But how can you when you only have one or two receivers?), but you would also give him more opportunities to run and make plays with his legs, which he was able to do, even with the brace hindering him.

Now they can say that Robert wasn't able to grasp the offense at the level that Kirk did, which is why they called different plays.  I don't believe it personally, but fine, I have no problem with that reasoning, since I'm not in the meetings and I don't know exactly what Robert can grasp and what he can't.  But then again the blame would fall on the coaching staff for not changing their style and play calling to fit their QB.  This had been an issue with this team for many years, the coaching staff would try and fit the players they have into their system, instead of working their system around the players they had.  This was true for the Shanahan regime as well, until last year.  Last year they showed that they can change their system to suit the weapons they have, and what was the result?  The Redskins went on a 7 game winning streak and won the division.  But they stopped doing that this year, and the result is another basement occupation by the Washington Redskins.

We as fans are looking forward to the 2014 season, and are hoping for a better result, since we will have a new coaching staff in town.  Hopefully with their departure, the lack of change in play calling is gone as well.  Regardless of who is coaching this team next year, and what system they will run, the chances that the team will start Kirk Cousins over Robert Griffin III are slim to none.  You do not use 3 first round picks for a QB only to not play him when he is healthy and has an offseason of workouts under his belt.  That does not mean that the Redskins should trade Coursins this offseason, because he is a good QB, and is very good at coming in as a backup for Robert.  What is so wrong with having two good QB's on your team?  So even if the team does not trade Kirk Cousins this offseason, there is not going to be a QB controversy next year, at least as far as the team itself is concerned.  The fans, on the other hand, will always be looking at the backup QB and salivating, even the the backup QB happens to be an undranfted rookie coming out of college with having played only 1 game during his college career.  It is a good thing the fans don't make the calls on who starts, well, at least those of us who don't happen to own the team.

Do the Washington Redskins need to make a major change?

 

So it seems that my predictions have not come true to this point.  I had the Redskins being 1-1 going into the 3rd week, and easily handing the Eagles a loss and loosing in a close game to the Packers.  In both games, as is well known, the Redskins looked bad.  The Offense could not get anything going until the second half in each game, and the Defense couldn't stop anyone and were missing tackles left and right.  Although RGIII did start the season, he does not look like the RGIII of last year, nor does Alfred Morris look as dominant as he did last year.  All those things combined have put major doubts in the minds of the fans.  The two main topics of discussion has been benching RGIII until he is back to form and starting Kirk Cousins, and the firing of Jim Haslett, the Defensive coordinator.  I don't agree with either of those two options, and I will try and explain why below.

First let us take a look at the idea of starting Cousins in place of RGIII.
To me, even thinking about this is ridiculous.  We all know that RGIII is the future of this team, not Kirk Cousins.  If the team really thought that highly of Cousins, they would not have traded a bunch of draft picks to move up and get Griffin, and would have just waited until the 4th round and picked up Cousins.  Same with all the other teams in the NFL, they would have taken Cousins much sooner.  Now could it be that Cousins is better than he was projected, yes, and in fact that is true.  But that does not mean he is better than Griffin.  As I said, Griffin is the future of the team, and if you bench him now, after starting him in week 1, not only will that interrupt his comeback, it will also mess with his head.  Many young QB's have been benched, and were not able to recover from that, having doubt in their own abilities.  You might say that RGIII would be fine, and can come back without any problems, once he is 100% both physically and mentally.  Sure, but that does not mean that Cousins will give you a better chance of winning.  Let us look at why RGIII is not successful.
Last year he was running all over the place based on the zone-read-option.  Doing this froze most, if not all, of the players who had contain on his side.  They didn't know if Griffing was going to hand the ball off or run it himself.  If they stayed in place, even for a second, then Griffin would hand the ball off to Alfred and he would hit the line hard.  If they went in for Alfred, Griffin would keep the ball and make a huge run, or simply pass it.  This year, the Eagles and the Packers gambled that Griffin won't run, so the players that had contain didn't worry about the possibility of RGIII keeping the ball himself, and crashed in on Alfred.  This makes it much harder for Alfred to find holes, since he has a guy bearing down on him from the side, so he can't cut back.  So the Redskins started passing, and didn't try the zone-read.  Again, since the Defense did not have to worry about Griffin making a run for it, they came after him hard, and the O-Line had no chance of stopping the attack.  The O-Line is designed for a zone rushing attack, which is perfect for the zone-read-option.  But they are not built for a traditional passing offense, they get beat and pushed around easily when they have to stand their ground.  Even though Griffin has not made any big runs, there is still a slight threat of him doing so.  But if the Redskins put Cousins in, that small threat is gone.  With Cousins starting, the Defense wouldn't even have to gamble, and could easily bring everything to stop the pass and stuff Alfred.  Sure Cousins can scramble, but he isn't a threat to break it and make a big run.  With Cousins in the line-up, the number of sacks and QB hits would increase greatly, as would the turnovers.  So the best option is to keep Griffin in, and let him gain confidence in his knee and in his ability to run.

Now onto the possibility of firing Jim Haslett.
Changing coaching staff during the season is never a good idea, in my opinion.  Because even if you promote within, some of the ideas and philosophy will change, and that can hurt the team more than it helps.  Granted, if the coach in question has lost total control over everything, then yes, replacing him/them would be the better option.  In this situation, I really don't think the problem is with Haslett or the Defensive schemes and play calling.  From what I have seen, the main issue is missed tackles.  It doesn't matter who the coach is, it is up to the players to make tackles on the first attempt, and not let the opponent continue to move down the field.  In the Packers game, there were over 30 missed tackles.  That is an insane number for a professional team.  If the Redskins were able to make tackles, they would have been able to get off the field, and give their Offense a better field position.  This was true in both games.  In the Eagles game, they even did a graphic on the number of yards McCoy had after the first hit.  They did it with only 3 of his runs, yet the number was about 50 yards.  Again, another staggeringly high number for a professional team.  Can Haslett do things differently to make the Defense better, sure he can.  But when you have two rookies in the secondary adding to an already suspect squad, you can't bring pressure as much as you would like, since the LB's would have to help out the secondary.  As it is, the front of the Redskins Defense is getting to the QB's, but that is not enough.  It would help if the Defense was able to intercept the ball, but before even getting to that, they need to work on the most fundamental aspect of football: tackling.

The problem with the Redskins isn't just a player or two, or a coach.  It is the whole team.  They are making mistakes that they weren't making last year.  They do not have full confidence in their own abilities and strengths.  They have doubts, on both sides of the ball.  That is something that they need to work out over time, and I know they will work it out.  Does that mean that the Redskins will go on a winning streak starting these coming weeks?  No it does not.  But it does help that they are playing against the Lions at home, and then against the Raiders, one of the worst teams in the NFL.  They should be able to use these two games to get back on track and get back to where they were last year, at least I hope they can.

2013 Washington Redskins Regular Season Prediction

 

2013 Washington Redskins Regular Season Prediction

Everyone does this, including myself, every year for every team, and this year is no exception.  I am going to look through the Redskins' regular season, and come up with a small preview of the game, and the end result.  I will preface this by saying that I am going into this assuming that Robert Griffin III will be healthy the whole season, and will start week 1.  I have more faith in this year's team than in years past, and my optimism is not only shared by many other Redskins fans, but I think it is justified by what the team was able to do last year.  So I am predicting the Redskins will finish the year with a record of 11-5 and win the NFC East once again.  Even if RGIII can't start the season, and needs a couple of more weeks to get ready, I don't think there will be much difference between him playing and Kirk Cousins playing the first two games.  So with that said, let us jump right in and see how I came up with 11-5...

Week 1 - Eagles (Home) Monday Night game

Opening against this year's Eagles team can be a good thing or a bad thing, because of the unknown factor.  Much the same way the Redskins shocked the Saints, and the rest of the NFL, last year with their read-option offense, the Eagles will be implementing a college style, fast paced, heavy run offense.  That means that unlike the Eagles of the past, this year they will be rushing the ball a whole lot more, and with McCoy in the backfield, that can be trouble.  If the Redskins Defense can stop the run, and keep up with the pace of the Eagles, they should be able to shutdown their Offense.  On the other side of the ball, the Eagles still have a major mess on their hands with their Defense, specially their secondary.  If the Redskins can establish the run with both RGIII and Morris, they should be able to score with ease.  Redskins WIN

 

Week 2 - Packers (Away)

Although the Packers have lost a number of key players, on both sides of the ball, they have been able to replace them with younger talent.  The question is if the new additions can get up to speed quickly enough to contribute to the team.  Oh, and they still have Aaron Rogers slinging the ball around, so that is always a plus.  The Redskins Defense will have their hands full in stopping Rogers and his new weapons, which I think will be a bit too much.  Besides, the game is played at Green Bay, which seems to always give the Redskins some trouble.  Redskins LOSE

Week 3 - Lions (Home)

This game has the potential to be a shootout.  I don't think the Redskins young secondary will be able to keep up with Calvin Johnson, especially since few DB's are able to do so in the whole league.  The Lions also have a very good Defensive line, lead by Ndamukong Suh, which can cause problems for the read-option, because of their great athletic abilities.  Having said that, I do believe the Redskins can score on the Lions, and might be able to get to Matt Stafford a couple of times to disrupt their Offense.  That should be just enough to give the Redskins the win, although it may come down to who has the ball at the end.  Redskins WIN

Week 4 - Raiders (Away)

Much like the Redskins before Mike Shanahan, the Raiders are trying to come back from 10+ years of bad management and horrible decisions.  They have a couple of years more work ahead of them, as they are still a mess.  The Redskins should not have too much trouble with the Raiders.  Redskins WIN

Week 5 - Bye

I think the bye this year is too early, and can cause problems towards the end, with injuries and players being tired.  I just hope that is not the case.
 

Week 6 - Cowboys (Away) Sunday Night game

Much like the majority of the games between the Redskins and the Cowboys, no matter who wins the game, this one will be a close one, separated by a TD or less.  The Cowboys have a new Defensive coach, and they are also implementing a new Defensive system.  Some think that they do not have the right players for their new system, I being one of them.  I expect them to be out of position in a lot of situations early in the season, and this game is early enough for them not to have worked out most of the kinks.  Tony Romo is starting the first year of his new contract, so he doesn't have much to prove, despite what Jerry Jones said.  The problem for the Redskins is Dez Bryant.  If the Redskins can contain him, they should be able to stop the Cowboys' attempt at a running game, and should be able to force Romo in making bad decisions in the 4th quarter, leading to a Redskins win.  Redskins WIN

Week 7 - Bears (Home)

I would normally say this is a loss for the Redskins, but this is not the Bears of the past.  They have a new head coach, who is coming from the Canadian Football League.  But by this time in the season, he should have learned and adapted enough to be able to coach the team successfully.  Their Defensive unit is still pretty solid, with Julius Peppers being a agile lineman, but they still have Jay Cutler at the helm.  Based on past meetings, Jay seems to like to throw a lot of INT's when going against the Redskins, like he did a few years ago by giving DeAngello Hall 4 INT's and helping him tie the NFL record for most picks in a game.  I for one am not too worried about the Bears Offense, and their Defense will have its first look at RGIII and Morris, so they most likely will not be ready for it.  Redskins WIN

Week 8 - Broncos (Away)

If I am correct, the Redskins have been able to put a nice winning stretch together, which used to be a rare thing in DC up until last year.  Having said that, I think that streak will come to an end this week, as Mike Shanahan goes back to Denver for the first time since being fired.  This also is the first time that RGIII and Peyton Manning go against each other, which I'm sure will be featured over and over leading up to, and during the game.  Both Defenses have their work cut out for them, but the Redskins task is a bit more difficult.  Peyton Manning is one of the best QB's in the game, and probably one of the elite QB's ever.  Also, this game is being played in Denver, which always seems to have a negative effect on opposing teams.  This should be a good and high scoring game, but the Redskins will come up short. Redskins LOSE

Week 9 - Chargers (Home)

The Chargers are in rebuild mode this year, having a new front office and a new head coach.  But they still have a very good QB who can throw the ball around, in Phillip Rivers, and he has some pretty good targets to throw to.  Their Defense is good, but I don't think it is good enough to stop the read-option the way the Redskins run it.  This is yet another good game, which the Redskins are going to be able to pull through.  Redskins WIN

Week 10 - Vikings (Away) Thursday Night game

The Vikings Offense has been and continues to be Adrian Peterson.  You stop Peterson, you stop the Vikings, period.  Christian Ponder is accurate, but for passes under 20 years.  He had the least amount of 20+ yard passes in all of NFL last year.  Not much of that is going to change this year, especially with the Vikings trading away Percy Harvin.  They do have a lot of rookie players they drafted, but most won't make a big change for another year or two.  They also have redone most of the secondary, which can be problematic when facing RGIII and his arm.  The Vikings Defensive front is pretty good, but having to worry about the read-option will limit the amount of pressure they can put on RGIII, which will give him the time to pick apart the secondary.  Redskins WIN

Week 11 - Eagles (Away)

By this time, either the Eagles have given up and started changing their Offensive style, or the rest of the league has adapted to it enough to not be worried about it.  Regardless, the Eagles Offense will not have much success this late in the season, and their Defense, although having had time to play and mesh a bit, will still have major hurdles to get over.  Redskins WIN

Week 12 - 49ers (Home) Monday Night game

The Redskins and 49ers are very close in comparison, and it will be a very good test to see just how good the Redskins can be as a franchise.  The Redskins have a better QB, therefore a better read-option game plan and execution, but the 49ers have a much better Defense and a better receiving crew, especially with the addition of Boldin.  This is going to be a fun game to watch, and it will come down to which Defensive unit can stay disciplined and stop the read-option.  I think the 49ers have too many weapons on Offense, and a very solid Offensive line, giving Gore and Kaepernick plenty of room to run and pass, and their Defense will give the Redskins a lot of headaches.  Redskins LOSE

Week 13 - Giants (Home) Sunday Night game

The Giants are the only team in the NFC East that can compete with the Redskins.  As much as I don't think Eli Manning is a good QB, he does have very good receivers that make him look much better than he is.  The problem for the Redskins will be keeping Victor Cruz in check, as he seems to have a knack for finding open spots against the Redskins in clutch situations, and he is a very fast receiver.  The Giants will try and establish their running game, to allow Manning and the WR's to get open.  If the Redskins can stop the run, they should be able to keep the Giants in check, but it will be a very difficult task.  On the other side of the ball, I don't see the Giants being able to stop the Redskins running game, even without relying heavily on the read-option.  This is yet another close game, that may come down to the last possession, especially if the Giants have the ball at the end.  I am going to give the home field advantage to the Redskins on this one. Redskins WIN


Week 14 - Chiefs (Home)

The Redskins will be going against a very familiar this week, in Andy Reid, whose team had been a thorn for the Redskins for years, up until the new RGIII era.  Reid knows full well what the Redskins are capable of, and is going to be ready.  The question is will his newly acquired QB, Alex Smith, be able to pass the ball around in Reid's pass happy style of Offense.  I think it will take another year or so for Reid to be able to get the type of players that fit his style, so the Redskins should be able to stop the Chiefs.  Redskins WIN

Week 15 - Falcons (Away)

A re-match of last year's game, and a possible preview of a playoff match, this is going to be a fun game.  Matt Ryan has two of the best WR's in the game, with Julio Jones and Roddy White.  They will be giving the Redskins nightmares, as the rookie DB's will probably see a lot of action in this game, trying to keep up and cover the Falcons' WR's.  Even though the Falcons added Osi Umenyiora to their roster, their Defense is not that great.  This is going to be a high scoring game, and there will be a lot of deep bombs from both sides.  I think the Falcons will pretty much be able to score at will, unless the Redskins can force Matt Ryan into making a mistake by getting Orakpo and Kerrigan to put a lot of pressure on him.  If the Redskins are going to win this game, they will most likely have to score in the mid to upper 30's.  Even then it might not be enough. Redskins LOSE

 

Week 16 - Cowboys (Home)

Playing the Cowboys in December is very much like a nicely wrapped Christmas present for the Redskins from the scheduling gods.  Romo, and the entire Cowboys team, have been very bad in December for many years, and I don't see anything changing this year.  The Redskins are going to be able to put pressure on Romo and force him to make a mistake, and then capitalize from that mistake.  The only chance the Cowboys have is if they have benched Romo by this time, which I highly doubt, especially after making him one of the highest paid QB's in the league.  Redskins WIN

Week 17 - Giants (Away)

By this point the Redskins should have the NFC East wrapped up, and the Giants be fighting for a playoff berth.  Although the Redskins would like to win and have a better record going into the playoffs, the Giants will be desperate, both for a playoff spot this year, and for building upon for next year.  The Redskins are not just going to give up the game and rest their players, but they won't have the determination that the Giants will, playing in front of their home crowd, for the last game of the season at home, and a possible playoff spot on the line.  The Redskins and Giants will split this year, once again.  Redskins LOSE

2013 Regular Season Schedule

The 2013 Regular Season Schedule of the Washington Redskins, created by me.  Click to enlarge.

Redskins at Buccaneers

Record : 2-2

I had not had a chance to blog for the past week or so, mainly due to car troubles, so I'll play a little catch-up today, and also get to Sunday's game.  So let's get this started.

The Redskins lost to the Cincinnati Bengals at home, which was the Redskins and RGIII's first home game.  They lost by the final score of 38-31, falling to 1-2 for the year.  The theme continued for the 3rd straight week, as the Defense gave up huge plays to the Bengals, including the opening trick passing play by one Bengals WR, Mohamed Sanu, to another WR, A.J. Green, for a one play TD pass going for 73 yards.  Although the Defense did make some plays, overall they gave up huge passing plays, giving Andy Dalton a 328 yards passing with 3 TD's to 1 INT day, completing 19 out of 27 attempts.  Although A.J. Green is a somewhat big name in the WR ranks, the Bengals Offense was not known for big plays, but against the Redskins, they played big.  On a positive note for the Redskins Defense, they forced a fumble by BenJarvus Green-Ellis, the Bengals RB who had previously carried the ball 480 times without a fumble.  In fact, this was his first fumble in his NFL career, which started in 2008.

The Redskins Offense did not have a great game, with RG3 completing 21 out of 34 passes for 221 yards and only 1 TD.  He did, however, rush for 85 yards on 12 attempts, with a very nice TD run in the Redzone.  Having said that, he got destroyed by the Bengals Defense, getting his 24 times, including 6 sacks, and one of the hardest hits he has received this year in an option play.  There were reports that he had received a concussion test after one of the drives, but he was not hurt.  Alfred Morris had an average day, rushing 17 times for 78 yards and 1 TD, since he had to share carries with RG3.  When the QB rushes for more yards than your RB, it usually does not end well.

There were a number of questionable calls by Mike Shanahan in the game, including challenging a Redskins punt which was called a touchback on the field.  In my opinion, they wasted a timeout there, and with having burned the other two timeouts earlier, that left them with none at the end of the game, where they were trying to go for a game winning drive.

Overall an average performance by the Offense, and a (what has become the norm) poor performance by the Defense.

Now onto Sunday's game against the Buccaneers.

The Redskins were able to win the game by the final score of 24-22, and reaching a .500 record at 2-2.  They won the game with a Billy Cundiff FG from 41 yards.  But Cundiff is not the hero of the game, in my opinion.  Previously he had missed 3 FG's, which placed the Redskins in the situation of trying for a game winning FG.  If he had made those 3, then it would have been a different story at the end.

The Redskins cut Graham Gano in preseason because he had missed 10 FG last year.  As I had mentioned before, 5 of those were blocked, and 2 were from over 50 yards.  Last year, he had made 4 out of 6 FG's from beyond 50 yards.  So this year, the Redskins brought in Billy Cundiff to remedy the accuracy of the Kicker.  What does Cundiff do?  Well, as mentioned above, he missed 3 FG's.  One from 41, one from 57, and one from 31.  Now the one from 57 yards is not entirely on him, it is on the coaching staff, mainly Mike Shanahan.  Cundiff's career long FG was 56 yards, back in 2005.  Since then, and including this year before the Bucs game, he was 1 out of 10 tries from beyond 50, with the only made FG being from 51 yards.  He had missed one from 50+ this year already, so I have no idea why in the world would Shanahn think that Cundiff could make a 57 yard FG.  That is beyond idiotic, and if I didn't know any better, I would start to think that Shanahan had not clue what is going on.  But that is another topic all together.  Back to Cundiff and his two other misses.  The other two were on him, and reminded me of last year's game against the Patriots where he missed a last minute FG from close range, which would have given the Ravens the win.  So all those people, including the Redskins coaching staff, that didn't want Gano to be the kicker this year, are most likely regretting that fact, as he had a very strong leg.

Now onto the second bad thing about the game, and it should not come as a surprise, the Redskins Defensive unit.  For most of the game they had actually been playing well, keeping the Bucs out of the endzone, and making plays.  But towards the end of the game, their now true colors came through once again.  The Redskins were leading 21-6 at the end of the half, which is a very solid lead.  But by the end of the 4th quarter, they were behind 22-21, after giving up a number of deep passing plays to Vincent Jackson.  The they keep the Bucs to only 80 yards rushing in total, but they gave up 299 yards in the air, with Jackson finishing the day with 100 yards on 6 receptions, and Mike Williams with 115 yards on 4 receptions.  Those are not good stats.

The Redskins Offense had a very good day, which it needed to.  RG3 threw for 323 yards, completing 26 out of 35 passes.  He did not find the endzone with his arm, but he was able to do so with his legs, rushing for 43 yards and a TD.  He did have a fumble at the 1 yard line, but luckily, Pierre Garcon, who had returned to the lineup after being out two weeks, was able to jump on the ball for a TD.  Alfred Morris had another great day, rushing 21 times for 113 yards and one TD.  This against a Buccaneers Defense that had come to the game giving up only an average of 47 yards rushing per game.  It appears as though the Redskins have a solid rushing game, and an improving passing game, and are able to make plays and score TD's in the Redzone, something they have not been able to do for many years.

Next week the Atlanta Falcons come to town, and they bring with them a 4-0 record and an average of 365 total yards per game, and a league 3rd best 31 points per game.  That Offense is led my Matt Ryan, who has passed for 1162 yards, with 11 TD's and only 2 INT's.  He will be passing to Roddy White, who has 3 TD's with an average of 15.3 yards per catch, and Julio Jones, also with 3 TD's and 13.7 yards per catch.  If the Redskins secondary does not step up their game big time, they are going to have major problems covering these two big, fast and very talented receivers.

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.

Football Season is here!!

Finally, the NFL season has begun!  Granted, it is only pre-season, but we are getting games!!!

Unfortunately, I was not able to watch all of the Redskins' first game, due to the weather, and the place I was at having satellite problems.  I did, however, get to see RG3 play his first NFL game, so that is what I am going to talk about.

Much like many people who are Football fans, I was very much looking forward to seeing RG3 in action.  I shared the same concerns that many people had.  Would he be able to adjust to the pro-level speed.  Would he on edge.  Would he over think things and make mistakes.  Would look like a deer caught in headlights.  And I can say that all those questions were answered in a positive light.

RG3 did not wow anyone.  He did not make spectacular plays, either with his arm or legs.  But he also did not look like a typical, straight out of college, rookie playing his first NFL game.  He was calm in the pocket.  He was able to go through the progression of receivers, and find the open ones.  He did make mistakes, as all players will, but they were not rookie mistakes.

RG3 appeared as though he had playing at the pro level for a couple of years.  He was poised in the pocket, he did not look flustered.  It did not appear as though the game was too fast for him, and he was not overwhelmed by what Buffalo was doing defensively.  Granted, it was just a pre-season game, and neither team was doing anything fancy.  Both sides were keeping things very vanilla and simple.  No stunts on defense.  No delayed blitzes or trick formations.  But RG3 was able to process what little was thrown his way with rather ease.  On the TD play, he looked off his first option, Leonard Hankerson, and found Pierre Garcon on the screen pass, which might not have been a TD play if not for Garcon's play after catching the ball.

RG3's ability to adapt to the pro-level was brought to greater light when Rex Grossman stepped in as QB.  You could see the difference between the two, and frankly, Rex looked more like a rookie QB than RG3 did.

As mentioned, this is only pre-season, and no one can be certain of anything.  The only thing that can be taken from this game is that RG3 is on the right track, and making his way to be what analysts, and more importantly the Washington Redskins thought he could be, a very talented and gifted franchise QB.  I am very much looking forward to seeing him progress and get better, and for the rest of the team to improve alongside RG3.

Overall I was very impressed by the young man, and am very excited to be a Redskins fan!

(Oh yeah, the defense didn't look too shabby either!!!)