Today was a lousy day of football for me. I was looking forward to the Redskins on Fox and Ravens on CBS. The matchups weren't really favorable, but I was hoping one of them would be able to pull off a win. Instead, both teams lost, and lost ugly.
The Redskins were expected to lose, but they let a winnable game get away from them. The mistakes started early and continued most of the game. Haynesworth jumping offsides on a 4th and 1, on a play in which the Falcons were obviously trying to draw Washington offsides was absolutely horrible. That was the first drive of the game, but already big Albert's second offsides call. It was also early in the game when Reed Doughty was WAY offsides on a punt return, which of course led to another Falcons first down.
Another issue with the defense that pissed me off was watching Laron Landry. He is a great athlete, but I hate how he plays the game. He is undisciplined and plays like he was never taught how to tackle. Sometimes this makes him look great. There was a 3rd and short play in which he made an amazing open field tackle to end a Falcons' drive. However, Landry was also highlighted during the broadcast for making mistakes on both of Michael Turner's touchdown runs. He took an awful angle on the first score, and then put his head down and dove at Turner's ankles during the rth quarter score that opened up the game for Atlanta. Oh yeah...there was also the stupid late hit he put on Matt Ryan which cost the Redskins 15 yards and appeared to fire up the Falcons.
Landry isn't the root of the defenses problems today, but his play was awful against Atlanta. One of the greatest traits of a safety is a guy who plays smart, and I just don't see that with Landry.
Offensively the Redskins looked about the same as they have all year. The offensive line was horrid in the first half, both run and pass blocking. Its bad when the broadcasters are openly feeling sorry for a player like they were for Campbell today. However, I was impressed with Campbell for staying tough and making some decent plays throughout the game. His final numbers weren't bad, and I'm sure his stats and the score would have looked a lot better for the Redskins if there weren't so many drops.
Another thing that we saw today is that Ladell Betts is currently a better running option than Clinton Portis. He looked a lot more explosive today than Portis has all season, and I just think that if given the same amount of touches that Betts would outperform Portis. If you take away Portis' 78 yard run this season, he is only averaging less than 3.4 yards per carry. Portis has been a great Redskin and he is a great personality. However, I think this year should be his last as a Redskin.
Things for the Redskins are looking awful. I want them to win every weekend, but I just don't see too many W's coming this year with that offensive line. The good news to take out of this is that the Redskins could be in a good spot to draft the best offensive tackle in the draft come April. Hopefully, whoever is calling the shots at Redskins Park at that time won't blow that decision.
As for the Ravens...Cincinnati is their kryptonite. They have seemed to play great against Baltimore ever since Carson Palmer arrived in Ohio. Cedric Benson has been a great addition for the Bengals, and he ran for over a hundred for the second time this year against Baltimore. That is unheard of for anybody who follows the Ravens. Having Haloti Ngata inactive certainly didn't help, but halfway through the 2009 season I think its time to admit that this isn't the same defense that Baltimore is used to. I don't know how much of it to blame on personnel and how much should be attributed to the departure of Rex Ryan. However, Baltimore's defense while still good, is no longer dominant.
Offensively the Ravens have looked great this season, but they came with nothing today. The Bengals pass rush was excellent, sacking Flacco four times and hitting him eight. They also seemed to make Flacco uncomfortable, which he doesn't act like often. He completed a decent amount of his passes, but not very many downfield. He also threw two interceptions, and basically had one of his worst professional games.
Ray Rice looked great as usual, but I think the offense was taken out of its comfort zone by getting down early. He only rushed twelve times throughout the game, but he had a decent average. He was the Ravens leading pass receiver, although much of that came on the meaningless final play of the game. Baltimore made too many mistakes and found themselves in bad situations all game. They didn't respond well, and they definitely deserved to lose this game. Baltimore is a lot better than 4-4, but losing both games against one of your division rivals certainly isn't helpful when looking towards the playoffs. The Ravens will have a lot better of a chance if they can sweep the Steelers, but Cincy is already looking like the team to beat in the AFC North.
Showing posts with label clinton portis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clinton portis. Show all posts
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Redskins Head to 0-1
Its a few days later but I wanted to get my thoughts about the Redskins' opening night loss recorded on the blog. It was a frustrating game for Washington fans, and it definitely appears that the final two preseason games were more of a sign of things to come than they were an aberration. Part of judging the Redskins is also judging the Giants. I thought the Giants played fairly well, despite only winnings by 9. Their defense held the Skins down all night, and the offense moved the ball pretty well. They have two big offensive stars in Brandon Jacobs and Plaxico Burress. They both made the Redskins defense look bad in the 1st half, but couldn't capitalize with appearances in the endzone. I've never thought Eli Manning was that great, despite his impressive performance in the playoffs last season. His passer rating was worse than Campbell's, and he has a huge advantage heading into each game that Plax is playing in.
On the positive side for the Skins.
Clinton Portis - CP had a pretty solid game. I've got no problem with him missing pre-season, because I'm a believer in the idea that running backs have a finite number of carries in their career. So keeping him fresh for the regular season is fine by me, and he showed up in week 1. His line was 23 carries for 84 yards. Thats just 3.7 yards per carry, but I rate him high based on HOW he ran the ball. He was moving forward all night and getting the most out of his carries. Unfortunately the line wasn't great and there were several times when he had no place to go.
Rock Cartwright - He had too many kick return opportunities, but a 29 yard average is great. The Redskins don't get on the scoreboard without his 50 yard return in the 2nd quarter. He also had a great open field tackle on a punt, and is just a great special teams guy like Brian Mitchell and James Thrash.
London Fletcher - I can't praise the Redskins' secondary, and the line allowed 154 yards on the ground. However, London Fletcher is and always has been a beast. He came to play with 17 total tackles.
On to the things that disappointed me.
Jim Zorn - I understand its his first regular season game, but there are some things that I thought I wouldn't see. The first one was the conservative nature of the offense. As a former quarterback and a west coast offense type of guy, I thought the Skins would be tossing the ball around some. However, with all of the runs on 1st and 2nd downs, I thought Joe Gibbs was making the calls from somewhere in NASCAR country. I heard from John Madden all night that Jason Campbell didn't look comfortable. That may be true, but it didn't look like his coach was helping him out. One way he could have done that would have been getting #47 some more touches. Chris Cooley is a pro bowl tight end, and its not because of his blocking ability. He had just one catch on the night in the 4th quarter, after a screen pass run for him earlier was called back because of holding. Getting him more involved in the passing game is necessary. I was also disappointed to see him highlighted twice getting beat in the running game by the Giants ends. Put Cooley in motion, split him out wide, and give Todd Yoder a little more time in the running game.
The second thing that bothered me aboout Zorn was the lack of urgency towards the end of the game. Needing at least two scores to win the game, the offense was huddling and taking their time at the line during the last 5 or so minutes. Shots of Zorn on the sideline with his play sheet in front of his mouth made me think that he saw no urgency in the situation. As a QB coach and former NFL quarterback, I thought Zorn would have a better sense of the situation than what appeared on the field. Its almost as if the Redskins forgot to practice the two minute drill before this game.
The Secondary - Having Laron Landry back was a good sign, but this unit was extremely disappointing. The cornerbacks were awful in the first half. Plaxico Burress is a star, and will get his catches. However, the Skins didn't even look like they were challenging him early on. I doubted Carlos Rogers' health and/or heart on one play when he was seen jogging after Plax after being embarassed by a double move. Smoot was slightly better, but again the Giants made the plays they needed early on in the passing game.
The safeties were better, and it was nice to see Laron Landry covering a lot of ground back there. Reed Doughty was a decent support in the run game, but he and LL got embarassed by Brandon Jacobs and his abundance of mass. However, Landry did drop a potential interception. His was the last of three on the night that should have been caught. Each one of those was on different drives, and if the Redskins pick those off, they give their offense a lot more opportunities. Eli Manning should definitely have had more than just one INT on Thursday night.
And finally I have some neutral feelings on things as well.
Jason Campbell - As the team goes, so goes the quarterback. Since the Redskins' offense struggled, its only natural that JC has to shoulder some of the blame. However, I can't think about many plays where he really hurt the Skins. The first drop back when he was sacked is the one time I remember yelling at him. Following that though he got the ball off quickly like a West Coast QB is supposed to do. He wasn't sacked from that point on, and there is no doubt the Giants were coming hard. I think people could argue that he didn't go downfield enough, but I'm not sure how much of that is on him and how much is on the play calling. He went to his checkdowns a lot, but I don't remember seeing receivers running open down field. The biggest problem with Campbell so far in his career has been ball protection. His interception numbers are decent...not great. However, he really struggled last year putting the ball on the turf with 13 fumbles, 8 of which were lost. He didn't fumble or throw an interception. I don't even remember a pass that could have been picked off. So I give him credit for taking care of the ball.
I've read that despite Zorn's insistence that Campbell is athletic enough to run the West Coast offense, that Campbell is better suited to a traditional 5 and 7 step drop offense. Campbell is going to give things his best, so I expect Zorn to put him in situations where he can suceed. In Thursday's game I saw more problems with how the offense was run by the play calling than I did with Campbell's performance.
Jason Taylor - Taylor didn't have a good game, but this isn't a good situation to judge him by. He wasn't 100%, so its not like we saw him at his best. He was a liability in the running game, and a big reason for Brandon Jacobs' great game. Taylor was unable to hold his ground on the line, and Jacobs was able to turn his shoulders up field early on off-tackle runs. Facing a physical back like Jacobs with his knee in its current condition was not a good start for Taylor. He probably would have fared better against a team showing more of a zone rush or pass first look. Despite his weak game against the Giants, all it will take is a couple of sacks for the Redskins fans to be jumping up and down about number 55.
On the positive side for the Skins.
Clinton Portis - CP had a pretty solid game. I've got no problem with him missing pre-season, because I'm a believer in the idea that running backs have a finite number of carries in their career. So keeping him fresh for the regular season is fine by me, and he showed up in week 1. His line was 23 carries for 84 yards. Thats just 3.7 yards per carry, but I rate him high based on HOW he ran the ball. He was moving forward all night and getting the most out of his carries. Unfortunately the line wasn't great and there were several times when he had no place to go.
Rock Cartwright - He had too many kick return opportunities, but a 29 yard average is great. The Redskins don't get on the scoreboard without his 50 yard return in the 2nd quarter. He also had a great open field tackle on a punt, and is just a great special teams guy like Brian Mitchell and James Thrash.
London Fletcher - I can't praise the Redskins' secondary, and the line allowed 154 yards on the ground. However, London Fletcher is and always has been a beast. He came to play with 17 total tackles.
On to the things that disappointed me.
Jim Zorn - I understand its his first regular season game, but there are some things that I thought I wouldn't see. The first one was the conservative nature of the offense. As a former quarterback and a west coast offense type of guy, I thought the Skins would be tossing the ball around some. However, with all of the runs on 1st and 2nd downs, I thought Joe Gibbs was making the calls from somewhere in NASCAR country. I heard from John Madden all night that Jason Campbell didn't look comfortable. That may be true, but it didn't look like his coach was helping him out. One way he could have done that would have been getting #47 some more touches. Chris Cooley is a pro bowl tight end, and its not because of his blocking ability. He had just one catch on the night in the 4th quarter, after a screen pass run for him earlier was called back because of holding. Getting him more involved in the passing game is necessary. I was also disappointed to see him highlighted twice getting beat in the running game by the Giants ends. Put Cooley in motion, split him out wide, and give Todd Yoder a little more time in the running game.
The second thing that bothered me aboout Zorn was the lack of urgency towards the end of the game. Needing at least two scores to win the game, the offense was huddling and taking their time at the line during the last 5 or so minutes. Shots of Zorn on the sideline with his play sheet in front of his mouth made me think that he saw no urgency in the situation. As a QB coach and former NFL quarterback, I thought Zorn would have a better sense of the situation than what appeared on the field. Its almost as if the Redskins forgot to practice the two minute drill before this game.
The Secondary - Having Laron Landry back was a good sign, but this unit was extremely disappointing. The cornerbacks were awful in the first half. Plaxico Burress is a star, and will get his catches. However, the Skins didn't even look like they were challenging him early on. I doubted Carlos Rogers' health and/or heart on one play when he was seen jogging after Plax after being embarassed by a double move. Smoot was slightly better, but again the Giants made the plays they needed early on in the passing game.
The safeties were better, and it was nice to see Laron Landry covering a lot of ground back there. Reed Doughty was a decent support in the run game, but he and LL got embarassed by Brandon Jacobs and his abundance of mass. However, Landry did drop a potential interception. His was the last of three on the night that should have been caught. Each one of those was on different drives, and if the Redskins pick those off, they give their offense a lot more opportunities. Eli Manning should definitely have had more than just one INT on Thursday night.
And finally I have some neutral feelings on things as well.
Jason Campbell - As the team goes, so goes the quarterback. Since the Redskins' offense struggled, its only natural that JC has to shoulder some of the blame. However, I can't think about many plays where he really hurt the Skins. The first drop back when he was sacked is the one time I remember yelling at him. Following that though he got the ball off quickly like a West Coast QB is supposed to do. He wasn't sacked from that point on, and there is no doubt the Giants were coming hard. I think people could argue that he didn't go downfield enough, but I'm not sure how much of that is on him and how much is on the play calling. He went to his checkdowns a lot, but I don't remember seeing receivers running open down field. The biggest problem with Campbell so far in his career has been ball protection. His interception numbers are decent...not great. However, he really struggled last year putting the ball on the turf with 13 fumbles, 8 of which were lost. He didn't fumble or throw an interception. I don't even remember a pass that could have been picked off. So I give him credit for taking care of the ball.
I've read that despite Zorn's insistence that Campbell is athletic enough to run the West Coast offense, that Campbell is better suited to a traditional 5 and 7 step drop offense. Campbell is going to give things his best, so I expect Zorn to put him in situations where he can suceed. In Thursday's game I saw more problems with how the offense was run by the play calling than I did with Campbell's performance.
Jason Taylor - Taylor didn't have a good game, but this isn't a good situation to judge him by. He wasn't 100%, so its not like we saw him at his best. He was a liability in the running game, and a big reason for Brandon Jacobs' great game. Taylor was unable to hold his ground on the line, and Jacobs was able to turn his shoulders up field early on off-tackle runs. Facing a physical back like Jacobs with his knee in its current condition was not a good start for Taylor. He probably would have fared better against a team showing more of a zone rush or pass first look. Despite his weak game against the Giants, all it will take is a couple of sacks for the Redskins fans to be jumping up and down about number 55.
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