With Redskins' Starters Out, Team Plays Better
by Kurtstack on Nov 23, 2009 9:17 AM EST
32 comments
I must say the last several weeks the Redskins have actually made the games interesting. While it is a little late, the team seems to finally be playing with a passion and desire I haven’t seen in a long time. While the guys on the field aren’t very talented these days (Lost three starting Gs, our starting LT, TE, and 2 starting RBs), I think we can all agree they are playing better than our first string guys did in the first 6 weeks of the season. Is it a coincidence when the primma donna’s go down with injuries that our team plays better? I don’t think so.
I think we finally have guys on the field who really want it and it shows. Let’s cut the primma donna’s and build around a core group of players who have a passion for the game. In the end we lost, however, I think if Betts had stayed healthy and/or Suisham hits his chip shot FG we may have stole one in Dallas.
I’d also prefer that our defense attack with blitzs on Romo’s final TD drive. We have got to go down swinging with blitzs, rather than dropping back and sitting on our heels for the winning TD drive. Those defensive players wanted to attack Romo, but Blache handcuffed them by forcing them to drop 7 guys into coverage. I’m not very pleased with Blache’s calls down the stretch but it’s hard to fault him when the defense only gave up 7. I do believe we could have had a shutout! Anyway, it will make for an interesting game when Dallas comes to our house.
"He proved his toughness," quarterback Jason Campbell said. "We always knew that about Rock, but everyone got a chance to see it today. ... He just continues to fight. He's a little guy with a lot of heart, and I'd like to be in a huddle with a guy like that anytime." – Campbell
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This post is way over generalized without much analysis
1. Our offense was damn near terrible yesterday (1 red zone visit). That’s hardly “playing better” than earlier incarnations
2. Who is a primma donna besides Portis?
"By far the worst performers on the team are in the front office." – Sally Jenkins
by smutsboy1 on Nov 23, 2009 1:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Actually
That’s why I qualified my point as the “TEAM” played better. We are playing “better” team football now against better opponents. We had 4 scoring opportunities, and our kicker failed us twice. The offense moved the ball well enough and our special teams units played well enough that Dallas had horrible field position all day, starting most drives at or inside their own 20. This is a 7-3 opponent that we could have beat had our kicker put one or two more FGs through the uprights. We beat a 6-3 Denver team, and had a chance to beat a good falcons team. No doubt in my mind that we are playing better than the team that lost to the Detroit lions when most of our guys were healthy!!!
by Kurtstack on Nov 23, 2009 1:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
A Denver team heading the Redskins direction
Easy on praising Denver, they are going the same way as the Redskins of 2008
by dr WNC on Nov 23, 2009 1:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
JC quote
I like it. But I also agree with smuts, other than Portis I don’t know anyone you can label as a primma donna. And I don’t think Portis being out is the reason our offense has been slightly better than the begining of the season.
by travisjh86 on Nov 23, 2009 1:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Most of the attitude
improvement has been on D and Spec Teams, which have been hitting harder. Kudos to the overmatched O-line for playing well at times. Coaching and the red zone have been our bane all year long.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
by Scott E on Nov 23, 2009 1:51 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Rec' The comment!
Coaching and the red zone have been our bane all year long.
And nothing has changed—>Must change the FO and Head coach.
by dr WNC on Nov 23, 2009 2:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Anyone have a link to DT’s hit on Bobby Carpenter on the special teams play?
by travisjh86 on Nov 23, 2009 2:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Well
I leave it to the players in the locker room to identify the primma donna’s but without naming names it certainly seems like the replacements are playing more slobber knocker football with a ton more passion and heart. Maybe primma donna wasn’t the right word.
by Kurtstack on Nov 23, 2009 1:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
but who specifically are you referring to?
Rinehart tougher than Randy Thomas? Levi Jones tougher than Chris Samuels? Fred Davis tougher than Cooley?
The only change for the better on offense was Ladell for Portis, but really that was only proven for 1 game, and now we’ll never know.
I’m not arguing against your overall thesis, I just think it would be stronger with some more specifics.
I think “the team is playing with more passion” makes for a nice storyline, but I’m not sure it’s completely evident.
"By far the worst performers on the team are in the front office." – Sally Jenkins
by smutsboy1 on Nov 23, 2009 1:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Let me put it this way
I don’t think Cooley, Portis or Randy Thomas would have stayed in town during the bye week to work on their blocking. Fred Davis did. I guess it may not be evident to you that they are playing better as a team now, but it certainly seems evident to me.
by Kurtstack on Nov 23, 2009 2:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I like to point something out in that quote
While praising Rock, I believe there is also a subtle hint to other players in the huddle that they should take note of Rock’s attitude. Campbell was quoted a few weeks ago about how guys on the offense weren’t picking each other up off the ground. Little things like that speak volumes.
by Kurtstack on Nov 23, 2009 1:59 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Honestly
Much of my thesis is geared toward Clinton Portis. The guy doesn’t play in the pre-season, he doesn’t practice during the weeks, he goes over his coaches head to cry to the owner when he doesn’t get his way, and he underperforms our backups in terms of yards per carry on the football field. All I can say about Portis at this point is that he’s a good blocker.
by Kurtstack on Nov 23, 2009 2:09 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
that's a thesis/post I could get behind much more
At the same time, I think the biggest reason for CP’s decline in production is age, and wear and tear.
Not practicing didn’t help, but it’s not a significant issue, IMO.
"By far the worst performers on the team are in the front office." – Sally Jenkins
by smutsboy1 on Nov 23, 2009 2:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Not practicing
I think it’s a more significant issue than it appears on the surface because of the message it sends to the other players on the football field who are grinding it out day after day.
by Kurtstack on Nov 23, 2009 2:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I'd believe that
"By far the worst performers on the team are in the front office." – Sally Jenkins
by smutsboy1 on Nov 23, 2009 2:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Campbell flat out said CP's not practicing hurts the team.
by KevinE on Nov 23, 2009 2:37 PM EST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
I can't find it now, but it was the same sentiment as Sherm Smith said here:
“It helps,” Smith said of that practice time. “That’s what I was trying to tell Clinton, even when he didn’t practice: The practice isn’t just for him but for the offensive linemen. They need him out there. They need a feel for what he’s doing. And the line has a feel for Ladell since he’s been practicing most of the time.”
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/portis-betts-and-the-matter-of.html
by KevinE on Nov 23, 2009 6:17 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I completely agree
CP is and hopefully was a big part of the teams problems. While the offensive line is terrrible IMO, it’s easy to see that a fresh pair of legs can get can through some decent holes at times.
As far as the practice thing goes, I would add that what other team would allow a starter to come on the field like CP did when they constantly don’t practice. This is a kind of a culture that CP projected and Vinny took hook, line and sinker. Remember what we’re talking about here, an NFL team. It’s incompetence on all fronts.
by skinsymets on Nov 23, 2009 3:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I think
this is more of an exploitation of Snyder and his willingness to shoulder up to his players. Jerry Jones is the same way, bypassing the coaches to talk to players on the sidelines when he feels his presence will inspire the team to victory. (this is where we collectively vomit)
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
by Scott E on Nov 23, 2009 4:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Snyder has an office at Redskins Park
it needs to go. Along with CP and Rogers…and Vinny.
by liger99 on Nov 23, 2009 4:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
How did Campbell play yesterday ?????
Come on JC haters tell me how bad JC played . JC has more heart than Romo and played better yesterday. Romo is supposed to be a superstar but needed a pep talk from Demarcus Ware to get motivated. He was only down by 6 points and was sitting on the sideline with his head down. What a great leader he is. How many of you JC haters could stand in there and take the pounding that JC takes game after game ???
by LETJASONPASS on Nov 23, 2009 7:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
JC and a better Offensive line....
This is the winning combination for us. If we let Campbell go we will be back to square one. Tell me how bad would we be if we had Cutler or Sanchez right now ?
by LETJASONPASS on Nov 23, 2009 7:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Horrible
Sanchez has what, 16 picks, 10 TDs, He’d have 20+ ints and less then 8 tds. Cutler is 18 ints, 15 TDs. I’d say 22-25 picks and 10 TDs. Plus he’d be crying his way out of town over the shitty oline.
by lynxtheone on Nov 23, 2009 9:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
go to NFL.com
for the SF game they have Campbell miked up in that SoundFX section
Check out the start, the coin toss, and see the way his teammates react to him, they just plain dont like the guy, hell I dont like him either, he comes across as the entitled whiney little b*tch I imagined him to be as soon as that Denver stuff came out in the pre-season
Could not imagine a worse option for the skins
Pommylee
by Pommylee on Nov 23, 2009 10:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Oops I mean Cutler miked up, not Campbell, its the 5 picks game, check it out
Pommylee
by Pommylee on Nov 23, 2009 10:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I agree people will still want to draft a rookie QB ...
instead of getting some help on the O-line.
by LETJASONPASS on Nov 24, 2009 6:28 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Most of those
who wish to see Jason go (or are ambivalent) still know that the O-line is the #1 priority – Vinny being the most likely exception.
I think JC still has a shot at being our franchise QB with a line to protect him. We are developing some young talent and with a balanced attack could be a force in a year or two or three. Just a matter of seeing if JC survives the contact and the contract battle.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
by Scott E on Nov 24, 2009 9:24 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
2 overlooked factors in Dallas loss
Freezing your own kicker was a foolish move. With 15 seconds left in the first half, Suisham was left on the field for over 6 minutes while the delay of game penalty was being reviewed. Zorn accomplished what Dallas couldn’t do by “freezing” Suisham.
The other thing not mentioned- on the play that Dallas scored the TD, 2 offensive linemen were at least 6 yards past the line of scrimmage with the referee staring right at them – yet no flag. Check the video.
Just two big factors in the loss. The skins have lost the season but are on the verge of building some momentum for next year.
by Baronbull on Dec 8, 2009 2:54 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
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