Week 5 Redskins Power Rankings

by Parks Smith on Oct 5, 2011 9:05 AM EDT

Source	This Week	Last Week	Comments
	12	16	Mike Shanahan might have found his new main ball carrier in an old friend, Ryan Torain.
	10	13	The Redskins continue to prove they are a solid football team. Beating St. Louis doesn’t necessarily prove anything, but you still have to beat the bad teams on your schedule. After the bye, they have a big divisional home game against Philly, and then hit the road for two weeks.
	11	13	Quietly, the Redskins have put together a 3-1 record. They have a division game in Week 6 against the Eagles before a four-game streak of very winnable games.
	8	13	Who had them to win the NFC East? Not many. But that defense and the running game are carrying this team now.
	10	13	The Redskins struggled to put away the anemic Rams, but you can't really quibble with them being 3-1 and two games ahead of division favorite Philadelphia as they enter their Week 5 bye. The more I see of Washington's defense this season, the more I like what Jim Haslett is building on that side of the ball. Bryan Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan are becoming quite the play-making tandem at outside linebacker, and they're consistently finding the football at key points in the game.
	13	18	They don't win pretty. They don't look like world beaters. The Redskins are 3-1 heading into the bye week, however, and they've certainly earned those three victories.
Football Outsiders	15	15	N/A
	9	14	You take your road wins and run home in the NFL. Now an off week for Shanny to prepare for the Eagles.
NFL.com Power Poll	11	14	FYI: This poll is comprised of numerous analyst and writers around the NFL
National Football Post	14	18	Remember Ryan Torain? The RB showed up with 135 yards on the ground during the ‘Skins win in St. Louis.
NOLA.com	14	16	RB Ryan Torain could be the answer.

Hogs Haven Power Rankings after the jump...

1. Green Bay Packers: Pack took it to the Broncos, nearly putting up 50 points.
2. Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens move up a spot after destroying the Jets and making Mark Sanchez look like a high school QB.
3. New Orleans Saints: The Saints keep on marching with an expected victory of the Jags.
4. Detroit Lions: Coming back, on the road, against a ~~division opponent~~ the Cowboys...impressive (AGAIN!)
5. New England Patriots: Pats went on the road, in a hostile environment, and took it to the Raiders
6. Houston Texans: Squeaked out a win against the Steelers and we saw the 2010 version of Arian Foster
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Bucs barely pulled out a home win against the Indianapolis Fighting Painters.
8. San Diego Chargers: Super Chargers were able to knock Chad Henne out of the game and win a sloppy one versus the Dolphins
9. Washington Redskins: Road wins aren't easy in the NFL, so when you get one you take it and run home.
10. Tennessee Titans: Matt Hasselbeck continues to make Pete Carroll look silly and the Titans destroyed the Browns.
11. New York Giants
12. Buffalo Bills
13. Oakland Raiders
14. San Francisco 49ers
15. Chicago Bears
16. New York Jets
17. Pittsburgh Steelers
18. Dallas Cowboys
19. Atlanta Falcons
20. Cincinnati Bengals
21. Cleveland Browns
22. Philadelphia Eagles
23. Arizona Cardinals
24. Carolina Panthers
25. Jacksonville Jaguars
26. Seattle Seahawks
27. Denver Broncos
28. Kansas City Chiefs
29. Miami Dolphins
30. Indianapolis Colts
31. St. Louis Rams
32. Minnesota Vikings

Tweet Comment 34 comments | 1 recs |

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Comments

Seems like all the teams that were in the 10-14 range bombed this week in front of us.

Editor at Hogs Haven - Redskins Blog
Twitter: @RVAparks Check it out for the latest Redskins news and opinions

by Parks Smith on Oct 5, 2011 9:24 AM EDT reply actions

Am I missing something?

and making Mark Sanchez look like a high school QB.

doesn’t he always look like that?

by TheDeepBall on Oct 5, 2011 9:40 AM EDT reply actions

valid point

Editor at Hogs Haven - Redskins Blog
Twitter: @RVAparks Check it out for the latest Redskins news and opinions

by Parks Smith on Oct 5, 2011 9:52 AM EDT up reply actions

wait they made him look better?

Steveospeak - Content Manager of Fanspeak.com

by Steve Shoup on Oct 5, 2011 11:02 AM EDT up reply actions

Hahaha +1

by BigOLinemen on Oct 5, 2011 8:19 PM EDT up reply actions

If we win that game we get a chance to make a statement that we failed to make against dall@ss. That would be so big for us as a team to come together and win that. Its going to be a tough two weeks to wait.

The Beat Box aka skins secondary.

by Al_CaPWNED on Oct 5, 2011 9:50 AM EDT reply actions

Philly is starting Danny Watkins for the first time this week. He's a guy to keep an eye on in Buffalo Sunday.

Watkins hasn’t even been active yet this season.

Editor at Hogs Haven - Redskins Blog
Twitter: @RVAparks Check it out for the latest Redskins news and opinions

by Parks Smith on Oct 5, 2011 9:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Dressed once, didn’t play.

Bleeding Green Nation - Eagles
Blogging the Beast - NFC East
Follow @Jimmy_Beast

by JimmyK on Oct 5, 2011 11:15 AM EDT up reply actions

How did he look in the dress?

Editor at Hogs Haven - Redskins Blog
Twitter: @RVAparks Check it out for the latest Redskins news and opinions

by Parks Smith on Oct 5, 2011 11:21 AM EDT up reply actions

Ravishing.

Bleeding Green Nation - Eagles
Blogging the Beast - NFC East
Follow @Jimmy_Beast

by JimmyK on Oct 5, 2011 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs

I'm not sure what to think of Philly

Are they simply a mirage like the Deon, Jeff George Redskins? Or are they the Chargers and simply off to a bad start? Vick went for 400 yards and they lost. How bad is that defense?

Formerly KS and CS

by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Oct 5, 2011 10:29 AM EDT up reply actions

I was talking to fellow NFC East village idiot JimmyK this morning and...

He was telling me that the o-line really hasn’t looked that bad. Shady McCoy has obviously been having a pretty solid year.

I think the consensus in Philly at this point is that their LBs and Juan Castillo “STANK! AND I HATE ’EM”. Actual word from belligerent Philly fan after the Phillies win last night (b/c lets face it they really don’t care about baseball or Maxime Talbot). Talbot is playing Asomugha and other totally wrong and their front seven, outside of Babin, is a mess right now.

The Eagles still scare me and I think the keys are going to be:

Babin vs. Brown (cringe)
Skins Run D and not getting suckered into Vick “contain” too often
Landry, DHall vs. big plays (Atogwe will need to be HUGE)
Attacking Philly safeties (safetys? not sure of the NFL plural, haha)

You can obviously throw in getting defensive pressure in the backfield, but isn’t that a key every week for every NFL game? And you can also obviously throw in Rex making smart decisions versus Asomugha and the rest of that trio.

Editor at Hogs Haven - Redskins Blog
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by Parks Smith on Oct 5, 2011 11:05 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

They have some injuries

Dixon is out. Trent cole is probably out, and Jason peters is probably out. Cole being out means they can probably help Brown against Babin.

Phillies LB’s being so poor, we should attack them with both Cooley and Davis. They should both go over 100 yards receiving. Might even see a bunch of two TE, two RB sets on offense, to keep their best defenders off the field.

Formerly KS and CS

by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Oct 5, 2011 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions

Hmmm

They should both go over 100 yards receiving.

Deciding to try to beat the Eagles with the passing game – with Rex Grossman throwing the football – would make me very, very nervous. I’d rather beat on them on the ground and take an occasional shot. Wouldn’t get the TEs 100+ yards each, but should have a better shot at winning.

by d_c_guy on Oct 5, 2011 11:38 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs

+1

The running game is the way to beat the Iggles. We need to consume the clock, limit Vick’s chances to score and keep our defense rested.

"If a man speaks and there is no woman around to hear him, is he still wrong???"

by ThuGodfather on Oct 5, 2011 11:42 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Unfortunately, they will have to pass

and I think when they do, it’s the TE’s against the LB’s that will be open. There corners are too good compared to our receivers.

Formerly KS and CS

by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Oct 5, 2011 12:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Iggles Corners

I thought that too but look at the way they’ve been playing. They’ve been giving up a lot. And I agree, Iggles DC is NOT playing Namdi in a position for him to succeed.

HTTR!

by mkjo on Oct 5, 2011 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Run the Ball and use your TEs... until the Red Zone

Then, no matter what you do, you’re guaranteed a TD.

"When life hands you lemons, make a profit." - Chet Cashley

"Float like a Butterfly, sting like a Bee; Make sure you got the ball in your hands, or else you won’t get a TD." - Joe Theismann

Follow @Ralf_E_Chubbs

by Ralf E Chubbs on Oct 5, 2011 7:37 PM EDT up reply actions

I've been saying this

since week Two. I have been hoping like hell that they have been keeping the reigns tight on the Cooley and Davis duo so they could fully unleash them this week.
Ok, I don’t really believe that, but it sounds good. Either way, it’d be nice to see Cooley fully healthy and Davis fully immersed in the offense by the time we play Philly.

Where do they teach you to talk like this? In some Panama City "Sailor wanna hump-hump" bar, or is it getaway day and your last shot at his whiskey? Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here.

by CJHutch on Oct 5, 2011 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions

Excellent point

Phillies LB’s being so poor, we should attack them with both Cooley and Davis. They should both go over 100 yards receiving. Might even see a bunch of two TE, two RB sets on offense, to keep their best defenders off the field.

Do the exact reverse of what Arizona tried to do against our weak secondary. If we can do this and force Philly to play our game, we might actually score more than 20 points. And we better, because Philly will probably get theirs thanks to a few big plays.

by willster on Oct 5, 2011 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions

Safeties.

Or, safeteases.

by Xin Baixiang on Oct 5, 2011 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Poor coaching/playcalling so far

They don’t run enough and the goalline playcalling has been crap. That whole OL coach at DCoordinator isn’t looking so great either.

We should have another big week running the ball on them. Limiting Rex’s TO’s and getting 7 over 3 will be the two biggest keys for us.

by Mr. E on Oct 5, 2011 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Who would have guessed

You make a career offensive assistant your D Coordinator, and now your o-line sucks and your defense sucks. Imagine that.

Formerly KS and CS

by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Oct 5, 2011 2:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Their o-line is fine.

Editor at Hogs Haven - Redskins Blog
Twitter: @RVAparks Check it out for the latest Redskins news and opinions

by Parks Smith on Oct 5, 2011 2:48 PM EDT up reply actions

They'll be second guessing that when Kerrakpo is done with them.

"If a man speaks and there is no woman around to hear him, is he still wrong???"

by ThuGodfather on Oct 5, 2011 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions

No it's not

First it was a joke. Second, they just benched their RT to put in a rookie who himself was benched at the end of the preseason. Their LT is out injured, replaced by King Dunlap.

Formerly KS and CS

by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Oct 5, 2011 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Who got benched at RT?

You do realize that this was the shortest offseason ever and retarded the growth of a lot of rookies. Sometimes it takes time for these rookies to develop, this year even more so. Just b/c a rookie was “benched” in preseason doesn’t mean that they aren’t the better player.

Peters could be back or he could be hurt, its up in the air at this point. You pointed at coaching as the reason for any o-line “woes” and now you’re using injuries, so which is it?

Think beyond Vick whining and on the ground = o line stinks

I don’t know if you have noticed or not, but the Eagles are the second best rushing team in the league at this point. So I wouldn’t sleep on them, and it’s a luxury that they can now bring in a stud 1st round to play guard.

Editor at Hogs Haven - Redskins Blog
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by Parks Smith on Oct 5, 2011 3:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Chill out, honey child

Again, it was a joke about the coaching, so relax. Meant Right Guard.

On the o-line, the RT was Devan. He was cut during the final cut down after the last preseason game by the colts. The eagles claimed him and made him their starter. He hasn’t done well, which isn’t surprising given that he was cut by the colts.

Head coach Andy Reid has made a major offensive line change to help remedy the Eagles’ three-game losing streak.

Danny Watkins, the team’s first-round pick, will replace Kyle DeVan as the starting right guard and get ready for his first NFL start Sunday against the Bills in Orchard Park, N.Y., a team source told The News Journal.

Watkins, picked 23rd overall in April’s draft out of Baylor, practiced at first-team right guard all throughout training camp and the preseason but struggled and was demoted one week before the season opener after the team claimed DeVan off waivers.

The 6-foot-3, 310-pound Watkins dressed for just one game this year but didn’t play. He was inactive in the other three. DeVan struggled against the 49ers and the team has struggled in red-zone and short-yardage conversions.

They are at this point where Washington was the last couple of seasons, searching for the least bad option to play on their O-line.

And I never said anything about sleeping on the Eagles. There isn’t a team in the league that Washington can take for granted, as they thoroughly demonstrated against the Rams last week.

Formerly KS and CS

by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Oct 5, 2011 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions

DeVan's a RG

Our RT is our former Starting LG, Todd Herremanns

"When life hands you lemons, make a profit." - Chet Cashley

"Float like a Butterfly, sting like a Bee; Make sure you got the ball in your hands, or else you won’t get a TD." - Joe Theismann

Follow @Ralf_E_Chubbs

by Ralf E Chubbs on Oct 5, 2011 7:38 PM EDT up reply actions

Who will take Peters place against Orakpo?

by Jefferson1935 on Oct 5, 2011 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions

King Dunlap

Formerly KS and CS

by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Oct 5, 2011 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Does Yahoo even watch the games?

I’m guessing no, based on past experience with their lazy, box score watching analysis. We’ve been in control of every single game and thoroughly outplayed each opponent. Sadly, the final scores have not reflected this. Now we’ve got the bye week to fix that problem though.

by Mr. E on Oct 5, 2011 12:15 PM EDT reply actions