"You talk about a monkey on your back, this was a gorilla," coach John Fox said. The Redskins continue to give life to every porous team in the NFL.
Ken and I talked on the phone post-game and it's clear the Redskins are not just a bad team about to break out, they are a bad team, period. The fundamental mistakes continue every week, and the ignorance that the offensive line is adequate was again exposed. What has me fuming the most from the loss yesterday is Mike Sellers play that resulted in the safety. Some fans are blasting Zorn for a wide run play call, but if you look at the tape, Sellers doomed this play. As Brian Billick pointed out, the fullback's job is to run forward as if he had the ball. Punch a hole. After the jump is the video (1:35 mark), Sellers as the lead blocker never crosses the goal line. UNACCEPTABLE. How is Portis suppose to find a gap when his lead blocker never runs past the line of scrimmage and never engages a single player?
The Byron Westbrook gaff on the Antwaan Randle El fair catch is another one. It's special teams 101 to stay clear of the punt returner, yet he failed to do that on multiple punts.
Report Card Time
Offense: D-
The Skins only two touchdowns were a result from the defense giving them the ball in the red zone. Why is this offense STILL out of sync after 29 games together (including pre-season)? The 2nd round picks continue to do their best hide-and-seek impressions failing to make any impact. Devin Thomas has to make that catch.
Defense: C-
16 first downs? For as many games as I can remember, the Redskins again lost the time of possession battle. I'm still furious with the tackling. The most obvious is DeAngelo Hall's failure to contain on the final bootleg, then his inability to bring down a skinny, old QB in the open field. Did you notice that one run play where Jon Stewart carried the entire Redskins defense for 10 yards and a first down? Look at Hall on that play. He barely throws a shoulder. Pathetic.
Also, it is clear Orakpo should not be starting at LB. On that one touchdown, he was never in position from the snap, and he for sure will get torn apart in the film study. The discouraging thing was Orakpo wasn't covering a Witten or Dallas Clark, some no-namer. Square peg, round hole.
Special Teams: F
This is an easy one. Besides the punt debacle, allowing the 55-yard kickoff return setup Delhomme's first TD pass, and the momentum changed from there.
Front Office: F--
With Chris Samuels list of injuries last year, it was crystal clear to everyone (including fans like ourselves who know 1/100th of what coaches know) the Skins needed to draft a guard. The fact they thought the line was adequate was totally exposed. D'Anthony Batiste looked lost. Peppers went around him with ease, which changed the entire game plan. Portis was chipping on that side almost every play, and Cooley had to stay in and block for almost all his plays. Awesome! One of the worst offenses in the league now has to use two of their best three offensive weapons (Portis and Cooley) to stay in the backfield and block. Heyer probably wouldn't have a job in the NFL if it wasn't for the Redskins. How does Dan Snyder not take a look at his decision makers and say, "I have some poor talent evaluators here!"
Looking forward to the Chiefs, does anyone think we can beat them? I watched their game against the Cowboys and they looked very good. Then the Eagles? The Eagles will probably be double-digit point favorites for that game. How will Snyder react to a blow-out loss at home on Monday Night football? I don't know either, but it's going to be two weeks full of drama that not even the Lifetime channel could dream of. Let's go Caps?
TEAM STAT COMPARISON
1st Downs
15
16
8
10
5
4
2
2
2-9
4-12
0-1
0-1
Total Plays
52
60
Total Yards
198
248
Passing
124
162
17-23
16-25
5.4
6.5
Rushing
74
86
24
32
3.1
2.7
Red Zone (Made-Att)
2-3
2-3
Penalties
4-20
5-27
Turnovers
1
2
1
1
0
1
Defensive / Special Teams TDs
0
0
Possession
28:43
31:17