Back from hiatus, Pour Some Sugar On Me appears in its newest form here in Week 2. As some of you have seen, the old 'STAT!' section has been given its own home, but 'Ten Yard Fight' will continue to be the heart and soul of PSSOM. Let's get to it.
Ten Yard Fight---10 Chances to Make One Good Point
1) Yes, I know this will now be my second weekly post that is blatantly kind of bullet-point driven. It keeps me honest, while also giving you all easy ways to assault each and every one of my ludicrous musings.
2) While watching the 49ers play last night, something inside me caused jubilant, physical reactions to every great play made by the home team. I don't hate on the Saints. I don't even especially like the Niners. Yet watching Patrick Willis do what he does inspired me to root my guts out for him and his teammates. Alex Smith looked pretty great at the end there, but those San Francisco turnovers were just colon-wringing. Finally, has there ever been anything more anti-climactic than seeing Drew Brees get 1:19 worth of clock to get into field goal position? It's like putting Charlie Sheen in a room full of aspiring actresses. You know EXACTLY what's going to happen.
3) Great job Skins fans. FedEx Field has been loud and boisterous for the first two home games. The new HD boards make an insane difference to me personally. I have been floating around the stadium the last two weeks, and from the 5-6 angles I have watched the games from so far, I can tell you that the big boards have been instrumental in following the action on the field. The return of the out-of-town scores and the fantasy updates is the simplest way to make people happy--I continue to wonder aloud who in God's name decided to stop showing those scores for a few years there.
4) I do have a complaint to register with the folks at FedEx. At one point late in the second half, the crowd began to chant for the Skins (I believe it was for the defense). The chant began--as all chants do--in one section, and it was one of those chants that everyone started to pick up on and it kind of swept across the stands. It had the effect of a mid-summer storm, where you could kind of feel the air change as it approached and then as it swept by you, you got caught up in it. Just as it started to really dominate the stands, the PA guy starts playing the "Everybody Clap Your hands" bit. Both Kevin and I looked at each other with a look that said, "What the hell are these guys doing? They just stomped out their own crowd!" To be fair, last year they would have played an Empire Flooring commercial at full blast at that moment, so there is some progress here. But isn't rule #1 of PA'ing to understand that when people are already pumped and getting more and more pumped on their own, there is no need to insert any artificial pumping? It was an amateur move, and we hope that it will be addressed. If we have proven anything in the first two weeks at FedEx, it is that we can get ourselves fired up in a close game against a good opponent. Not that we do not appreciate the integral role the PA folks play, but when the crowd is leading itself in situations like that, the energy is 1000 times better than when the PA guy plays a bit that gets people clapping. In this instance, the PA move was actually deflating.
5) How do I put this one nicely...hmmmm...HOW STUPID IS ANDY REID? Are you seriously going to bench Vick and bring back Kolb? As a Redskins fan, I love this move. The Eagles look pretty explosive behind Vick on offense. If I play for the Eagles, I am livid about this. No offense to Kolb, but I guarantee you that the players LOVE playing with Vick. He gives everyone on that team a kind of confidence that a guy like Kolb could never provide, mostly because he has never done anything in the league. This is Reid forcing Kolb down everyone's throat to save his butt from looking foolish for dealing Don Burgundy. That's what we call compounding your mistake. All Reid needs to do is win, and win now. That will keep him as safe as any coach in this league. From my vantage point (which is admittedly far from the Eagles practice field and facilities) it appears Vick gives that team the best chance to win.
6) Is it just me, or did the Texans game remind anyone else of the kind of offense that Philly ran with McNabb, where everything went through the air and nothing came on the ground? Sure, we called running plays, but once again, a McNabb-led offense thrived in the passing game. I am not making any conclusions here by the way. It is way too soon to label our offense as anything more than inconsistent at this point in the season. But I will be watching closely to see what kind of running game we can get going to complement Donovan's arm. If I recall, the lack of any legitimate rushing attack doomed the Eagles on more than one occasion.
7) If you find yourself in a tight game in the 4th quarter, and the other team absolutely has to have a big play, AND EVERYONE KNOWS WHERE THE BALL IS GOING, why wouldn't you put your #1 cornerback there to defend it? There are acceptable reasons why you would not do this. Maybe you want DHall to lock down a guy like Kevin Walter, who had been catching more balls then the interns on Bob Saget's tour bus. What is UNACCEPTABLE is to suggest that "the system does not call for such adjustments". We have had too many rigid systems over the last few years. Adjustments are what good coaches make all the time. This is not to suggest that Jim Haslett is incapable of making adjustments, or even that he has made zero adjustments so far this year. But right or wrong, when you hear it suggested that the reason DHall was not covering Andre Johnson late in the game was because it "wasn't his side", that is not good enough. Before the season is out, I want that fixed.
8) I have been dreading this one all day. I remain hopeful that the last two games have been a bit of an aberration, but Mike Sellers has looked at least a little bit ineffective in the passing game. I know he got a little banged up in the preseason, so maybe he is still not 100% there. Please give it to me good if I am wrong here. I want to be wrong here. Sellers has been the primary target on more than a few pretty important plays this season already and our conversion/execution on those plays has not been very strong. I know we all were kind of hoping that Dennis Morris was going to be the heir apparent to Sellers and that did not happen. With our running game in shambles, it would be hard to suggest he is shining there. Given how important Sellers has been to this team--and the fans--over the years he deserves the opportunity to get it back on track. But with the slow deterioration of Big Mike, the future of our backfield is officially in worse shape than Albert Haynesworth.
9) Please oh Please oh Please oh Please let Houston stick it to Dallas this week. The game is at home for the Texans, but I wonder what kind of home field advantage there will be for the home team. I do sincerely believe the Cowgirls will figure something out and start winning games. But to see them start 0-3 and to hear that deafening silence coming out of Dallas' sorry, sad-sack fanbase would be delightful.
10) Kevin and I shot Episode 2 of Redskins Lunchbox last night and much like the Redskins offense, we are already seeing signs of improvement. We will post it up as soon as it is produced and released. This week, we ask all of the Hogs Haven faithful to give it a click and a watch (in that order). We thank you in advance for forwarding it to anyone you think might enjoy watching two idiots and Russ Thaler bang out a short show about the Redskins.