Spence Speaks: Game One Review

[Spence]

We waited eight months for that offense? My first thought is: Does Al Saunders’ 700-page playbook contain any downfield passes? Considering all the pricey talent the Redskins have, that was one of the most boring offenses I’ve ever seen. I wrote in the Game Preview that I expected the Redskins to make plentiful use of screen passes to backs and wideouts. That happened. What I didn’t expect was that that would be the entire passing offense. The Redskins attempted only two real downfield passes all game. One completion went to WR James Thrash and the other went to Santana Moss near the end of the game. Brunell whipped both passes to his receivers accurately and on time. So what gives? This was not the same offense Saunders ran in Kansas City. Why throw all that money at ARE if you’re just going to throw screen passes to him? If you’re wondering what happened to Brandon Lloyd, the answer is that he’s not a screen receiver. Lloyd lacks the small size and quickness in confined spaces that you need in a screen receiver. Lloyd is more suited to downfield passes. Since the Redskins took the downfield pass out of their game plan this week, Lloyd had nothing to do.Source (http://www.hailredskins.com/blog/index.php?p=314)

[Dolla Bill]

Good review Spence. I was disturbed on the playcalling. Was Saunders afraid of the Vikings front 4 so that all he threw was quick passes? The Oline didn't offer Brunell the chance for a downfield pass that often if it was called.

[IowaSkinsFan]

One has to question what Saunders sees in practice that is making him not call the downfield passing plays. Does he not trust that Brunell still has the arm to make the throws? Or is it that Brunell doesn't see the throw as available and checks it down?

[hailj]

Blame Tom Cruise . That Scientology is some wicked voodoo.Face it ;He's a jinx!

p.s. but let's keep Katie.

[dj_stouty]

Bravo!

[hailj]

the Facts:

-The Vikings out played us, we were lucky we were in that game, I think there was something like Vikings had 8 penalties that gave us 60 yards that game...

-There are 15 more games in the season! We lost, and will improve over the course of the year.

-Clinton Portis was playing! What a luxury for us to have our starting running back in the lineup! We are very fortunate the Clinton Portis's injury wasn't more devastating.

the Negatives :

-Offense was too conservative. In my opinion we need to get better play calling from Al Saunders, Its the FIRST game and am not concerned about it at all, remember back to 2005 opener Vs. Bears? We didn't even score a TD.

-Defense on 3rd down! WOW, Brad Johnson was impressive! Was it just me, but you knew when he threw it deep, it had a very good chance of being caught, simply because he is a great decision maker. Every 3rd down, our defense would be playing coverage, and Johnson would zip the ball to a guy whose route found a hole in the coverage.

-Kicking game, John Hall played well! He was 3/4 last night. Although you need to consider his FG's were 22, 27, 27, 47. Its disappointing, I saw Joe Gibbs call the kicking game onto the field, immediately got off the couch on my knees, knowing the game was over. I'm sorry but I already knew the outcome. When the FG was missed I layed back on the floor and could just feel my heart racing, not believing we lost!

the Positives

- skipping right to our last drive, I think we were finally not playing conservative and trying to move down the field. We got a small glimpse of this 2006 offense in full force.

- Sean Taylor, still looking good!

- Punt Returns, GREAT blocks by Sean Taylor and Carlos Rogers for Randle El, I guarntee we get a TD off a punt return this season!

Congrats to the Vikings on a GREAT win for their franchise, we have plenty of Football to be played this season!

[C-7]

The passing offense did look similar to last season's: screens and very conservative.

[hailj]

Bravo!

Ban Tom Cruise and his bad scientology ju ju.I JUST HOPE this isn't turning into the NFL Version of the " Show Time Lakers " , but you have to be a winner for the celebs to want to keep show up.

[RedskinsDave]

You read my mind Tom. I think we have another coach who does not trust Brunell's arm.

[SpicyMcHaggis]

You read my mind Tom. I think we have another coach who does not trust Brunell's arm.
Then we have a huge problem.

[wewantdallas]

You read my mind Tom. I think we have another coach who does not trust Brunell's arm.

I don't know about that. I thought Brunell looked very good last night. And his arm certainly seemed strong enough to hit some 20-30 yard patterns more often than he was seemingly asked to. That pass to Moss on the last drive, the first pass for about 25 yards, was an absolute thing of beauty.

I think there was still a lot of confusion out there, from players AND coaches.

My biggest disappointment, which will probably only grow in this offense, is the seeming disappearance of Cooley. I really missed Gibbs' pound it system last night. Hopefully Saunders will change that in Little D.

[Skins-R-Us]

Positives & Negatives:

Yes, the offense was conservative, but we were in the red zone 5 five times and within the 10 a few of those. To come out of this with 1 TD is disappointing to say the least. I don't know why they did not spread the field on the goal line plays. We definately need to be more explosive and go down field, but I think that comes with time and hopefully the O-line can give Brunell some more time.

I know MN has a good O-line, but they picked us apart hard. We basically saw a preview of the Eagles offense and we did not handle it too well. If we can not stop MN's mediocre receivers, how are we possibly going to control T.O. and T.G. next week? Our D-Line is going to have to get a lot more preassure with the front 4!

The most frustrating point though to me is that Gibbs kept putting his head down and not watching the field goals. No wonder he doesn't realize that John Hall needs to be released. Gibbs really needs to open his eyes on that situtation (literally). I think every Redskin fan knew that that kick was not going to be good. We should have went for the 4th down to try and get 10 more yards and get out of bounds. A couple of long balls to the endzone at that point would not have been a bad idea either. Could have possibly got an interference cal (well based on the other calls it probably would have been offensive antways) but I think Hall could have made it from the 1!!

Based on what I saw and the schedule we are facing, I would say more than 75% of our games will come down to 3 points or less and with our kicker, we could go 9-7 or worse very easily.

I hope I am wrong!

[MONK_in_HOF]

Good writeup. I basically agree with everything. As far as not taking shots downfield, I am not sure if that is due to Saunders concern with pass protection or Brunell's arm strength. Maybe it is a bit of both as Brunell really has to set and wind up to get it downfield.

The RB situation just boggles me. Why give up a 3rd round pick if we aren't going to use him (TJ) for what he does best??? Especially when our offensive star has an ailing shoulder.

[IllinoiSkinFan]

Blame Tom Cruise . That Scientology is some wicked voodoo.Face it ;He's a jinx!

p.s. but let's keep Katie.

Yea! Someone needs to Tell Tom Cruise to keep all his nasty thetans to himeself!

BTW. I agree with Spence. There was not enough downfield passes.

[SpicyMcHaggis]

Positives & Negatives:

Yes, the offense was conservative, but we were in the red zone 5 five times and within the 10 a few of those. To come out of this with 1 TD is disappointing to say the least. I don't know why they did not spread the field on the goal line plays. We definately need to be more explosive and go down field, but I think that comes with time and hopefully the O-line can give Brunell some more time.

I know MN has a good O-line, but they picked us apart hard. We basically saw a preview of the Eagles offense and we did not handle it too well. If we can not stop MN's mediocre receivers, how are we possibly going to control T.O. and T.G. next week? Our D-Line is going to have to get a lot more preassure with the front 4!

The most frustrating point though to me is that Gibbs kept putting his head down and not watching the field goals. No wonder he doesn't realize that John Hall needs to be released. Gibbs really needs to open his eyes on that situtation (literally). I think every Redskin fan knew that that kick was not going to be good. We should have went for the 4th down to try and get 10 more yards and get out of bounds. A couple of long balls to the endzone at that point would not have been a bad idea either. Could have possibly got an interference cal (well based on the other calls it probably would have been offensive antways) but I think Hall could have made it from the 1!!

Based on what I saw and the schedule we are facing, I would say more than 75% of our games will come down to 3 points or less and with our kicker, we could go 9-7 or worse very easily.

I hope I am wrong!
You aren't the first person to say that, but I'm sorry, that is just lunacy. We have no timeouts. There are 17 seconds to go, and it takes almost all of them to get the FG squad in place, so running for the first is out of the question. Any kind of pass to the middle of the field is out of the question. Taking a shot in the end zone is out of the question barring a miracle. If Hall is not at least "probable" to make that kick, and we are forced to really go for it in that situation, then Hall should retire immediately, and the FO with him for having kept him around.

[hailj]

You could tell this game was personal for Brad Johnson the way he reacted when he threw the TD pass in the 3rd quarter.

Before you guys start jumping my case can you blame the guy? He took us to the NFC East Title and makes the Pro Bowl in 1999 and what does Snyder do ? - go out and bring in Jeff George. People might bash him on this board and call him "noodle arm" but IMHO he is one of the most underrated QBs in the NFL.

ESPN mentioned on Sports Center that when he finished meeting with the media after the game he put on his ----> Old Redskin Jersey and walked out of the locker room :rolleyes:

[Redskin4Life]

Blame Tom Cruise . That Scientology is some wicked voodoo.Face it ;He's a jinx!

p.s. but let's keep Katie.
Well said... except for the Katie Holmes part. I can't stop seeing her as a high school chick talking to Dawson in his bedroom, making those stupid goofy faces. Jail bait.

[RedskinsDave]

I don't know about that. I thought Brunell looked very good last night. And his arm certainly seemed strong enough to hit some 20-30 yard patterns more often than he was seemingly asked to. That pass to Moss on the last drive, the first pass for about 25 yards, was an absolute thing of beauty.

I think there was still a lot of confusion out there, from players AND coaches.

My biggest disappointment, which will probably only grow in this offense, is the seeming disappearance of Cooley. I really missed Gibbs' pound it system last night. Hopefully Saunders will change that in Little D.

A 25 yard pass is not what I consider getting the ball downfield. Great, he made two whole passes that were in the air over 20 yards. That's not going to cut it.

[wewantdallas]

You could tell this game was personal for Brad Johnson the way he reacted when he threw the TD pass in the 3rd quarter.

Before you guys start jumping my case can you blame the guy? He took us to the NFC East Title and makes the Pro Bowl in 1999 and what does Snyder do ? - go out and bring in Jeff George. People might bash him on this board and call him "noodle arm" but IMHO he is one of the most underrated QBs in the NFL.

Good lord, I am SOOOO SICCCK of hearing about how Brad Johnson left us and about his "chip." No offense to you, this is directed at Johnson and the media, if it's indeed still a problem.

This was SIX YEARS AGO, and Johnson came in here and smoked us as the Tampa QB in 2003. THAT game counts as his revenge game in my book. Case closed. Move on with your life.

Yes, it was a mistake, Snyder should've treated him better, blah, blah, blah. It's all been discussed over and over and should be old news by now. If Johnson is still that upset by it, then I'm glad he's gone.

I remember the year Johnson was let go, and he WAS stinking up the joint. He also rarely took any blame in interviews as I recall, always putting the blame for a bad performance elsewhere. So he can play the martyr forever if he wants to, but I'm sick of his whining about it, and he certainly wasn't above criticism himself back then.

[wewantdallas]

A 25 yard pass is not what I consider getting the ball downfield. Great, he made two whole passes that were in the air over 20 yards. That's not going to cut it.

Really? I'll equate 25 yard passes (a quarter of the field) with getting the ball "downfield" any day of the week.

I just don't see any reason whatsoever to bash Brunell over this game or to question his arm. He looked sharp with most of his throws. It wasn't like he was throwing BAD passes downfield. The plays just simply weren't being called. I blame Saunders for that, and I seriously doubt it's based on his fear of Brunell's arm strength, or lack thereof.

[PennSkinsFan]

A 25 yard pass is not what I consider getting the ball downfield. Great, he made two whole passes that were in the air over 20 yards. That's not going to cut it.

Agreed, but I don't blame Brunell, I blame a very unimpressive game plan brought by Al Saunders.

[RedskinsDave]

Really? I'll equate 25 yard passes (a quarter of the field) with getting the ball "downfield" any day of the week.

I just don't see any reason whatsoever to bash Brunell over this game or to question his arm. He looked sharp with most of his throws. It wasn't like he was throwing BAD passes downfield. The plays just simply weren't being called. I blame Saunders for that, and I seriously doubt it's based on his fear of Brunell's arm strength, or lack thereof.

Then what is it? Why else would Saunders call short plays? Why did Joe Gibbs do it all last season? Why was the longest pass of the game for us only completed because Moss came back to the ball? Did you miss Brunell totally overthrow a wide open Lloyd on the last drive?

I like Brunell because he does not turn the ball over and makes good decisions to get rid of the ball when pressured. BUT, if he can't get the ball downfield to all the money that was spent in WR's, this year will be a long one.

[wewantdallas]

Then what is it? Why else would Saunders call short plays? Why did Joe Gibbs do it all last season? Why was the longest pass of the game for us only completed because Moss came back to the ball? Did you miss Brunell totally overthrow a wide open Lloyd on the last drive?

I like Brunell because he does not turn the ball over and makes good decisions to get rid of the ball when pressured. BUT, if he can't get the ball downfield to all the money that was spent in WR's, this year will be a long one.


Brunell had his share of big throws last year. The absolutely picture-perfect passes to Moss in Dallas spring to mind, and there were many others.

If coaches don't think he has the arm to throw NFL-calibre long balls, and if Gibbs KNEW this last year, as you suggest, then there's no way they start him at all, and there's certainly no way they bring in all these fast WRs if they ARE going to start a guy that can't get the ball to them. I just don't believe that's the issue. I think it's what PennSkins alluded to: a bad gameplan from Saunders last night.

As for the overthrow at the end, Brunell was being chased and was throwing on the run. It was just a bad throw under tough circumstances.

[Skins-R-Us]

You aren't the first person to say that, but I'm sorry, that is just lunacy. We have no timeouts. There are 17 seconds to go, and it takes almost all of them to get the FG squad in place, so running for the first is out of the question. Any kind of pass to the middle of the field is out of the question. Taking a shot in the end zone is out of the question barring a miracle. If Hall is not at least "probable" to make that kick, and we are forced to really go for it in that situation, then Hall should retire immediately, and the FO with him for having kept him around.

I realize hind sight is 20/20, but my main point is that everyone in the stadium and watching at home knew that kick was not even going to be close. Rather than just try to get within a long field goal range, we should have tried for the endzone at least once or twice when we had a little time. If it was incomplete the clock stops, if there is a penalty we get it at the one and if we complete it we win. The probabilties were much greater of a positive outcome in that scenario then if we attempt the kick that we did. Based on the outcome that we had, my theory really couldn't have ended up worse!

I am more concerned with Gibbs closing his eyes and not looking though. Watch the tape, he did it on every field goal. WATCH THE PLAYS JOE!

[dj_stouty]

A 25 yard pass is not what I consider getting the ball downfield. Great, he made two whole passes that were in the air over 20 yards. That's not going to cut it.

I would agree with you if we saw Brunell look crappy on deep balls but he was servicable on those two playcalls last night. In fact, that pass to Thrash was a bullet And from what I recall of the training camp reports, he wasn't having any issues throwing the ball downfield, so I'm not ready to assume the playcalling was altered for his sake.

[Dolla Bill]

I would agree with you if we saw Brunell look crappy on deep balls but he was servicable on those two playcalls last night. In fact, that pass to Thrash was a bullet And from what I recall of the training camp reports, he wasn't having any issues throwing the ball downfield, so I'm not ready to assume the playcalling was altered for his sake.

Most of the time he was flushed out of the pocket and he couldn't set himself to throw long passes.

[wewantdallas]

Most of the time he was flushed out of the pocket and he couldn't set himself to throw long passes.

That's right. And many times when he WAS flushed out of the pocket, it was obvious that his receivers weren't doing as much as they should to come back to the ball and get open.

[Axegrinder]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and remind everybody that this was just game one.I think that our expectations may be a little too high at this point.I didn't think the offense was as bad as what I've been reading here,but it could be tweaked a little.In fact,we had little trouble moving the ball down the field.We just couldn't punch it in.

It was a good game between two well coached teams.We just ran out of time.I'm disappointed that we lost,but I'll lay that on the Special Teams,for the missed kick and poor kick coverage throughout the game.They put the D in a hole by providing a short field.

As for the Defense,they spent way too long on the field and as the game progressed,they showed shoddy tackling.Minnesota gained a lot of yards after contact.

I hate to say this,but this game could have been just what the doctor ordered.It's better to find out your weaknesses early rather than later.

[dukeuch]

You could tell this game was personal for Brad Johnson the way he reacted when he threw the TD pass in the 3rd quarter.

Before you guys start jumping my case can you blame the guy? He took us to the NFC East Title and makes the Pro Bowl in 1999 and what does Snyder do ? - go out and bring in Jeff George. People might bash him on this board and call him "noodle arm" but IMHO he is one of the most underrated QBs in the NFL.

ESPN mentioned on Sports Center that when he finished meeting with the media after the game he put on his ----> Old Redskin Jersey and walked out of the locker room :rolleyes:

I'm not going to jump on you. Johnson is the best QB we've had since Snyder took over, and at the time it was obviously a mistake to let him go at the time we did. Johnson is one of the most underrated QBs ever. Not a star, but an above average QB who should have gotten a lot more chances to be #1 than he's gotten.

[danny's stogie]

A few words about what I thought the Redskins offense did well last night. They protected Mark Brunell well, not giving up a sack. Brunell threw the ball away repeatedly. I know this angered many in the crowd, but each time it was a smart decision. Brunell simply refuses to force the ball into coverage and if no one was open [and that happened on many occasions last night] he took the safe route and chucked the ball into the third row. He got booed for it…unjustly. Another thing I liked was that the Redskins ran this offense, which often required three, four, or even five players to shift before a play, without the illegal procedure penalties one might have expected. That’s a good sign. The players have got this offense down. Now it is up to Al Saunders to actually call a few passes downfield.

I noticed this as well and it's one of the reasons I'm extremely encouraged. You look at a lot of teams this time of year, including the 04 Redskins, and Oline penalties kill them and remain a problem throughout the season. The Skins cleaned that problem up last season and it appears to still not be a problem today even with the return of the motion offense. I think as long as the skins continue to play games like last night where they limit the offensive penalties and don't turn the ball over they'll win a lot of games.

[JoeDaSchmoe]

Most of the time he was flushed out of the pocket and he couldn't set himself to throw long passes.

Exactly.

It's hard for me to blame Saunders for anything regarding the passing game last night, because Brunell had, on average, two seconds to get rid of the ball on any given play. The protection was downright awful. I was extremely surprised at how quickly and easily the Vikings defenders seemed to get through.

I will say, however, that it didn't seem like Saunders set up anything the entire game. He didn't base one play off another, or use similar looks to fool the defense into overcompensating for much of anything. It seemed like he just picked plays completely at random. I'm not at all passing judgement on the acquisition of Saunders or how he'll do over a full season, but I strongly believe that, given the new weapons, Gibbs would have done a better job last night.

[danny's stogie]

I will say, however, that it didn't seem like Saunders set up anything the entire game. He didn't base one play off another, or use similar looks to fool the defense into overcompensating for much of anything. It seemed like he just picked plays completely at random. I'm not at all passing judgement on the acquisition of Saunders or how he'll do over a full season, but I strongly believe that, given the new weapons, Gibbs would have done a better job last night.

Yeah, I didn't recognize any rhyme or reason either. I'd like to see Saunders give the offense a chance to get into a rhythm and I don't understand why he doesn't let Brunell call audibles.

[helimech24]

Yeah, I didn't recognize any rhyme or reason either. I'd like to see Saunders give the offense a chance to get into a rhythm and I don't understand why he doesn't let Brunell call audibles.Wasn't it said that Saunders doesn't show the same play for like four games. Gotta remember, he is also trying to figure what he can use and what he can't with this offense, and their players.

[SpicyMcHaggis]

Wasn't it said that Saunders doesn't show the same play for like four games. Gotta remember, he is also trying to figure what he can use and what he can't with this offense, and their players.
That's crap. I don't care if we keep running the same plays if the keep working. I agree with the others when they say that the playcalling looked like something out of a Madden game when you push the "Ask Madden" button every time and he gives random plays. He didn't allow either RB to get into any kind of rhythm, didn't try to set up any kind of play action, kept resorting to screens that aside from the first one, were going no place. It's pretty useless to have 45 people shuffle before the snap if you're gonna run a WR screen 15 times anyways.

[wewantdallas]

That's crap. I don't care if we keep running the same plays if the keep working. I agree with the others when they say that the playcalling looked like something out of a Madden game when you push the "Ask Madden" button every time and he gives random plays. He didn't allow either RB to get into any kind of rhythm, didn't try to set up any kind of play action, kept resorting to screens that aside from the first one, were going no place. It's pretty useless to have 45 people shuffle before the snap if you're gonna run a WR screen 15 times anyways.

I agree. The formations were beautiful at times, the shifts very cool, but if you're not getting in the end zone, who CARES?

Just Game 1, and I'm sure they'll get it together, but last night's playcalling seemed like they'd just taken the TRAINING wheels off, not the handcuffs, as Saunders said earlier in the week, i.e. very tentative all around.

[SpicyMcHaggis]

I agree. The formations were beautiful at times, the shifts very cool, but if you're not getting in the end zone, who CARES?

Just Game 1, and I'm sure they'll get it together, but last night's playcalling seemed like they'd just taken the TRAINING wheels off, not the handcuffs, as Saunders said earlier in the week, i.e. very tentative all around.
Oh and one more thing. Running different plays does not mean you can't get either running back into some kind of rhythm or try to call the plays thinking 3 or 4 plays down the line...

[BurgundyNGold]

I don't know about that. I thought Brunell looked very good last night. And his arm certainly seemed strong enough to hit some 20-30 yard patterns more often than he was seemingly asked to. That pass to Moss on the last drive, the first pass for about 25 yards, was an absolute thing of beauty.

I think there was still a lot of confusion out there, from players AND coaches.

My biggest disappointment, which will probably only grow in this offense, is the seeming disappearance of Cooley. I really missed Gibbs' pound it system last night. Hopefully Saunders will change that in Little D.
I don't know Cooley disappeared, as such. They hit him a few times, but Brunell flat out missed him once that I can recall. And remember, while it has been shown that Cooley can be a very good H-Back in this league it has yet to be shown that he can be an effective TE.

[shally]

I don't know Cooley disappeared, as such. They hit him a few times, but Brunell flat out missed him once that I can recall. And remember, while it has been shown that Cooley can be a very good H-Back in this league it has yet to be shown that he can be an effective TE.

a great coach finds ways to put his players in spots where they can be most effective, not lament their limitations.. didier was never much of a blocker but he could get open and gibbs used warren or middleton or caravelho for blocking.. use cooley to his strengths, not his weaknesses..

[JoeDaSchmoe]

I don't know Cooley disappeared, as such. They hit him a few times, but Brunell flat out missed him once that I can recall. And remember, while it has been shown that Cooley can be a very good H-Back in this league it has yet to be shown that he can be an effective TE.

Honestly, the big difference there is if he lines up on the line of scrimmage or behind it. Someone could throw in a "Yeah, but that means he's more likely to get chipped by a DE!" argument, but realistically, that's not the answer. Can he catch? Can he get open? Can he break tackles? We all know Cooley's great at these things, and yet both he and Lloyd were practically nonexistant yesterday.

[Spence]

I think Cooley disappeared because the downfield passing game was abandoned. Now, you might think: What does Cooley have to do with the downfield passing game? He catches short-to-medium range passes. Exactly. But since the Redskins decided to use their wideouts for all these screens and short passes, it doesn't leave Cooley anything to do. If the Redskins are sending Moss and ARE and Lloyd downfield to catch passes the way wideouts are meant to, Cooley becomes valuable as the safety valve who takes advantage of slower linebackers. But if the entire passing game is contained within five yards of the line of scrimmage, Cooley has to compete with Moss and ARE for the type of passes that usually go to him. That's a competition Cooley can't win. If/when the Redskins start sending their wideouts downfield -- where they belong -- Cooley will reappear in the offense. He disappeared last night for the same reason Lloyd disappeard: No downfield passes.

[RicFlairOne]

the Facts:

-The Vikings out played us, we were lucky we were in that game, I think there was something like Vikings had 8 penalties that gave us 60 yards that game...

-There are 15 more games in the season! We lost, and will improve over the course of the year.

-Clinton Portis was playing! What a luxury for us to have our starting running back in the lineup! We are very fortunate the Clinton Portis's injury wasn't more devastating.

the Negatives :

-Offense was too conservative. In my opinion we need to get better play calling from Al Saunders, Its the FIRST game and am not concerned about it at all, remember back to 2005 opener Vs. Bears? We didn't even score a TD.

-Defense on 3rd down! WOW, Brad Johnson was impressive! Was it just me, but you knew when he threw it deep, it had a very good chance of being caught, simply because he is a great decision maker. Every 3rd down, our defense would be playing coverage, and Johnson would zip the ball to a guy whose route found a hole in the coverage.

-Kicking game, John Hall played well! He was 3/4 last night. Although you need to consider his FG's were 22, 27, 27, 47. Its disappointing, I saw Joe Gibbs call the kicking game onto the field, immediately got off the couch on my knees, knowing the game was over. I'm sorry but I already knew the outcome. When the FG was missed I layed back on the floor and could just feel my heart racing, not believing we lost!

the Positives

- skipping right to our last drive, I think we were finally not playing conservative and trying to move down the field. We got a small glimpse of this 2006 offense in full force.

- Sean Taylor, still looking good!

- Punt Returns, GREAT blocks by Sean Taylor and Carlos Rogers for Randle El, I guarntee we get a TD off a punt return this season!

Congrats to the Vikings on a GREAT win for their franchise, we have plenty of Football to be played this season!


Not sure you and I were watching the same game! Are you being sarcastic about Taylor? He needs to worry about pass defense instead trying for the knock out all of the time.

Also, where was Carter last night. Skins should have paid Ryan Clark half of what they paid AA - he sucks!!

[smittyskin]

I thought the offense looked pretty good considering the Oline play. We didn't score while we were in the red zone but we moved the ball up and down the field all night which is something that hasn't happened in a long time in Washington.

I honestly think that the Vikings looked excellent last night. They played a road game with virtually no mistakes, with a new system, and against a playoff team. I think they will surprise some people this year.

If we would have lost to the Texans last night, I would be worried. I think we lost to a very good team. And if you think about it, we just barely lost. I really think that with a little more time in Al's system (and our defense finds themselves again), we should look like the Skins of late last year.

[jrockster77]

From what I've been hearing from people who were at the game, Brunell had people open deep but threw the ball away instead. The downfield plays were being called; for some reason Mark wasn't throwing them. Maybe Brunell lacks confidence in himself to make those throws?? He seeme jittery and hesitant, even though protection was good.

Hopefully he challenges Dallas downfield more often. I'm sick of seeing him throw the dang ball away.

[Skinz4lyfe]

I know I'm in the minority of this but IMO there was little wrong w/the gameplan. Its difficult to go deep when the team you're playing is in cover 2 for the majority of the game. If anything I felt we should have gone to Cooley on a couple of seam routes to occupy the safeties. Only after that is effective, can we attempt to go deep. We simply didn't execute in the redzone like we should have. I think Brunell needs to work w/Lloyd so they can get their timing down because clearly Brunell is good w/Moss and ARE.

[HollywoodKolt]

I agree with you 100% on Taylor's reputation hurting him. If they think Sean Taylor lowered his head and hit the reciever in the chest on that play then the officials weren't watching the same game as I was.

Brad Johnson was great last night, especially on 3rd down. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened had we never gotten Jeff George.

You took the words right out of my mouth with Andre Carter. I'll give mckinnie his due, dude is a player. But come on carter at least use some kind of counter move the speed rush is all well and good but shit throw in a spin or something. Our coaches are too good to let this continue.

As far as the downfield passing I remembered something that gibbs said last year after the dallas game when a fan asked why they didn't call any other deep passes. Gibbs said they had them called but they were covered. I think it's entirely plausible that the vikings were just scared to death of getting beat deep by our WR's and so they played some variation of cover three or four all night.

What that doesn't explain is where in god's name was chris cooley? Did he get the night off? I don't think this will be the norm with him because he's too good for that, and as anybody who went to the scrimmage knows, dude was tearing it up out there. Plus, Saunders isn't exactly inexperianced using tight ends, he had this guy in Kansas City Tony Gonzalez, and I've heard of him once or twice.

Something I noticed last night was how long the redskins took before they snapped the ball. I'd guess that 75% of the time the play clock was under 5 seconds when they got to the line. All this shifting is nice, and it makes the defense adjust but it didn't really seem to do anything but put us in danger of getting penalties last night.

Let's relax a little bit, it's game one, we'll be alright.

[Brokenstriker]

The offensive offense game calling ... completely baffles me

No "POP" - Moss, Lloyd, Cooley, Randle El each, at a minimum, can deliver 'POP' ... but the game plan didn't dial it up

No momentum - Like listening to a V8 sputtering running on cheap gas ... stringing 4 quality plays together has got to be a key goal for the future

No power - PLA-LEASE ... Portis can do it inside ... Duckett can do it inside ... Sellers even can do it inside. WHAHAPPENED?!?! 700 pages of plays and no Power Gut plays?

I watched that WR screen get called and called again ... and I hoped SO MUCH that it was being done to set the BiKings up for a GOTCHA play to sucker them into biting on it ... but nope ... all it did was cue the DBs to shut the WR screen down.

OH ... and would somebody please tell ESPN XXX to sync their broadcast up with the TV ... I couldn't stand hearing the play before seing it ... so I turned the radio off ... and was dry heavin by the end left to listen to the ESPN team and Entertainment Tonight nonsense instead of Sonny & Sam talkin Skins Football

[shally]

The offensive offense game calling ... completely baffles me

No "POP" - Moss, Lloyd, Cooley, Randle El each, at a minimum, can deliver 'POP' ... but the game plan didn't dial it up

No momentum - Like listening to a V8 sputtering running on cheap gas ... stringing 4 quality plays together has got to be a key goal for the future

No power - PLA-LEASE ... Portis can do it inside ... Duckett can do it inside ... Sellers even can do it inside. WHAHAPPENED?!?! 700 pages of plays and no Power Gut plays?

I watched that WR screen get called and called again ... and I hoped SO MUCH that it was being done to set the BiKings up for a GOTCHA play to sucker them into biting on it ... but nope ... all it did was cue the DBs to shut the WR screen down.

OH ... and would somebody please tell ESPN XXX to sync their broadcast up with the TV ... I couldn't stand hearing the play before seing it ... so I turned the radio off ... and was dry heavin by the end left to listen to the ESPN team and Entertainment Tonight nonsense instead of Sonny & Sam talkin Skins Football

1 wideout screen per game. maybe a fake off of it the second time..

[oldskinfan]

Spence you are right about Brad Johnson being the game MVP Monday. I always did like him and I think Gibbs would have liked him also if he did not have Brunell... consumate Field General. I think his legs are in better shape than Brunell also.

On the play calling, I'm not sure if it was that or how they "coached up" Brunell on the offense. He was so intent on a quick read and pass that sometimes he zoned in on the first read and dumped it OOB if it wasn't open. Only if he scrambled did he ever go to a secondary receiver. Do wonder why we did not see *ANY* deep balls though....especially w/ number of times Skins had ball around mid-field....heck if it's picked off at the 10, that's better than most Frost punts!

It was also chicken sh*t that w/ Dwight Smith out, they didn't take a shot at the cover 2 w/ rookie at Safety....I mean, come on! Sharper is good, but who the F is Greg Blue? It's almost like the did not notice Smith being disciplined for the game and did not adjust play calling. Definitely put that one on the coaching staff and Saunders.

[oldskinfan]

No power - PLA-LEASE ... Portis can do it inside ... Duckett can do it inside ... Sellers even can do it inside. WHAHAPPENED?!?! 700 pages of plays and no Power Gut plays?

I was also surprised at lack of gut plays. There were a lot of stretch / outside runs...presumably to avoid the massive Williams boys inside. But when all the run plays were outside, I noticed Minnesota adjusted also and often spread the D-tackles out really wide. You need Gut plays to keep them honest.

[thickskin]

i couldn;t catch the game, but i'm appreciative for all the great info here. of course i can;t offer much in the way of specific comments, but the bottom line for me is that we should have won a monday night home opener against a lesser team. champions win the ones they are supposed to win. get it together guys.

[shally]

I was also surprised at lack of gut plays. There were a lot of stretch / outside runs...presumably to avoid the massive Williams boys inside. But when all the run plays were outside, I noticed Minnesota adjusted also and often spread the D-tackles out really wide. You need Gut plays to keep them honest.

plus their ends and lb's are pretty quick.. misdirection or counter plays should have helped. portis almost broke a td on one where they made an ankle tackle.
we never had enough long drives to tire them out. too many 3 and outs left their defense fresh for the end

[hailj]

by the way ,
- NFL.com wire reports

NEW YORK (Sept. 12, 2006) -- ESPN's first regular-season Monday night NFL game under the new contract drew the cable network's biggest audience ever.

The game between the Minnesota Vikings and Washington Redskins, won 19-16 by Minnesota, drew a 9.9 rating, representing an average of between nearly 9.2 million and 12.57 million households, the network said. The previous record was 8.9 million households on Christmas Day 2004 for a game between Detroit and Miami.