JoeDaSchmoe
08-19-2003, 01:23 AM
For most teams, fourth down is a time of desperation. It is the life or death of a drive, with momentum, points, and potentially the game itself in the balance. When the clock finally expires, commentators will almost assuredly look back at that single play and pick it apart, declaring with abandon the reasons why it was the moment that decided the contest’s outcome. If the offense succeeded, if a fresh set of downs was gained, the head coach was a genius, picking the perfect time to take a risk. If that one pass, that one sneak, that one handoff failed, then the coach was an idiot, worthy of a barrage of beer bottles from the stands.
Those booze-soaked coaches, however, don’t have Rock Cartwright.
Three times the Redskins faced a fourth down against the Patriots’ revved-up defense. Three times the ball was given to Cartwright, who lowered his five-foot-seven, two hundred and twenty-three pound frame and rushed towards the gap like a burgundy battering ram. Three times the drives continued, saved during what could have been their dying gasps by a man who almost went undrafted.
Cartwright wasn’t the star of the night. He didn’t score any touchdowns, he didn’t break any big runs, he didn’t lead the Redskins in rushing, he didn’t even show up on ESPN highlight reels. But it was undeniably the running of #40 that gave Washington its life in the fight against New England. With the passing game still under construction, and only a group of lightweights at the tailback spot, the best decision was simply to give Rock the rock.
Not that the other backs didn’t fare quite well. Trung Canidate had more of a chance to showcase his much-hyped blazing speed, and while he didn’t manage to break a big run, he did have 33 yards on a mere five carries, and scored the only touchdown of the Redskins’ preseason thus far. Canidate also gained 28 yards on three receptions, capping off a night of impressive groundwork with a display of exactly why he replaced the now-Panther Stephen Davis. Kenny Watson was equally exciting, garnering 62 yards on ten carries as well as 28 yards from his four catches. Watson was the main back in a second-quarter drive that found the Redskins handing the ball off ten times in a row, a tactic unheard of in yesteryear’s Fun’n’Gun offense.
The quarterbacks still had their moments, of course. With Steve Spurrier on the sidelines, that has to be a given. Patrick Ramsey got considerable playing time in this game, and completed 13 of 24 passes for 149 yards. The second-year quarterback also led Washington’s only touchdown drive, and probably would have done it twice had it not been for one misdirected pass made while falling that wound up in the hands of a Patriot cornerback. Again, Ramsey had several of his passes dropped, making his completion percentage a bit lower than it actually should have been. Nonetheless, while he didn’t quite look like Dan Marino, Ramsey showed a continued improvement in his comfort with and understanding of Spurrier’s offense. Rob Johnson followed his strong performance in Carolina with a pair of field goal drives, the highlight of which was a 34-yard pass to speedster Pat Woodcock. Near the end of the fourth quarter, rookie Gibran Hamdan entered the game, displaying his powerful arm for a short time before throwing an interception that allowed New England to run out the fourth quarter.
If anything marred the offense, it was the continued absence of stonewall line play. Blue-jerseyed pass rushers routinely pressured Redskin quarterbacks, especially on blitzes. While the backfield sometimes picked up extra attackers perfectly, at other times most blockers seemed lost while a sack was developing a mere four yards behind them. The offensive line’s counterpart fared little better, again facing major problems against the run as unspectacular back Antowain Smith led the charge in the Patriots’ first touchdown drive. Adding injury to insult, defensive tackle Brandon Noble suffered season-ending knee damage soon after, leaving the ‘Skins with little depth and even less talent at the position.
Insult came back in full force, however, when the Patriots decided to take a shot deep at everyone’s favorite target, David Terrell (Warning: Use of David Terrell may result in impairment of coverage, loss of big play security, and nausea. Do not use David Terrell while operating first-team defense. Never apply David Terrell more than 2-4 times in any 60-minute period. If David Terrell comes into contact with one-on-one coverage, please consult your scoreboard immediately to determine what action is necessary to overcome the seven points just scored by the opposing team.). Tom Brady, known for anything but his strong arm, heaved the ball roughly forty yards into the waiting hands of David Patten, who jetted away from a stumbling and bumbling Terrell and down the field to the end zone. The play caused much of the stadium to call for the replacement of Touchdown Terrell with, as one fan put it, “Ifanati… Ifalani…. Ifolete…. Whatever the hell that guy’s name is!” Thankfully, we can ignore the fact that it took 23 callers into Sportstalk 980 to spell Ifeanyi Ohalete’s name correctly (and 11 to simply pronounce it correctly) after he was named the starter last year. The fact is, he’s a better safety than Terrell come game time, and he has a knack for the big play.
Ohalete, unfortunately, wasn’t the only one with that knack on Saturday, as the Patriots scored again on a 98-yard kickoff return that wound up being the difference between a loss and overtime. The Redskins’ special teams unit, while improved this year with a quality kicker and explosive return man, has yet to master the art of proper blocking or containment, which seems to at least be partially the fault of the coaching staff. Yes, the touchdown came against players who, for the most part, won’t make the final roster, but it was eerily reminiscent of last year’s poor excuse for kickoff coverage. One can only hope that with special teams starters (which itself is an oxymoron) out there, the play will at least be decent enough to stop long runbacks and open up a few holes for Chad Morton to run through.
Overall, the Redskins’ performance against New England was an improvement from their first preseason game, which was a spectacle of mental errors. There were still many in this matchup, but not enough to completely wreck the night, as Washington held the Patriots to a one-score lead until time expired. Several areas of the team also looked significantly better, or simply continued to demonstrate a high level of talent, such as Laveraneus Coles hauling in his second long-range reception in as many games. Perhaps by this time next week there will be a quality run-stuffing DT wearing the burgundy and gold that will get his first taste of action, which alone would dramatically improve the Redskins’ defense. Even if this is not the case, Steve Spurrier certainly has more positive notes to dwell on from this second preseason game, as what will hopefully become the march towards a cohesive, intimidating unit took another step towards the regular season, helped along the way by a few powerful strides courtesy of the Rock.
Those booze-soaked coaches, however, don’t have Rock Cartwright.
Three times the Redskins faced a fourth down against the Patriots’ revved-up defense. Three times the ball was given to Cartwright, who lowered his five-foot-seven, two hundred and twenty-three pound frame and rushed towards the gap like a burgundy battering ram. Three times the drives continued, saved during what could have been their dying gasps by a man who almost went undrafted.
Cartwright wasn’t the star of the night. He didn’t score any touchdowns, he didn’t break any big runs, he didn’t lead the Redskins in rushing, he didn’t even show up on ESPN highlight reels. But it was undeniably the running of #40 that gave Washington its life in the fight against New England. With the passing game still under construction, and only a group of lightweights at the tailback spot, the best decision was simply to give Rock the rock.
Not that the other backs didn’t fare quite well. Trung Canidate had more of a chance to showcase his much-hyped blazing speed, and while he didn’t manage to break a big run, he did have 33 yards on a mere five carries, and scored the only touchdown of the Redskins’ preseason thus far. Canidate also gained 28 yards on three receptions, capping off a night of impressive groundwork with a display of exactly why he replaced the now-Panther Stephen Davis. Kenny Watson was equally exciting, garnering 62 yards on ten carries as well as 28 yards from his four catches. Watson was the main back in a second-quarter drive that found the Redskins handing the ball off ten times in a row, a tactic unheard of in yesteryear’s Fun’n’Gun offense.
The quarterbacks still had their moments, of course. With Steve Spurrier on the sidelines, that has to be a given. Patrick Ramsey got considerable playing time in this game, and completed 13 of 24 passes for 149 yards. The second-year quarterback also led Washington’s only touchdown drive, and probably would have done it twice had it not been for one misdirected pass made while falling that wound up in the hands of a Patriot cornerback. Again, Ramsey had several of his passes dropped, making his completion percentage a bit lower than it actually should have been. Nonetheless, while he didn’t quite look like Dan Marino, Ramsey showed a continued improvement in his comfort with and understanding of Spurrier’s offense. Rob Johnson followed his strong performance in Carolina with a pair of field goal drives, the highlight of which was a 34-yard pass to speedster Pat Woodcock. Near the end of the fourth quarter, rookie Gibran Hamdan entered the game, displaying his powerful arm for a short time before throwing an interception that allowed New England to run out the fourth quarter.
If anything marred the offense, it was the continued absence of stonewall line play. Blue-jerseyed pass rushers routinely pressured Redskin quarterbacks, especially on blitzes. While the backfield sometimes picked up extra attackers perfectly, at other times most blockers seemed lost while a sack was developing a mere four yards behind them. The offensive line’s counterpart fared little better, again facing major problems against the run as unspectacular back Antowain Smith led the charge in the Patriots’ first touchdown drive. Adding injury to insult, defensive tackle Brandon Noble suffered season-ending knee damage soon after, leaving the ‘Skins with little depth and even less talent at the position.
Insult came back in full force, however, when the Patriots decided to take a shot deep at everyone’s favorite target, David Terrell (Warning: Use of David Terrell may result in impairment of coverage, loss of big play security, and nausea. Do not use David Terrell while operating first-team defense. Never apply David Terrell more than 2-4 times in any 60-minute period. If David Terrell comes into contact with one-on-one coverage, please consult your scoreboard immediately to determine what action is necessary to overcome the seven points just scored by the opposing team.). Tom Brady, known for anything but his strong arm, heaved the ball roughly forty yards into the waiting hands of David Patten, who jetted away from a stumbling and bumbling Terrell and down the field to the end zone. The play caused much of the stadium to call for the replacement of Touchdown Terrell with, as one fan put it, “Ifanati… Ifalani…. Ifolete…. Whatever the hell that guy’s name is!” Thankfully, we can ignore the fact that it took 23 callers into Sportstalk 980 to spell Ifeanyi Ohalete’s name correctly (and 11 to simply pronounce it correctly) after he was named the starter last year. The fact is, he’s a better safety than Terrell come game time, and he has a knack for the big play.
Ohalete, unfortunately, wasn’t the only one with that knack on Saturday, as the Patriots scored again on a 98-yard kickoff return that wound up being the difference between a loss and overtime. The Redskins’ special teams unit, while improved this year with a quality kicker and explosive return man, has yet to master the art of proper blocking or containment, which seems to at least be partially the fault of the coaching staff. Yes, the touchdown came against players who, for the most part, won’t make the final roster, but it was eerily reminiscent of last year’s poor excuse for kickoff coverage. One can only hope that with special teams starters (which itself is an oxymoron) out there, the play will at least be decent enough to stop long runbacks and open up a few holes for Chad Morton to run through.
Overall, the Redskins’ performance against New England was an improvement from their first preseason game, which was a spectacle of mental errors. There were still many in this matchup, but not enough to completely wreck the night, as Washington held the Patriots to a one-score lead until time expired. Several areas of the team also looked significantly better, or simply continued to demonstrate a high level of talent, such as Laveraneus Coles hauling in his second long-range reception in as many games. Perhaps by this time next week there will be a quality run-stuffing DT wearing the burgundy and gold that will get his first taste of action, which alone would dramatically improve the Redskins’ defense. Even if this is not the case, Steve Spurrier certainly has more positive notes to dwell on from this second preseason game, as what will hopefully become the march towards a cohesive, intimidating unit took another step towards the regular season, helped along the way by a few powerful strides courtesy of the Rock.