akhhorus
09-09-2007, 09:57 PM
What we learned from the Skins’ OT win over the Dolphins:
1-So….what happened to this vaunted Cover-1 Defense Williams said was going to be played to maximize LaRon Landry. We played it for 1 drive(and Landry did attack), but then when right back to the drop Cover-2s and 3s(and putting Landry at FS also).
2(or 1a)-The justification for getting LaRon Landry instead of a Jamaal Williams or Amobi Okoye was that Landry would be used as an attacker/blitzer. I counted 2-3 plays where this actually did happen.
3-Before the season, I said that Anthony Montgomery would be the key to the Dline. Today, he showed it. I grant that the Dolphins have a meh Oline, but Montgomery was a force against the run. While I’m on the subject…
4-The run defense was extremely solid today. Griffin wasn’t overused, Golston wasn’t asked to do too much, Montgomery was challenged to attack and hold the point and the Ends covered the outside gaps very well. Rocky still had some over-pursuit issues, but all 3 lbs played the run well.
5-However, the pass rush was as lively as Strom Thurmond is now. Marcus Washington at DE was a bad idea all day, Carter & Rocky had nice sacks, but the Skins failed to get consistent pressure all day(which you should do with an older QB like Green).
6-I know he’s a fan favorite, but Fred Smoot…you suck and opposing teams know it. The Dolphins targeted him as their safety blanket-especially on 3rd downs. This is not a good sign and Springs and Rogers(and I thought Carlos played a nice game) should be the starter with Macklin/Smoot fighting for the NB spot). With the lack of consistent pressure, the Cbs have to play well—and consistently so—to conceal this problem until it’s fixed.
6a-Also: wtf was with the Dolphins using the PA pass to the RB all day and the Skins’ complete inability to do ANYTHING about it? They must have run that play 10-12 with success!
Ok, enough about the Defense.
7-Clinton Portis-after shaking off some early rust-looked extremely good today. 97 yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry. Splitting time with Betts will be the best thing that happened to him since he won’t be worn down later in games. Betts was reliable and effective, but I think that there’s some sort of mystical barrier, which destroys his knees at 5 yards past the line of scrimmage.
8-Campbell did look shaky at times(I contend that his 2nd INT was the fault of Brandon Lloyd quitting on the play at the 20), but a lot of his problems I believe were the fault of Moss having a case of the drops. There was 2-3 of them on key 3rd downs. Campbell’s worst pass was his first, where he should have floated it over Cooley with the defender cracking down on the inside of Cooley.
9-If this was Jansen’s ride off into the sunset, thanks for 8 years of sweat, blood, leadership and as great a RT as we’ve seen since Ed Simmons left. I don’t think we will have seen the last of Jansen, he’s a natural for ESPN or sports commentary----but I hope it’s not the last we’ve seen of him on the field.
10-Heyer, who I’ve been critical of, played a very good game. RT seems like a good fit for him and he did a good job neutralizing Jason Taylor by not trying to pancake him or stonewall him. He did what you’re supposed to and let Taylor take himself out of plays by letting him go as fast as he wants, and riding him around the back of Campbell. His run blocking there has to improve though, and the Skins mainly ran behind Samuels/Kendall in the later stages of the game
11-Randle El just sunk his claws into the 2nd WR job with an amazing performance. Him and Campbell are truly on the same page, and ARE has the quickness to burn defenses scared of Moss and Cooley. ARE’s hail mary catch would have gone into Redskins’ lore if he was able to squirt it past the goalline.
12-What concerned me most about the offense-besides Moss’ drops(which seemed to improve and cease by the end of the game), was the lack of a plan with the playcalling until the end of the game. Saunders seemed to outthink himself and call play groups that were too complicated.
Tailgate note:
13-I would like to make a motion to hold the tailgates in October to avoid all the heat stroke related issues lol. And as for the rest of the tailgate, I guess you just had to be there….
New Feature: Grading the Skins.
Much like European Soccer which grades the individual players on a 1-10(1-7 in France’s case) scale, I will grade the starters(or primary players in case of injury):
Offense:
X WR Santana Moss: Had some drops, but a couple late catches that were important. 5.5
X WR Antwaan Randle-El: An amazing game to start the season, and has emerges as a new threat for the Skins to team with Cooley/Portis/Moss: 9.5
TE Chris Cooley: Better blocking, but didn’t contribute much in the passing game: 5
LT Chris Samuels: Gave up an early sack to Jason Taylor, but looked very stout and had a great run blocking game 7.5
LG Pete Kendall: Gee, do you think the Jets miss him? Solid across the board all day. 7
OC Casey Rabach: Did a great job calling the blocks with 3 new starters around him(Samuels, Heyer and Kendall): 8
RG Randy Thomas: solid, but unspectacular game. Best today in the run blocking. 6.5
RT Stephon Heyer: Was presented with a major challenge to start his NFL career when Capers put Jason Taylor over him as a welcome present, but did a great job pass blocking. Run blocking at RT needs work though. 7
QB Jason Campbell: Some mistakes and was too reliant on ARE making plays for him. Solid, nothing special today. 6.5
FB Mike Sellers: Nice blocking, but a fumble(that didn’t hurt) and looked sluggish in the receiving game. 6
RB Clinton Portis: Looked faster in straight line speed, and ran hard all day. Can’t argue with 17 carries, 98 yards. 8
RB Ladell Betts: He’s really found his form as a grinding between the tackles RB. I wouldn’t count on him as a full time RB. Too one dimensional. A solid game today. 6.5
K Scott Suisham: Made clutch kicks and solid kickoffs. Can’t ask too much more from him. 7.5
KR Rock Cartwright: 2 solid returns, but nothing special. 6
Defense:
DE Andre Carter: Solid against the run and a sack on Green early. 7.5
DT Anthony Montgomery: Very stout against the run and was a handful all game. 8.5
DT Cornie Griffin: Closed down his rush lanes all day, but provided zero pressure. 7
DE Philip Daniels: Did well against the rush, but was as effective as a corpse on the pass rush and was replaced on 3rd downs for Chris Wilson 5.5
SLB Marcus Washington: Very well against the run, struggled on the pass rush and looked wasted as a DE. 5.5
MLB London Fletcher: Run killer, but struggled in coverage—especially losing the RB in space. 6.5
WLB Rocky McIntosh: Developing nicely. He still struggled with over running plays, but had a nice sack of Green and looked solid in coverage. 7.5
CB Fred Smoot: Horrendous all day, he had a big fat bullseye on him all day. Dropping a game clinching TD in the late 4th quarter might have been unforgivable if Miami won. 3
FS Sean Taylor: Was solid in coverage and helped to take away half the field. The less you hear his name, the better. 7.5
SS LaRon Landry: Wasted in the Cover-2, but had some nice hits, including breaking up a 3rd down pass by nailing a WR in the hip to flip him. 6.5
CB Carlos Rogers: Very solid game, he saved a touchdown early in the game with a great open field tackle of Chambers and until his PI call late, he was very effective all day. 6.5
P Derrick Frost: 48.0 Average and 64 yard punt, with a net on 74 yards with the Phins’ penalty on the punt. 8.5
PR Antwaan Randle El: He was okay as a PR, if Todd Yoder could have held his block, he had a sure 40 yard return(and maybe a TD) in the 3rd. 6
1-So….what happened to this vaunted Cover-1 Defense Williams said was going to be played to maximize LaRon Landry. We played it for 1 drive(and Landry did attack), but then when right back to the drop Cover-2s and 3s(and putting Landry at FS also).
2(or 1a)-The justification for getting LaRon Landry instead of a Jamaal Williams or Amobi Okoye was that Landry would be used as an attacker/blitzer. I counted 2-3 plays where this actually did happen.
3-Before the season, I said that Anthony Montgomery would be the key to the Dline. Today, he showed it. I grant that the Dolphins have a meh Oline, but Montgomery was a force against the run. While I’m on the subject…
4-The run defense was extremely solid today. Griffin wasn’t overused, Golston wasn’t asked to do too much, Montgomery was challenged to attack and hold the point and the Ends covered the outside gaps very well. Rocky still had some over-pursuit issues, but all 3 lbs played the run well.
5-However, the pass rush was as lively as Strom Thurmond is now. Marcus Washington at DE was a bad idea all day, Carter & Rocky had nice sacks, but the Skins failed to get consistent pressure all day(which you should do with an older QB like Green).
6-I know he’s a fan favorite, but Fred Smoot…you suck and opposing teams know it. The Dolphins targeted him as their safety blanket-especially on 3rd downs. This is not a good sign and Springs and Rogers(and I thought Carlos played a nice game) should be the starter with Macklin/Smoot fighting for the NB spot). With the lack of consistent pressure, the Cbs have to play well—and consistently so—to conceal this problem until it’s fixed.
6a-Also: wtf was with the Dolphins using the PA pass to the RB all day and the Skins’ complete inability to do ANYTHING about it? They must have run that play 10-12 with success!
Ok, enough about the Defense.
7-Clinton Portis-after shaking off some early rust-looked extremely good today. 97 yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry. Splitting time with Betts will be the best thing that happened to him since he won’t be worn down later in games. Betts was reliable and effective, but I think that there’s some sort of mystical barrier, which destroys his knees at 5 yards past the line of scrimmage.
8-Campbell did look shaky at times(I contend that his 2nd INT was the fault of Brandon Lloyd quitting on the play at the 20), but a lot of his problems I believe were the fault of Moss having a case of the drops. There was 2-3 of them on key 3rd downs. Campbell’s worst pass was his first, where he should have floated it over Cooley with the defender cracking down on the inside of Cooley.
9-If this was Jansen’s ride off into the sunset, thanks for 8 years of sweat, blood, leadership and as great a RT as we’ve seen since Ed Simmons left. I don’t think we will have seen the last of Jansen, he’s a natural for ESPN or sports commentary----but I hope it’s not the last we’ve seen of him on the field.
10-Heyer, who I’ve been critical of, played a very good game. RT seems like a good fit for him and he did a good job neutralizing Jason Taylor by not trying to pancake him or stonewall him. He did what you’re supposed to and let Taylor take himself out of plays by letting him go as fast as he wants, and riding him around the back of Campbell. His run blocking there has to improve though, and the Skins mainly ran behind Samuels/Kendall in the later stages of the game
11-Randle El just sunk his claws into the 2nd WR job with an amazing performance. Him and Campbell are truly on the same page, and ARE has the quickness to burn defenses scared of Moss and Cooley. ARE’s hail mary catch would have gone into Redskins’ lore if he was able to squirt it past the goalline.
12-What concerned me most about the offense-besides Moss’ drops(which seemed to improve and cease by the end of the game), was the lack of a plan with the playcalling until the end of the game. Saunders seemed to outthink himself and call play groups that were too complicated.
Tailgate note:
13-I would like to make a motion to hold the tailgates in October to avoid all the heat stroke related issues lol. And as for the rest of the tailgate, I guess you just had to be there….
New Feature: Grading the Skins.
Much like European Soccer which grades the individual players on a 1-10(1-7 in France’s case) scale, I will grade the starters(or primary players in case of injury):
Offense:
X WR Santana Moss: Had some drops, but a couple late catches that were important. 5.5
X WR Antwaan Randle-El: An amazing game to start the season, and has emerges as a new threat for the Skins to team with Cooley/Portis/Moss: 9.5
TE Chris Cooley: Better blocking, but didn’t contribute much in the passing game: 5
LT Chris Samuels: Gave up an early sack to Jason Taylor, but looked very stout and had a great run blocking game 7.5
LG Pete Kendall: Gee, do you think the Jets miss him? Solid across the board all day. 7
OC Casey Rabach: Did a great job calling the blocks with 3 new starters around him(Samuels, Heyer and Kendall): 8
RG Randy Thomas: solid, but unspectacular game. Best today in the run blocking. 6.5
RT Stephon Heyer: Was presented with a major challenge to start his NFL career when Capers put Jason Taylor over him as a welcome present, but did a great job pass blocking. Run blocking at RT needs work though. 7
QB Jason Campbell: Some mistakes and was too reliant on ARE making plays for him. Solid, nothing special today. 6.5
FB Mike Sellers: Nice blocking, but a fumble(that didn’t hurt) and looked sluggish in the receiving game. 6
RB Clinton Portis: Looked faster in straight line speed, and ran hard all day. Can’t argue with 17 carries, 98 yards. 8
RB Ladell Betts: He’s really found his form as a grinding between the tackles RB. I wouldn’t count on him as a full time RB. Too one dimensional. A solid game today. 6.5
K Scott Suisham: Made clutch kicks and solid kickoffs. Can’t ask too much more from him. 7.5
KR Rock Cartwright: 2 solid returns, but nothing special. 6
Defense:
DE Andre Carter: Solid against the run and a sack on Green early. 7.5
DT Anthony Montgomery: Very stout against the run and was a handful all game. 8.5
DT Cornie Griffin: Closed down his rush lanes all day, but provided zero pressure. 7
DE Philip Daniels: Did well against the rush, but was as effective as a corpse on the pass rush and was replaced on 3rd downs for Chris Wilson 5.5
SLB Marcus Washington: Very well against the run, struggled on the pass rush and looked wasted as a DE. 5.5
MLB London Fletcher: Run killer, but struggled in coverage—especially losing the RB in space. 6.5
WLB Rocky McIntosh: Developing nicely. He still struggled with over running plays, but had a nice sack of Green and looked solid in coverage. 7.5
CB Fred Smoot: Horrendous all day, he had a big fat bullseye on him all day. Dropping a game clinching TD in the late 4th quarter might have been unforgivable if Miami won. 3
FS Sean Taylor: Was solid in coverage and helped to take away half the field. The less you hear his name, the better. 7.5
SS LaRon Landry: Wasted in the Cover-2, but had some nice hits, including breaking up a 3rd down pass by nailing a WR in the hip to flip him. 6.5
CB Carlos Rogers: Very solid game, he saved a touchdown early in the game with a great open field tackle of Chambers and until his PI call late, he was very effective all day. 6.5
P Derrick Frost: 48.0 Average and 64 yard punt, with a net on 74 yards with the Phins’ penalty on the punt. 8.5
PR Antwaan Randle El: He was okay as a PR, if Todd Yoder could have held his block, he had a sure 40 yard return(and maybe a TD) in the 3rd. 6