Official Week Two Discussion Thread

[Spence]

Thought I'd create this thread to serve as the main area to consolidate a lot of discussion specific to our views of the upcoming Redskins-Falcons game.

I'm watching the Falcons play Dallas right now. The score is 20-13 in the fourth quarter, with Atlanta in the lead. So far, I'm not impressed by either team. Doug Johnson really looks like a backup quarterback to me.

Injury update: Falcons WR Brian Finneran has a broken hand and will miss the Redskins game. He's Atlanta's #2 wideout and a starter, so it definitely helps us.

Anyone have some early thoughts?

[hail2skins]

I like their TE Crumpler. He made some key plays for them today. We'll have to watch him.

[dj_stouty]

Johnson is far from impressive...

Price was also a non-factor in the game. I believe he had 2 catches for 30 yards. I'm sure he will NOT be happy about having Champ cover him.

Finneran's absense will hurt them next week. Their WR corp is very deplenished...and that is why Crumpler got all of the looks. Our D can practice all week to contain him.

[rskinsfan10]

I would look for Johnson to be much better next week with his anti-Spurrier sentiment getting his juices flowing. I would think that Spurrier would push the team especially hard in an attempt to one-up Johnson.

[rskinsfan10]

Totally shocked at how the Bears got their butts handed to them by the 49ers.

The Seahawks over the Saints a bit shocking to me.

[WRSK1NS]

Neither Atlanta nor Dallas scare me after watching them today. What about Houston taking down the Dolphins!

[Spence]

Originally posted by hail2skins
I like their TE Crumpler. He made some key plays for them today. We'll have to watch him.
I really agree with you there, Mike. That's a great point. Sam Shade was never any good at covering tight ends. Hopefully, our safeties will do better on Sunday. With the Falcons' wideouts banged up I would expect Atlanta to look for Crumpler more than ever.

[Odyn]

WE NEED TO STOP DUNN

[AustinSkins]

Originally posted by WRSK1NS
Neither Atlanta nor Dallas scare me after watching them today. What about Houston taking down the Dolphins!

Now that was AWESOME! Being a relatively new resident to Texas, I have really taken a liking to Houston as my 2nd favorite (AFC) team. That was a great comeback. Carr wasn't sacked and they took down the Dolphins. That was sweet!

[hail2skins]

Originally posted by rskinsfan10
Totally shocked at how the Bears got their butts handed to them by the 49ers.

The Seahawks over the Saints a bit shocking to me.

I wasn't surprised about the Bears getting the butts kicked. The Seahawks are a much improved team and alot people think they'll do very well this season.

[LavarLeap2003]

i hope we dont mistakle, when i think dunn, i think of jukes, and when i think jukes, i think mistakles

[Rat_Boy]

Here are some quick hitters that I noticed while watching this game:

-Their defense: This unit is a bend but don't break, to a "T". Dallas, while not scoring very many points, has put up 403 yards of offense on the Falcons. So, moving the ball on them is absolutely possible for us.

-Alge Crumpler: We are going to have to commit someone to covering this guy. He has wheels, can block, and he has hands of GLUE. He was their leading receiver today, and this is a team that just payed Peerless Price the big bucks.

-Doug Johnson: This guy can pass the ball fairly well, HOWEVER, if he is PRESSURED, he WILL make mistakes. He threw some TERRIBLE passes when he was pressured by a blitz. Will George Edwards watch this game tape? I hope so.

-Warrick Dunn: We will also have our work cut out for us covering this guy out of the backfield.

[Redskinfan29]

Iffy will have to cover Crumpler. That is certainly a key. However, if the LBs can roam freely and make plays, they can cause chaos. I like our CB's one on one with their WRs.

Can someone give me a preview of Atlanta's D?

[JoeDaSchmoe]

Atlanta's base defense is the 3-4, which is what New York shifted to in the second half with very good results. Rushers can come from multiple angles, which will put a lot of pressure on our blockers. Ramsey may be tough, but he's not mobile, and if we allow pressure to get to him he'll either take a lot of sacks, get hit as he throws, or force too many balls into coverage. Our offense really has to work on picking up unexpected rushers.

On the plus side, we did rush well against that same defense.

[hail2skins]

That's the key, get the running game going to take pressure off Ramsey.

[IowaSkinsFan]

With the Edwards defense, do we have a true free safety and strong safety, or are they interchangeable?

I am a big fan of Matt Bowen, former Hawkeye! I think he has the speed to neutralize Crumpler. If we go with the assumption that Bailey will eliminate Price and their #2 is out, then Smoot should potentially have a big game.

Being able to go man to man on their wideouts will allow us to put 8 in the box and hopefully contain Dunn, who I think is now their biggest threat to us.

[Patrick]

Atlanta looks very much like the Jets do ( at this point). Their offense is now focused around a good running back. I say, stay with the same game plan (with a few adjustments) we had for NY on Defense.

On Offense, we will have to counter their speed with speed. Quick hitters both passing and running will open it up for us. I don't think this is the game to go into our bag of tricks.

Special teams - just keep improving every week. (Did a great job last week!)

[camasterton]

Crumpler slipped through in the Cowboys game planning. Atlanta's WRs and RBs were more of a scare to the Cowboys than the TE was. Look at the TD he caught. It was basically a designed trick play, with the entire offense rolling to the right and Crumpler sneaking out left all by himself. Johnson was belly laughing as Crumpler scored. I may be over stating, but our Zeron could have scored on such a play call. The same thing happened with Atlanta's RB-Griffith (I think that's his name). The Cowboys didn't plan for him either and he led his team in rushing. I am sure Crumpler won't slip through this week. Especially with Finneran out. Also, I think our LBs should be able to slow him up better than the Cowboys' tiny, light weight corp.

[SkinsKY]

When we do run, we have to make sure we run at them because they do have a fairly fast defense and it will be hard to take outside. We need to bust through the front seven and then bounce it outside. I think we can contain their offense pretty well. I saw Lavar taking Curtis Martin in the open field last week. I think we are okay there.

It's gonna be the pass protection that I am worried about.

[hail2skins]

Dallas has a fast defense as well, that's why Atlanta used misdirection on them.

[RichardBradley]

Atlanta's fullback looked pretty good and Duckett scares me we always have problems with big backs. If we can stop the run I don't beleive that Atlanta can beat us

[Spence]

Mike and Richard are correct. Dallas does have a very quick defense. Almost their entire front seven is undersized and built for quickness. Evidently, Atlanta didn't think they could overwhelm Dallas' undersized defense so they tried to trick them. I think they could have done just as well by kinocking them in the face, but I wasn't sitting in the film room with Dan Reeves for two weeks.

Also, I don't see Atlanta beating us if they cannot run for at least 110 yards on us on Sunday. In fact, if they cannot do that, the Redskins should win by two scores. Of course, that's when the subject of turnovers comes in. The Redskins are chronically on the wrong side of the turnover ratio and that's how they wind up losing so many games you think they should have won.

[Hailyeah]

Crumpler and Duckett were the two that had me thinking about how to stop them during the Dallas game yesterday. Crumpler can flat out run for his size. If ATL establishes some sort of run or can otherwise control time of possession in the first half, Duckett may be able to wear down a tired defensive front in the 4th. Thus, we need to stop and demotivate their offense early, establish our own running game and get the lead, and force them to have to pass in the 2nd half. Pretty simple.

[Patrick]

IF they use Crumpler as the "Go To Guy" that may cause a problem in that we'll have to match a LB with him one-on-one. Question would be at that point, do we still let Lavar roam/freelance?
I got the feeling the Falcons are going to use a 1-2 approach with Dunn and Duckett to see how soft we are up the middle. Trotters going to be busy this week!

[camasterton]

No we don't. We had more trouble with Tiki Barber than with Eddie George. Our D broke down with improvising QBs like McNabb or when we could'nt get a sack. Our D stood up pretty well against any back when the st did'nt start them in a hole. I'll bet NFL stats show that a high % of teams giving up more than 110yds on the ground, lose. Patrick is right about Dunn. Just like the Jets big back was controlled (except for that TD dive on 4th down), we should stop Duckett early and if we go up on them, they'll abandon him later.

[NamVet4]

A lot of good thoughts here so far. I'll chime in with a word of warning - TJ Duckett needs to be watched and controlled. A big back who can cause a lot of damage.
Price may have a point to prove attitudebased on this past perfromance.
Offensively, want to see the Skins continue with a good solid game plan and want to definitely see the ST play continue to improve!

[PennSkinsFan]

well, this will be a great game. We all were wandering how effective Curtis Martin woudl be as well. In fact, may thought he was the main threat to beat us, yet we controlled him to just 48 yards. I like the matchup and again, this rotation of Dts is smart, it keeps them fresh while Atlanta OLinemen are getting weared down. If we breathed easier last week adn felt good about the play of our D Middle, this week will be a further test of that middle. Can we survive on defense without a strong man in the middle. Will the rotation work? Are these guys int he rotation good enough? We can answer these questions more effectivelt Sunday at 415PM

[AustinSkins]

I think we are going to manhandle Atlanta. The final score will be something like 27 - 6.

Skins are rested and have plenty of time to analyze and work on areas of weakness.

- We WILL stuff the run. The DL is pretty solid, and looking for some respect

-OL WILL pass protect Ramsey. They know that pass protection was the weakest link in the Jets game

- We WILL force turnovers and mistakes

Skins will dominate. This team know it can't afford to lose games and have a shot at the playoffs. They are also looking for some respect.

[IowaSkinsFan]

Every day of practice and conditioning that Dalton and Chase get will make the middle of our line that much better. I expect the performance of the line, and therefore, the performance of the LB's, to improve weekly.

[Minnesota Mike]

I tried to watch the Falcons/Cowpoke game, but it was hard. It is hard to really get much of a sense of the Falcons from that game, because Dallas played so poorly. I don't know if Dallas played poorly because Atlanta is good and made them do it, or if Dallas played poorly because they are bad, and Atlanta is just a little better and won.

I'm not really sure.

How's that for insightful analysis?

[Spence]

Dallas is lousy. I was surprised they hung with Atlanta that long. Doug Johnson went through a 1-11 spell and that prolonged the suspense by about two quarters. Once he snapped out of it the Falcons put the Cowboys away.

[LadyNRedskinsfan]

dallas just sucks, but the falcons didnt look much better. thats a good thing for us. we do need to watch out for dunn and duckett but the jets have a better o-line then the falcons and you all saw what we did to their running game. plus, atlanta's passing game will not be a threat so the skins will keep 8 guys up front. i want to see the skins put all kinds of pressure on doug johnson. we need to have at least 4 sacks. no more 1 sack games, please!!

[hail2skins]

We'll have to watch out for that 3-4 defense on passing situations. It can cause havoc.

[skinswin'emALL]

Focus on Execution......

"if do right, no can defence"

[Spence]

Wax on, wax off.

[Spence]

Originally posted by hail2skins
We'll have to watch out for that 3-4 defense on passing situations. It can cause havoc.
Teams that almost never play against the 3-4 defense, like the Redskins, for example, often have great trouble handling it when they do face it. I think you're right to be concerned, Mike.

[camasterton]

We better not use that excuse. Because we ended last year w/ the Texans-a 3/4 team, played Baltimore and New England in the pre-season-both 3/4 teams and last week against the Jets-who use the 3/4 frequently (almost an entire half of football last week). I doubt there is a team in the NFL that has seen it more over the past six games. For an added plus, our defense has run it in practice against the O. It is a unique defense but we've had our share of looks.

[Spence]

That's a good point, Cam, but you cannot really compare a 3-4 defense in the preseason to one we'll see in the regular season. The defense we'll see this weekend will be far more complicated than anything we saw during the preseason. In addition, Atlanta will have game-planned their 3-4 defense for us, which Baltimore and New England did not do in the preseason.

The Texans example is better, though. Let's hope Atlanta plays no better than an expansion team against us.

[camasterton]

Of course not, but even 4/3 teams do not game plan in pre-season. Against the 3/4 they played two of there four games in pre-season (which if I am not mistaken are used to prepare) and two of the last few regular season games against the Texans, (hmmm didn't they just beat big bad Miami?) an expansion team, although that tag is not a sign of weakness anymore, and the Jets just last week. Guess what we play New England again in a few weeks. In other words- We damn well better be prepared because the opportunities were there. Even if it was just film study, everybody knew we were getting a heavy dose of 3/4 opponents at the start.

[Spence]

I hope you're right, Cam. We've got a new line that didn't see Houston last year. Our guys pushed the Texans' line around last season. [I believe both Watson and Betts rushed for more than 100 yards in that game.] The Atlanta front line isn't as strong as the Jets defensive line and their linebackers are hurt. At least one starting LB will miss the game. I think Will Overstreet will start at one OLB position.

[truant]

Straight up, we should win.

It's just penalties and turnovers could do us in. McCord, their number 2 this week, is a real big play threat. I think he should have been starting, so i don't think we lucked out by having Finneran out.

We have to stop the running game and dare Johnson to beat us. We have enough playmakers on D and we should come away with a few of our first INT's of the year. Johnson will want to win this game through the air and he'll make ill-advised passes if we bring some heat.

Even Spurrier is very aware about Crumpler... so the best thing that could have happened was for him to have a big game against big D.

I'm just concerned about the offense. The line has to read that 3-4 well, cuz if they do, we'll torch Atl's secondary for huge numbers.

I think that this will be trung's breakout game. I think the skins saw how Cason (the 3rd down back for Dallas) had success against their D. I think Trung will break a couple of big ones.

[skinswin'emALL]

Originally posted by Spence
Wax on, wax off.

Sand-a-floor.

[hail2skins]

Originally posted by camasterton
We better not use that excuse. Because we ended last year w/ the Texans-a 3/4 team, played Baltimore and New England in the pre-season-both 3/4 teams and last week against the Jets-who use the 3/4 frequently (almost an entire half of football last week). I doubt there is a team in the NFL that has seen it more over the past six games. For an added plus, our defense has run it in practice against the O. It is a unique defense but we've had our share of looks.

Good point and I hope you're right. But seeing it on film and actually playing against it it different. We'll have to modify some of our blocking schemes to account for it. We saw what New England did to us in the preseason, well now they will gameplan to confuse Ramsey. He saw a basic 3-4 in preseason and now they'll throw in all sorts of things around it. I hope our coaches are dissecting it the way we are on this board because it could really help them out. The good thing is Altanta will be missing some players, but their defense is quick and we'll have to take advantage of every opportunity we get. I'm really only worried about pass situations because I think we can push them around on running plays.

[skinswin'emALL]

Hope it's the same 3-4 NE used against the Bills this past Sunday :)