Akh's Thoughts: Week 4 [Archive] - hailRedskins.com Fan Board

shally

10-04-2009, 08:42 PM

great stuff as usual

Campbell-- will be playing elsewhere next year, without a doubt.. he simply lacks the intangibles to be a solid qb

i think there is little reason to waste time grieving over Daniel.. i don t think he will ever be able to overcome his lack of height in the NFL

coaching-- absolutely the worst since spurrier.. this is simply not NFL level

they were flat.. too much "staying medium " ??? football is a game of emotion, and we clearly lack it..

another reason why landry and doughty were in the box so much was that blache had no fear of josh johnson throwing the ball deep.. i dont think he sees the field any better than campbell.. by next year he will be an after thought as Freeman develops.. maybe even by the second half of this season..
they should develop him as a receiver, like they were planning to do

i think Zorn did save his job today.. at least for a few weeks.. if we had gotten shut out at home with Campbell following a first half QB rating of 16, with a second half QB rating of 16, then i think snyder would have hung him out to dry..Zorn rolled the dice that Campbell could come up with a better performance in the second half today.. but had JC floundered and Zorn not replaced him, it would have been all over.

as it stands, i see little way we beat Carolina or Philly, and it will be 50/50 against KC.. 2/6 at the bye WILL cost zorn his position

after that i see very few wins coming in the second half of the season..Denver and NO look like sure losses now. Oakland is a push.. Dallas, Philly and the Giants will all bully us.. San Diego may or may not be playing out the string, but we look that way most of the time right now...

akhhorus

10-04-2009, 09:06 PM

Great write up AK. I would agree with you on Mitchell. Since Thomas is giving us nothing, why don't we give Marko an opportunity. As for Phillip Daniels, I laughed out loud when Josh Johnson faked him out during a scramble.

One thing I know I've mentioned before is that Zorn doesn't have any clearly defined roles/playing time for the WRs(at least it looks that way). The Skins, especially on offense, need continuity for the passing game to work, and the constant shuffling of WRs can't be good.

i think Zorn did save his job today.. at least for a few weeks.. if we had gotten shut out at home with Campbell following a first half QB rating of 16, with a second half QB rating of 16, then i think snyder would have hung him out to dry..Zorn rolled the dice that Campbell could come up with a better performance in the second half today.. but had JC floundered and Zorn not replaced him, it would have been all over.

Zorn saved his job for today, but little more than that imo.

as it stands, i see little way we beat Carolina or Philly, and it will be 50/50 against KC.. 2/6 at the bye WILL cost zorn his position

The only way they can beat either would be QB meltdowns from Delhomme and McNabb.

after that i see very few wins coming in the second half of the season..Denver and NO look like sure losses now. Oakland is a push.. Dallas, Philly and the Giants will all bully us.. San Diego may or may not be playing out the string, but we look that way most of the time right now...

I think we'll ambush Philly or Dallas, but I don't know if we'll win another game outside of that currently.

Monk4HOF

10-04-2009, 09:21 PM

I agree with most of the suggested moves. It is unfortunate that the organization just doesn't have the guts to make those calls. We need a coach that knows how to push the right buttons, and it just doesn't feel like Zorn has developed that ability yet.

Mike Tomlin benched Mendenhall last week and look at what he is doing tonight... absolutely running over the Chargers. What do we do? Bench one of the only defensive players who can force turnovers. Marko Mitchell has earned a chance to get on the field, and Devin Thomas has earned a chance to ride some pine. But... whether it is Zorn's choice or a higher authority, that will not happen.

nicefellow31

10-04-2009, 09:31 PM

Mike Tomlin benched Mendenhall last week and look at what he is doing tonight... absolutely running over the Chargers. What do we do? Bench one of the only defensive players who can force turnovers. Marko Mitchell has earned a chance to get on the field, and Devin Thomas has earned a chance to ride some pine. But... whether it is Zorn's choice or a higher authority, that will not happen.

+1. Thomas has done nothing to keep an active spot open. Get Mitchell on the field.

JasonCampbell

10-04-2009, 09:36 PM

+1. Thomas has done nothing to keep an active spot open. Get Mitchell on the field.

FWIW, Matt Terl has said some good things about Thomas during practice and IIRC, Marko was at his best in pre-season games (against primarily players not playing on Sundays now either), not practice. Perhaps he's just not doing anything great during the weekday to force Zorn to make him active.

akhhorus

10-04-2009, 09:48 PM

FWIW, Matt Terl has said some good things about Thomas during practice and IIRC, Marko was at his best in pre-season games (against primarily players not playing on Sundays now either), not practice. Perhaps he's just not doing anything great during the weekday to force Zorn to make him active.

So Devin Thomas is Taylor Jacobs 2.0?

Mitchell did play with the 1st and 2nd team in the preseason, I don't see what they have to lose making him active and using him in the red zone though.

nicefellow31

10-04-2009, 09:55 PM

FWIW, Matt Terl has said some good things about Thomas during practice and IIRC, Marko was at his best in pre-season games (against primarily players not playing on Sundays now either), not practice. Perhaps he's just not doing anything great during the weekday to force Zorn to make him active.

cue the Allen Iverson video....."Practice? We talking practice?" LOL. Anyway, I would love to see him turn the great practices into great games. I don't know maybe Mitchell is a "game day" player which I would rather have than somebody who produces in practice but not games. As it stands right now Mitchell is producing at pretty much the same rate as Thomas which is next to nothing.

shally

10-04-2009, 10:03 PM

FWIW, Matt Terl has said some good things about Thomas during practice and IIRC, Marko was at his best in pre-season games (against primarily players not playing on Sundays now either), not practice. Perhaps he's just not doing anything great during the weekday to force Zorn to make him active.

that becomes a self fulfilling prophecy if he is never allowed to see the field.
the kid is a playmaker.. get him out there.

if nothing else, he seems to be the ONLY receiver we have who believes that when the ball is in the air, it is HIS...

jaylen

10-04-2009, 10:07 PM

Its clear to me that Carter needs to get taken off the field, teams are gashing us to his side at an alarming rate now they are going right at him and Griff. DHall is non existant helping on the run and Fletcher to me is getting out of position in the run game.

Orakpo is getting better at Sam but is still terrible. He's pulling a Marvcus Patton now making tackles 5-6 yards downfield now. Thats better than him standing around I guess. But he's coming on as a rush end he should have had 2 more sacks if he could simple bring the qb down he has to be nastier at the point of attack on the qb's and stop lunging so much but he's getting better.... fulltime at de and he could be a force.

Daniels sucks.

I agree with your take about Blache though he subbed in Jarmon flipped Landry to strong in some sets with Moore at free a couple times but overall same passive uninspired scheme's.

He sucks.

I thought Dockery played bad today thought he was not crashing down on his guy at all. The o line seems to be failing miserably at the fundamentals.

Malcolm Kelly to me ought to be considered for demotion. Instead of Thomas. Kelly is just not getting open. I would elevate Mitchell ahead of both possibly.

shally

10-04-2009, 10:08 PM

tuckahoeskin

10-04-2009, 10:19 PM

I missed the game because my wife and kids, along with my mom, were in a car accident right before kick-off. (Everyone is sore, but OK.)

How did Orakpo look? Is Carlos done here? Were the interceptions all Jason's fault or were there "other factors"?

Many thanks.

akhhorus

10-04-2009, 10:23 PM

Orakpo is getting better at Sam but is still terrible. He's pulling a Marvcus Patton now making tackles 5-6 yards downfield now. Thats better than him standing around I guess. But he's coming on as a rush end he should have had 2 more sacks if he could simple bring the qb down he has to be nastier at the point of attack on the qb's and stop lunging so much but he's getting better.... fulltime at de and he could be a force.

Orakpo needs a lot of work. He doesn't have any moves and struggles getting off of blocks. My instinct about him initially was right: he looks like a 3-4 OLB more than 4-3 DE.

I thought Dockery played bad today thought he was not crashing down on his guy at all. The o line seems to be failing miserably at the fundamentals.

His pass blocking left a lot to be desired, but I was impressed by his run blocking.

I missed the game because my wife and kids, along with my mom, were in a car accident right before kick-off. (Everyone is sore, but OK.)

How did Orakpo look? Is Carlos done here? Were the interceptions all Jason's fault or were there "other factors"?

Many thanks.

Orakpo: Raw
Carlos: eh...maybe
All of them were Jason's fault.

Glad everyone is ok.

nicefellow31

10-04-2009, 10:24 PM

tuckahoeskin

10-04-2009, 10:32 PM

Thanks guys.

jaylen

10-04-2009, 10:47 PM

I think we beat the Chiefs for sure toss up with the Panthers either close win or loss and then battle hard maybe beating the Eagles. For all those that predict doom and gloom against quality teams think again we're good enough to rise to their level and play them tough. Its sadly like that against bad teams we play down to our competition as well. Delhomme isn't that mobile and their line isn't being stellar right now we could win next week. He's making all sorts of dumb throws. has going back to last season.

I think alot of things are being overlooked with the team. That will show up in the coming weeks. Opinions will change as the weeks move forward. some guys are improving on this team.

Rhinehart, Orakpo, Horton despite the criticism, Jarmon. Getting Moore on the field.

we ran strong over Rhinehart's side alot of the 2nd half. He was getting push. If this holds up all things might not be lost.

Orakpo is getting better rushing the passer he's forcing guys to hold him he's lowering his shoulder around the corner crashing inside better. He's coming along a sack in 2 straight games shoulda been 3 right now he slid off JJ another time.

akhhorus

10-04-2009, 10:51 PM

I think we beat the Chiefs for sure toss up with the Panthers either close win or loss and then battle hard maybe beating the Eagles. For all those that predict doom and gloom against quality teams think again we're good enough to rise to their level and play them tough. Its sadly like that against bad teams we play down to our competition as well. Delhomme isn't that mobile and their line isn't being stellar right now we could win next week. He's making all sorts of dumb throws. has going back to last season.

I think alot of things are being overlooked with the team. That will show up in the coming weeks. Opinions will change as the weeks move forward. some guys are improving on this team.

i hope you're right, but there's still fundamental issues with this team. Its not that they're playing down to the level of Detroit/St Louis/Tampa, they just don't have the firepower on offense or defense and the schedule gets extremely tough. The skins just can't take a first half off against Philly, New Orleans, Atlanta etc like they did against the Bucs and expect to win(or even come close to winning). They don't have the defense to play against a team with a good QB, and they're going to face some good ones one after another in November.

jaylen

10-04-2009, 11:26 PM

i hope you're right, but there's still fundamental issues with this team. Its not that they're playing down to the level of Detroit/St Louis/Tampa, they just don't have the firepower on offense or defense and the schedule gets extremely tough. The skins just can't take a first half off against Philly, New Orleans, Atlanta etc like they did against the Bucs and expect to win(or even come close to winning). They don't have the defense to play against a team with a good QB, and they're going to face some good ones one after another in November.

I agree but I see a crease of sunlght in this whole thing. we were dreadful late in the season last year and beat the Eagles winning ugly. We mashed up the Saints winning ugly last season. I think we're at a stage where we're trying to find some confidence if we can we could make a run.

Those teams seem tough on paper now but I think we're not just gonna die against every quality qb we face. I can see a scenario where Haynes, Orapko and jarmon begin to wreak havoc rushing the qb.

Playing like we did today won't get it done against everyone but it'll work against our division opponents. Ugly wins. Teams have won ugly and did some things.

we're not an elite offense and won't be under Zorn but we can make games ugly against good teams like we did the Giants in NY. They scored what 17 against our defense.

akhhorus

10-04-2009, 11:35 PM

I agree but I see a crease of sunlght in this whole thing. we were dreadful late in the season last year and beat the Eagles winning ugly. We mashed up the Saints winning ugly last season. I think we're at a stage where we're trying to find some confidence if we can we could make a run.

The difference being that last year's team didn't quit on their coaches, and they look like they already quit on them now.

Those teams seem tough on paper now but I think we're not just gonna die against every quality qb we face. I can see a scenario where Haynes, Orapko and jarmon begin to wreak havoc rushing the qb.

We've faced 3 straight horrible Olines in St louis, Detroit and Tampa, and the Skins aren't getting much pressure. The teams we'll face in November have much better Olines, so I doubt that the skins will suddenly see an increase in pressure caused, unless Blache is fired at the bye week.

Playing like we did today won't get it done against everyone but it'll work against our division opponents. Ugly wins. Teams have won ugly and did some things.

Ugly wins are great to see against very good teams. Not against very bad teams. An ugly win against a winless team with a young QB making his first start isn't the hallmark of a good team.

we're not an elite offense and won't be under Zorn but we can make games ugly against good teams like we did the Giants in NY. They scored what 17 against our defense.

And the skins really couldn't move the ball well until garbage time in that game. The Giants didn't need to score more than 17 against the Skins because their defense had us bottled up until they went into a prevent.

skinsfan36

10-04-2009, 11:37 PM

nice job akh.like your plan for changes i hope some of then happen soon

Death_Venom

10-05-2009, 12:03 AM

I do write up-Again.....I do disagree however with your assessment of Campbell (generally speaking)-one bad game does not make a QB. But in this particular case it may destroy one (Campbell) getting a long term contract.

I am still holding out hope for an "execution" of the current coaching staff and V Cerrato. This teamis in dire need of an identity and real HC among other things.....

jaylen

10-05-2009, 12:06 AM

The difference being that last year's team didn't quit on their coaches, and they look like they already quit on them now.

Nah they didn;t quit on their coaches or they wouldn;t have come back and won. This isn't an effort issue its a scheme and lack of execution won.

We've faced 3 straight horrible Olines in St louis, Detroit and Tampa, and the Skins aren't getting much pressure. The teams we'll face in November have much better Olines, so I doubt that the skins will suddenly see an increase in pressure caused, unless Blache is fired at the bye week.

I agree but I think more cohesiveness between AH, and Orakpo will spur more pressure late in the season teams will have nicked olineman and back ups playing which will give us a shot at generating some pressure.

Ugly wins are great to see against very good teams. Not against very bad teams. An ugly win against a winless team with a young QB making his first start isn't the hallmark of a good team.

well good point but all we do is win ugly under Zorn even against the quality teams. Thats not likely to change at all. but I don't think we're gonna lose to every quality team we play we can make it ugly against division opponents especially when records get thrown out with the familiarity with each other.

And the skins really couldn't move the ball well until garbage time in that game. The Giants didn't need to score more than 17 against the Skins because their defense had us bottled up until they went into a prevent.

I guess its all about perspective really you see it this way I don't. we moved it at the end of the half which wasn;t garbage time and we moved it at the end of the game when the Giants still had reason to be concerned not being but 2 scores up. we were still an onside kick away from doing some things.

I just think my expectations are where we are. We're a team thats gonna play ugly games in the teens against everyone. Our defense will rise against the good teams like they did holding the Giants down who were trying to score and we held them down stopping them in a couple of short yardage situations.

we won today and could have lost... we rallied and it matters, its funny sometimes and you see it every season where a struggling team beats a bad team then gets alittle energy and rattles off a couple games that could be us. Hell the rams did last season beating us then the Cowboys.

helimech24

10-05-2009, 02:22 AM

One thing I know I've mentioned before is that Zorn doesn't have any clearly defined roles/playing time for the WRs(at least it looks that way). The Skins, especially on offense, need continuity for the passing game to work, and the constant shuffling of WRs can't be good.I see a common trend happening on the board...everyone wants to give up on the WRs we drafted in the 2nd round...but I think this is one of the biggest factors, ontop of which...JC isn't throwing to them or looking in their general direction 90% of the time and they are only in their 2nd year.

Patrick

10-05-2009, 07:49 AM

It was somewhat disturbing that Hayneworth was kind of invisible yesterday -just seem to be filling space when he was in. ........... Agree the JJ needs to get into the game more often.

Receiver situation is getting old. The Forgetable Threesome are a waste. And to think of the OL they could have choosen ....... Simply frustrating

hogskins

10-05-2009, 08:24 AM

So Devin Thomas is Taylor Jacobs 2.0?

Mitchell did play with the 1st and 2nd team in the preseason, I don't see what they have to lose making him active and using him in the red zone though.

Zorn is in a no-man's land between needing to try something radically different to greatly improve outcomes, and having an "experiment" end even more disastrously than what we have now. If he uncovers some gems, but still loses games where we might have a chance, he doesn't help himself out. Replacing Thomas with MM is pretty low-risk, though.

If he was going to experiment, he needed to do it during this run of games against the dreck of the league. It would have been interesting to telepathically listen to his thought process about whether to cut-and-run on Campbell versus Collins at half-time.

Nice write-up--blunt and honest, yet restrained. I think that you graded fairly, although you could have bumped Swishy up a little, since his performance could have been far worse under the circumstances yesterday.

SkinsfaninNJ

10-05-2009, 09:37 AM

I see a common trend happening on the board...everyone wants to give up on the WRs we drafted in the 2nd round...but I think this is one of the biggest factors, ontop of which...JC isn't throwing to them or looking in their general direction 90% of the time and they are only in their 2nd year.

I missed big chunks of the game, so it is difficult for me to comment specifically yesterday, but at least two of the INT's were throws to Kelly. I'm not saying they were Kelly's fault, but those were instances of Campbell looking his way. Kelly was seeing more balls earlier this season. I'm not sure why it has dropped off.

Thomas on the other hand seems like he would be a waste on any team. He is still only 4th on the depth chart 20 games into his career. That's a coaches decision. That's not Campbell's fault.

SkinsfaninNJ

10-05-2009, 09:42 AM

Contrary to your point Akh, I think there is a chance Campbell is with the team next season. A new coach is going want a new QB. If he chooses a rookie, he may want to keep a good citizen veteran to compete with the rookie.

Assuming there is no cap next year, Campbell will only be a RFA, so keeping him may not be very difficult or expensive.

However, if things get really bad around here, Snyder could also say forget bringing him back here, let's start fresh. Right now, I'm thinking 70-30 he is gone.

akhhorus

10-05-2009, 09:44 AM

Nah they didn;t quit on their coaches or they wouldn;t have come back and won. This isn't an effort issue its a scheme and lack of execution won.

The first half looked like a team who didn't give a crap. And while they had a good 3rd quarter, they started reverting back to the "We don't give a crap" team in the 4th quarter.

I agree but I think more cohesiveness between AH, and Orakpo will spur more pressure late in the season teams will have nicked olineman and back ups playing which will give us a shot at generating some pressure.

I don't think cohesiveness is the problem at all.

well good point but all we do is win ugly under Zorn even against the quality teams.

We do? Not this season so far.

Thats not likely to change at all. but I don't think we're gonna lose to every quality team we play we can make it ugly against division opponents especially when records get thrown out with the familiarity with each other.

I've said that we'll probably sneak up on Philly or Dallas for a win, but the matchups down the stretch are just terrible for the skins.

I guess its all about perspective really you see it this way I don't. we moved it at the end of the half which wasn;t garbage time and we moved it at the end of the game when the Giants still had reason to be concerned not being but 2 scores up. we were still an onside kick away from doing some things.

Moving it at the end of the game is garbage time lol. Our only TD in the first half came on a fake FG, so the skins really weren't an offensive threat to the giants until the Giants went into a prevent.

I just think my expectations are where we are. We're a team thats gonna play ugly games in the teens against everyone. Our defense will rise against the good teams like they did holding the Giants down who were trying to score and we held them down stopping them in a couple of short yardage situations.

I wish i had your optimism, but I just don't see what you're seeing with this team. This isn't a good team and the flaws are rather obvious for everyone to see. The skins' defense can't stop the run at all this season, and can only seem to stop really bad QBs. Thats not a good defense imo. And not a defense that's going to survive against good offenses.

we won today and could have lost... we rallied and it matters, its funny sometimes and you see it every season where a struggling team beats a bad team then gets alittle energy and rattles off a couple games that could be us. Hell the rams did last season beating us then the Cowboys.

The Rams beat us and Dallas in two fluky games when the skins/Boys weren't taking them seriously early in the season. Its possible that the skins could pull off a couple wins against good teams coming up and use that to build around, but the November stretch is just filled with too many bad matchups for the skins.

firehawk157

10-05-2009, 09:49 AM

I missed big chunks of the game, so it is difficult for me to comment specifically yesterday, but at least two of the INT's were throws to Kelly. I'm not saying they were Kelly's fault, but those were instances of Campbell looking his way. Kelly was seeing more balls earlier this season. I'm not sure why it has dropped off.

Thomas on the other hand seems like he would be a waste on any team. He is still only 4th on the depth chart 20 games into his career. That's a coaches decision. That's not Campbell's fault.

It just seems like Campbell has lost almost all his decision making capability. He went from ultra conservative to thinking he could throw the ball fast enough that it will literally go through two defenders. The only two passes to Kelly weren't even close. He just flat out doesn't throw to Thomas.

shally

10-05-2009, 10:04 AM

It just seems like Campbell has lost almost all his decision making capability. He went from ultra conservative to thinking he could throw the ball fast enough that it will literally go through two defenders. The only two passes to Kelly weren't even close. He just flat out doesn't throw to Thomas.

he has issues, for sure

he looks for cooley and moss on every play.. then will look for betts in the flat.. after that, it is scramble for yardage..

Hr fan

10-05-2009, 10:45 AM

he has issues, for sure

he looks for cooley and moss on every play.. then will look for betts in the flat.. after that, it is scramble for yardage..

IMO that is a symptom of JC's problem. He does progressions by the book. He does not read defenses. For instance if his first option is doubled then the expected D (read at the line) is wrong, but someone is free or single covered. JC does not read this or react to what he sees. He looks to certain players in succession regardless of what the D is doing. He doesn't understand the scheme, and this very predictability allows the D to dominate him. And it doesn't help that the OL is, at best, inconsistent in pass pro. He also doesn't seem to feel pressure. so seems to rely on a clock in his head. This again favors a D coordinator that reads what that clock is.

The result is a QB who can look good if Zorn guesses what the D call will be. But his scheme relies on the play being adjusted (change progression read sequence based on where coverage is based on after snap reading of the D). This needs a QB that will read/react to the D during the play. IMO JC can't do this.