Akh's Thoughts Week 15

[akhhorus]

What we learned from the Skins’ decisive victory over the Giants:

Prologue:
Akh: Brother Fent, please read from the Gospel according to Ken Beatrice…
Fent: Try the milkshakes at Arby’s restaurant!
Akh: Further down Brother Fent
Fent: 90% of games in the NFL are lost, not won.
Akh: Amen.
Fent: BYE NOW!

1-That the running game is going to be the reason we make the playoffs—or at least have a chance at them. Portis looked like a man on a mission last night. Betts had a nice TD run, but otherwise looked like the soft Betts we’ve come to know and roll our eyes at.

1a-We’ll need them to continue this. We’re not getting much from the passing game or the defense frankly.

2-Last night, the Oline blocking was improved against a smaller, quicker Dline. Especially in the run game, the pass blocking was still inconsistent.

2a-I’ve been as big a critic of Stephon Heyer as anyone in Redskins nation, but last night, he was a force in the run game and absolutely dominated Gap Tooth.

2b-Chris Samuels bounced back from a couple so-so weeks to dominate Osi also.

3-Now the unpleasant part: the defense got lucky. They had a couple nice stops, but the simple fact is that the wind bailed them out. The Giants dropped Bob knows how many balls, including a couple deep ones and including some wide open ones.

3a-Gregg Williams frustration of the game: Up 3 scores, with a heavy wind causing havoc with the deep balls, so he decides not to blitz against a QB who struggles when pressured. Brilliant!

3aa-If Williams is afraid to blitz all but the worst QBs in the NFL, then he shouldn’t be the coordinator.

3b-Why Gregg, why do you still play Marcus Lohan-Washington on pass coverage? He moves like Redd Foxx out there on the zones.

4-I hate Landry’s penalties, but I love his passion and ability. The kid could be Brian Dawkins with better physical tools to work with. Team him with a veteran SS and he could be a dangerous.

5-Brava to Todd Collins for winning his first start in 10 years, but lets not act like he was Brady replacing Bledsoe here. He was 8-25(which is worse than what Fredo Manning was). The wind isn’t a valid excuse imo, because he was able to hit Moss deep with his poor arm strength. Speaking of Moss…

6-Ok Santana, wtf? You can do well with noodle armed Todd Collins in there, but you run at what appears to be 70% for Campbell and look generally disinterested? I love your play for us, but if the choice is Moss or Campbell, I’m sure we can get a first day pick or two for Moss.

7-Bravo to Andre Carter. First redskins DLman with 10+ sacks in 7 years. A great FA signing who’s a cornerstone player to build around for the future.

7a-What’s frustrating about the defense is that Monty and Carter are great players at their positions, but their total crap at the other spots. Team Carter with an Alex Brown type, and we have a deadly pair of DEs. And the Skins might be able to pull off that crappy Cover-2.

8-Basically(and CNY can elucidate this further) root for the Giants and/or Vikes to lose out. Nothing would be sweeter if the Saints and Skins’ made the playoffs together for purely personal reasons *looks at csquared*. Essentially, if the Vikes, Saints and Giants lose next week, we’re all but in the playoffs.

9-I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Eli Manning won’t be the QB in NYC for much longer. If Coughlin gets dumped, Fredo Manning is right behind him. If Coughlin stays, Eli’s on a 1 year leash. He just can’t take the pressure of playing in NYC.

10-Guys, I like the energy Reed Doughy has, but he can’t cover a midget with his shoelaces tied together, and isn’t a great blitzer. He’s cheap, he’s homegrown, but he’ll be replaced.

Team Grades

Offense
X WR Santana Moss 8.25. 3 big catches despite all the wind problems
Z WR Antwaan Randle El 6. Was invisible most of the night, but he drew what should have been a couple contact penalties in the 2nd half.
LT Chris Samuels 9. I heard Osi’s name mentioned once all night
LG Pete Kendall 8.5 Really solid game for the Vet.
OC Casey Rabach 8.75. Called a great run block game.
RG Jason Fabini 7.5. Decent, but unspectacular game.
RT Stephon Heyer 9.5. Strahan, you can pick up your jock from Heyer now. No Michael, not in the way you're thinking.
QB Todd Collins 6.75 8 for 25.
FB Mike Sellers 8.25. Great run blocking all night
RB Clinton Portis 9.5. Great game for CP. He’s over 1000 yards again.
K Scott Suisham 9.75. Screw the kickoffs, but 1 LONG FG in the bad wind.
KR Rock Cartwright 7.5. Another good game.

Defense
DE Andre Carter 9.25. 2 sacks and consistent pressure all night.
DT Anthony Montgomery 8.75. Jacobs, a tackle-tackle runner only had lanes on the outside because of him.
DT Kedric Golston 7. Solid game, but had some problems with Ohara
DE Philip Daniels 5. He was on the field today?
SLB Marcus Washington 6.25. Meh. Meh all day.
MLB London Fletcher 8.5 Solid game shadowing Jacobs
WLB HB Blades 7. Okay in his first Defensive chance
CB Fred Smoot 8.9. Really solid game from Smoot.
FS LaRon Landry 8.85. Outside of that stupid penalty, he was real sharp.
SS Reed Doughty 7.5. Solid, but unspectacular.
CB Shawn Springs 8. Solid, but had some slip ups.
P Derrick Frost 8.5. Pretty solid night despite the wind.
PR Antwaan Randle El. 7.5. Unspectacular.

Coaching
Offense: B+
Defense: C-
Overall: B

Some random thoughts about the early games Sunday:
-The Curse of Jessica Simpson. I like the ring to that. How much do you want to bet they had to explain the concept of football to her about 7 or 8 times during the game?

-Wow, God sure doesn’t know how to avoid throwing INTs….

-What exactly does Brian Billick have to do to have a chance at being fired? Trying to smuggle plutonium into the country?

-Don’t look now, but the Steelers are in deep, deep trouble in the AFC.

-For all the supposed struggles of Matt Leinart, how is Warner any better? The man is a turnover machine!

-And Ken Hamlin should be suspended for the rest of the season with that hit of Matt Schobel.

With the Pro Bowl Team being announced this week, I give you the 3rd annual All-Akh Team!
Offense:
X WR Reggie Wayne. Playing without Harrison for a majority of the season and with a rookie WR as his compliment, and he turns in his best year ever.
Y WR Randy Moss. Duh.
OLine: I’ll take the Patriots Oline thank you.
QB Tom Brady. Does this need to be explained?
TE Tony Gonzalez. Witten has him on the stats, but he has a lot of pieces around him to take the doubles off of him. Gonzo played with a rookie WR, a young QB and crap around him.
FB Tony Richardson. Ask Peterson and Taylor why.
RB Brian Westbrook. 5th in rushing, 1800+ total yards and 12 Tds on the season. And all of this with a bad offensive scheme and a whiny QB.
K Rob Bironas. Without him, the Titans would be 5-11.
KR Josh Cribbs. Outproducing Hester on Kick returns.

Defense:
DE Jared Allen. Missed the first 2 games, and still has 11.5 sacks.
DT Albert Haynesworth. Just sign him to a series of 1 year deals lol
DT Anthony Montgomery. I realize this might been seen a homer pick, but Monty was the most consistent DT in football IMO. Just a force against the run, and was a serviceable pass rusher. Teams schemed the run away him after the first few games.
DE Aaron Kampman. Destroyed RT after RT all year.
OLB DeMarcus Ware. Great season for Ware this year.
MLB Patrick Willis. 111 SOLO tackles this year. Almost 20 more than #2 on that list.
OLB Mike Vrabel. 5 forced fumbles, 9.5 sacks, and a couple TD catches.
CB Antonio Cromartie. Leads the NFL in Ints(10) and passes defended(27), yet Norv doesn’t start him. Makes sense.
FS Kerry Rhodes. One of the few highlights on a pathetic Jets’ team.
SS Chris Harris. 90 tackles, 8 forced fumbles. And the Bears let him go for next to nothing.
CB Marcus Trufant. Great year for the Vet, so I’m sure Seattle will try and trade him lol.
P Andy Lee. And he got a lot of chances to punt with San Fran’s offense.
PR Devin Hester. Do I need to explain?

[CNYSkinFan]

If the Cowboys make the superbowl we will have to endure more shots of Jessica Simpson then we did Kurt Warner's mom...i mean wife.

[Keino]

Obviously, you've not seen Redd Foxx Bust a move.

[Keino]

Originally Posted by CNYSkinFan

If the Cowboys make the superbowl we will have to endure more shots of Jessica Simpson then we did Kurt Warner's mom...i mean wife.

This is the funniest post I've read in a long long time.....

[shally]

great stuff as usual

i think doughty is joining the list of players like rock, thrash, sellers, k campbell, and now, lo alexander who will always have a place on a joe gibbs team.. he is not good enough to really start in the nfl-- but he is getting better (only his 3rd start, remember, and from a small school) and is always a high energy player

also the skins have a tradition of having safeties like mark murphy (he SHOULDA been the skins GM), curtis jordan, todd bowles and clarence vaughn
who were too slow, too small but were fine role players and starters at times.

unfortunately we have also had guys like matt bowen and matt stevens who were just busts.. it could go either way for doughty, but somehow, i think he will continue to get better

[akhhorus]

Originally Posted by Keino

Obviously, you've not seen Redd Foxx Bust a move.

"Elizabeth...I'm covering the flats!!!"

[shally]

Originally Posted by CNYSkinFan

If the Cowboys make the superbowl we will have to endure more shots of Jessica Simpson then we did Kurt Warner's mom...i mean wife.

if so, she better DO something about those damn roots of hers.. c'mon all the money she has and still cannot get a decent hair job ?

[hessy36]

[quote=3-Now the unpleasant part: the defense got lucky. They had a couple nice stops, [B]but the simple fact is that the wind bailed them out[/b]. The Giants dropped Bob knows how many balls, including a couple deep ones and including some wide open ones.

3a-Gregg Williams frustration of the game: Up 3 scores, with a heavy wind causing havoc with the deep balls, so he decides not to blitz against a QB who struggles when pressured. Brilliant!...[/qoute]

____________

Hmmmm.... sounds like wind sure was a factor!!! .

[CNYSkinFan]

Originally Posted by shally

if so, she better DO something about those damn roots of hers.. c'mon all the money she has and still cannot get a decent hair job ?

You were looking at her hair? Oh blue........

[shally]

Originally Posted by CNYSkinFan

You were looking at her hair? Oh blue........

uh, when she starts taking off that stupid PINK rhomo jersey (that's gotta be further evidence of his proclivities) i will pay vigorous attention.. until then, she wears too much make-up and i cannot abide a rich woman who doesnt take the time to care for her hair properly..there is a paula jones underneath that pretty face...

[akhhorus]

Originally Posted by shally

great stuff as usual

i think doughty is joining the list of players like rock, thrash, sellers, k campbell, and now, lo alexander who will always have a place on a joe gibbs team.. he is not good enough to really start in the nfl-- but he is getting better (only his 3rd start, remember, and from a small school) and is always a high energy player

also the skins have a tradition of having safeties like mark murphy (he SHOULDA been the skins GM), curtis jordan, todd bowles and clarence vaughn
who were too slow, too small but were fine role players and starters at times.

unfortunately we have also had guys like matt bowen and matt stevens who were just busts.. it could go either way for doughty, but somehow, i think he will continue to get better

I think Doughty has a long term future as a 3rd/4th safety in DC, but I don't think he has the ability to be the starting SS here. He's a hard worker, and is okay. But he'll be replaced this offseason.

[shally]

Originally Posted by akhhorus

I think Doughty has a long term future as a 3rd/4th safety in DC, but I don't think he has the ability to be the starting SS here. He's a hard worker, and is okay. But he'll be replaced this offseason.

i totally agree with what you say will happen.. they will bring in another vet safety (eugene wilson ? gibril wilson ?) to add to the rotation and at that point i think doughty wont be starting..

the question is now whether they go for a free safety or SS type ? i think it will be SS based upon the fact that LL is going to be at FS for a long time now

[akhhorus]

Originally Posted by hessy36

Hmmmm.... sounds like wind sure was a factor!!! .

With the deep balls, yes. There's no excuse for Collins throwing the ball at people's feet on the short passes all day. Learn to understand a conditional clause please.

[akhhorus]

Originally Posted by shally

i totally agree with what you say will happen.. they will bring in another vet safety (eugene wilson ? gibril wilson ?) to add to the rotation and at that point i think doughty wont be starting..

the question is now whether they go for a free safety or SS type ? i think it will be SS based upon the fact that LL is going to be at FS for a long time now

I have some thoughts on this, but I'm not going to discuss this until after the season.

[Dolla Bill]

Doughty will be serviceable, but he can play with smarts instead of skill. He is learning on the fly after being thrown into the starting role after the death of probably the most loved Redskin in years. That's an awfully tall order for anyone. He also only made his 3rd start, but i'm interested to see how he does for the final 2 games. I think with a good DL, he could be more than serviceable.

Heyer is a real find I think. With another year under his belt, Jansen will probably be let go due to cap reasons.

Btw, Akh, I also read where Taylor's contract escalated for this year. Is this correct? If so, how will this affect the cap for next year?