Mid-Season Slump 2009™: The Annual Tradition Continues

[Biggie]

These are starting to get a little long...

[shally]

Originally Posted by Biggie

These are starting to get a little long...

very good stuff

a couple of points.. first, even though manning and JC might have the same numerical pass rating, there is no comparison who is playing better this year. yes, manning has the better line, better receivers and 3 solid runners and that is why he is making plays. they score points. the convert third downs and they beat teams. reverse who plays for which team and JC is going to be far the better qb, but we are who we are. right now, manning is getting the job done and JC is quarterbacking a team that is sliding back into mediocrity. he needs help. a lot of it..

the best way to protect JC is to run the ball. we got away from that badly against dallas and it killed us. unfortunately both CP and betts were sub-par physically and alexander is useless. still, if we dont run efficiently against the seahawks we will lose

we cannot win with just moss as a receiving threat. that means that whether or not zorn feels thomas, davis, and kelly are ready mentally, he needs to use them. dumb the offense down for them if needed, but get the ball in their hands

on defense, i have totally given up on the defense pressuring the qb as long as blache is DC.. read todays Jasno insider blog.. blache says as much.
"stop the run--prevent the big play"... that is what he wants to do.
what does that mean ?

1. it means we can fully expect Daniels to return next year.. and likely to play DE most of the time

2. it means we wont be drafting any DE's any time soon. we will go after a DT if we draft any kind of linemen

3. it means we BLEW it this off season by not going after Kris Jenkins or Shaun Rogers and that we better open the vaults wide next offseason if we have any chance of signing Albert Haynesworth

4. it means we further BLEW it by signing Jason Taylor unless we plan to move him into Marcus Washington's spot. He cant stop the run and is an incredibly poor for blache inthat regard.. that is why D Evans is playing ahead of him and should continue to play ahead of him

5. it means (and get ready to grit your teeth here, folks) we can expect to see Springs back here next year as a hybrid CB/FS because blache just gushes when he speaks about him. that will allow blache to keep Springs on the slot receiver or deep. if he is deep, expect to see Landry crashing the line to stop the run or blitz the qb.. or Horton in a cobra formation with the option of blitzing or dropping to cover. THAT is where our sacks and turnovers are going to come from next year. blache wants 4 solid corners, so Springs returns even if it means he misses 1/3 to 1/2 a season with trivial injuries.. we might as well deal with it because that is what i see happening if blache returns next year

[nicefellow31]

Originally Posted by shally

very good stuff

a couple of points.. first, even though manning and JC might have the same numerical pass rating, there is no comparison who is playing better this year. yes, manning has the better line, better receivers and 3 solid runners and that is why he is making plays. they score points. the convert third downs and they beat teams. reverse who plays for which team and JC is going to be far the better qb, but we are who we are. right now, manning is getting the job done and JC is quarterbacking a team that is sliding back into mediocrity. he needs help. a lot of it..

the best way to protect JC is to run the ball. we got away from that badly against dallas and it killed us. unfortunately both CP and betts were sub-par physically and alexander is useless. still, if we dont run efficiently against the seahawks we will lose

we cannot win with just moss as a receiving threat. that means that whether or not zorn feels thomas, davis, and kelly are ready mentally, he needs to use them. dumb the offense down for them if needed, but get the ball in their hands

on defense, i have totally given up on the defense pressuring the qb as long as blache is DC.. read todays Jasno insider blog.. blache says as much.
"stop the run--prevent the big play"... that is what he wants to do.
what does that mean ?

1. it means we can fully expect Daniels to return next year.. and likely to play DE most of the time

2. it means we wont be drafting any DE's any time soon. we will go after a DT if we draft any kind of linemen

3. it means we BLEW it this off season by not going after Kris Jenkins or Shaun Rogers and that we better open the vaults wide next offseason if we have any chance of signing Albert Haynesworth

4. it means we further BLEW it by signing Jason Taylor unless we plan to move him into Marcus Washington's spot. He cant stop the run and is an incredibly poor for blache inthat regard.. that is why D Evans is playing ahead of him and should continue to play ahead of him

5. it means (and get ready to grit your teeth here, folks) we can expect to see Springs back here next year as a hybrid CB/FS because blache just gushes when he speaks about him. that will allow blache to keep Springs on the slot receiver or deep. if he is deep, expect to see Landry crashing the line to stop the run or blitz the qb.. or Horton in a cobra formation with the option of blitzing or dropping to cover. THAT is where our sacks and turnovers are going to come from next year. blache wants 4 solid corners, so Springs returns even if it means he misses 1/3 to 1/2 a season with trivial injuries.. we might as well deal with it because that is what i see happening if blache returns next year

Yeah I read that and I kind of look at that as spin control. "We can't get to the QB so guess what? It's not our priority! We don't teach our players to rush the passers." I hate when coaches say "we don't give up the big play." What about a team cutting you to pieces with short gains? Is it wrong to want to stop the run, stop the big pass play, and sack the QB? It worked for Mean Joe Green and company. Then again I guess when you have talented players like the Steelers had back then, it was easier to do.

[shally]

Originally Posted by nicefellow31

Yeah I read that and I kind of look at that as spin control. "We can't get to the QB so guess what? It's not our priority! We don't teach our players to rush the passers." I hate when coaches say "we don't give up the big play." What about a team cutting you to pieces with short gains? Is it wrong to want to stop the run, stop the big pass play, and sack the QB? It worked for Mean Joe Green and company. Then again I guess when you have talented players like the Steelers had back then, it was easier to do.

i dont think it is spin control if your defense is carrying the team and your offense cannot convert any points off of the turnovers the defense does create..

look at it this way, if the offense were even AVERAGE we would be 9-1 now, having lost only to the Giants. we could have easily beaten dallas, pitts and the rams with even a modest offensive output.

so blache can say whatever he wants because he is holding up his end of the deal.. in the end it isnt turnovers, sacks or rankings that matters. it is points given up and wons/losses.. the defense is doing it's job.. the offense is not..

[nicefellow31]

Originally Posted by shally

i dont think it is spin control if your defense is carrying the team and your offense cannot convert any points off of the turnovers the defense does create..

look at it this way, if the offense were even AVERAGE we would be 9-1 now, having lost only to the Giants. we could have easily beaten dallas, pitts and the rams with even a modest offensive output.

so blache can say whatever he wants because he is holding up his end of the deal.. in the end it isnt turnovers, sacks or rankings that matters. it is points given up and wons/losses.. the defense is doing it's job.. the offense is not..

True, but we sure could have used another turnover when Dallas ran out the last 6:40 in the 4th Qrt. Plus earlier in the season Blache was making jokes about (we can't work at Giant) the lack of pass rush. I kind of think like the late great Bill Walsh. He believed that a 4th Quarter pass rush was a key to winning football. That is why he acquired Fread Dean and drafted Charles (look what I'm playing with) Haley. D is doing the job, but there is room for improvement.

[jaylen]

Yeah our typical mid season crap is getting real old. I think its the age of some of our key players. Line gets worn pretty quick by midseason aches and pains wound us. Moss or ARE are generally nicked or hurt at this point and we end up signing some wr from off the street this season though we're praying Kelly another guy who hasn't been playing can save us, and we start looking funny at the play calling along with our defenses inability to sack the qb or hold onto pick chances.

so add it all up and it equals a typical mid season dive.

I hope we start our awakening this week and not next week. We'll finish those last 5 weeks like a team on fire but we gotta get there in good shape 1st.

[shally]

Originally Posted by nicefellow31

True, but we sure could have used another turnover when Dallas ran out the last 6:40 in the 4th Qrt. Plus earlier in the season Blache was making jokes about (we can't work at Giant) the lack of pass rush. I kind of think like the late great Bill Walsh. He believed that a 4th Quarter pass rush was a key to winning football. That is why he acquired Fread Dean and drafted Charles (look what I'm playing with) Haley. D is doing the job, but there is room for improvement.

you are absolutely correct.. but, it is totally unreasonable to expect your defense to step up time and again in the 4th quarter when they have been holding back the opponents all game and the offense is doing little or nothing and scoring few points after the first quarter.. even the best defense wears out.

when your defense allows an opponent 14 points, it is onthe offense to win the game. we arent the ravens from their championship season, or the bears.. and besides, you think the giants would be 9-1 if their offense was floundering the way ours is ? i sure dont..

[silverspring]

great post, the chart at the beginning says it all. While this needs to be fixed, in a sense I hope we follow the trend and have a great close to the season

[BostonSkins]

That's an extremely in depth write-up. Well done. I think it is ironic that the Redskins staff will come out and say that the entire passing game hinges on getting Campbell time to throw the ball and then Blache will come out and imply that pressuring the QB doesn't really matter.

[jtovb2005]

Write up pretty much sums it up.

While it is painful to watch for what 10 years now, our pass rush is a stinker BUT you really can't complain over 10 games what the D has done. The other teams are not getting a lot of what counts; points. As Shally says even a average Offense would have us with at least 1 more win and probably 2. Other games the Offense did nothing and the Defense kept us in for the win.

That might work to get us to the playoffs I hope. I don't think it bodes well into the playoffs. Bottom line though we really need the offense to start scoring actual TD's.

What do we do to fix this? Another thread titled Built For The Past or something like that could be saying Zorn has what he has this year and we need to get by with that. next year what do we do? We have glaring needs at Defense but the offense simply is aged at the line and is lacking enough big play players it seems to me. MAybe the answer is one of the new guys I don't know.

[shally]

Originally Posted by BostonSkins

That's an extremely in depth write-up. Well done. I think it is ironic that the Redskins staff will come out and say that the entire passing game hinges on getting Campbell time to throw the ball and then Blache will come out and imply that pressuring the QB doesn't really matter.

isnt that interesting ??

maybe the perception is different from opposite sides of the line ? still, i tend to agree with what i actually SEE as opposed to what they are saying

[Lavar703]

I think the problem is we have players that are completely brain washed by the Gibbs II era. Get a lead and shut it down, this is basically what they have been taught and Zorn needs to do his best to break them of this or get his own guys in there with a new mind set. Blache is an excellent DC, unfortunately he is just like Gregg Williams in a sense, neither of them believe in the importance of a defensive line.

[nicefellow31]

Originally Posted by BostonSkins
That's an extremely in depth write-up. Well done. I think it is ironic that the Redskins staff will come out and say that the entire passing game hinges on getting Campbell time to throw the ball and then Blache will come out and imply that pressuring the QB doesn't really matter.

Originally Posted by shally

isnt that interesting ??

maybe the perception is different from opposite sides of the line ? still, i tend to agree with what i actually SEE as opposed to what they are saying

Good points you two. I missed that completely when I read the article. Go figure!

[shally]

Originally Posted by Lavar703

I think the problem is we have players that are completely brain washed by the Gibbs II era. Get a lead and shut it down, this is basically what they have been taught and Zorn needs to do his best to break them of this or get his own guys in there with a new mind set. Blache is an excellent DC, unfortunately he is just like Gregg Williams in a sense, neither of them believe in the importance of a defensive line.

well that is simply hogwash, if you are correct... while they are on the sidelines watching our offense take it in the shorts the defense has to see what an effective pass rush can do..

but as lo alexander said last week, "if you dont do exactly what blache wants, you arent going to see much playing time"... he permits zero freelancing from his players..