First half/Second half disaparity

[bwparker]

If this is an already opened thread, I apologize. But do we have a good explanation for the Redskins absolute crappiness in the first half of games? So far this year the Redskins have been outscored by their opponents in the first half of games 13-47, but have outscored their opponents in the second half 43-15.

Do they need better preparation/game-planning? Do they need to make their adjustments quicker? or find a better warm-up routine or something? Or do they just come out lazy? Or is it just a factor of other teams getting ahead and then THEY get lazy, so we get a chance to catch up?

[CarMike]

[sarcasm]Our massive OL/DL wears down the opposition in the 2nd half of games.[/sarcasm]

Honestly, I don't have any idea. I know it can't be that our coaches make halftime adjustments. They're not good enough to do that.

Great question though. Should be good for discussion though.

[SpicyMcHaggis]

Originally Posted by bwparker

If this is an already opened thread, I apologize. But do we have a good explanation for the Redskins absolute crappiness in the first half of games? So far this year the Redskins have been outscored by their opponents in the first half of games 13-47, but have outscored their opponents in the second half 43-15.

Do they need better preparation/game-planning? Do they need to make their adjustments quicker? or find a better warm-up routine or something? Or do they just come out lazy? Or is it just a factor of other teams getting ahead and then THEY get lazy, so we get a chance to catch up?

Here's at least a partial explanation: we suck so bad in the first half that in the second half we often (half the time up to this point) find ourselves down by multiple scores, and so we score TDs against prevent defenses or when playing a hurry-up offense to save time.
This has happened against both the Lions and the Giants, and has produced late TDs. If that 43-15 becomes 29-15, it looks a bit different doesn't it?
As for a more general explanation, aside from the Giants game, in which we outscored them only 10-6 in the second half, I think it's just a case of two crappy teams facing each other (Skins-Lions, Skins-Rams, Skins-Bucs), and because neither team can string together 4 quarters of good play, one of the two manages to randomly score more or less in a given half/quarter.

[Redskin-4-life]

I would guess it's coaching. They are not scouting teams properly and can not figure how to attack them until the 2nd half. They are making half time adjustments, but it is usually too late.

[shally]

it is completely a matter of playing with a sense of urgency, and intensity.. they were totally flat in the first half.. the entire team looked like they were sleepwalking

i think they saw the season slipping away at halftime and the vets quietly led the team back from the brink.

how long will it carry over ? who knows ?

[Redskinmayhem]

Guys, we played the Bucs. One of the worst teams in the NFL. If we did this vs the Giants or Pittsburgh or the Colts, I'd say we did something better in the second half. Against the Bucs? I'm sure a lot of it was them not executing properly.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by shally

it is completely a matter of playing with a sense of urgency, and intensity.. they were totally flat in the first half.. the entire team looked like they were sleepwalking

i think they saw the season slipping away at halftime and the vets quietly led the team back from the brink.

how long will it carry over ? who knows ?

I would like to think that the team was taking a nose dive but was able to muster up and start playing with some "sense of urgency" (not much though). Now it's a matter of - is this team going to climb or did it just level off just above crashing. Game #5 should start to provide some answers I would think.

[akhhorus]

This happens every game and the cause is almost certainly that Zorn/Blache can't prepare a team to save their lives.

[Poindexter]

Originally Posted by akhhorus

This happens every game and the cause is almost certainly that Zorn/Blache can't prepare a team to save their lives.

I think it is very safe to say we have the worst coaching staff in the league. The Oakland Raiders would be close but I think they beat us out in a fist fight.

[BurgundyNGold]

Originally Posted by akhhorus

This happens every game and the cause is almost certainly that Zorn/Blache can't prepare a team to save their lives.

I don't think they prepare for a team at all.

I don't think they say: "Hmmm. This team has a small front 4. Let's give them a heavy dose of Portis between the tackles. But not Betts, because all he does is fall down after first contact like Jody Foster"

Or: "Hmmm. Are they starting a rookie QB? Well, let's blitz the hell out of him. Because that's what mavericks do."

Or: "Hmmm. They're starting FS is injured and they're playing backups at both CB slots? I say we attack those kids until they show us they can stop us."

Nope. Never. Not once. And that's why these coaches suck.

[shally]

Originally Posted by akhhorus

This happens every game and the cause is almost certainly that Zorn/Blache can't prepare a team to save their lives.

it is more than that.. when veteran players miss tackles, miss assignments, get beaten one on one, it is a sign that the players themselves havent bought into the schemes, or are playing without pride and just collecting a paycheck..

this is deeper than just crappy coaching.. i would also tend to agree with jimmy johnson's assessment, that the talent level from 25-52 is lacking badly..who among our reserves look like they are ready to start or play significant minutes ?

[akhhorus]

Originally Posted by shally

it is more than that.. when veteran players miss tackles, miss assignments, get beaten one on one, it is a sign that the players themselves havent bought into the schemes, or are playing without pride and just collecting a paycheck..

this is deeper than just crappy coaching.. i would also tend to agree with jimmy johnson's assessment, that the talent level from 25-52 is lacking badly..who among our reserves look like they are ready to start or play significant minutes ?

I agree, but a competant coaching staff can at least get a team prepared to take advantage of good matchups to exploit.

[Farmer Ted]

Basically, we spent the first 3 and a half games of the season running the ball on 3d and short, 4th and short and 1st and 10 every single time just so we could set TB up for our first two play-action passes of the season in the 3d quarter of the game. And it worked. Hip-Hip-Hooray!

[NamVet4]

I pretty much agree with ALL of the above concerning the disparity.

And in this order:

#1 - No proper pre-game planning. Coaches suck at this; which leads to:
#2 - Opposition Teams up early are going to the "prevent" mode; which leads to:
#3 - Veteran players are playing for the paycheck and little else.

This is a general indictment (not every coach and player is included, but it is a Team game)

[Shubacca]

I'm not sure what is going on here. I would say that execution is a big part of it all. You see one guy have a gigantic brain fart, and the play gets blown apart.
For all that though, Campbell is still not absolved of blame. Some of his decisions leave me feeling like I've just watched a dog get fooled on the fake ball throw 50 times. I'm thinking that sooner of later he's going to get it, but he never does. Granted, that throw to Moss was beautiful. And that throw to Cooley was a laser, but if he could see the field with any clarity, we'd probably be blowing teams out.
Does anyone have the ability to see where we rank defensively as far as how many plays our defense has seen? By that I mean, how many plays, on average, per game, does our defense see? My worry is that the defense is going to be played half to death due to offensive ineptitude.