Vision Quest: A Tale of Two Halves

Only the Washington Redskins can inspire as much frustration from its fan base when they are winning. Perhaps the fan base is too picky, remembering former glory. I concede that we have high expectations for our team. We believe that our team is more talented then the team we watch each Sunday. We believe our coaches are better then they display each Sunday. And we believe our roster moves are more solid then they are.

I think the truly frustrating part is that we are most likely right. The proof of that is also on the field each Sunday, but more often then not it only sticks around until half time and decides to take the rest of the game off. Quite plainly the team seems to get out coached, out played, and out hustled in the second half by almost every opponent this year. No lead is safe and no hope for a comeback is reasonable.

Those who want to say a win is a win is a win I am with you. At the end of the day it is the scoreboard that matters. However with over a third of the season done the Redskins have provided a blueprint for any decent NFL team to beat them. One that works to perfection almost every time. Just hold on till the second half and the redskins will hand you opportunities to win the game.

The Redskins are playing not to lose on both sides of the ball this year and it shows.
Only the Miami game did the redskins actually trail at halftime this year. Ironically they cam back and won that game but only after a late collapse that allowed Miami to extend it into OT. Against Philadelphia they were an errant throw by McNabb and a bone jarring hit by Landry away from allowing Philadelphia to tie the game. Against the Giants they allowed 21 unanswered points while the offense failed to produce anything and lost a winnable game at home. Against Green Bay the offense imploded in the second half and gave the game to Favre and company. And last week against the cardinals the Redskins did everything they could to lose the game yet got lucky they were playing the most cursed franchise in the NFL and escaped with the closest of victories. Only the Detroit game was a blowout, with the Redskins winning 34-3.

But we don’t have to rely on subjective interpretations of the games to see just how futile we are as a team in the second half. The statistics in this case bear this out as well.

The offense bears the brunt of the blame in most fans minds, and rightfully so. Their play has been anemic overall. And in the second half of games they have been downright retarded. The Redskins have scored a mediocre 112 points this season. However their first half performance of 72 points have given them the lead going into half time in all but one of their games. However the redskins have only scored 40 points after halftime, a drop off of over 45%. Don’t think points are a good stat, what about yards gained. First half 1009 yards gained, second half 818 (almost 20% drop-off). How about first downs? 59 in the first half, 44 in the second (over 25% drop-off).

The Defense is having its problems as well. The Redskins have only allowed 88 points, not bad. But in the first half the Redskins have only surrendered 29 points. Compare that to 59 in the second half (that’s over 100% more). Yards allowed? 721 yards in the first half, 940 yards in the second half (almost 25% more). First downs? 39 first downs allowed in the first half, 59 in the second (over 30% more). Some of it can be attributed to the poor play of the defense keeping them on the field more, but it is a fact they are letting teams back into the game when they sit on a lead is apparent.

So in summation while the Redskins outscore their opponents 72-29 in the first half of games, they get beat 40-59 in the second half. While the Redskins out gain their opponents 1009-721 in the first half, the second half they are out gained 818-940. They gain 59 first downs to their opponents 39 in the first half, but only get 44 to their opponent’s 58 in the second half.
Looking at these numbers head to head surely shows the coaches are not making the adjustments they need to make at half time. This used to be Gibb’s forte in his first reign here but it has been a liability his entire second tenure. In game and at the half adjustments just seem to never be made. Sure we may have a good game plan going into the game but once there the opponent makes a change (unless you are Mike Martz and think max protect is your deodorant strength).

There is still time to right this hip. We have the talent and can play with just about every opponent we have on the schedule. So here are a few suggestions that I hope the redskins implement in the next few weeks:

Turn Jason Campbell loose. Sure the line is patchwork, but all three of our replacements have started for other teams. Maybe they do not have the nuances of the run game down, but pass blocking is easier. Especially with a healthy Rabach coming back to make the calls. Campbell has legs so roll him out a couple of times, let him win games for us, not just manage them. He has the talent, let him prove it.

Get Cooley in the game. Right now we resigned Cooley to a multi-year extension to use him like a blocking TE. As much as I see the need to help the offensive line out, we need him in space creating havoc more then anything else. I love seeing Sellers knocking over Defensive backs but I much rather have Cooley finding a seam and turning a 10 yard seam into a 40 yard score. Line up Seller at TE and split out Cooley as a third WR. Use more two TE sets and keep Yoder in to block. Get this boy into space and pass the ball to him.

Stop playing the uncover 2. Ok you can play it a little, just not exclusively. Against even an adequate offensive line our front four can not generate a pass rush. We need to blitz once in awhile just to keep the opponent honest. This defense is built on the blitz, you cannot abandon it. I rather die playing our brand of football then have our lead whittled down to nothing and die anyways.

Go for the kill. Whether on offense or defense. When you are up 14 points throw a bomb once in awhile. If the opponent is on his 5 bring the house and try and get a safety. At the end of 2005 Gibbs said he put the game in the hands of his players. It is time to do that again. Gamble once in awhile and play to win, stop playing not to lose.

If we start doing some of that I hope we will win more games then we lose and make a serious run at the playoffs. If not well that is why I am a hack writer and not a pro-football coach.

5 Things We Know Now

We won, barely. So here are the 5 Things We Know Now, maybe.

London Fletcher is the heart of this defense 10 tackles, 3 assists, an INT for a touchdown. Wow. Give credit where credit is due. The Front office and the defensive staff saw one of the major problems with last year’s team and decided to fix it. This may be the signing of the off season and big credit to new LB coach Olivadotti who has the entire corp. playing at a high level, even when Washington is out of the lineup.

Sean Taylor is the soul. I miss seeing Taylor on the line of scrimmage but he has become one of the biggest ball hawks in the NFL. He leads the league with 5 interceptions. Not only are opposing players now afraid to go over the middle, the QBs are afraid to overthrow it there. He is having the season of his career this year and is earning a big payday in the near future.

Carlos Rogers can’t catch but he can still beat up a kicker. It wouldn’t be a Redskin game without a possible interception for a TD misplayed by Rogers. He had one again but mistimed his jump and could not get over to get it. But don’t worry he beat up Neil Rackers and that is why he missed his 55 yard FG. Well that is what I am going with anyways.

You can’t run when the defensive line is 2 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Pucillo and Fabini were in the backfield more then Sellers and Portis this last game. They got blown up more then a Michael Bay movie. These guys were once starters in this league. They better man up and play or if not the Redskins need to replace them with young raw offensive linemen next year. Never mind, they need to do that anyways.

Redskin games are not for the faint of heart. A few weeks ago I laughed at Buffalo and cursed their fans for their gift to Dallas. Now that comes back to haunt me. Thank god we pulled it out, but that leaves me thinking. How in hell am I going to survive this season? Throw out the Detroit game and our average win is less then one score, and even the Detroit game was in doubt until the middle of the 4th quarter. We find more ways to make it close, but give me a good old fashioned blow out win sometime.

Looking Ahead.

Now we know what it must have been like to be King Henry V on the field of Agincourt as the thundering horde of the French Army coming to bear on his rag tag group of English Soldiers. Alas I think his odds were greater then ours this next Sunday.

If this team wants a chance to win we need to throw caution to the wind and execute brilliantly on Sunday. They need to act like it is a pre-season game. And I am not talking about a Joe Gibbs pre-season game. I am talking about a Steve Spurrier drunk on Saki let-er rip pre-season game. Try things that they would never do in a regular game, like passing down the field.

After all someone has to beat the Patriots sooner or later or we all are playing for second place.

Vision Quest: Turning Point or Fluke

One of the more exciting things about being a Washington Redskins fan is also one of the most frustrating. And that is the anticipation of what team will show up on Sunday. From week to week and sometimes even from half to half we just don’t know what incarnation will take the field. Will the defense be effective like in the Miami and Philadelphia games? Or will they flounder hopelessly like the second half of the NY Giants game? Will the offense click and control the clock like the first half of the Giants game? Or will it stall out and barely produce, like every other time this season?

Rarely in the last 4 years have we seen a performance like what we got this last Sunday. All phases of the game seemed to click as one. The defense generated pass rush and shout down a decent offensive team. The offense had long drives that for the most part resulted in scores. The Special teams had long returns and decent coverage throughout the game. The coaching staff went for the jugular and never let the opponent off the floor. All of this resulted in a 34-3 drubbing of the Lions was the biggest win in two years.

With all the inconsistency over the last 5 years the question still remains, was this performance a turning point in our season, leading to a playoff run. Or was it a fluke performance and the Redskins will slide to a mediocre or losing season?

At 3-1 the Redskins are now 2nd in the NFC East (Dallas is 5-0 and the luckiest team in the western hemisphere. Jerry Jones must have sold his soul to the devil. And why do you need a soul if all your other body parts are replaced already?). The first quarter of the season is over and looking at this impartially, we are about where we expected our team to be. I know I figured to lose in Philly, but beat the Giants at home. We flipped the outcomes of those games.

The hardest part was the way we lost to the Giants after dominating them for an entire half of football. Many of us, including yours truly, took this as a sign this team would not take the necessary step forward to deliver on the promises made by the return of Joe Gibbs 3 years ago. This was not a reaction to one game but more of a series of decisions both on the field and off that have left us with sub-par football on Sundays.

That is until this last week. I don’t want to make too much of one win, because truly there are a lot of caveats to the win. Sure we got pressure from our front four but the offensive line for Detroit is pitiful. The Redskins scored the most points in a game in over two years, but this same Detroit team gave up 51 to the hapless Philadelphia Eagles (who are averaging just over 9 points in their other three games). The Redskins even had an interception return for a touchdown, but it came late and they also failed to fall on 5 previous fumbles by the Lion offense.

But at least there is hope this week. The coaching staff, for the first time since 2005, put together a complete game plan and executed it with precision. The defense totally dominated the Detroit high ranked offense while suffering through injuries to Marcus Washington and Phillip Daniels. The offense moved the ball with efficiency allowing Jason Campbell to have his best day as a pro. Even Mike Sellers got into the Act grabbing 2 TDS and a whole bunch of hits on hapless Lion defenders. He hit Kenoy Kennedy so hard he dislocated his soul.

But if this team is truly going to make the next step and become a true contender, then the next four games are important. The NFL season can be broken up into four quarters. If you win each quarter (3-1) you will win your division and get a home playoff game. If you want to get to the Super bowl, then you have to start there. The Redskins won their first quarter, so 1/4th of the job is done.

Unfortunately I think the next four games is our hardest quarter of football this season. First we travel to Green Bay who will be looking to avenge their first loss of the season last week. Then we host the Arizona Cardinals whose offense is starting to Gel now that the QB shuffle has stopped. We then travel to New England to face the best team I have seen play in my lifetime, and no, I am not kidding. Last we finish up against the Jets in the Meadowlands, where we have not won in Gibbs II.

If we are to go 3-1 this quarter that means a win in Title Town. Then hold serve againstArizona and the NY Jets. I doubt highly we can beat New England. But then again I doubt Jesus coaching the 11 disciples (Judas is on the Inactive list) can beat the Patriots. And if you have seen St. Peter you know he throws a hell of a Hail Mary.

But for right now, this second, there once again remains hope in Landover. Hope that we are headed in the right direction and that instead of the mediocrity of most of the last 16 years we can see the start of something special.

5 Things We Know Now

1.) That Jason Campbell Trade was pretty good. At the time of the trade in 2005, many including me, wondered why we were trading our future for a QB from Auburn when we had the future of our franchise, Patrick Ramsey, scheduled to start. My, how wrong we were. Jason Campbell is developing into not just a competent, but a very good professional quarterback. Each game he is getting better and he put up career numbers (23-29, 248 yards passing 2 TDs) against Detroit. This kid is a gamer and has a chance to be a Redskin for a long long time.

2.) That Brandon Lloyd Trade was not so good. A 3rd and a 4th, $10 million in guaranteed cash for what? 24 catches, 374 yards, and 0tds. And that includes his incredible 1 catch for 9 yards last week. If it was not for the Adam Archueletta he would already be gone. Now he is in the press admitting to loafing on the field getting him benched. Well Lloyd it is going to get you released next year. Brush up on the rap skills.

3.) Joe Gibbs coaches better when he is pissed. Mid week Coach Joe blew up at a reporter when asked about Detroit’s 0-20 (now 0-21) mark in DC against the Redskins. Is this the reason the redskins did so well? Probably not. But just in case Dan Snyder should hire a lackey to follow Gibbs around and taunt him every few seconds.

4.) Keenan McCardell can still play. 4 Days in the offense and he came in for an injured Moss and Randle-El to get 2 catches for 39 yards, both critical first downs. With Randle-El still hurt the old man may get the #2 job this upcoming weekend. In one game he has more then doubled some other high paid bench warmers.

5.) Hell has frozen over. The last time a Redskin has returned an interception for a touchdown was Iffy Ohalete in 2002. On Sunday Carlos “Stone hands” Rogers took one to the house late. Seriously, I saw Satan, he was wearing long johns.

Looking Ahead

Many saw the Detroit game as a make or break game. Not me. Quite simply if we had lost to Detroit then we are, to borrow a phrase, what most people thought we were, pathetic. By beating Detroit the Redskins have silenced some of their critics, even if their critics were many of their fans. But at the end of the day all they really did was beat up on a fatally flawed team in their house.

Nope the real make or break game for me is this one. If the Redskins are a legitimate playoff team and want to contend for the division, then we need to go on the road a few times this year, and win in a hostile environment and hold serve at home. We won inPhiladelphia, but since we lost at home to the Giants, we have to make it up on the road.

Green Bay is essentially a one-dimensional team, unable to run the ball relying on the pass. But that passer is future Hall of Famer Brett Favre who is still lighting up defenses around the league. Putting pressure on Favre will be key, but hard to do. Favre is still a mobile QB and the offensive line is one of the best in the league.

As Always until next time Hail to the Redskins!!!!