Belated Redskins-Packers Reviews

great job Gtripp

Good work as usual (long reply) Cheeers!
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Offense
It was about five games into last season when we all realized that the Redskins offensive line couldn't block anyone, couldn't pick-up any blitzes, and even three man rushes were getting home around the time the running back was leaking out of the backfield.
Remember when Campbell got hit in the back on play action pass against the Panthers? Ugly.

Too many of McNabb's wildly inaccurate throws in this game were not a function of poor fundamentals, but rather, turning away from the pressure as he was surrounded by white jerseys. There are two sides to every coin of course: McNabb never lost his aggressiveness for any reason. He made stick throws into impossibly small windows multiple times in the fourth quarter. On a fourth and two playcall with the Redskins down by ten, he threw the ball deep into the end zone to a double-covered Anthony Armstrong (he screwed up badly in leaving the pocket in the first place, however. Solution: run the ball.). There was no comfortable pocket at any point in this game, and McNabb beat the blitz to an open receiver in the middle of the field any number of times.

Some of McNabb's misses were just McNabb.
But, i agree that the result of the hits might have made McNabb speed things up in his head and needlessly rush some throws.
I hear you about McNabb's aggressiveness.
I'm starting to think he's always thinking 'big play'.
Dude is a homerun hitter.
I often wonder why he's taking a low % deep shot in situations when one would think its more prudent to try the higher % 1st down but maybe its part of what makes him able to make the big plays downfield.
I have a feeling he agrees with the notion that you miss 100% if the shots you don't take.

We don't trust our running game in critical times (1 RB carry in 3 OT possessions this year, 2 combined rushing yards same timeframe), and we're too predictable on second and third downs (we mix very well on first downs), and all of this is causing McNabb to be the focal point and sole distributor of an offense that can't protect him.
At the end of the day our success really is on his shoulders b/c we're still trying to get better as a team to take the pressure off his shoulders.
Our new OTs have to get healthy and raise there level of play (Jamal Brown) if we're gonna execute Kyle's 5-7 step drop back passing game without modification.

But, until/unless the OL and running improve: as goes McNabb so go the Redskins.

-I don't know about the stats but it felt like we had some positive gains on the ground in the second half but didn't stay with it.

If this sounds familiar, it's because now with Portis out, we have last year's offense, but with an additional big play receiver and a quarterback who is a threat to get the ball downfield in any down and distance.

I know i'm beating a dead horse, but i think we need to start off games with more quick rhythm 3-step style passing game that we were forced to use for the better part of last season. We seemed to move in that direction in the second half and i thought it helped us move the ball and get McNabb in rhythm.

Things are Still Going Right Though? We're 3-2 with a Mediocre Defense
And an offense that really hasn't clicked or found its identity yet and with a make shift/injured/underperforming OL.

Still we should be leaning on our league average running game more than we actually are, particularly in third down and less than five, when the Redskins have thrown close to 100% of the time this year (optimal balance is roughly 3/4 running in that situation). That's the biggest repeatable reason for our 3rd down failures this year. We're not a bad rushing team, but because we aren't great at it, we hardly ever run. That, and we haven't found a change-of-pace back who we will give the ball to other than Torain. Keiland Williams is going to be the third down back while Portis is out, but the Redskins don't want to give him a chance to carry the ball.

I agree about the 3rd and short pass plays how much of that is lack of faith in the OL?
If my memory serves me i recall many of the 3rd and short conversions failed because of drops or poor passes so i view it as more of an execution issue and not b/c the defense won.
I don't think we've ran the ball enough of late to give 2 backs carries.
But, i don't see why Williams wouldn't get more carries if the situation arose that there were extra carries.
I actually liked the way Keiland ran in preseason better then Torrain.

I thought Kyle Shanahan called a good game here. I'm not sure how many opponents have picked up on his tendency to alternate run/pass on first and second downs in normal game situations,

I thought he called a good game but would have liked to see more 1WR 2TE 2BACK groupings with an effort to really get the run game going.
Also, thought he waited to long to adjust to the lack of pass pro and go with quicker rhythm passes.

I normally notice things like that but until you wrote it i didn't realize it.
(It also reminded me of how open Armstrong was on our 2nd drive 1st and 10 bootleg right McNabb overthrew him down the sideline.)

He didn't get away from the stuff that was working and stuck with the game plan: we were running the slant-flat combo deep into the game, although McNabb didn't really stick with the play when we did run it. That's not the playcaller's fault.
My favorite formation from last game was singleback 3 wide with tight/reduced split we often ran the different variation of the flat route combos: slant/flat, out/flat, hook/flat,
I just wish McNabb would hit the flat receiver; its almost a gimme 3-5 yards more if the receiver breaks the tackle.
(I'm starting to notice that in general he doesn't like to throw to the flat; against the Eagles he had a half roll/sprint out right and had Tana wide open in the flat and didn't pull the trigger.)

Armstrongs TD came from this singleback tight formation except they added a double to move to attack the safety.
McNabb's throw was late b/c he had to scramble but WOW went for it and uncorked a bomb.

McNabb needed to be able to trust Joey Galloway on timing patterns to finish off the comeback, and while McNabb badly underthrew a couple of outs, he made some completions to Galloway that were among his best throws of the day.
I think these were from that same formation i mentioned earlier.
That toss to Galloway was a thing of beauty.

The passing offense is progressing and adding depth while securing roles for individual receivers, even as the offensive line is regressing to last year's levels. If there are better days in the future for the Redskin offense, this needs to be a clear outlier performance. The pass protection unit's number one task for next week is to win Donovan McNabb's confidence back.

Agreed, although i would add that the playcalling needs to take some of the pressure off the OL.

I believe we have 5 pass plays over 50 yards this year, tops in the league. So I'll live with some of McNabb's short misses. You know the deep shot is just around the corner.

Ah, a realistic thread. Good stuff.

Now, I wonder why....

SCp, for every 10 threads you click on how many would you say you actually read? 1? 2?

SCp, for every 10 threads you click on how many would you say you actually read? 1? 2?

I read the offensive review and then the defensive one. I certainly agree that the pass rush was anemic outside of Rak and it shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out. Golston getting his ass kicked once again is no surprise. His other great showings of getting his ass kicked came against the Lions last hear and on the Johnathan Stewart TD.

And yep, I pretty much agreed with most of the offensive review, except for Matthews' departure not having any effect.

But hey, the optimism train must go on.

Great read. Thanks G-Tripp.

We need Haynesworth to collapse the pocket next week, and really force significant pressure.

Manning with time is unstoppable, but if we can get him to rush his throws... we can get those beloved turnovers.


All we have to do is get some real pressure and make uncomfortable and then he starts throwing uncharacteristically. If dude gets pressured he turns into your best friend for a Defense. Thats what I have always took from him in that situation.

I read the offensive review and then the defensive one. I certainly agree that the pass rush was anemic outside of Rak and it shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out. Golston getting his ass kicked once again is no surprise. His other great showings of getting his ass kicked came against the Lions last hear and on the Johnathan Stewart TD.

And yep, I pretty much agreed with most of the offensive review, except for Matthews' departure not having any effect.

But hey, the optimism train must go on.

Last hear??? Did he go deaf???

Last hear??? Did he go deaf???

"Last year". Sleep deprivation is not my friend, even after a nap.

But hey, the optimism train must go on.

Thank you for proving my point Sir Offiss