Not To Be Negative...
 

Last night was great and it feels good to be 2-0. That said, there were some things that we really need to improve on if we're going to have a chance at the division this year.

My list:

1. Hands. We've got to catch the ball. Cooley and Moss both had a few drops in addition to their great receptions last night. I'd love to see Carlos Rogers get a few practice reps catching the ball. He puts himself in great position but just can't make the catch. That's huge.

2. Jason Campbell's short-medium range accuracy. Seems like he has a tendency to fire the ball a little high and outside on the shorter routes. That could very easily cost us some points if corners start jumping the routes.

3. QB pressure. We got close ALOT last night, but didn't get as many sacks as we could've out of it. Some will probably say that McNabb is a mobile qb and that's why he was able to elude the pressure. I disagree. Last night, McNabb was not all that fluid and wasn't pulling away from anyone. I think our dline just has to adjust their technique a little bit to turn pressures into sacks.

What did you see?

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

4. Tackling. It's such a fundamental thing, but wrapping up a guy once contact is made is so critical. I don't think we did a great job of that last night, other than a few nice wraps on receivers after a 7-8 yard gain.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[quote=BleedBurgundy;353557]
3. QB pressure. We got close ALOT last night, but didn't get as many sacks as we could've out of it. Some will probably say that McNabb is a mobile qb and that's why he was able to elude the pressure. I disagree. Last night, McNabb was not all that fluid and wasn't pulling away from anyone. I think our dline just has to adjust their technique a little bit to turn pressures into sacks. [/quote]

The blitz pressure was fine, but the front four have got to be able to get some kind of pressure by themselves. On the Eagles last couple of drives, there were seven players in coverage, with only the front four to apply pressure, and McNabb had all effing day to pass.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

I saw a lot less negatives last night compared to last week.

Outside of Thomas getting hurt, all of the "negatives" from last night were minor if you ask me.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[QUOTE=BleedBurgundy;353557]Last night was great and it feels good to be 2-0. That said, there were some things that we really need to improve on if we're going to have a chance at the division this year.....

3. [B]QB pressure[/B]. We got close ALOT last night, but didn't get as many sacks as we could've out of it. Some will probably say that McNabb is a mobile qb and that's why he was able to elude the pressure. I disagree. Last night, McNabb was not all that fluid and wasn't pulling away from anyone. I think our dline just has to adjust their technique a little bit to turn pressures into sacks.

What did you see?[/QUOTE]

Our biggest issue on defense is pressuring the QB. We seldom get pressure in the opponents backfield unless we blitz. We still need a stud on our D-line.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

I wouldn't say minor, Matty. The receivers dropping balls bothers me. From time to time it's fine, and it happens. Cooley had that deep one right in his hands. That drop was inexcusable. Moss had at least one bad one.

We definitely saw BIG improvements from last week to this week. Our secondary played lights out last night. Great play all around. We do need more pressure, I'm not seeing the old G Will blitz style, that has made me change my stance, we need a stud DE if we plan on sending four regularly.

We NEED to work on points scored if we want to keep up. I really don't know if we can keep up with the Cowboys and maybe even the Giants. The Giants aren't a gimmie game and I'm curious how we react once we're down by a few points.

The Redskins are showing improvement from week to week which is good. Yet again, I ask... with our WRs, why don't we run slants like crazy...

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

I'd like to see a screen pass work it's way into our play calling a bit more often. That one to Betts worked great, that was the only one we ran.

Campbell had a good game overall; just needs to mature. When he overthrows or throws high, I think it's because he's getting himself excited. As he gets more game experience, he should calm down and make those throws.

I can't complain about defensive pressure, I think we did a good enough job there.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

Yeah they need to shore up the drops, but I wonder if some of that is on Campbell not getting enough touch on his throws at times. Cooley definitely needs to make that first catch, even though it wasn't the easiest catch in the world to make.

Overall more positives than negatives though. And even though JC overthrew Moss at the end there, you've gotta love the call to be aggressive and go for the kill.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[quote=dgack;353563]4. Tackling. It's such a fundamental thing, but wrapping up a guy once contact is made is so critical. I don't think we did a great job of that last night, other than a few nice wraps on receivers after a 7-8 yard gain.[/quote]


Let's give Westbrooks some credit, he's a helluva running back; very shifty and elusive.

A few of those tackles, Lawrence Taylor would have whiffed.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[quote=12thMan;353589]Let's give Westbrooks some credit, he's a helluva running back; very shifty and elusive.

A few of those tackles, Lawrence Taylor would have whiffed.[/quote]

Yep, Westbrook is like a greased pig. He's very hard to contain. Kinda reminds me of when we faced Tiki, that guy just always seemed to break crazy tackles on us all the freaking time.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

i agree with all of the negatives you guys listed. i think it's important to note however the way we managed to fight through the negatives. we've all heard the 'bend but no break' saying and last night was a perfect example of it.

i love how campbell can throw a few bad throws, witness several horrible drops, and throw a nasty pick, but still have the poise to run a perfect 2m drill. his composure after his mistakes is awesome.

long story short, we had a handful of negative elements to last night's game, but i think our ability to overcome them and hold strong was important to recognize.

i'll be up from fl at the game sunday and am very excited about being 3-0 (potentially).

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[quote=Mattyk72;353588]Yeah they need to shore up the drops, but I wonder if some of that is on Campbell not getting enough touch on his throws at times. Cooley definitely needs to make that first catch, even though it wasn't the easiest catch in the world to make.[/quote]

I don't buy the touch pass excuse. If Campbell throws high or behind a receiver, I can excuse the receiver, but when the ball hits both hands, they're #1 priority is to make te catch. It's aggrevating as hell to watch the two best receiver on the team drop long completions...

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[quote=BleedBurgundy;353557]Last night was great and it feels good to be 2-0. That said, there were some things that we really need to improve on if we're going to have a chance at the division this year.

My list:

1. Hands. We've got to catch the ball. Cooley and Moss both had a few drops in addition to their great receptions last night. I'd love to see Carlos Rogers get a few practice reps catching the ball. He puts himself in great position but just can't make the catch. That's huge.

2. Jason Campbell's short-medium range accuracy. Seems like he has a tendency to fire the ball a little high and outside on the shorter routes. That could very easily cost us some points if corners start jumping the routes.

3. QB pressure. We got close ALOT last night, but didn't get as many sacks as we could've out of it. Some will probably say that McNabb is a mobile qb and that's why he was able to elude the pressure. I disagree. Last night, McNabb was not all that fluid and wasn't pulling away from anyone. I think our dline just has to adjust their technique a little bit to turn pressures into sacks.

What did you see?[/quote]

1. I'm not too worried about dropped passes on offense. Carlos just can't catch and I guess that's why he is a db.

2. We have to realize that our qb has only started 9 NFL games. He has a long way to go. You can have all the OTA's and minicamps but there is nothing like game experience. I'm not too worried about it. He'll straighten it out. He makes up for it with his playmaking ability. Look how many drives he kept alive with his mobility?

3. Sometimes as fans we have to give credit to the other team. Eagles have a very good veteran o-line.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

I would like to see the skins have a long fluid drive. It just seems that things are kinda "herky jerky" right now. Hopefully we can solidify the O-line (two key injuries) are hard to come back from, but they still held thier own.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

My main concern is the offensive line. With two starters most likely gone for the year, depth is becoming a serious problem.
I am not sure I like Jason Fabini. He is on the downside of his career, plus a veteran like him should not be jumping offsides two or three times in a row near the goal line. He nearly cost us a TD if not for a great play by Campbell and Cooley.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[quote=Defensewins;353600]My main concern is the offensive line. With two starters most likely gone for the year, depth is becoming a serious problem.
I am not sure I like Jason Fabini. He is on the downside of his career, plus a veteran like him should not be jumping offsides two or three times in a row near the goal line. He nearly cost us a TD if not for a great play by Campbell and Cooley.[/quote]

Has there been any word on Thomas? Is he out for the year?

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[QUOTE=Mattyk72;353588][B]Yeah they need to shore up the drops, but I wonder if some of that is on Campbell[/B] not getting enough touch on his throws at times. Cooley definitely needs to make that first catch, even though it wasn't the easiest catch in the world to make.

Overall more positives than negatives though. And even though JC overthrew Moss at the end there, you've gotta love the call to be aggressive and go for the kill.[/QUOTE]

It seems that JC throws behind the receivers at times, and especially on crossing routes. But, we must remember that this guy started in only his 8th game! I am so stoked over our QB and see a very promising season / career for this kid if we can curb the O-line injuries. Granted some of the passes should have been caught, but I see nothing but good things coming down the road for us. A great win last night and a character building experience.

edit: [B]9th[/B] game started by JC :confused:

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

1. Agreed, at least 3 drops if not more that were in the hands of the receivers, I counted 1 cooley, 1 moss, 1 yoder
2. On 2 of those short routes he had a d-lineman in his face and had to throw around him, if not ball would have been batted and no play at least he is giving the receivers an opportunity to get the ball and he is hitting the hot receiver with a blitz coming......but still needs work or better blocking but can't complain about that with all the injuries will still take time to jell in the new guys.
3. QB pressure, if I recall from last year, we weren't even getting close. last year sack TOTAL for the year-19, this year already 5.....doing better but still could use some improvement, I think carter is on the verge of a BIG year, he didn't have any last night but was VERRRY close on several plays
4. Tackling.....AGREED, but it seemed like it was only on Westbrook, who is pretty freaking GOOD, but still gotta make the first tackle or slow him up more for somebody to finish him off!
5. Positives, WOW how about the rookie coming up HUGE on the biggest play of the game!
[QUOTE=BleedBurgundy;353557]Last night was great and it feels good to be 2-0. That said, there were some things that we really need to improve on if we're going to have a chance at the division this year.

My list:

1. Hands. We've got to catch the ball. Cooley and Moss both had a few drops in addition to their great receptions last night. I'd love to see Carlos Rogers get a few practice reps catching the ball. He puts himself in great position but just can't make the catch. That's huge.

2. Jason Campbell's short-medium range accuracy. Seems like he has a tendency to fire the ball a little high and outside on the shorter routes. That could very easily cost us some points if corners start jumping the routes.

3. QB pressure. We got close ALOT last night, but didn't get as many sacks as we could've out of it. Some will probably say that McNabb is a mobile qb and that's why he was able to elude the pressure. I disagree. Last night, McNabb was not all that fluid and wasn't pulling away from anyone. I think our dline just has to adjust their technique a little bit to turn pressures into sacks.

What did you see?[/QUOTE]

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[QUOTE=skinsfan69;353602]Has there been any word on Thomas? Is he out for the year?[/QUOTE]

NO word yet, but torn bicep for an OL is not good. Hopefully it is a partial tear.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[QUOTE=Defensewins;353600]My main concern is the offensive line. With two starters most likely gone for the year, depth is becoming a serious problem.
[B]I am not sure I like Jason Fabini. He is on the downside of his career, plus a veteran like him should not be jumping offsides two or three times in a row near the goal line. He nearly cost us a TD if not for a great play by Campbell and Cooley.[/B][/QUOTE]

OMG, Fabini was in another world, another game, or somewhere other than where he should have been. What the hell was up with so many repeat false-starts? Then, our coaches blew the clock management during this same drive. Where were we, on the two yard line or something? Those miscues almost killed that drive entirely. Of all the negatives, those there were the winners (or losers). I thought Gibbs and Co. got past those issues a couple of years ago.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[QUOTE=Dlyne8r;353610]OMG, Fabini was in another world, another game, or somewhere other than where he should have been. What the hell was up with so many repeat false-starts? Then, our coaches blew the clock management during this same drive. Where were we, on the two yard line or something? Those miscues almost killed that drive entirely. Of all the negatives, those there were the winners (or losers). I thought Gibbs and Co. got past those issues a couple of years ago.[/QUOTE]
That clock management wasn't on us. The officials stopped the clock briefly which made our guys think the play clock was also reset. We got screwed. Lucky to come away with a td on that one.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

I think our defensive backs played amazing. That being said I do think we need to work on getting in the quarterbacks face. Those 3 sacks we had were all coverage sacks. I think we need to work on Campbell's short to medium range and put a little touch on the passes. Then we need to work on getting to the outside when we run. We had a really hard time doing that all night.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[quote=Dlyne8r;353610]OMG, Fabini was in another world, another game, or somewhere other than where he should have been. What the hell was up with so many repeat false-starts? Then, our coaches blew the clock management during this same drive. Where were we, on the two yard line or something? Those miscues almost killed that drive entirely. Of all the negatives, those there were the winners (or losers). I thought Gibbs and Co. got past those issues a couple of years ago.[/quote]

According to JC the headsets went out so that had something to do with it. I was screaming at the TV to just kick it cause we were too retarded to run a damn play. Shows how much I know!

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[quote=Dlyne8r;353610]OMG, Fabini was in another world, another game, or somewhere other than where he should have been. What the hell was up with so many repeat false-starts? Then, our coaches blew the clock management during this same drive. Where were we, on the two yard line or something? Those miscues almost killed that drive entirely. Of all the negatives, those there were the winners (or losers). I thought Gibbs and Co. got past those issues a couple of years ago.[/quote]

I'll give Fabini a pass for now.

Not exactly the easiest circumstances to see your first action of the season on MNF in front of a rowdy crowd. He'll settle down I'm sure.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[QUOTE=Mattyk72;353620][quote=Dlyne8r;353610]OMG, Fabini was in another world, another game, or somewhere other than where he should have been. What the hell was up with so many repeat false-starts? Then, our coaches blew the clock management during this same drive. Where were we, on the two yard line or something? Those miscues almost killed that drive entirely. Of all the negatives, those there were the winners (or losers). I thought Gibbs and Co. got past those issues a couple of years ago.[/quote]

I'll give Fabini a pass for now.

Not exactly the easiest circumstances to see your first action of the season on MNF in front of a rowdy crowd. He'll settle down I'm sure.[/QUOTE]

Fabini was:[LIST][*]Playing a position he doesn't play[*]Playing on a side of the line he hasn't played in eight years[*]Initially playing on special teams, which makes hearing a snap count even harder[*]In front of a loud and hostile crowd[*]Drawn off on his second penalty[/LIST]
Also he:[LIST][*]Gave up no sacks[*]Run blocked well[*]Didn't cost us any points[/LIST]
I'm OK with last night.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[QUOTE=BleedBurgundy;353612]That clock management wasn't on us. The officials stopped the clock briefly which made our guys think the play clock was also reset. We got screwed. Lucky to come away with a td on that one.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the clarification BB, I must have been swilling too much of my favorite adult bevarage!

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[QUOTE=BrudLee;353623]Fabini was:[LIST][*]Playing a position he doesn't play
[B]reply: But you still start at the same snap count regardless of your position.[/B][*]Playing on a side of the line he hasn't played in eight years
[B]reply: See above[/B][*]Initially playing on special teams, which makes hearing a snap count even harder
[B]reply: He has 10-yrs. experience as an O-lineman. Hearing snap counts is part of his resume'.[/B][*]In front of a loud and hostile crowd
[B]reply: See above.[/B][*]Drawn off on his second penalty
[B]reply: True, he gets a pass on that one.[/B][/LIST]
Also he:[LIST][*]Gave up no sacks[*]Run blocked well[*]Didn't cost us any points
[B]reply: He could have given that we lost the advantage of being a couple of yards from the end-zone partially due to his mistakes.[/B][/LIST]
I'm OK with last night.[/QUOTE]

Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful we have Fabini. I just believe that he could have done a better job even though he was under pressure. Pete Kendall hasn't been here long and he didn't jump off-sides.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

Granted the Redskins made a few mistakes last night, but what was most impressive is that they adapted and overcame the mistakes and won the game. Campbell is no Carson Palmer or Tom Brady or Payton Manning. He is a young developing quarterback that is making more positive plays than negative plays. I see improvement with each start. Give the kid a break. He is doing things that Mark Brunnel can only dream about.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[quote=Defensewins;353600]My main concern is the offensive line. With two starters most likely gone for the year, depth is becoming a serious problem.
I am not sure I like Jason Fabini. He is on the downside of his career, plus a veteran like him should not be jumping offsides two or three times in a row near the goal line. He nearly cost us a TD if not for a great play by Campbell and Cooley.[/quote]

agreed, very nervous about the O-line minus Thomas...
As for the game...Turnovers! I don't know how much more success we can expect when we're losing the turnover battle. While our D has been very bend not break - a major improvement- we still aren't creating any turnovers. WE also need to score more...

As for catching, santana looked much better yesterday than against the 'fins...cooley will be fine.

I'll tell you, I almost lost myself at the end of the first half...we continue to have the worst clock management in the NFL. (while i'm aware the headset wasn't working, i don't think that explains the past few years....very frustrating)

OVerall: many more positives than negatives. campbell showed great potential. the running game began to work better in the 2nd half. Bottom line, we won.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

I'd almost rather have Pucillo starting at RG, but Fabini is fine for now I suppose

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

Our mistakes were small and not one that cost us a win. To go to philly on MNF with a young QB and come out with a win is no mistake.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[QUOTE=SmootSmack;353646]I'd almost rather have Pucillo starting at RG, but Fabini is fine for now I suppose[/QUOTE]

I posted this on another thread, but it is related:

Apparently the 'Skins are already looking for a possible replacement for Randy Thomas according to JLC. His injury must be serious.

[url=http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/]Redskins Insider[/url]

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

i am a bit puzzled at to why we are not more of a pressure D like we were in 04 and 05. I gave the benefit of the doubt last year with the secondary issues. But I thought this year with the additions we made there, we would bring a lot more pressure. Now, given Smoot was out last night so that may have some weight, but against Miami we didnt' really bring any pressure. I think we have the horses to bring more pressure, and maybe as the season goes on we will be more aggressive. Also, if we have a two score lead early we may bring some more heat, so I will give it another week or two before question GW right now.

offensively, i think we are what we are. Campbell missed a couple balls, and we dropped a couple. All in all, I think we ran the ball effectively, and Campbell hit 8 of 15 3rd downs! that is awesome. He stood in the pocket and delivered some good balls, took a couple of shots down field. That is OLD SCHOOL JOE GIBBS FOOTBALL. I think it was a great win for us, gives our D some confidence, and Campbell some as well.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

The biggest thing that bothered me last night was seeing the dropped balls from Cooley. I don't care if everyone on the teams forgets to use thier hands, we can't afford to drop some of the passes he did. He made up for it with the TD catch, but a couple of them were drive killers.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

I'm puzzled that people are puzzled over the defensive changes.

There was a lengthy article in the offseason about how GW was going to revamp the defense and that he thought that NFL offenses had gotten to the point where they had figured out the cover 2.

Now we're running more cover 3 and bringing less exotic blitz packages in order to leave more guys in coverage, and he's letting the D-line get after the QB.

Seems to be working so far.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

negatives I saw:

1) andre carter on every play would rush to the outside so all the left tackle had to do was push/ride him past the qb

2) campbell didnt seem to lock-on right away to his 1st option receiver on the short-to-intermediate routes as much but i wasnt looking for that this game

3) missed tackles, especially the westbrook play where he juked LL then easily brushed off d. evans arm tackle . . nfl.com video highlights really shows this well . .

what i liked:

1) campbell's long ball was soooo nice, it is either right there or alil long which i can live with for a young qb

2) fletcher running westbrook to teh sideline on the play i talked about above so that it wasnt just westbrook against PP . .

3)

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[quote=Dlyne8r;353672]I posted this on another thread, but it is related:

Apparently the 'Skins are already looking for a possible replacement for Randy Thomas according to JLC. His injury must be serious.

[URL="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/"]Redskins Insider[/URL][/quote]

I'd be surprised if Keydrick Vincent leaves town without a contract.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

I like that we showed a bunch of bump and run on 3rd down. Every time we used it they were punting on 4th down.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

[quote=BleedBurgundy;353557]Last night was great and it feels good to be 2-0. That said, there were some things that we really need to improve on if we're going to have a chance at the division this year.

My list:

1. Hands. We've got to catch the ball. Cooley and Moss both had a few drops in addition to their great receptions last night. I'd love to see Carlos Rogers get a few practice reps catching the ball. He puts himself in great position but just can't make the catch. That's huge.

2. Jason Campbell's short-medium range accuracy. Seems like he has a tendency to fire the ball a little high and outside on the shorter routes. That could very easily cost us some points if corners start jumping the routes.

3. QB pressure. We got close ALOT last night, but didn't get as many sacks as we could've out of it. Some will probably say that McNabb is a mobile qb and that's why he was able to elude the pressure. I disagree. Last night, McNabb was not all that fluid and wasn't pulling away from anyone. I think our dline just has to adjust their technique a little bit to turn pressures into sacks.

What did you see?[/quote]

I would like to add one more thing that I hope you dont take negatively.

PASS COVERAGE. Look, McNabb was inaccurate as hell last night. But that does not take away from the fact that he had recievers in a open spot in the defense. If he completed half of the passes he made these poor throws on, the outcome of this game may have been much different.
The press coverage was great and had McNabb running for his life. But when the defense switched to a zone coverage, there were open recievers.

McNabb was WAY off his game and over/under threw a majority of his targets.

There are better passers coming up in your schedule then what you saw last night, and those QB's will HIT those targets, unlike McNabb.

Re: Not To Be Negative...
 

THe only real negative was the fact that we could have easily put the game away with that looooong incompletion from Campbell to Moss.

He was wide open, and if he gets hit, then the game is over.

Good teams will come back when other teams dont capitalize!