Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

Welcome to a new weekly feature where I get all Daseal up in here and pour out the pessimism like a 40 on North Capitol Street on the people, places, things that have let me down after each game (at least I'll try).

I'll even do this after wins to appease to the irishes of the world. To be clear though, this isn't a "we suck, the season is over" type of thread.

Anyway, this week I'm laying the smack down on the following:

[B]1. Shawn Springs:[/B] How do you miss this game? With the experience and talent you have you should be a captain on this team but it's moments like this that explain why you're not. I agree that it's just one game but you're the leader of that secondary and you should have set an example and set a tone for the season by suiting up.

[B]2. Carlos Rogers:[/B] First off, congratulations on making the starting lineup on opening day. Tremendous comeback from a devastating injury. That said, you need to step up and start making plays. Some people have the misconception that you suck, which of course is wrong. You don't suck, in fact you're very good. If you weren't you wouldn't be in position to make plays so often. But you need to start making those plays. If all you want to do is swat the ball, add 100 pounds and we'll line you up at DT

[B]3. Stan Hixon:[/B] I'm putting the WRs woes on you. Too harsh? Perhaps. But someone has to take the blame here and your wide receivers (from Thomas all the way up to Moss) need to run past the first down marker on third downs. What killed us more than anything was that we would complete the pass short of the first down marker and then couldn't even break any tackles. The West Coast Offense is all about breaking tackles and adding yards. That has to improve, asap.

[B]4. The Fans:[/B] Don't give up after week one. That's all I ask.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[B]5. Clock Management[/B]
I hate to add on to another man's list, but I can't ignore this one. I was as upset about every other aspect of the game as anyone else, but the clock management at the end of the half and especially the end of the game was absolutely infuriating.

We're nothing short of lucky that we managed to score at the end of the half, completely in spite of poor clock management.

Do we not even have a 2-minute offense? A 4-minute offense? I swear it was like Zorn didn't even realize it was the 4th quarter or that this game actually goes on the record. The play calling was atrocious and the timeout management was like they weren't even sure how the system worked.

The sense of urgency, the playcalling and the time management was reminiscent of either a preseason game or a 3rd quarter drive.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

6. no free pass for your boy, Fred Smoot. was down right horrible. and then gets kicked in the back, and is done for the game. he has definitely got to play better, if the skins are to be successful

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[B]7. Jason Taylor:[/B] Stop the run.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[B]8. Everyone on the Offense Who Apparently Doesn't Realize How The First Down Markers Work:[/B] We had what, 4 series in a row in the 2nd half that ended with JC throwing a pass to a receiver who was 2-3 yards short of the first down?

It's like they weren't quite sure where the FD was or how those orange sticks on the side work.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

I abhor your wholesale negfest to the mighty Redskins. I belkieve it's more a a series of misunderstandings:
Carlos and the other fella's don't understand that they are not to simply accompany the opposing reciever around the field to make sure he catches and properly secures the ball for delivery to the endzone.
Our WR need to understand that "it's ok" to leave the opposing defenders alone, and that it will not stigmatize or bruise their ego to "seperate" from same. Very polite, those wide outs.
I think our lineman misunderstand the process at hand. It's SOOOO simple, just like the Vampire hunters creed! Don't invite a vampire into your house. Why? It's bad! See same rule of thumb applies here.
GOOOO mighty Redskins...........fight your guts out

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[quote=mheisig;472756][B]8. Everyone on the Offense Who Apparently Doesn't Realize How The First Down Markers Work:[/B] We had what, 4 series in a row in the 2nd half that ended with JC throwing a pass to a receiver who was 2-3 yards short of the first down?

It's like they weren't quite sure where the FD was or how those orange sticks on the side work.[/quote]

Great, great choice.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[quote=mheisig;472749][B]5. Clock Management[/B]
I hate to add on to another man's list, but I can't ignore this one. I was as upset about every other aspect of the game as anyone else, but the clock management at the end of the half and especially the end of the game was absolutely infuriating.

We're nothing short of lucky that we managed to score at the end of the half, completely in spite of poor clock management.

Do we not even have a 2-minute offense? A 4-minute offense? I swear it was like Zorn didn't even realize it was the 4th quarter or that this game actually goes on the record. The play calling was atrocious and the timeout management was like they weren't even sure how the system worked.

The sense of urgency, the playcalling and the time management was reminiscent of either a preseason game or a 3rd quarter drive.[/quote]


In addition to the WR's not getting to the sticks (or JC throwing past the sticks)...this is the one thing that really bothers me coming out of this game. I understand, for Zorn & Co, its a transition to becoming an NFL head coach. I get that. Our offensive performance as a whole, I'll chalk up to that in a way. We didn't play well at all, but I can see how that might take some time to come along....HOWEVER, there is no excuse for the clock management. Weather your a new head coach, or one who has 32 years of experience, theres just some things you need to know how to handle, and this is one of them.

There was absolutely no excuse for the piss poor clock management we had last night. Coming out of the game, thats the one thing that really bothers me.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[quote=Angry;472751][B]7. Jason Taylor:[/B] Stop the run.[/quote]

....as Brian Mitchell said on the post game- selfish move keeping the streak alive just to get blown out on almost every play.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[quote=Gmanc711;472762]In addition to the WR's not getting to the sticks (or JC throwing past the sticks)...this is the one thing that really bothers me coming out of this game. I understand, for Zorn & Co, its a transition to becoming an NFL head coach. I get that. Our offensive performance as a whole, I'll chalk up to that in a way. We didn't play well at all, but I can see how that might take some time to come along....HOWEVER, there is no excuse for the clock management. Weather your a new head coach, or one who has 32 years of experience, theres just some things you need to know how to handle, and this is one of them.

There was absolutely no excuse for the piss poor clock management we had last night. Coming out of the game, thats the one thing that really bothers me.[/quote]

I think the reason it's so infuriating is that it seems relatively simple. I'm not saying I could be a coach in the NFL or understand the game half as well as these guys do, but it just seems like the goofed on really, really simplistic stuff.

Maybe it's more of a mindset. There seemed to be no sense of urgency. You're down by 2 scores with less than 3:00 on the clock and there's no hurry up, still huddling, still casually walking up to the line, Zorn is still on the sideline squinting and staring and calling 5 yard dives up the middle JC hitting receivers in the middle of the field for a gain of 4 yards.

It seems SO simplistic and such a dumb thing to screw up on which I guess is why it's so maddening. It's not like it felt like two offensive or defensive geniuses scheming and playing a hard fought game. It felt like the Giants were an NFL team and we were complete amateurs, totally fucking clueless as to what to do next.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[quote=mheisig;472749][B]5. Clock Management[/B]
I hate to add on to another man's list, but I can't ignore this one. I was as upset about every other aspect of the game as anyone else, but the clock management at the end of the half and especially the end of the game was absolutely infuriating.

We're nothing short of lucky that we managed to score at the end of the half, completely in spite of poor clock management.

Do we not even have a 2-minute offense? A 4-minute offense? I swear it was like Zorn didn't even realize it was the 4th quarter or that this game actually goes on the record. The play calling was atrocious and the timeout management was like they weren't even sure how the system worked.

The sense of urgency, the playcalling and the time management was reminiscent of either a preseason game or a 3rd quarter drive.[/quote]

I can almost live w/ the other bad parts of the game, but the clock management was horrible. I don't really give him a free pass b/c he's a 1st yr head coach. When there's only 6 minutes left in a game and your down by 2 scores you'd better be in your hurry up offense. I know they had one b/c at the end of the game w/ about 1 min left they used it. Wasn't pretty but they used it. It was pretty bad. John Madden was trying not to be too critical but he couldn't help himself.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[quote=mheisig;472768]I think the reason it's so infuriating is that it seems relatively simple. I'm not saying I could be a coach in the NFL or understand the game half as well as these guys do, but it just seems like the goofed on really, really simplistic stuff.

Maybe it's more of a mindset. There seemed to be no sense of urgency. You're down by 2 scores with less than 3:00 on the clock and there's no hurry up, still huddling, still casually walking up to the line, Zorn is still on the sideline squinting and staring and calling 5 yard dives up the middle JC hitting receivers in the middle of the field for a gain of 4 yards.

It seems SO simplistic and such a dumb thing to screw up on which I guess is why it's so maddening. It's not like it felt like two offensive or defensive geniuses scheming and playing a hard fought game. It felt like the Giants were an NFL team and we were complete amateurs, totally fucking clueless as to what to do next.[/quote]

Agreed. Zorn does not deserve a free pass here. He looked overmatched last night and over his head. DS and Vin wanted the guy they felt comfortable with and they got him. On a personal level I can understand it, because even when I watched the post game interviews I was taken with the man. But he has never been a head coach on any level and you saw last night that the learning curve remains steep for him. He even looked Sonny in the face in the locker room and indicated he had total control of the clock at the end of the game. The guy gives a good interview, but we've retarded the offense yet again and maybe ruined Jason Campbell for good. Anyone else notice that the best looking throws he made all night were the ones down the field (including that one that James Thrash should have caught at the end of the game), could we incorporate that into the offense? Apparently DS&V made it a priority to find someone to help Jason Campbell's development in their extensive interview process. But I guess it didn't cross their mind that just bringing in a "QB Guru" to run a new offense might not be as good as keeping Al Saunders and retaining some offensive continuity (Gregg Williams first choice apparently, retain the staff for the good of Campbell's development ... maybe that guy understands football ... novel concept). Zorn might be fine, but it might take a while. I wonder if he'll even get the time? No one else has gotten that luxery.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

Good thread, I'll add my own shots:

1. Jason Campbell: Trust what you are seeing out there. On that swing pass you attempted to Betts early in the game that got batted down you had Cooley open over the middle and you looked him off and instead made a more difficult attempt to Betts. Don't lock on... settle down and trust your reads and get the ball out! Things are there, you're just not trusting what you're seeing.

2. Jim Zorn: The 4 minute offense was non-existent. Where was the tempo? Too many times we took way too long getting in and out of the huddle. Ever heard of a guy named Chris Cooley? Get this guy involved early and often! When 2 passes go his way all night something is seriously not right.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[QUOTE]Anyone else notice that the best looking throws he made all night were the ones down the field (including that one that James Thrash should have caught at the end of the game), could we incorporate that into the offense?[/QUOTE]

i totally and emphatically agree...ill give zorn till week six...to at least prove he has some wits about him. Im with you on pretty much everything you said SC.
sigh..the sad thing is there really arent that many other coaches out there right now.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

Nice feature Smoot. Will it be four every week? As well as a Smackdown how about a Pat on the back each week too?

I agree completely about Springs. Even if he was extremely limited and only got in a few plays, having him in uniform changes what the offense thinks we can do.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[quote=doughtydoubter;472786]i totally and emphatically agree...ill give zorn till week six...to at least prove he has some wits about him. Im with you on pretty much everything you said SC.
sigh..the sad thing is there really arent that many other coaches out there right now.[/quote]
I didn't want a retread coach (Fassel and to a lesser degree Williams or Bellick) so we are gonna have to live with on the job training.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

I don't like going negative, but since I know you're not a Chicken Little, I'll play along..

1. Carlos Rogers, good God man have you ever caught a football before in your life? If he caught 60% of the INT he has dropped over the years he'd be a pro bowl CB but he acts like the ball is on fire. I'd be more tolerant of you playing 15 yards off of the ball and still getting beat if you'd do positives to offset that.

2. Casey Rabach-He got blown up all night. When the middle of the line gets no push, the running game is dead. He's got to improve and quickly.

3. Shawn Springs-2 words, man up. I'm tired of you missing games by being nicked. There's a reason why you are considered injury prone and a diva, it's because you act like one. Monday you get kicked in the calf and Thursday you can't play thru it with 10 days to recover for the next game?? Pathetic.

4. Coach Z-Playcalling, D-. You preach aggression, let's see some. Clock management, D-. You preach tempo, let's see some.

5. Redskins fans-Chill.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

About the fans... Its hilarious that its all of these "non-traitors" calling the season over and calling for Colt Brennan to start after 1 game. Wow.

like a bunch of damn over-emotional menapausal women. Get your damn ovaries in check!

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

I'm SO with you on Springs SS. It's a BRUISE. I mean damn, Jansen was playing with two broken thumbs a couple seasons ago.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

It's funny regarding Springs. People say he should have been out there playing with his injury, but Taylor plays with his injury and people say he shouldn't have. Who's to say that Springs would have faired any better than Taylor?

Blache should have yanked Taylor out of there early on. I did notice more of Evans as the game went on, but early on JT was clearly a liability and he just looked gimpy all night.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[quote=dmek25;472750]6. no free pass for your boy, Fred Smoot. was down right horrible. and then gets kicked in the back, and is done for the game. he has definitely got to play better, if the skins are to be successful[/quote]

I'm with you on this one Dmek. Smoot looked like an overmatched Rookie all night. His pick was a result of Carter putting pressure on Eli, not any coverage on his part. It looked to me like Eli was going after him all night.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[quote=SmootSmack;472744][B]2. Carlos Rogers:[/B] First off, congratulations on making the starting lineup on opening day. Tremendous comeback from a devastating injury. That said, you need to step up and start making plays. Some people have the misconception that you suck, which of course is wrong. You don't suck, in fact you're very good. If you weren't you wouldn't be in position to make plays so often. But you need to start making those plays. If all you want to do is swat the ball, add 100 pounds and we'll line you up at DT[/quote]
Rogers actually surprised me with his speed/quickness coming off reconstruction of 2 knee ligaments. That he was in position to make two big INTs is a positive, if only the man could catch.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[quote=rypper11;472803]Nice feature Smoot. Will it be four every week? As well as a Smackdown how about a Pat on the back each week too?

I agree completely about Springs. Even if he was extremely limited and only got in a few plays, having him in uniform changes what the offense thinks we can do.[/quote]

Not necessarily four every week. SGG is going to do the pats on the back. Sheriff's Badges of Honor (coming soon). EDIT: It looks like he's outsourced that to Rypper who has started a Positives thread.

As to some other points made here:

-Agree about Cooley, I mentioned it I believe in the game thread. He needs to be involved in the game early and often

-Clock Management: I let it slide this week because we scored a TD at the end of the first half. Our only true highlight of the game. We were fortunate though because that was a very poor use of time, especially with 3 time outs remaining.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

smoot did what he could...he tried and carlos played decent.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[quote=Mattyk72;472842]It's funny regarding Springs. People say he should have been out there playing with his injury, but Taylor plays with his injury and people say he shouldn't have. Who's to say that Springs would have faired any better than Taylor?

Blache should have yanked Taylor out of there early on. I did notice more of Evans as the game went on, but early on JT was clearly a liability and he just looked gimpy all night.[/quote]

It's also one of those things where maybe we don't know the whole story. Just when you hear that someone has a shin bruise you typically don't think that affects your running ability so much as it's an "OWIE".

Without a doubt though, if it truly did affect his running performance, then I have no problem with him being out.

I ain't no doctor. :)

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

We averaged 4 yards per play. Not per rush, per play. The playcalling was pretty bad, the clock management was pathetic. The run blocking needs to improve. The DB's need to catch easy INTs. They should have had 4, not 1. It was very frustrating to watch. Campbell did not look comfortable at all.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[quote=Mattyk72;472842]It's funny regarding Springs. People say he should have been out there playing with his injury, but Taylor plays with his injury and people say he shouldn't have. Who's to say that Springs would have faired any better than Taylor?

Blache should have yanked Taylor out of there early on. I did notice more of Evans as the game went on, but early on JT was clearly a liability and he just looked gimpy all night.[/quote]

I agree and I'm having a hard time understanding the criticism of Springs. Didn't Springs play in 2006 right after surgery for a sports hernia? I'm not an MD by any means, but I'm pretty sure that you're not supposed to play any sports for a long time after that type of surgery. Springs played anyway. I've never heard about a coach questioning his work ethic, so I won't either. Springs does get hurt a lot, but look at the sport he plays. Most human beings don't have bodies that can handle the physical punishment that comes with football and some of them happen to be football players.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

as bad as everything was carlos rogers could have taken that pick to the house.There were three other balls that were dropped.Shawn springs would have caught a couple picks.You can really tell who your best corner is.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

1. Reed Doughty: we cannot have him at safety. He is a [B]huge[/B] liability everywhere I cant watch him for an entire season making tackle ten yards late and getting beat deep.
2. Carlos Rodgers: I will not be as hard on you but you cannot drop easy ints. Once we play a few more games and you still look like crap you need to be off the team by the end off the Year.
3. I agree with Mattyk72 [B]why are we not getting Cooley the ball[/B]!!! Zorn said he would be a weapon in the pass game yet he called cooley number twice. That has to change

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

cooley and for that matter... i didn't even see the rookie tight end fred davis anywhere on the field... where the hell is he??

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[B]9. Chris Cooley.[/B] My favorite player, however not able to make key blocks due to scheme or Giant D-line abilty. Had nice run post catch, but did count due to penalty.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

Jason Campbell - read the defense, make the pass. On the first passing play for the Skins, in which Campbell was violently sacked, Cooley was wide freaking open but was never seen. This was a trend that would continue.

Jim Zorn - pass on second down. Campbell was consistently put in third and long situations in the second half. When going against a blitzing defense with a qb whose confidence is shaky this is a recipe for disaster.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

I can't believe how some people are reacting to this loss. I guess we should of gotten rid of Gibbs when he went 0-5 his first time around. We did'nt look too good then either. I know we did'nt look good in this loss but we WILL make adjustments. Thats what good coaches do when given TIME. I have faith in this team and coaching staff. We will lose again and we won't look good when we do it. We never look good when we lose. The giants lost a few games in the regular season last year, the patriots lost none. You tell me who had the most successful year.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

We looked terrible and the Giants looked terrible but escaped with the win. There's nothing to cry about, JC sees his errors, JZ knows what the team needs to do to prepare for the next game. Tough loss. Cry if the team goes 1-4, then we might need to move pieces around. Kendall #1; Fletcher is a beast.

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[quote=Mwoody85;472764]....as Brian Mitchell said on the post game- selfish move keeping the streak alive just to get blown out on almost every play.[/quote]

What our D held the to only 16 points and its our O that lost the game. tell BM to stick it!!!!!

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

One thing that worries me is that when guys in the press ask Zorn about the things we are seeing (poor clock management, not getting Cooley involved...) he doesn't ever accept responsibility. Instead he says "Well we had 8 minutes", instead of addressing why Jason was WALKING up to huddle and "we had two plays to Cooley where guys jumped offsides". WOW! 2 plays!

I'll bet that players are not going to take being called out in public much longer if he doesn't start shouldering some of the blame himself. Especially after the way Gibbs ran things (and won games).

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

Ok people you all need to be consistent....get on Springs case for not playing while hurt, while faulting Jason Taylor for playing WHILE hurt? So which one is correct? Besides, Jacobs ran all over the entire defense. Yes they were running in the direction of Taylor, but a number of times he ran up the middle, and he wasn't stopped.

And once again stop focusing on one guy just b/c you don't like him. Reed Doughty along with the ENTIRE secondary did not play well. Everytime Burress caught the ball the nearest Redskins defender was at least 5 yards away from him, if not further away.

Yet despite their shortcomings, kudos to the entire defense for stepping it up and holding the Giants to 16 pts in the first half and no points in the second half. I am positive they will do much better with a healthy Spring and Taylor. Although, I think the team needs to rotate Evans or one of our DEs who's better at stopping the run (do we have one) on obvious running situations.

What happened vs. NYG
 

Ok, lets keep this real simple. I will attack this from a straight football perspective. Brandon Jacobs is 6'4" 264. Any pro football players trying to square up and put a hit on this guy to bring him down is crazy. We as a team are ALREADY poor talkers and yet we stil insist on going for the big hit every time. Yes Sean did it and we loved it. But guess what, THE REST OF THEM ARE NOT THAT GOOD. We saw it against jacksonville and Carolina. Arm tackles should have stopped in high school. And when you're giving up six to seven yards a pop on runs, the play action and pumps/bootlegs will kill you because you have a 6'5" freak with hands running around on our SECOND AND THIRD CORNERS and Reed "What did you say" Doughty. I'm disgusted. and if we thought that was bad, here's some reasons why it will get worse:

1.) Marques Colston
2.) Stephen Jackson
3.) The Cardinals w/four wide
4.) FUCKING SEATTLE AGAIN
5.) Carlos still can't catch a cold

ps THANKS OUT LOUD TO FLETCHER AND CARTER FOR BEING MEN ON THE FIELD

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

[quote=GoSkins!;473206]One thing that worries me is that when guys in the press ask Zorn about the things we are seeing (poor clock management, not getting Cooley involved...) he doesn't ever accept responsibility. Instead he says "Well we had 8 minutes", instead of addressing why Jason was WALKING up to huddle and "we had two plays to Cooley where guys jumped offsides". WOW! 2 plays!

I'll bet that players are not going to take being called out in public much longer if he doesn't start shouldering some of the blame himself. Especially after the way Gibbs ran things (and won games).[/quote]

I thought the fans wanted a HC that called out some players once in a while rather than hiding them from blame in the media? That was one of the major gripes with Gibbs.

Zorn is not one to deflect blame from himself... if you listened to him all preseason he definitely takes blame when needed. Actually I'm really amazed that someone is all of a sudden trying to say Zorn just points the finger at everyone else. :doh:

How is this for taking some blame:

[quote]Coach Jim Zorn, the former Seahawks quarterback and coach, rapped on the podium as he talked about his first game of record, his frustrations coming through as he chided himself for some of his decisions. Zorn, who also calls the plays, said he lost track of the clock when he opted for a time-consuming running play with his team trailing by nine late in the game.


"I didn't quite punch myself in the face this morning, but I was angry with myself," Zorn said.
[/quote]

Re: Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)
 

yeah i like zorn's straight up talk . . .to add to what zorn said in his press conference about not using timeouts when we had the ball with 3 minutes left was interesting and insightful. basically he was hoping for a quick score then if we didnt get the ball from the onside we would still have enough timeouts to make the giants punt and not be able to take a knee. makes sense to me.

did i hear right that zorn said that we couldnt go fast paced no huddle because we dont have a 2 min drill or no huddle offense installed yet?

go skins!