Post Rams Debacle Thoughts
 

just saw the game on tivo. ugh.

so much for our defensive line. werent they supposed to run over the Rams's "weak" offensive line? they got stood up every play, then it looked like they quit before Bulger even threw! our LBs can't do the Dline's job to pass rush AND be expect to stop runs outside....

and as bad as our secondary played, now you see why Springs is our single most important defensive player. our LBs are gonna be doing double duty and our corners gotta play tight man. and they need to do alot better than they did tonight..

and could someone show Bowen off the field please? :stop:

I also just saw the game but my take is not what you saw.......

First off Ramsey is so bad that he needs to move to the thrid place on the depth chart! He had guys running all over the place and couldn't hit a barn if his life was on the line to do so! His three and out for all of the first haft put thwe defense in a big hole. Everbody knows you have to keep the Ram O off the field or thier going to score! Wow he is that bad!!!

Next the D was not good but you also had Arrington, Daniels and Barrow not play. At LB you had Marshall,Pierce and Washington not the LB's you hope that will start in two weeks. We will see if this group is as bad as they were last night or as good as in the Miami game.

One thing is for sure about the D is that it can't be on the field most a haft and do will! The O has to get it going! I hope Samuels will be ready for the opener as well as Thomas. Next what the hell happen to Betts? He started out well then he was out as fast as he could like he needed to be first on the plane. I love what I see when he plays but it's not that much. Coles is another one that isn't right. I hope that foot of his isn't something that is going to slow him down all year.

As for Bowen he as well as Lott and Brown were all shown up. Even Taylor had a few run by him. The things I saw in the Ram game is we need to a QB and Ramsey isn't him right now! One side note in the game was said that Portis didn't like running the ball seven times in row last week ganist the Dolphins. I hope this isn't true because if this O is going to work he may have games were this is needed. If it is true we may need to look for another back next draft! Last were were our TE's in this game? I sure hope Brunell is the man because this is going to be along season if Ramsey is running this team!!!

I agree about Ramsey - he is truly a third string quarterback for the Redskins at this point. The article by Thomas Boswell about Ramsey was well considered. It should be a battle between Brunell and Hasselbeck.

Its hard because our defensive line has to start getting pressure on the quarterback by itself. Maybe that will happen when all of our guys are on the field at once. What I saw was frequent blitzes that were getting picked up giving Ram QBs the time they needed to hit on one on one coverage. On a Chandler TD pass, you saw 9 Redskins chasing Chandler, but he just rolled out and tossed an easy pass to the receiver in the end zone. If you are bringing 9, you need to get there.

Gregg Williams will have to adapt to the realities of the current ability level of our players. Being super aggressive is nice to talk about, but not if you lose 28-3. I do think we are holding back a lot and will be a lot better in week one.

Rock, you're great, and you'll make it with someone, but I don't think that it's in the cards for us. Betts, you're going to be traded, because people realize you have a lot of talent. McCullough and Simon, welcome to the final roster.

I don't know about anyone else, but when I look at Sultan McCullough, I see someone who looks like he could be a 1,000 yard + rusher given a chance.

I really think you guys are missing it on Ramsey. While I would agree that he is struggling, I think he is easily the most tallented QB on the roster. He needs one good year under Gibbs. he will benefit greatly by watching a very good veteran like Brunell this year it will really help him develop. As for him being demoted to 3rd string behind Hassleback... are you guys kidding me :laughing-

What has Hassleback shown over the past few games to make you feel that he should move ahead of Ramsey. I think we are in pretty good shape with our QB's and they will get better each week.

As far as your concerns about the D I agree that they did not have as good of a showing as the first 3 games, but they were also playing without C. Griffin, and W. Harris at nickle as well as the guys you mentioned. And if you look at the 1st quarter when most of the starting D was in we looked pretty good.

Also keep in mind that the Rams had been looking bad all preseason so Martz decided to give his team a boost so they would look to bad 3 weeks in a row,and used alot of his offense as opposed to our very vanila D. It's clear that Gibbs & Williams do not plan on showing anything in the preseason, so we are not really seeing this team at it's best. If they look this bad opening day you can start to worry until then take a breath and relax it's just preseason.

The thing that sticks out to me is how our blitzes were easily picked up, and the only sack was from ... suprise ... Renaldo Wynn. Gregg Williams threw everything at them but the kitchen sink and the Rams had no problems with it whatsoever.

Martz apparently poured over the preseason films of Williams' blitz packages and prepared for it expertly.

And trust me, the D wouldn't have been any better with Walt Harris. Cornelius Griffin DID play, and he didn't make any noise.

Everybody got smoked last night -- Smoot, Springs, Bowen, Jimoh, Ralph Brown (who took a HUGE step back, and may have even bought himself a ticket out of town), and Sean Taylor were victimized and completely out classed.

Say what you want, "well, hey -- they're the Rams" SO WHAT! That's why Williams was brought in, that's why we drafted Sean Taylor, that's why maybe -- just maybe -- Smoot and Springs aren't going to be up to snuff, and losing Champ will come back to bite us in the ass.

And what's with our running game? How many plays went for 2 yards or less? Everytime I saw one of our backs get the carry, they were tackled at or near that stupid blue line the network put in to show us where the line of scrimmage is.

But hey -- it's cool man!

[I]It's only preseason. [/I]

Went to the game last night. First though outside the dome. I had a Rams fan just flip me off and was acting like I was kind a terrorist or something. Not too make fun of him but I believe he was mentally retarded, but none the less some what a funny story. I gave a buck to youth football team wearing Redskins colors, who said they were the Redskins.
Saw warm ups close, of course the player I was most impressed with was S. Taylor. Man when everyone calls him a beast they are not lying. He just towers over all the D-backs. I think if this safety thing dont work out he could sure play running back. Sure was fun to watch him roam in the secondary. I wish Ramsey would do something he looked good a couple of plays but his throws was just off. I got to question if (although Ramsey should) if Hasselback should be #2. Just wish Ramsey would play like he is cappable of of doing. Of course when Brunell was in he looked smooth.
It was nice to see the Skins play the atmosphere was just not there. Preseason games suck. The dome was half to 3/4 full,but I have a head ache and my ears are hurting a little (that place gets loud). I ended up siting in the 3 row on the 10 yard line during the 3rd quarter. I sure hope that they look better this season then they played last night. But none the less it sure was great seeing the man there- Coach gibbs.

hasselbeck sucks shane :P remember last year, he came in, posted a 0.0 rating at dallas? that was MH ;) I still believe ramsey is better, but brunell has the job now for sure. mcollough still didn't impress me (though no one did this game, and they left holt in a long long time)... brown, jimoh, bowen all got stomped... taylor at least got another int... why wasn't holt double teamed?

it looked like they game planned us and were trying to win vs testing players, but that doesn't mean we didn't get blown over...

jacobs did look alright though (fumbled, but besides that, he was running and catching well when he was in)... why did betts leave so soon though???

Jacobs not protecting the ball after the catch is a big deal, it should be dealt with in practice. im sure he was just stoked to be out there as were we all.

vanilla offense fine. but vanilla defense? our 1st team got beat man by man, the reserve LBs were just blitzing all night, they weren't covering anybody (thats why the big runs). and there's nothing vanilla about four big guys getting past five other ("struggling") big guys to get to the quarterback. they were stood up so easily then would just quit halfway! gave them all the time in the world to pick our secondary apart. our Dline was shameful

Uh oh, here we go again. Let's cut everyone and demote everyone. :D

Jacobs looked pretty decent to me, he had 2-49 and also had one called back. Yeah the fumble didn't help him, but I think he showed enough to solidify his roster spot.

Overall they played like crap I know. But I'll let Boss Hog sum up my thoughts:

[quote]"Its only preseason," Bugel said. "Don't throw dirt on us yet."[/quote]

[QUOTE=That Guy]jacobs did look alright though (fumbled, but besides that, he was running and catching well when he was in)... why did betts leave so soon though???[/QUOTE]
Betts still isn't 100%. They gave him a quick look and got him outta there. That was probably the plan.

[QUOTE=That Guy]jacobs did look alright though (fumbled, but besides that, he was running and catching well when he was in)... why did betts leave so soon though???[/QUOTE]

I was wondering that 2.
overall I was pretty dissapointed cuz to me it looked like the players weren't really into playing the game, especially after the injury scare with samuels.
Other than his fumble Taylor Jacobs suprised me the most cuz he made quite a few nice catches including the one that was negated by a holding call.
The worst suprise was how innaccurate Ramsey looked and people can say as much as the want about his talent but he hasn't shown me anything at all in the preseason that says he should automatically be given the role of backup qb. I mean if people r saying we can't gurantee Betts a spot even though he has the most potential at rb behind portis, why can't the same be said about Ramsey being guranteed the backup role at qb when he hasn't shown anything this year to prove that he deserves that position?

And was it just me or did all of the blitzes used by williams look rather rudementary? the only one that really suprised me was when he blitzed a lb(i think) and shawn springs from the same side. The d-line was pretty pathetic in not only its pass rush but also in its "attempts" to stop the run.

after all those negative things though I still believe, like the broadcast team of Buck, Aikman, and Collinsworth suprisingly said over and over again, that what we r seeing from the coaches in play calling and game plans will be almost the polar opposite of what we've seen thus far in the preseason and both our defense and offense will be much sharper and dangerous.

[QUOTE=Beemnseven]
Say what you want, "well, hey -- they're the Rams" SO WHAT! That's why Williams was brought in, that's why we drafted Sean Taylor, that's why maybe -- just maybe -- Smoot and Springs aren't going to be up to snuff, and losing Champ will come back to bite us in the ass.
[/I][/QUOTE]
Losing Champ won't bite us in the ass. I in fact last year vocally supported Champ but over the season he proved to be a corner who got beat. In fact I watched him step aside on the Giants game and let the guy into the endzone. Go check the Giants website for Video of last years game against the Redskins at FEDEX. You just can't miss it. Our Safties just didn't play well last night. It was stated earlier in this thread by Shane that we threw every blitz at them. Not true. We did not blitz a saftey or a corner, which are staple blitzes by a Greg Williams defense. Please be patient about preseason, this is about player evaluations and not about a game plan. They do play in a structure d and o but those plays are called to evaluate a players and the time frame of games and planning does not allow for game planning against each o and d. It was stated in the papers by Doug Williams this AM, who is a advance sscout for Tampa that this is not what the Bucs intend to see oppenning day. PLEASE BE PATIENT, THIS IS GIBBS and the GANG.

My thoughts...

- Yes, Ramsey has been consistently terrible. Has shown nothing at all. I STILL wish they had traded him while he had a lot of value.

- The D-line is still a big problem - can't blame it on the offense, the DL was weak throughout. We STILL have a burning need for a good pass rusher.

- Betts is the best backup to Portis that we have. I sure hope he can get/stay healthy and make the team.

- The DB's are fine. Don't forget, there is not another Holt in the NFL, and he was really "ON" last night.

- It would have been a much, MUCH different game with Brunell from the start AND with the full playbook in use. Again, they kept it extremely basic on offense.

Check this out from Boswell's column about Ramsey

[quote]In training camp practices Ramsey has explained how odd it feels to throw before his receiver has made his final cut. The trust between passer and receiver must be total. [/quote]

Wow. That's pretty basic pro offense stuff, throwing before your receiver makes his final cut. Ramsey is basically a rookie all over again guys, Spurrier set him back a good two years with his joke of an offense.

Ramsey is a smart kid, I have no doubts that he'll pick things up with time. But for now, it's painfully obvious why Gibbs went out and got Brunell.

Anyone else kind of reminded of the Spurrier Skins by the Rams last night? I'm just saying, a couple of years ago in pre-season we put up big numbers too and that didn't translate in the regular season. Last night there were two teams with different objectives out there. The Rams needed to feel good about themselves and game planned to win. By the way, Bulger wasn't all that solid and Chandler, who was, ain't gonna start. The Skins played a lot of guys who either will man the bench or won't be here. SUre we took a shellacking but these weren't the "A" team guys. It was an opportunity to test a lot of people. Sometimes it's good to get your ass kicked, especially when it doesn't count. It fires you up.

-Spring is no Champ. Smoot is no Champ. These guys got abused. Bowen had is head up his ass. Tylor was decent although he got abused quite a bit too. All in all our secondary is screwed if they don't improve their play.

-Ramsey is still hesitant and flat footed. He pretty much lost the job.

-Jacobs was running well. That fumble was sure an eyesore though.

-Hope Samuels is ok.

-This game doesn't tell us much in terms of what is going to happen during the season. I mean, who the hell was that Number 22 who got abused on the TD?

-Really disappointed in Ramsey so far this preseason. Wouldn't be so disappointed if I didn't think he had the potential to be great though

-Can notice a big difference when Brunell is in there. It's the experience most of all. I don't expect a big play necessarily but more imporantly I don't fear a dumb mistake

-Ralph Brown looked really bad, when is Walt Harris coming back?

-It wasn't just Brown, my man Smoot got abused by Holt.

-We gave up no sacks again, that was a nice sign

-I really liked seeing James Thrash in motion out of the backfield, not so much that but the fact there was motion in Gibbs' offense. Little by little I think we're going to start little wrinkles like that

-I guess the Rams getting whupped on Monday was the worst that could have happened to us. They really played with a huge chip on their shoulder

"Yeah, Moe, that team sure did suck last night. They just plain sucked! I've seen teams suck before, but they were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked!"-Joe Gibbs

"Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try."-Joe Gibbs

[QUOTE=redwagonskins]Anyone else kind of reminded of the Spurrier Skins by the Rams last night? I'm just saying, a couple of years ago in pre-season we put up big numbers too and that didn't translate in the regular season. Last night there were two teams with different objectives out there. The Rams needed to feel good about themselves and game planned to win. By the way, Bulger wasn't all that solid and Chandler, who was, ain't gonna start. The Skins played a lot of guys who either will man the bench or won't be here. SUre we took a shellacking but these weren't the "A" team guys. It was an opportunity to test a lot of people. Sometimes it's good to get your ass kicked, especially when it doesn't count. It fires you up.[/QUOTE]
great points, I totally agree

I love it how all you 'fans' come on here the day after a PRESEASON loss and complain and call for heads to roll. Seems like the only time the rest of us ever hear from you guys is under these circumstances. Let the flaming begin ... lol

As for my thoughts about the game:

First off, I don't see much wrong with losing a game like this. The Rams had been embarrassed in their first 2 games. They had something to prove - we didn't. The Rams game planned against us to avenge those 2 losses. We actually held the Rams offense to no points when our first team defense was out there (minus 3 starters - Arrington, Daniels, & Barrow). The first Holt TD was against Ralph Brown, gimme a break. Torry Holt did have a big game, but when does he not? He's a special player (although I don't care too much for his taunting of Ralph Brown - there's just no place for that crap in the NFL). The point at which the broadcaster (mainly Collinsworth) started making statements about 'letting' Bailey get away, was when Holt and Co started torching our 2nd and 3rd team CBs. No, Fred and Springs didn't shut them down, but who really does? Our defensive scheme last night was pretty bland when it comes to blitzes as well. We really didn't run any stunts on the Dline or send the LBs that often, and when we did it was the backups. I think this was mainly for the coaching staff to see who could get to the QB in order to determine who makes it through first cuts.

I absolutely hate astro turf and, frankly, will take a loss like last night's over a win with a bunch of injuries any day.

Here's a quote that all the naysayers should take to heart:
"Any time you play a game like this, there is a lot to learn," Redskins cornerback Fred Smoot said. "It's the preseason. Let's go. Let's build on it. We're not going to go and panic. We're not going worry about going 0-16. We're going to learn from this.

"Point blank, we needed this."

I'll start to get worried when, after 6 games into the regular season, I don't see any improvement.

Does anyone doubt that Holt would have seen some doubles had this been a regular season game. Don't get me wrong the guy is a great WR, top 3 in the league, but he was running wide ass open in single coverage. That kinda stuff doesn't happen in the regular season.

[QUOTE=cpayne5] "Any time you play a game like this, there is a lot to learn," Redskins cornerback Fred Smoot said. "It's the preseason. Let's go. Let's build on it. We're not going to go and panic. We're not going worry about going 0-16. We're going to learn from this. "Point blank, we needed this."[/QUOTE]

His last name is Smoot and he always knows what he's talking about, right Payne!

We'll be fine

YES, the defense did not play well last night. But they were on the field way too long. It reminded me of last year. Our offense did not hold the ball at all.
Maybe cause Ramsey started last night. Ramsey's poor play led to many 3 and out drives. The opening drive was Ramsey's only one that moved down the field. However the ref's helped on two or three failed third down plays, which gave us automatic first downs. I am not worried about the defense as much as you guys. Yes they had a bad game, but compared to last year I can already see signs of much better play. They are a much better defense than last year. This defensive coaching staff has players already playing a much more sound and disciplined level of play. They have a great base to build on. When we get Lavar Arrington, Mike Barrow, Cornelius Griffen, Phillip Daniels and Walt Harris back, this defense will be back to playing well. Plus I hear Saalvea (who has looked good this preseason ) played limited snaps due to minor injury. When you have six guys from any defense missing, you are not going to have a good day.

[QUOTE=Hogskin]My thoughts...

- Yes, Ramsey has been consistently terrible. Has shown nothing at all. I STILL wish they had traded him while he had a lot of value.

- The D-line is still a big problem - can't blame it on the offense, the DL was weak throughout. We STILL have a burning need for a good pass rusher.

- Betts is the best backup to Portis that we have. I sure hope he can get/stay healthy and make the team.

- The DB's are fine. Don't forget, there is not another Holt in the NFL, and he was really "ON" last night.

- It would have been a much, MUCH different game with Brunell from the start AND with the full playbook in use. Again, they kept it extremely basic on offense.[/QUOTE]

I agree with Hogskin. Remember, no Arrington, no Barrow, no Daniels, no Griffin. That's 4 starters on the D. If I am not mistaken, the game was 14-3 or 17-3 at the half when the defensive "starters" were yanked. Not too mention that Ramsey missed a wide open Thrash for an easy six that would have made things closer.

Relax folks, next week will be even worse with almost zero starters playing for more than a series. 0-3 or 0-4 in the regular season to start (you heard it here first) then they will run the table!!!! LOL

I noticed they finally played Andre Lott at SS along side FS Taylor for the first time this preseason . I noticed on a couple plays where he really did a good job. However there were a few bad plays by Lott as well. But overall he plays better than Bowen.
Bowen on the other hand continues to look really bad. We may have cut the wrong guy (Iffy). Iffy should have been given a fair chance at SS before we gave up on him. I can not see how Bowen can be just given the SS position. He has yet to make a single good play. That pass interference play by Bowen was unforgivably bad. I am not sure Bowen was in a single good defensive play last noght or all preseason.

We played some cover 1 too, and expected Bowen to cover the entire side of the feild. In all seriousness, I mean we got burnt plenty of times, but I think that our blitzing had somthing to do with how many times we got beat. Man to man, you're gonna get beat every now and then. Man to man with Torry Holt, unless your Chris McCalister, Charels Woodson or (gulp) Champ Bailey, you're gonna get beat alot.

When breaking down the defense so far this preseason... I'm still impressed with how much better the dline is overall. They didnt show it at all last night, but we have had some nice suprises, and it wont be the killer it was last year, in my opinion. I wish Barrow would have gotten some pt, even with his injury. You gotta wonder if hes gonna be starting during hte season, cause Pierce has looked good.

I think you guys are using Champ as an easy excuse. Its one thing to get beat on a couple plays because youre not a top corner, but to put up those kinda numbers in a half isnt one players fault. Id like to think, and im going to assume, that Williams wouldnt have had Holt in single coverage like he was. Im going to take this with a grain of salt and assume with our lbs and dine all healthy and playing the whole game that it would have been completly different.

This did show us though that if we dont get pressure with our linebackers early and often, then we are going to get picked apart. If our linebackers are blitzing, its takes them out of coverage. So when it doesnt work the middle of the field is always going to be open...

[QUOTE=SKINSnCANES]I think you guys are using Champ as an easy excuse.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I noticed that, too. I kind of figured it just came from listening to that clown Collinsworth harp on it all through the game. That guy develops a lot of biases, then uses every opportunity to push them. Even when they do not apply, as in several of his comments last night.

i saw Griffin out there and Marcus Washington. no penetration against that weak Rams Oline. thats not about schemes, or Champ, its about beating the guy in front of you. the Dline was a concern before preseason, it will be one after.

apparently Gibbs thought so too cuz looks like we offered Gardner, Betts AND a fifth for Ogun...

I watched the game live last night.. My impressions are:

-Ramsey still looks uncomfortable.. I rewound my TIVO on the passes he overthrew to Thrash in the end zone and up the sideline and he's not throwing the ball with confidence, he's almost trying to be too perfect instead of just throwing it..

-OL looked ok but I am still concerned a little by the run blocking.. Just remember that they were missing Randy Thomas and Samuels got hurt.. Even the announcers said that after Samuels got hurt it seemed like the coaches got very conservative and generic as if to just make sure everyone got out healthy. No more pulling linemen, no more play action, just dives and drop back passes..

-I liked what I saw from Gardner (actually catching the ball), Thrash (getting open even though Ramsey kept missing him) and Taylor (aside from the fumble, he was open a few times and caught the ball well).. I'm not worried about this area..

-Defensively I think we were out game-planned.. It seemed like Martz coached almost like a regular season game and although Williams blitzed a lot I don't think he disguised them as he would in the regular season.. Ralph Brown in particular looked lost all night. I'm not worried about Smoot and Springs getting toasted, they weren't bumping the WR on the line so with a clean release in man coverage any NFL WR will be that open..

Bottom line, it's preseason, that's a team who was 12-4 last year, it's preseason, we're not going to go 16-0, it's preseason, it'll be a much stronger effort with everyone in the lineup and, um, oh yeah, it's preseason.

[QUOTE=Dana87]I really think you guys are missing it on Ramsey. While I would agree that he is struggling, I think he is easily the most tallented QB on the roster. He needs one good year under Gibbs. he will benefit greatly by watching a very good veteran like Brunell this year it will really help him develop. As for him being demoted to 3rd string behind Hassleback... are you guys kidding me :laughing-

What has Hassleback shown over the past few games to make you feel that he should move ahead of Ramsey. I think we are in pretty good shape with our QB's and they will get better each week. [/QUOTE]
I completely agree with you here, Dana87. The calls for Hasselbeck to be in this quarterback race are absurd. I'm assuming those heaping praises upon Hasselbeck are still slobbering over his 7-of-10 performance against Denver's scrubs in the Hall of Fame game. Yeah, he looked great against Denver, didn't he?

Well, in case you were too busy organizing your local chapter of the Tim Hasselbeck Fan Club to notice, here's Hasselbeck's performance over the past two preseason contests in which he's played-- also against scrubs:

Vs. Carolina Scrubs: 6/15, 65 yds, 2 INTs, 13.9 QB rating
Vs. St. Louis Scrubs: 5/9, 35 yds, 64.1 rating

Wow! The guy's a real world-beater isn't he? Sure makes me all giddy over the idea of tossing a 2002 first-round draft pick on the scrap heap! By the way, Hasselbeck has posted the [i]lowest[/i] QB rating of the 3 quarterbacks in the last two games he has played.

Last night, Ramsey posted the highest rating of the Redskins quarterbacks. He might not have had the kind of performance he needed to pull even with Brunell, but he certainly didn't fall behind Hasselbeck, either.

All of the quarterbacks are going to improve as they gain experience with these coaches and this system. But Brunell's veteran savvy will only sustain his starting job for so long before the benefit of good coaching pushes Ramsey's physical superiority to the forefront.

"We've been real vanilla, man," cornerback Fred Smoot said. "The preseason's about who can hide the most, and I think we're one of the teams that's hiding a lot of what we've got."
Williams' complex defense, which features a host of blitzes and packages, has been reduced to bare bones so far. The former head coach of the Buffalo Bills guessed that he's revealed less than 30 percent of his system through the first three weeks of the preseason, and he doesn't intend to show much more the next two weeks.

Like I said we are not seeing what the Redskins are really going to look like in the preseason.

You know I thought that when we got coach Gibbs back that alot of the Whiner fans that complain about every little detail of a preseason game would find a little patients with a team that has to learn a whole new system both offense & Defense. Unfortunatly that doesn't seem to be the case.

Joecrisp: Finally a voice of reason

Brunell is the clear cut guy for the job right now. He didn't do anything special last night, but he knows how to read the D, check down when he has to, keep the chains moving and he won't turn the ball over.

Ramsey is still struggling with those simple fundamentals. He's a year away from challenging for the job.

Some of the blame has to go to the offense....You have to score points and run time off the clock! You CAN'T LET A TEAM LIKE THE RAMS stay on the field that amount of time! They will score! I think Chris C said it best that Smoot looked tried after being run all over the place. It was like a track meet and Ramsey and the O didn't give them time to think much less change things on the side line! In the NFL it's Time of Possesion! If you have the ball you win much more if you don't! :soapbox:
[QUOTE=Hogskin]My thoughts...

- Yes, Ramsey has been consistently terrible. Has shown nothing at all. I STILL wish they had traded him while he had a lot of value.

- The D-line is still a big problem - can't blame it on the offense, the DL was weak throughout. We STILL have a burning need for a good pass rusher.

- Betts is the best backup to Portis that we have. I sure hope he can get/stay healthy and make the team.

- The DB's are fine. Don't forget, there is not another Holt in the NFL, and he was really "ON" last night.

- It would have been a much, MUCH different game with Brunell from the start AND with the full playbook in use. Again, they kept it extremely basic on offense.[/QUOTE]

It's preseason and hopefully Gibbs is keeping it simple so we can do something when it matters. I just hope he has something up his sleeve or we could be having a repeat of his
previous tenure. Which wouldn't be bad if it includes three SB's!!!

You know, I hear lots of talk about how "vanilla" our offense and defense is throughout this preseason and that we will be much better in the regular season...my problem with this is, aren't all the other teams doing the same thing? What makes us better by showing nothing in the preseason? Maybe this season will be as bad as the game vs. the Rams....I'm ok with that because it might take a few years the build a championship team.

I don't think the Rams were very vanilla yesterday though, not when they had Isaac Bruce throwing a pass

And none of our expected front 7 starters on defense played past the first quarter. Plus the Rams still had Holt in there late in the game going up obstensibly Ralph Brown, but really a zone defense

I wasn't at all pleased with last night's performance because I'm a fan and want to see the team do well always but I'm not concerned.

I'm getting more and more impressed with Sean Taylor every day. And it's not even for the pick last night--anyone should have caught that, and his lateral was just plain stupid. There was one play, though, were the Rams' running back (I think it was Jackson, maybe) had broken through the line and had busted it outside for a big gain. Taylor was being blocked, and Jackson had already run past him. Taylor shed his blocker, caught up to Jackson, and tackled him. While he was tackling him, you could see that he instinctually went for the strip, and he does it in a way that it doesn't jeopardize the tackle. You can't teach that stuff.

Once this kid settles down and gets a little more experience, he's gonna be a beast. I know this is nothing new, and we've been singing Taylor's praises for weeks, but I just can't contain myself!

Jebus: I thought that strip may have cost him the tackle on an experienced back. I also disagree anyone would make that pick. He had to gain a lot of ground to get there on time, and the lateral though not accurate was the right idea. 20 seconds left in the half a TD there would have put them back into the game.

We both agree that Sean Taylor is a beast and I am salivating to see him come free on a blitz. I wanna see the pain he can bring.