Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

First off, I'll start by saying it was pretty cool to meet Daseal face-to-face. Both of us got to the game late, traffic on 495 was absolute hell.

Secondly, before I get into how GREAT this game was for this team, I'll say it was honestly a 50-50 mix of Skins fans and Steelers fans.

I nearly wanted to puke. I was SURROUNED in the upper level by obnoxious Steelers fans who "shockingly" didn't seem to hang around the second half.

Now for the good stuff:

- The o-line had another dominating performance completely blowing "last year's #1 defense" right off the ball. Portis basically raped the Steelers d-line. The stretch plays worked beautifully.

- Speaking of dominating, let's remember the score would only be 17-3 if the interception Ramsey threw wasn't included.

- Moss has ALMOST as many moves on the football field as I DO on the dance floor (and that's a LOT).

- Possession receiver? His name is David Patten. The guy could be counted on any time a first down was needed.

- Aside from that INT (DEFINITELY a miscommunication) Ramsey played brilliantly and led the offense like a QB should. He showed command and intelligence in the pocket.

- Same with Brunell. I'm actually liking the idea of having him as a backup.

- Keep Rock AND Nemo.

- It was great to see LaVar back.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

Glad to see it looked as good live as it did on TV. Steeler fans are embarrassed right now. I am glad this game was on national TV instead of the other games.
What looked good

Ramsey
O-line
Clinton
Rock
Nemo
Betts
Moss
Patten
LAVAR!!!
Our entire D- 23.5 for poor little old ben

I actually got a compliment for the first time by my steeler friend. he said that there are only a few teams he knows that can beat us. He himself concluded that we could win 12-13 games. I would be happy with 10 but really what is wrong with the team. Besides Ramsey What is wrong with the team. I see nothing. Portis ran 6 yards per carry and that is against the Steeler D. Ramsey threw for over 150 in a half. Our receivers expecially Moss did great. We got in at goalline with cooley. Why can't we be the steelers of last year from 6-10 to greatness?

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

Yup, I was ecstatic too with the exception of the number of Steelers' fans in attendance. I was seriously pissed. I felt like I was watching a game in Pittsburgh. I've seen a number of Skins games and have never felt so uncomfortable watching a game in my home stadium.

The GOOD news is that some drunken Steeler fans had the gall to say some shit to me and I could happily reply, "Scoreboard."

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

[QUOTE=TheMalcolmConnection]Yup, I was ecstatic too with the exception of the number of Steelers' fans in attendance. I was seriously pissed. I felt like I was watching a game in Pittsburgh. I've seen a number of Skins games and have never felt so uncomfortable watching a game in my home stadium.

The GOOD news is that some drunken Steeler fans had the gall to say some shit to me and I could happily reply, "Scoreboard."[/QUOTE]

Ha, that must be a good feeling. was it seriously 50%, wow. it looked like maybe 30 on TV. But it is more fun to beat someone when you can see them getting beat. I haven't been able to sleep since watching, i live on the stay awake till i drop schedule right now but when i do sleep i will dream happily. I am sure many in Redskin's Country are sleeping well tonight

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

I was wrong. I didn't like the Patten signing but he's been playing some great football all offseason. I really think that we saw something, but need to keep preseason in perspective.

It was great to meet Malcolm, I had a blast at the game even though I missed Portis! The defense just locked em' up! Im feeling good about opening day, and MONDAY NIGHT VS DALLAS!

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

Glad you guys had some fun.

Last night really is getting me exicted for the season. Like someone else said, outside of Ramsey, who is improving with each game, (and some stupid penalties), we look damn good. Portis impressed the hell out of me to the point that I hope he dosent even play next week.

You know what they say,too, the game is won in the trenches. If thats the case, we are going to win alot of games this year, because our oline looks freaking dominating. Just dominating.

Here's to beating Chicago and Dallas within the next 3 weeks!

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

I know Ramsey got in Thrash's face after the INT, but even if Thrash is supposed to be exactly where that ball was thrown, that was an idiotic hot-read for a blitz there, and Ramsey threw a duck. That being said...

Patrick Ramsey should have redeemed himself to most of the doubters last night. He was poised after the pick, and went through a great gut check on not only the fourth down QB keeper, but the touchdown immediately following it. We had 5:01 on the clock and ran a 4 1/2 minute drive. That's everything we didn't do last year.

The defense was stellar. They held Pittsburgh to a field goal, and looked good doing so.

Bottom line is our team looked better than theirs did, in every category. I haven't said that in a few years, so I'm going to savor it.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

I think Ramsey didn't do anything to hurt his chances at keeping the starting position last night. Aside from the INT, I thought his performance improved from last week; just like his performance last week improved from the previous week. Speaking of that INT, I do blame Ramsey partly for it, but I think Thrash had some blame placed on him as well. Still, Ramsey probably should have eaten the ball on that play.

Anyways, I am soooooooooooo excited about our receivers AND our running backs! Clinton Portis is going to have an awesome year as long as our offensive linemen hold up. I think Betts is going to have an awesome year as well. There is no way we need to be getting rid of Rock Cartwright - I think he has had a great preseason and has not hurt his chances one bit in making this team. Our offensive linemen are looking more like the "hogs" each time they set foot on the field. You guys have to give Joe Bugel a great deal of credit - he has really turned the OL around big time so far.

Defense continues to impress me, although I would like to see more of a pass rush with the DL - it was awesome to see Arrington back on the field! He was all over the place and watching him play last night gives me ALOT of hope!

Like Daseal said, it is preseason so let's keep things in perspective. I don't want to talk about the Redskins winning the division until I see them play well in the regular season and beat some good teams - not to mention beating the feakin' Cowboys and Eagles! But, a win, albeit in preseason, against a good team like the Steelers will give this team alot of confidence going into their last preseason game. Overall, I am very excited about our season!

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

I haven't watched the first half yet, but I recorded it on my DVR so I'll check it out tonight.

Going by what I've read, I'm very encouraged by alot of things that happened last night.

The running game, especially with Portis in there was cranking against a very good Steelers D. That's something to take note of. If that was a sign of things to come, Portis could be in for a monster season.

I've seen the replays of Ramsey's pick, and I heard Aikman say that he thought Thrash ran the wrong route. Either way the play looked ugly, but what I liked and what I've liked all preseason from Ramsey is this. He's had his share of ugly plays, but he always seems to bounce right back. He doesn't lose his composure and fall apart, he keeps his head in the game and usually comes right back with a scoring drive after throwing an INT.

Gotta love Ramsey to Cooley, and the way Cooley went up for the ball and just snatched it away. Cooley could easily snag 10 TDs this year. I have no doubt he's going to be the go to guy in the redzone, and that should open things up for other guys as well.

Of course you've got to love the D, and I really loved seeing LaVar back in there making some plays.

Overall I really think this offense is on the right track. The offensive line play seems to be really, really improved over last year, and the emphasis on stretching the field is there.

Last night was a huge win for the Skins. Preseason or not, they really needed this type of game to hang their hat on as they gear up for September 11 against Chicago. They went toe to toe with one of the best defenses in the NFL, and with the way things were going last night I honestly believe we would have beat them if the starters on both sides played the entire game.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

Lavar didn't look like he's lost a step. Once again, he was EVERYWHERE when he was on the field. Very encouraging sign. He looked like he was having fun! He and MW are going to be some monster bookend backers.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

i think nemo didn't play as well this game... he's not seeing THAT much time and it looks like there might be a fumbling problem... portis and betts, oline looked good, ramsey looked better, andd it was nice to see us run our REAL offense and not practice drills this game... I'd like to keep rock, he missed a pass but he's looked good... moss showed up, lavar looked solid enough and PP looked good on teams and D.

the steelers O however, looked terrible. and SC was right, that safety they've got is F'ing great.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

The Best:

5. The defense looked great (as usual)
4. The running game was very, very solid against a great defense
3. The O-line protected the passers and blocked well for the tailbacks
2. The quarterbacks looked great
1. The offensive game-plan was excellent.

The Worst:

5. The lack of a pass-rush
4. Ramsey's underthrown balls (God, that sounds dirty)
3. The ugly turnover
2. The dumb penalties
1. The game doesn't count towards our regular season record

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

[QUOTE=That Guy]the steelers O however, looked terrible. and SC was right, that safety they've got is F'ing great.[/QUOTE]

Dude just needs a serious haircut though.

Makes you wonder when the NFL will start cracking down on that, probably only a matter of time.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

I've been reading this forum for a while, but now I'm so excited about the upcoming season I just have to post.

I think a real testament to how well the O-line is doing is that last night we had a total of 159 rushing yards spread across FOUR RBs, averaging 4.2 YPC. I think that means we not only have 4 very good RBs (and an excellent one in Portis), but that O-line is opening some serious holes to offer that yardage to that variety of runners.

And how can you forget that beauty of a pass to Moss from Ramsey? Ramsey looked so comfortable when that pocket was just solid, had all the time in the world.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

[QUOTE=mheisig]I've been reading this forum for a while, but now I'm so excited about the upcoming season I just have to post.

I think a real testament to how well the O-line is doing is that last night we had a total of 159 rushing yards spread across FOUR RBs, averaging 4.2 YPC. I think that means we not only have 4 very good RBs (and an excellent one in Portis), but that O-line is opening some serious holes to offer that yardage to that variety of runners.

And how can you forget that beauty of a pass to Moss from Ramsey? Ramsey looked so comfortable when that pocket was just solid, had all the time in the world.[/QUOTE]

Welcome mheisig! By the way, what does the screenname mean?

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

it was a great game and all, don't get me wrong but I'm still kinda shakey, why?
1. it's preseason and that was not all the playcalls and schemes u would see from pittsburgh on the other side of the ball.

2. we did not pass the 17 mark. it looked good to win but until we consistently can put more than seventeen on the board we still have problems on offense.

3. Our only big target in the end zone is cooley, that kinda worries me in redzone situations. Our team seems to be built for big plays, hopefully nemo will be good at pounding it in around the 5 yard line

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

[QUOTE=diehardskin2982]it was a great game and all, don't get me wrong but I'm still kinda shakey, why?
1. it's preseason and that was not all the playcalls and schemes u would see from pittsburgh on the other side of the ball.

2. we did not pass the 17 mark. it looked good to win but until we consistently can put more than seventeen on the board we still have problems on offense.

3. Our only big target in the end zone is cooley, that kinda worries me in redzone situations. Our team seems to be built for big plays, hopefully nemo will be good at pounding it in around the 5 yard line[/QUOTE]
1. that was not all the stuff you would see from us either

2. we just ran out the clock in the fourth quarter with backup o-lineman and the 4th string running back. It looked like gibbs was afraid to throw it with campbell. We had 367 yards of total offense, which is like a 100 more than we averaged last year.

3. Royal was injured and sellers was wide open on that play to cooley

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

[QUOTE=diehardskin2982]it was a great game and all, don't get me wrong but I'm still kinda shakey, why?
1. it's preseason and that was not all the playcalls and schemes u would see from pittsburgh on the other side of the ball.

2. we did not pass the 17 mark. it looked good to win but until we consistently can put more than seventeen on the board we still have problems on offense.

3. Our only big target in the end zone is cooley, that kinda worries me in redzone situations. Our team seems to be built for big plays, hopefully nemo will be good at pounding it in around the 5 yard line[/QUOTE]

Just to play a friendly game of devil's advocate....

1. The Steelers defense might not have been showing everything they have, but prior to last night, the first team defense had given up a measly 26 rushing yards. Portis almost gained 50 yards on 8 carries. Even on drivers that ended in punts, the offense was moving the chains.

2. We had all 17 points when the starters (except Ramsey) were in (in a little less than 3 quarters).

3. The Patriots didn't have a big WR target last season, but they did just fine.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

I think we have all the elements in place to have a winning season. If we have any achilles heel it's Ramsey. We will do or die with Ramsey this year. Don't get me wrong I want him to have his year to prove himself and I'm a big fan but I don't have any confidence in him yet.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

I'm proud of the way we played the game. Our focus this weeks should be cutting down on turnovers and penalties, those are the only negatives i'm seeing right now.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

I see where all of you are comming from but I'm just not ready to just jump into calling this a playoff year because of 1 win.

steveo u said
1. that was not all the stuff you would see from us either

well I hope u right cause we only had like 6 plays last year and 3 of them were revield in preseason.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

Do the Redskins do anything different than other teams as far as making tickets available to Companies for sponsorship or a vested interest, ticket companies, etc... people who really could care less about the Redskins and make tons of money on ebay selling those tickets to outside teams fans, shit pisses me off instead of hitting the true fan base. There are thousands of people on the waiting list to see the skins and support them, but many of the games I go to from buying tickets off ebay are being overwhelmed with opposing teams fans. They should really take a good hard look and like they did the post pull those damn tickets and give them out to the fans.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

The most encouraging thing? We ran well against a 3-4 defense. Dallas seems less scary to me now.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

The TOs and penalties were still there, so that's got to go--but, those are fixable things, really. So I'n encouraged.

The lack of pass rush from the down 4 is worrisome, but Williams really knows how to compensate for that in his schemes--he works very well with the talent he's got. The main deal with the front 4 is run D, and they did very well at that, except for the one big play.

Ramsey does continue to consistently underthrow the deep ball. When it's deep, he lofts it up to "get some air" under it, and it's been falling short. He's got to get that working, because Moss and Patten are getting open on the fly. Right now, I think PR is overcompensating, trying to put too much touch on the ball. When he gets that right, we're going to score points on the play action. His plays on the final drive were much more the intermediate stuff that Ramsey excells at. The play over the middle to (I think) Moss was a great throw. He needs to keep working. I'm encouraged, but it's not there yet. His WRs and TEs made him look good last night, especially Moss. That will help build his confidence as well.

Kick coverage and returns had lots of penalties and didn't look so great, especailly early. Pitt has an excellent return game, so that was part of it. But it needs work still.

The O-line was stellar. Jansen is their heart-and-soul, but Buges really has the whole unit clicking. Great to see. After Rock's TD, Jansen came running over, took the ball from Rock, and Spiked it. I love that--serious pride in the running game. That's the attitude we've been lacking!

Great use of the screen pass! Great to see Portis catching the ball. He is a serious threat all over the field. Also, maybe Sellars is the blocking TE--given that Royal didn't play and the line blocking was excellent.

Now, we did gameplan much more than the Steelers, so that needs to be remembered. But that D has some serious folks, and has not allowed ANYTHING on the ground in the preseason. We ran it with authority. That is very encouraging.

Nice to get a win!

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

[QUOTE=TheMalcolmConnection]Yup, I was ecstatic too with the exception of the number of Steelers' fans in attendance. I was seriously pissed. I felt like I was watching a game in Pittsburgh. I've seen a number of Skins games and have never felt so uncomfortable watching a game in my home stadium.

[/QUOTE]

Just wait till you go to the Dallas game. They're the worst.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

[QUOTE=cpayne5]Just wait till you go to the Dallas game. They're the worst.[/QUOTE]

I'll have to agree there, but I'm a pretty big guy, and can be a bit mouthy when drinking, so I don't get too much grief from them. Cowboy's fans are about the only people who get me ready to take the smallest thing wayyy to seriously, and I think most of those donkeyrapingshiteaters can sense it.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

I liked that hole opened up by the o-line on Cartwright's touchdown. It reminded me of when we used to give Gerald Riggs the ball on the goal line.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

Was it just me or did they start kicking away from Antonio Brown around the second quarter?he is already making an impact.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

Our offense looked great, especially our running game. I know we can hit those deep plays and the fact that we are even trying is opening up holes to run through. If our defense is like it was last year, the offense that we have seen so far this preseason would get us 10+ wins easy. I love moss and patten and they seem to get open much more often than garder and coles last year and getting open was one of our biggest problems.

Two things to note: we seem to be missing some tackles out there. I know it was mainly our backups (like stoutmire on that long run they had in the first half) but i want us to wrap them up. Also, penalties were more prominent this game, especially the kind that we all hate (too many men in the huddle, delay of game). Play smart and we are unstoppable.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

Holdman, Marshall and Prioleau missed some tackles. It coould be that at the LB position guys aren't trusting each other yet. Did we get any sacks? :oink:

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

[QUOTE=BossHog]Holdman, Marshall and Prioleau missed some tackles. It coould be that at the LB position guys aren't trusting each other yet. Did we get any sacks? :oink:[/QUOTE]
nope
2 great D's no sacks the whole game?

Good o-lines though.
Yes as you and Vishsskins said we need to get the darn tackles and stop letting them break them. I have felt that we are not tackling, i saw it in the scrimmage and in all of the preseason so far. i might just be noticing the little itty bitty things but it really looks like we are not getting the easy tackles.

worst broken tackle. The 50 yarder started by stoudmire.
THe best Tackle. The 50 yarder that was stopped by springs.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

i know i'm looking at the gift horse in the mouth here, but did anyone notice how super open Mike Sellers was on that Cooley TD play? don't get me wrong, i'm super glad we have someone Patrick can trust heavily like Cooley, but Cooley was fairly well-covered that play; by now every team knows he's the person Ramsey will be looking for.

Cooley's great, mobile, tall and has that receiver's sense of when to jump, but I would have felt alot better if Ramsey made the read on Sellers, who was left completely alone with no defenders in the area. To me the Cooley pass was another example of Ramsey telegraphing and trying to force a completion, only this time it worked . i wonder if the coaches saw it that way too.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

Yes Sellers was open but in all likelihood Cooley was first in Ramsey's progression of reads, so once he broke free he tossed it up for him.

Sellers isn't exactly known for his hands, and Ramsey and Cooley obviously have a nice connection.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

[QUOTE=illdefined]i know i'm looking at the gift horse in the mouth here, but did anyone notice how super open Mike Sellers was on that Cooley TD play? don't get me wrong, i'm super glad we have someone Patrick can trust heavily like Cooley, but Cooley was fairly well-covered that play; by now every team knows he's the person Ramsey will be looking for.

Cooley's great, mobile, tall and has that receiver's sense of when to jump, but I would have felt alot better if Ramsey made the read on Sellers, who was left completely alone with no defenders in the area. To me the Cooley pass was another example of Ramsey telegraphing and trying to force a completion, only this time it worked . i wonder if the coaches saw it that way too.[/QUOTE]

I don't know how much you watch the panthers, but if it weren't for catches like that, there'd be quite a few QB's that wouldn't have jobs in the NFL. Jake Delhomme being the most predominant off the top of my head. But if he had thrown it to sellers, and sellers missed the ball, or we got stopped and settled for a field goal, we'd be saying, "man, hes gotta throw that ball up there and give his reciever a chance to make a play." ya know? I think that's the reason we keep McCants if he proves he can catch with a better healed hand. They, too have a natural endzone chemistry. Having another vertical threat in the redzone would probably not be a bad Idea.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

Cooley hadn't broken free though, he had a defensive back draped all over him. Cooley didn't even have position on him, he was just bigger and taller. an advantage yes, but still a risk he didn't have to take with Sellers in the flat with no defensive pressure on him at all.

if i'm not mistaken, this was Cooley's first outing in 2005, expect teams' best coverage linebackers to be pinned onto him all season, and double covered in the red zone.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

[QUOTE=canthetuna]I don't know how much you watch the panthers, but if it weren't for catches like that, there'd be quite a few QB's that wouldn't have jobs in the NFL. Jake Delhomme being the most predominant off the top of my head. But if he had thrown it to sellers, and sellers missed the ball, or we got stopped and settled for a field goal, we'd be saying, "man, hes gotta throw that ball up there and give his reciever a chance to make a play." ya know? I think that's the reason we keep McCants if he proves he can catch with a better healed hand. They, too have a natural endzone chemistry. Having another vertical threat in the redzone would probably not be a bad Idea.[/QUOTE]

yeah that kind of trust and chemistry for Ramsey is important, which is why i'm hoping McCants gets to stay on the roster. but so far, that seems like a very outside chance.

i'd like Ramsey to rely less on individual trust and more on reading the entire field.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

Down near the endzone as a QB you have to make a quick decision, reading the entire field really isn't an option. It was a bang-bang play.

Cooley was well covered, but he still had position as long as the throw was accurate, which it was. Then you just leave it up to Cooley to out-muscle the defender.

I think that's a play we could see alot of this year.

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

Hey--you put the ball anywhere NEAR that kid Cooley, and he sucks it in. It was a great play: it was a TD. And the more Ramsey and Cooley get their chemistry on, the better.

PS I think we did get a sack. Didn't we smash the third-string guy with a safety blitz?

Re: Review: Skins vs. Steelers (Live)
 

Cooley's definitely the best Red Zone target we have, especially now with McCants gone. but every team in the league knows that now, so what happens when they all gameplan for him? he'll be just as valuable a decoy as a target.