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.