Commanders Post at The Warpath - Om Field: Preseason Week II Wish List

[B]Preseason Week II Wish List[/B]
[I]August 22, 2009[/I]

With one preseason “game” under our belts—last week’s 23-0 bummer against the Baltimore Ravens—I have pared the wish list down for week two:

[B]I.[/B] All season, the single most crucial element in any real Redskins game will be the play of its young veteran quarterback, [B]Jason Campbell[/B]. His performance in tonight’s preseason “game” against the Pittsburgh Steelers won’t have much bearing in terms of the final score, but it will carry significance in terms of confidence and progression for Campbell himself, his teammates, his coaches and fans of his team.

Last week Campbell was solid-if-unspectacular. He chose safe underneath routes, seemingly the result of both his own instincts and the design of Head Coach Jim Zorn, who stated after the game he went into it with legitimate concerns about his offensive line’s ability to protect Campbell against the Ravens’ aggressive pass rush, and called Campbell’s few plays accordingly.

Fair enough.

In week two I’ll be looking to see both Zorn and Campbell build on that and pull the trigger on at least 2-3 downfield looks. They don’t have to be 50-yard rainbows—I’ll settle for a couple of 25-yard seam routes or deep outs. Just call for the man to take a deep drop and cut it loose a couple of times. What that will also do, of course, is test the starting offensive line, which, while protecting Campbell well last week, faced no jailbreak blitzes or sophisticated stunts from Baltimore. The Ravens didn’t start really coming after the Redskins passers until after Campbell was done for the night. I’m not expecting the same from the Steelers tonight.

I hope to see the Pittsburgh send the house at Campbell a couple of times, see the Redskins pick it up professionally and Campbell execute the right quick read to beat it. The line and Campbell’s consistent inability to do that during the 2-6 slide over the second half of last season was a primary cause of that slide. Their ability to reverse the trend in 2009, in all likelihood, will be the primary factor in what kind of season the 2009 Redskins are going to have.

[B]II.[/B] For all the focus on pass protection heading into last week’s opener, one thing that jumped out during the “game” was the starting offensive line’s inability to create even a whiff of [B]running room[/B] ...

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