Breakdown: Redskins-Jets

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I had the oppertunity this week to not only DVR the game, but rewatch it and chart every offensive play.

I seperated each play into successful and unsuccessful rankings under the following definitions:

1st down plays to gain 45% of the yards needed for a first down or TD

2nd down plays to gain 60% of the yards needed for a first down or TD

3rd and 4th down plays need to gain a first down or a TD to be successful.

The goal for an offense under these definitions is to be successful on about half their plays. That's the benchmark for a good day. The Redskins ran 70 plays and were successful on 34 of them by the aforementioned definitions. That's a 49% success rate which is pretty good. The Jets do have the worst defense in the league though, but what I noticed is that #52 MLB David Harris played so well in his first NFL start that it wasn't quite like playing the old Jets defense, so I am happy with 49% of our offensive plays being successful.

Here are some of my key observations from the game:

• The Jets matched our receiver personnel by going into the nickel whenever we took Sellers and Lorenzo Alexander out of the game.
• The Jets spent the entire regulation period by keeping both safeties deep and a non factor in the run game.
• Al Saunders called a great game. Both times we took deep shots down the field, we caught the Jets firing their nickel back, and their strong safety respectively. Both could have been TD's with slightly better throws.
• The offensive line didn't do a particularly good job in the run game, but took advantage of a great matchup. With only 6 guys in the box most of the game, the line was able to put a hat on every guy in the box and allow Portis to attack downhill.
• We missed a lot of blocks in the run game, but almost never had multiple breakdowns on the same play. Portis picked up his guys and did not allow himself to be arm tackled very often
• Injuries are not the reason this offensive line is struggling. Wade and Fabini had pretty good games on Sunday: Wade performed the best of all the lineman. Samuels didn't have his best game Sunday, but Kendall and Rabach were the main culprits when a running play fell apart or when pass pro broke down.
• Kendall and Rabach are doing a horrible job sorting out the backside blitz. Four times, they stuck Samuels with two guys to block. Twice, Campbell was able to avoid the pressure and make a play, but the two other times resulted in a sack and an interception.
• The variance in the results was solely in the way Campbell was able to recognize the blitz. When he does, good things happen. When he doesn't, catastrophe happens.
• Jason Campbell was a lot better in the first half than he was in the second. In second half, I charted 5 mistakes in the 2nd half from Campbell, but NONE after the inteception. After the pick, the coaches appeared to take the game out of his hands entirely, by running with great success
• We are a much better running team when we only play with one receiver. We had success in the passing game too when we tried it.
• The disallowance of audibles in this offense is killing the running game. The Jets rarely had enough guys in the box to handle our runs, but on the few plays they did, it was blatently obvious what the result would be presnap.
• Portis' vision is lacking. He doesn't always go where the best hole is. Betts' vision is a lot better, however, Portis runs a lot harder.
• Campbell's accuracy is worse than it was 4 weeks ago. Period.

Here are some defensive observations. I went back and watched the Packers game again and compared it to the current defense:

• I understand we are down Carlos Rogers, but the team that shut down Favre and Co., no longer exists.
• The defensive line, comprised of the same 4 people, isn't producing anywhere near the same result.
• The coverage is not tight. Even when we blitzed the house a bunch on Sunday, we gave Clemens plenty of room to make a timing throw. Favre never had any such room.
• We always took away the Green Bay receivers' first cut, now we pretty much allow the catch.
• Kedric Golston can't play at this level. Not yet at least.
• The Jets had a lot of success sealing Rocky and Daniels inside on runs to get the corner. Rocky still plays a little undisciplined at times.
• The only time we enjoyed defensive success was when we got to Clemens quickly. Whenever the blitz got picked up, both Chris Wilson and Andre Carter would be so far upfield that we basically would be playing with 9. The lanes for QB scrambling could be had by anyone.
• Chris Wilson and Andre Carter just can't be on the field at the same time. They both do the same damn thing every play and with decent blocking, are irrelivant.
• Gregg Williams may be reverting to schematic tendencies from last year with Rogers' injury. We just don't have the horses to be a dominant pass stopping team, and according to GW, thats reason enough to not even try.

I hope this analysis gives a bit more insight into the Redskins this season, and gives you some things to look for in the future.