Plusses and Minuses vs. Lions

[CRedskinsRule]

his performance that can be graded is two fumbles, one completely unforced, a sustained concussion, his 2nd(3rd) one in the league, and the offense just looked wrong.

If he's the best, fine, but at least open the competition up for the rest of the camp instead of handing the job to a mediocre starter.

[DYoungJelly]

Originally Posted by 30gut

Also the playcalling is different and Kirk/Colt are better rhythm drop back passers then Griffin is right now.

Agree. The defense doesn't have to play straight up and can hedge against Griffin.

[Buffalo Bob]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

his performance that can be graded is two fumbles, one completely unforced, a sustained concussion, his 2nd(3rd) one in the league, and the offense just looked wrong.

If he's the best, fine, but at least open the competition up for the rest of the camp instead of handing the job to a mediocre starter.

Mediocre? At this point RGIII would have to improve a lot to be considered average.

[mredskins]

Sounds like RG will be ready for ravens.

[DynamiteRave]

Originally Posted by mredskins

Sounds like RG will be ready for ravens.

[calia]

Just saw on Twitter -- there were 3 receivers open on the play when RGIII got hurt (I cannot seem to paste the picture here, but it seems pretty clear). On Dan Steinberg's feed.

Honestly, I so desperately want him to succeed -- unlike many on the site, I really like the guy. But I cannot say I am confident he will be able to pull it together given recent history. I truly hope to be wrong.

[skinsfaninok]

I saw it too, it was 3rd and long and he had guys open for short gains but still

[ethat001]

Come on, no excuses, Griffin sucked last game.

1) YES, the O-line and lack of 1st down run success killed him. Analysis showed many hits/sacks within 2 second range, and some before WR turned around. But bad pocket presence, getting spooked into running into pressure, poor ball security / fumbles, missing open dump-off WR worsened things. And all these issues haven't improved in FOUR years.

2) Btw, last drive Griffin was playing against their 2nd string defense. Yes, the same one Colt played against and scored. I have no problem sending Griffin out there for that drive -- (a) playing against their 2's should have yielded points for some confidence, and (b) the injury was his own fault for the phantom fumble. Could've just thrown it away or dumped it off.

3) Willie Smith really really sucks. Don't we have a better backup plan? Really? So we're one injury away at LT from throwing the season?


Anyway, we WILL be better than that, with TW and many of our defensive starters back soon. But the game was the same crap we've been watching for years, brings shudders thinking about watching it for another year.

[Bangee7]

I'm actually going to the Balt game...I've been preaching patience with RG3, but I really hope KC starts.

As others have mentioned, we are in Year #4...this is the best we get? Yuck!

I'd much rather have an INT down the field than a fumble in the back field.

[SFREDSKIN]

Plusses:

Reggie Bell WR
Bates LB 3rd sack of pre-season
JJeffcoat
RB's Jones. Thompson, Williams
P way
Young TE's with 2 nice long gainers
Cut back on offensive penalties in pre-season games

Minusses:

Losing Hayward and Paul on ST's (huge losses)
OL protection and RGIII (horrible job by 1st stringers)
Bad tackling job by DB's and LB's
Where was Preston Smith? Didn't do much

[30gut]

Originally Posted by DYoungJelly

Agree. The defense doesn't have to play straight up and can hedge against Griffin.

Interesting opinion. From what I saw and have noticed, not just in preseason but as an overall tendency. Defenses react to formations and personnel. When we are running the ball with the 1st team we have been using run formations, under center with 1 TE, 2 RB, 2 WR.
Its even more obvious run when we bring in a OT at TE like we did early in the game. That's not the defense hedging against Griffin thats a defense reacting to obvious run tells.

[30gut]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

his performance that can be graded is two fumbles, one completely unforced, a sustained concussion, his 2nd(3rd) one in the league, and the offense just looked wrong.

Sure he should be negatively graded for the fumbles (which I've said several times) but only the most jaded person would grade him down for sustaining a concussion. And the offense 'just looked wrong' isn't just a function of Griffin, its a function of the team to include individual personnel match-ups and gameplan/playcalling decisions.

If he's the best, fine, but at least open the competition up for the rest of the camp instead of handing the job to a mediocre starter.

Amen. It should have been an open competition. That way if Griffin or whomever would win the job out right thus eliminating the spectre of the hidden boogieman theories.

[skinsnut]

Originally Posted by 30gut

Amen. It should have been an open competition. That way if Griffin or whomever would win the job out right thus eliminating the spectre of the hidden boogieman theories.

This is the Redskins, look at the last 2 decades.
We are one of the few franchises where the boogieman is real.

You can actually watch him try to boogie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrfdrrSfLdU

[DYoungJelly]

Originally Posted by 30gut

Interesting opinion. From what I saw and have noticed, not just in preseason but as an overall tendency. Defenses react to formations and personnel. When we are running the ball with the 1st team we have been using run formations, under center with 1 TE, 2 RB, 2 WR.
Its even more obvious run when we bring in a OT at TE like we did early in the game. That's not the defense hedging against Griffin thats a defense reacting to obvious run tells.

Defenses hedge against Griffin regardless of the formation with pressure. They are committing guys to pressure the QB (admittedly some pressure comes without blitzing):

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | 2014 Pressure Plays: Quarterbacks

Last year Griffin faced pressure 29.6% of all plays, while Cousins was pressured on 17.6% of his plays.

Kirk ranked 3rd among QBs pressure rate while Griffin was 31st.

The reason for this is obvious. Griffin ranks 36th among QBs in the difference in production between pressured plays v non pressured plays. Cousins ranks 11th in the difference in production.

Griffin sucks at handling pressure.

Everything loosens up when a QB can burn a blitz.

Every 3rd and 8 pressure is coming against Griffin, it may or may not come against Cousins.

You're 100% right about tendencies and predictability from last year. In the 1st half especially, this formation and personnel meant this play and that formation meant that play. Hopefully that will change.

[kingj]

Great thread. I have held back on bashing RGIII but it's getting old now. He's on his last chance early this season.

If they want to start someone else in game 1 like KC I'm good with it.