Will the Redskins 'Play Fast'?

[GoSkins!]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

I have a topic for discussion. In watching the first couple of pre-season games, coaches are puttting a lot of emphasis on getting to the line quickly and operating their offense at a brisk pace. I'm specifically thinking of New Orleans and Dallas. The Redskins have taken the opposite tack (tact?) in recent years under Gibbs in that they milk the play clock all the way down. The players move quite 'deliberately' it seems to me, which is to say slowly. So, does anyone else here think, the Redskins might be helped on offense by getting to the line of scrimmage and running the play quickly even if there are say 10 seconds on the play clock? I don't mean no huddle. I mean play faster so that the defense doesn't have that extra 10 or 15 seconds to a)make adjustments and b)rest. Or is it just me?

Ideally, a team can "play fast" for the first few possessions as long as they are scoring points and keeping the other teams defense from resting. If you are not marching down the field, you are then keeping your own defense from resting. Gibbs has always used the philosophy of shortening the game by running and being deliberate. In this way, he limits the points the other team has an opportunity to score because of time he takes off the clock. He always has believed he can win in the 4th quarter if the game is a least close.

I expect him to keep burning the clock as fast as possible.