Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)

[Hog1]

I abhor your wholesale negfest to the mighty Redskins. I belkieve it's more a a series of misunderstandings:
Carlos and the other fella's don't understand that they are not to simply accompany the opposing reciever around the field to make sure he catches and properly secures the ball for delivery to the endzone.
Our WR need to understand that "it's ok" to leave the opposing defenders alone, and that it will not stigmatize or bruise their ego to "seperate" from same. Very polite, those wide outs.
I think our lineman misunderstand the process at hand. It's SOOOO simple, just like the Vampire hunters creed! Don't invite a vampire into your house. Why? It's bad! See same rule of thumb applies here.
GOOOO mighty Redskins...........fight your guts out

[MTK]

Good thread, I'll add my own shots:

1. Jason Campbell: Trust what you are seeing out there. On that swing pass you attempted to Betts early in the game that got batted down you had Cooley open over the middle and you looked him off and instead made a more difficult attempt to Betts. Don't lock on... settle down and trust your reads and get the ball out! Things are there, you're just not trusting what you're seeing.

2. Jim Zorn: The 4 minute offense was non-existent. Where was the tempo? Too many times we took way too long getting in and out of the huddle. Ever heard of a guy named Chris Cooley? Get this guy involved early and often! When 2 passes go his way all night something is seriously not right.

[doughtydoubter]

Anyone else notice that the best looking throws he made all night were the ones down the field (including that one that James Thrash should have caught at the end of the game), could we incorporate that into the offense?

i totally and emphatically agree...ill give zorn till week six...to at least prove he has some wits about him. Im with you on pretty much everything you said SC.
sigh..the sad thing is there really arent that many other coaches out there right now.

[rypper11]

Originally Posted by doughtydoubter

i totally and emphatically agree...ill give zorn till week six...to at least prove he has some wits about him. Im with you on pretty much everything you said SC.
sigh..the sad thing is there really arent that many other coaches out there right now.

I didn't want a retread coach (Fassel and to a lesser degree Williams or Bellick) so we are gonna have to live with on the job training.

[rypper11]

Nice feature Smoot. Will it be four every week? As well as a Smackdown how about a Pat on the back each week too?

I agree completely about Springs. Even if he was extremely limited and only got in a few plays, having him in uniform changes what the offense thinks we can do.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by rypper11

Nice feature Smoot. Will it be four every week? As well as a Smackdown how about a Pat on the back each week too?

I agree completely about Springs. Even if he was extremely limited and only got in a few plays, having him in uniform changes what the offense thinks we can do.

Not necessarily four every week. SGG is going to do the pats on the back. Sheriff's Badges of Honor (coming soon). EDIT: It looks like he's outsourced that to Rypper who has started a Positives thread.

As to some other points made here:

-Agree about Cooley, I mentioned it I believe in the game thread. He needs to be involved in the game early and often

-Clock Management: I let it slide this week because we scored a TD at the end of the first half. Our only true highlight of the game. We were fortunate though because that was a very poor use of time, especially with 3 time outs remaining.

[Paintrain]

I don't like going negative, but since I know you're not a Chicken Little, I'll play along..

1. Carlos Rogers, good God man have you ever caught a football before in your life? If he caught 60% of the INT he has dropped over the years he'd be a pro bowl CB but he acts like the ball is on fire. I'd be more tolerant of you playing 15 yards off of the ball and still getting beat if you'd do positives to offset that.

2. Casey Rabach-He got blown up all night. When the middle of the line gets no push, the running game is dead. He's got to improve and quickly.

3. Shawn Springs-2 words, man up. I'm tired of you missing games by being nicked. There's a reason why you are considered injury prone and a diva, it's because you act like one. Monday you get kicked in the calf and Thursday you can't play thru it with 10 days to recover for the next game?? Pathetic.

4. Coach Z-Playcalling, D-. You preach aggression, let's see some. Clock management, D-. You preach tempo, let's see some.

5. Redskins fans-Chill.

[EternalEnigma21]

About the fans... Its hilarious that its all of these "non-traitors" calling the season over and calling for Colt Brennan to start after 1 game. Wow.

like a bunch of damn over-emotional menapausal women. Get your damn ovaries in check!

[TheMalcolmConnection]

I'm SO with you on Springs SS. It's a BRUISE. I mean damn, Jansen was playing with two broken thumbs a couple seasons ago.

[MTK]

It's funny regarding Springs. People say he should have been out there playing with his injury, but Taylor plays with his injury and people say he shouldn't have. Who's to say that Springs would have faired any better than Taylor?

Blache should have yanked Taylor out of there early on. I did notice more of Evans as the game went on, but early on JT was clearly a liability and he just looked gimpy all night.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

It's funny regarding Springs. People say he should have been out there playing with his injury, but Taylor plays with his injury and people say he shouldn't have. Who's to say that Springs would have faired any better than Taylor?

Blache should have yanked Taylor out of there early on. I did notice more of Evans as the game went on, but early on JT was clearly a liability and he just looked gimpy all night.

It's also one of those things where maybe we don't know the whole story. Just when you hear that someone has a shin bruise you typically don't think that affects your running ability so much as it's an "OWIE".

Without a doubt though, if it truly did affect his running performance, then I have no problem with him being out.

I ain't no doctor.

[Warren85Ellard]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

It's funny regarding Springs. People say he should have been out there playing with his injury, but Taylor plays with his injury and people say he shouldn't have. Who's to say that Springs would have faired any better than Taylor?

Blache should have yanked Taylor out of there early on. I did notice more of Evans as the game went on, but early on JT was clearly a liability and he just looked gimpy all night.

I agree and I'm having a hard time understanding the criticism of Springs. Didn't Springs play in 2006 right after surgery for a sports hernia? I'm not an MD by any means, but I'm pretty sure that you're not supposed to play any sports for a long time after that type of surgery. Springs played anyway. I've never heard about a coach questioning his work ethic, so I won't either. Springs does get hurt a lot, but look at the sport he plays. Most human beings don't have bodies that can handle the physical punishment that comes with football and some of them happen to be football players.

[SouperMeister]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

2. Carlos Rogers: First off, congratulations on making the starting lineup on opening day. Tremendous comeback from a devastating injury. That said, you need to step up and start making plays. Some people have the misconception that you suck, which of course is wrong. You don't suck, in fact you're very good. If you weren't you wouldn't be in position to make plays so often. But you need to start making those plays. If all you want to do is swat the ball, add 100 pounds and we'll line you up at DT

Rogers actually surprised me with his speed/quickness coming off reconstruction of 2 knee ligaments. That he was in position to make two big INTs is a positive, if only the man could catch.

[doughtydoubter]

smoot did what he could...he tried and carlos played decent.

[GMScud]

We averaged 4 yards per play. Not per rush, per play. The playcalling was pretty bad, the clock management was pathetic. The run blocking needs to improve. The DB's need to catch easy INTs. They should have had 4, not 1. It was very frustrating to watch. Campbell did not look comfortable at all.