Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Redskins vs Cowboys)

[sportscurmudgeon]

GMScud:

Thank you for observing that the aging and diminishing skills of some of the offensive linemen are the cause for the deteriorating performance of that unit. With a group of guys who have been around the league for 8 - 11 years, having a distracted coach is not the issue.

Joe Bugel is not - and never was - a miracle worker. He had a ton of raw talent to work with in the 1980s. To his credit, he took that talent and made it into a great offensive line unit. In the last 5 years, he's had average talent and he took that talent and made it into an average offensive line unit that has not gotten any of the QBs carried off the field on a slab.


SmootSmack:

If you are close to right and the Skins really think they can clean house on the OL and go with the guys currently on the roster behind the starters, then the three guys you named had better have a lot more game than they showed in the exhibition games this summer. Geisinger, Rinehart and Heyer for 16 games a season does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

[Redskins_P]

Casey Rabach and Randy Thomas - I hate calling out Randy Thomas because he's one of my favorite Redskins, but him and Rabach need to step up. Ratliff was working you guys all game. I think I may jump on the SS bandwagon of dumping the entire o-line this offseason and starting all over.

[GTripp0012]

Ratliff is really, really good. I mean he flat out beat Jason Ferguson out of a job as a rookie, and god only knows how many sleepless nights Parcells and Jones spent at night dreaming of having Ferguson at nose.

With that said, we went into this game full well knowing that Ratlifff vs. Casey Rabach was a total mismatch, and we still couldn't stop him. Which, given his position on the field, is pretty sad. I think it's safe to assume that Zorn, Smith, and Bugel underestimated his skill, and that won't happen again in the future.

[GusFrerotte]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

6-4, following a 6-2 start, not where we want to be but not a terrible position to be in either. The one thing we knew with Gibbs' teams is he know how to get them to play down the stretch, we don't know that about Zorn. We're playing in a fierce division where every game counts. We're now 2-2 in the division. Credit to the Cowboys for doing what they remarkably failed to do last time these two teams met, put the game in Barber's hands.

Ok, let's get to it

Offensive Line I wouldn't be surprised to see a near clean sweep of the line starting next year with Geisinger, Rinehart, and Heyer in for Rabach, Kendall, and Jansen. The Cowboys' D Line is good, let's not forget that, but we can't be that bad, can we? What I'm most worried about, and if it is the case then it's actually completely understandable, is that Bugel's heart and mind just aren't on football at all anymore. And without the leadership and guidance he's always offered to the line they seem lost. I think Buges is gone after this season.

Andre Carter I was your biggest fan on this site, before you even signed with the team and last year you proved me right. But this year? I don't know man, you're just not getting it done.

Jim Zorn Look, I don't want to fall in to this trap everyone else seems to be and forget that you're a rookie NFL head coach. So I want to cut you some slack, but I think maybe you forget you're a rookie head coach and you're trying to fool people when you're only fooling yourself. You've done great things but it also boggles my mind how you operate sometimes. That play on 4th and 4? What was that? First, the decision to even go for it and then the actual playcall? Plus our two minute offense is pretty weak.

All that said, I think I'm starting to understand what your gameplan for year one was, focus on taking Campbell to the next level. I think you've done a good job getting him there, now you have to help him even more by getting other guys up to speed. I'm not going to sit here and call Thomas, Kelly, and Davis busts because obviously they're not. Halfway through their rookie year and people want to call them busts? If they're the same three years from now that's fine but don't call them busts quite yet. However, we need to start getting them more involved.

People who start threads complaining about Sharpe, Marino, etc. having no respect for the team and then that same person saying the game is over with the Redskins down just 4 with nearly 8 minutes left to play Seriously? You start a whiny thread about how no one loves us and then you give up. Maybe before you start asking others to respect the team, you should too. Let's not forget we've come from behind plenty this year.

Cowboys Fans Sandtrapjack, etc. Another mod may override me, but I'm telling you right now I don't want to hear from you all week. You didn't have the balls to show up on this site after the first game so don't come gloating now because I will ban you for a week. This is one of those times I will freely flex my mod muscle for my own gain.

Fred Smoot Lovely tackle early on TO when you flipped him over. After that you look overwhelmed. Are you hurt? Because you and AC look like you're playing at 33 RPM while the rest of the players out there are at 45 RPM (anyone still have vinyl records by the way?)

All in all a tough loss. And now, per my usual ritual, I won't be watching ESPN all week. I never watch ESPN after a loss until we win again. As you can imagine, it's especially challenging for me.

Thomas has potential, he just has to grasp the pro game more. Kelly might turn out to be the new Taylor Jacobs. Next season will tell the tale on these guys, but I am not holding my breath as to them making a mojor impact.

[vallin21]

Yes Hall was beat but he made the play. Rodgers wouldn't come close to making a play like that. He has 4 interceptions already and if he continues to get more comfortable in the scheme he will anticipate those plays quick. This offseason is going to be interesting because we might have to sign Rogers and Hall.

[GTripp0012]

The other thing I've noticed is continuity is an issue, especially with Thomas and Rabach. The communication is awful. Kendall will be doing one thing (the fundamentally correct thing), Rabach will be doing...whatever is easiest at the moment. And if Kendall is switching off an interior guy, Thomas generally won't be aware of it (probably because Rabach's not doing the right thing, but even if they both are, Thomas always seems to be on another page). It's also an issue between Jansen and Thomas.

Samuels and Kendall do not have this problem, but Heyer and Kendall did against DET.

The time that these guys missed last year is really hurting us this year, IMO.