Do We Panic Now??!!

Last weeks game against the Houston Texans was hard enough to watch. After blowing a 17-point lead and losing in Overtime, I couldn’t find the words to write a blog last week. But this Sunday’s loss to the Rams hurt just a bit more. I think everyone bought into the hype that the Rams were not good. What game(s) were you people watching? I saw all sorts of trouble from the Rams and some of them manifested themselves this Sunday. I can’t understand for the life of me how anyone can assume any NFL is not good. Even the worse teams in the NFL have great players on them. And I saw one this Sunday that impressed me again. One Sam Bradford is better than Matt Stafford like I thought last year and he proved it this Sunday. But it only magnified an issue that the Redskins have to deal with. A lack of a pass rush from the Defensive line.

Never mind the fact that the Redskins found themselves in a 14-point hole within 5 minutes of play. They fought back, but left points on the field. There were 2 drives that ended inside the Rams 10-yard line that the Redskins only came away with 6 points. This has happened every game this season. Sure one game resulted in a win, but even that game it almost cost them in the end. We all have to remember that the new scheme does take time to pick up. You don’t just switch to a 3-4 Defense and expect to take over the world. If it were that easy, everyone would switch to the 3-4 Defense. You have to have the right personnel to run that scheme. There are only a handful of teams that run it, and fewer run it well. Maybe the Redskins will be one of those teams, but right now, the Defense is average at best. Not for lack of talent, but for lack of chemistry. This is the pressing issue on both sides of the ball, but Defense concerns me a bit more. If we can’t stop the other team, it is pointless to have a potent offense. The problem can be solved up front.

Albert Haynesworth was given spot duty. Why is our best pass rusher not being given more snaps? I really hope that it has something to do with Haynesworth not being up to speed. Because, without a pass rush, Mardy Gilyard and Brandon Gibson are the least of the Redskins problems. The Rams played most of the game without their top Running Back Steven Jackson, so there was almost no threat of a running game. The Redskins challenged the Rookie Sam Bradford to beat them throwing and that is exactly what he did. It was reminiscent of last weeks loss to the Houston Texans. The Redskins actually worked to take Arian Foster out of the game, and the Man Beast Andre Johnson went bananas. I expect Andre Johnson to do that, I don’t expect Mardy Gilyard and Brandon Gibson to give us problems at this stage of their careers. To add insult to injury, Donnie Avery, the Rams top receiver is out for the season with a knee injury. Imagine if Avery had played Sunday. You can cure a lot of the problems on Defense by swallowing your pride and putting Albert Haynesworth in the starting lineup. Hello!!! Are you listening Coach Shanahan?!!

The problems continue on Offense as the ground attack started well, but the Redskins got away from it. Clinton Portis is due for a break out game and I expect it to come next week against Philadelphia. McNabb cannot get rolling like he wants to if we don’t establish a ground game. PERIOD!! It should be apparent as Donovan McNabb threw for over 400 yards last week and in a losing effort. In that exact same game, Clinton Portis had 33 yards rushing. What is wrong with this picture? Your ground game eats up some clock and wears down the other team. The Redskins are not a pure West Coast Offensive team. We do not have the personnel for it. They have to find a middle ground that will allow for running game to be worked and take some of the pressure off of McNabb. Otherwise, they will be 1-3 in a flash.

Is it too early to press the panic button? Yes. Should your finger be on the button in the ready position… YES. I didn’t imagine a scenario where the Redskins would be 1-2 and that win would be against Dallas. Some weird things have been going on. Philadelphia has a young guy at Quaterback that reminds me of a guy I once saw in Atlanta. They are both left handed, very athletic and have a cannon for an arm. The difference in the two QB’s is the guy in Philadelphia has all of the same physical abilities, but is becoming a good (and dare I say, great) pocket passer. If he plays the same way next Sunday against the Redskins, like he did against the Jaguars, the Redskins will get blown out. Next Sunday is a winnable game, but we are going to have to play a lot better than this past Sunday. Oh by the way, the young man playing Quarterback for Philadelphia is named Michael Vick. I think he going to be good. What do you think?

Big "D"..... Big Deal!!

What a way to start off the 2010 NFL season for the Redskins. You have to play your biggest rival in prime time at home. Talk about pressure!! Although it was a low scoring game, it was quite entertaining. Amazingly, had Dallas not run that dumb ass play right before Halftime, the score would have been the exact same as the first meeting last year, when the Redskins loss 7-6 after shutting out the Cowboys for 58 minutes of that game. A good win, but hold the presses fellow Redskins fans. There is no way we can beat the Houston Texans playing like we just did Sunday night.

Some positives that came out of the Cowboys-Redskins game were the play of the Defense. particularly our Linebackers. They did a good job of not giving up big runs once the Cowboys Running Backs got to the second level of our Defense and they pretty much took one of the best Tight Ends in the NFL, out of the game. Our Linebackers also did a good job of getting pressure on Tony Romo. We still had to deal with my man Miles Austin torching us for 146 yards on 10 catches, and one TD. But his performance aside, Dallas’ offense did much of nothing. They may have bigger problems than previously thought. I still say that they are the favorites to win the NFC East, but they wont be for long if they continue to play the way that they did Sunday. You could not really expect to Pass Protect when you have an all new Offensive Line. It just doesn’t happen overnight like everyone thinks. But, if I know one thing, Dallas’ GM will address that problem by any means necessary.

Another positive that came out of the game was the fact that Donovan McNabb looked like he was getting comfortable within the Redskins’ offense. It is going to take a while. Sure it is still the “West Coast Offense,” but our version is slightly different than the version McNabb ran in Philadelphia. Santana Moss and Chris Cooley both had 6 catches apiece. Something that I don’t think I have seen in a Redskins game in a while. Anthony Armstrong got early playing time, which tells me that the coaching staff has confidence in him. Trent Williams did a good job of slowing down DeMarcus Ware, who is probably the best DE/LB in the NFL. Ware still had his moments, but the Rookie handled himself admirably. DeAngelo Hall the ballhawk is playing better. It is amazing that people will say that he is not a good cover corner. Maybe not, but if you have a guy like that on your Defense that is always around the ball, does it matter? Brian Orakpo looks good so far. He may not have gotten a lot of sacks, but his pass rushing still caused Pass Protection problems for the Cowboys. LaRon Landry is back at his natural position and looks good. You have Safeties who like collisions. You have Safeties who like to play the pass, and you Safeties who likes to do both, and some do neither. Landry likes collisions. So put him in a situation where you can use his skills. Carlos Rogers did a good job of covering this past Sunday. Know how??!! You did not hear his name mentioned. That’s why!! When you ask your players to play their strengths, amazing things can happen. Hey, he still can’t catch a cold, but I rather have him defense a pass than give up a TD.

Some negatives were Haynesworth not being used on passing downs enough. He has a right to be pissed. I would have been mad at Haynesworth if he was not mad. Casey Rabach was getting his ass handed to him by Jay Ratliff. It is not a surprise since Rabach is kinda small so we have to call pass protections to help him out. Oh wait… That’s his job. I hope we correct that problem soon, because the 3-4 Defense is something that the Redskins are going to face a few times this season. Dez Bryant’s only issues was that Romo did not get enough time. That kids is the truth. Great pick up for Dallas. Clinton Portis had no running lanes. A problem that needs to be corrected and quick. There were too many dropped passes. I’ll let this one go since it was the first game of the season, but this had better not happen next week. And McNabb looked a little jumpy. Maybe it was Dallas. Maybe it was the prime time game. Maybe it was him wanting to play well. If he does not settle down, he is going to have issues next week.

I know I should be happy that we won. Yes, we beat Dallas. We needed it for a morale boost, and it was good to get a division win, something that did not happen last year. But let’s be real people. That game really came down to about 5 plays that if one or two of them were different, Dallas would have won. So please keep things in perspective. This does not mean that Washington is going to Super Bowl this year, but it is a step in the right direction.