‘Skins Win In OT vs. Jags, 20-17

Rex Grossman came though again this Sunday to lift Redskins past the Jaguars, sorta. Grossman did just enough to not hurt the Redskins this past Sunday against the Jaguars. In an efficient, yet, effective manner, Grossman systematically moved the Redskins up and down the field and provided just enough Offense to beat the depleted Jaguars. Now lets not forget that the Redskins themselves are depleted. A bit more than the Jaguars. But, the injuries never really seemed to affect the Redskins, but just a few injuries affected the Jaguars and made them look like an average team Sunday against the Redskins. Now with the Redskins improving to 6-9, what’s next?

 

This coming Sunday is the season finale for the Washington Redskins as they play host to the N.Y. Giants. The Giants (9-6) really need to win this game to keep their slim Playoff hopes alive. In their last meeting, that New Jersey wind and the N.Y. Giants whipped up on the Redskins something kind of fierce. It was an embarrassment of sorts. The Giants were playing with their #3 and #4 WR’s and the knew that their only chance of winning was running the ball against the Redskins. And wouldn’t you know it, the Giants ran early and often. In the end the Giants won 31-7. But if you ask me, the Giants have been nothing but mediocre since then. The Giants are a 1-2 over the last 3 games, which includes a 45-17 drubbing at the hands of the Packers this past Sunday. The Giants seemed poised for a Playoff run, but now we are not so sure. In the meantime Washington has a lot their plate as the NFL Scouting Combine, Free Agency and the NFL Draft are all right around the corner.

Well it really looks like Donovan McNabb and Albert Haynesworth will not be returning to the Redskins next season. At this junction, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Shanahan’s are right out the door behind them. McNabb, whom the Redskins gave up a 2010 2nd Round Draft Pick and a 2011 4th Round Draft Pick for, looks like he will be getting away for nothing in return. It seems to the common theme in the past 10 years. Jason Campbell and Jason Taylor come to mind immediately, as it relates to guys the Redskins brought in, did not groom, and let get away and are doing well for the Raiders and Jets respectively. So where do you think McNabb and Haynesworth will land? I think McNabb will be in Arizona or Minnesota, and I think Haynesworth will land in Tennessee, Oakland or Kansas City. What about Clinton Portis? Is Portis coming back? If am the Redskins, I would Franchise tag him and pray that I either get trade offers before Week 6 of next season, or he doesn’t get hurt.  Otherwise, with Draft Picks in the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th and 7th Rounds, with multiple picks in the later Rounds.  Can you see the Redskins drafting a QB and RB this April?

As the season winds down, there are a ton of question that need to be answered.  There are holes in the Defense, specifically the fron 7 in the 3-4 Defense at Defensive Line and at one Outside Linebacker spot.  There is going to be a huge void at QB and may set the Redskins back another few years.  If Malcolm Kelly can't go next year, the Redskins will be back in the draft for a big bodied WR.  The Redskins may need another Center, and there may be a hole at Running Back.  It seems like with all of the Offseason moves that the Redskins have made over the past years, they just haven't quite got it right yet.  We have nothing to build on again this Offseason.  I have said it numerous times, anyone can sign big name Free Agents and look like a genius in the 1st, 2nd and even the 3rd Round of the NFL Draft.  But, if you want to impress me, go find another guy like Anthony Armstrong in the Free Agent pool.  Find another stud late in the Draft like Marko Mitchell, whom the Redskins never gave a real shot.  Implement and Offense and Defense that is around for 8-10 years.  We can't keep pissing in the wind and hoping things will go well.  Because again, if we don't get it right, our fans may start sporting the brown paper bag to our games with the words "Fire Dan Snyder" enscribed on it.

The System Vs. The Player

I have this discussion all of the time. Do you get players to fit your system, or do you adjust your system to fit the players that you have? Most coaches/recruiters/trainers are not willing to adjust their system to fit the talent. Is it ego? Is it the fear of failure? Is the fear of the unknown? Stepping outside the box to see what happens can be scary. The unknown may turn out to be a place of success. But, the unknown may also be a place of failure. Do you take the chance? Or do you stick to your guns? Which is the right answer? The System or the Player?

I ask this question because of the issues that the Washington Redskins have had this 2009 season. But if you look around the league there are other teams who have a bit of an issue with this topic as well. Vince Young or Kerry Collins? Shaun Hill or Alex Smith? J.P. Losman or Trent Edwards or Ryan Fitzpatrick? Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson? Bruce Gradkowski or JeMarcus Russell? Josh Freeman or Josh Johnson? Jay Cutler or Kyle Orton? I mean I’d love to see if Matt Hasselback could play outside of the West Coast Offense. If you ask me, Hasselbeck has been average at best, but for some reason he gets a pass. Please don’t give me any crap about Hasselbeck making the Super Bowl. He didn’t win it. I mean Donovan McNabb and Rex Grossman made the Super Bowl too. So, if Hasselbeck get’s a pass so do they. Could Peyton Manning play in the West Coast Offense. Hell if we switched Petyon Manning and Matt Hasselbeck what would the results be? Would Jim Mora switch to a Spread Offense to suit Peyton? Or, would Peyton have to learn a new system. That should be easy for him right, I mean the general consensus is Peyton Manning is smart, so switching Offense’s should be easy for him right? Does Seattle have the parts around Peyton for him to be successful? I certainly think that Indianapolis has everything for Matt Hasselbeck to be successful.

Let’s look at Michael Vick and Matt Schaub. Remember Matt Schaub played well when Mike Vick got hurt? Well the reason why Michael Vick didn’t do so well in that system is because he had to sit in the pocket. If any bright ass was watching Vick at Virginia Tech, we all know that Vick NEVER sat in the pocket. This to me is poor coaching. You can make the point that Vick never studied. Point well taken. But isn’t this the same guy, whom we just established never studied, that later ran the Spread Option Offense with Warrick Dunn and basically ran his way into the record books? This is also the same guy that went 12-4 in 2004 and was one game away from the Super Bowl. But for some strange reason people believed that Matt Schuab was better than Michael Vick. Imagine if Michael Jenkins and Roddy White didn’t leave their hands in the locker room all of those years. This may have been one of the most potent Offenses in the league. Matt Schaub has since moved on to the Houston Texans. I do see why people were high on him. He is a solid QB, but he hasn’t won anything folks. And truth be told, he actually has more talent in Houston right now, than he did when he was in Atlanta. So why is he not winning? Was it the system? What do you think? You make the call.

I had a guy run me down one day. He is an Eagles fan, but for some strange reason doesn’t like Donovan McNabb. My initial belief was that he thinks Donovan can’t win big games. But after delving deeper into the situation, I was amazed at what I heard from this guy. He believes Donovan is not accurate. He also believes that Donovan can only throw the deep ball. So I asked a dumb question, “Is the degree of difficulty higher the longer/deeper the pass?” I then asked him to name his top 3 QB’s in the NFL? Keep in mind, this is like 2 years ago. He says Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Drew Brees. Fair enough. I then asked him to give me another 3, he then says Phillip Rivers, Carson Palmer and Eli Manning. At this point I am livid. At this particular time, Carson Palmer was stinking up the joint and so was Eli Manning. So I asked him about his own teams starting QB, and he says that his teams QB (Philadelphia Eagles – Donovan McNabb), was not in the Top 10. Now I don’t claim to like him, but even Tony Kornheiser thought that people should recognize Donovan as the #3 QB in the league. I mean isn’t this the same guy who ran the hell out of the West Coast Offense with #2 and #3 WR’s for like 4 straight years? Do we remember what happened when he actually got a playmaker at WR, in Terrell Owens? What was Carson Palmer’s excuse? He was in the same system with two legit #1 WR’s (T.J. Houshmanzedah and Chad Ochocinco [then Johnson]), and never matched McNabb’s production. The only difference is Donovan was in the right system with the wrong pieces. What was Carson Palmer’s excuse? He had the right pieces, was he in the wrong system?

I brought all of this up to talk about a guy that I think is unfairly criticized, Jason Campbell. He is more suited for a Power Running game. Sure he ran the West Coast Offense in college, but in which system was he most successful when he got the NFL? We can talk about the owner, the V.P. of Football Operations, and the General Manager all day, but the guy that I think tried to do the right thing, but reverted back to his old ways was Coach Jim Zorn. He had the right idea last year and trying to combine a Power Running game with the West Coast Passing Game. I understand we suffered some injuries on the Offensive Line, but why do you think the Redskins started 6-2 last year. People tried to say it was film, but it doesn’t take 8 weeks for any NFL team to figure you out. Trust me people, it really takes about 2-4 days before any NFL coach can figure out what you do. People knew what we were doing, they just couldn’t stop it. Coach Zorn adjusted the system to fit the players, that’s why he was successful. Why is/was he struggling towards the end of last year and the beginning of this year? He tried to make the players fit the system. The reality is, everyone has injuries at this point in the season. And although we have had our fair share of injuries, the Redskins played one of their best games of the season against the Broncos. If you were paying attention, the play-calling was something straight out of the book of Joe Gibbs, minus all the motioning pre-snap. Imagine what happens when/if the starters come back. Although Ladell Betts had a great game, just remember the guy that he replaced had 1,487 Rushing yards last year. He got 1, 000 of those yards in the first half of the season in 2008 before injuries got a hold of him and the Offensive Line. But we also stopped doing what was working. So we will never know if it was truly the system or the personnel. So to answer the original question, is it the player or the system. It is a combination of both in some cases, but you have to be open to going either way.