Sunday, September 20, 2009
Redzone Debacle
The last two trips into the redzone, Jim Zorn ran all run plays that were subsequently stuffed at the line of scrimmage forcing the 'Skins to kick a field goal on one drive and turn the ball over on the 3 on the other. What bothers me and every other fan was the fact that Jason Campbell was responsible for driving the team down the field only to be handcuffed and forced to hand the ball off when the team desperately needed a touchdown. I didn't mind going for it on 4th down but the fact that Jim Zorn did not give the offense many options to score puzzled me. If Campbell rolls out he has a two way go in which he can throw to one of three receivers or run the ball in. Yet time and time again run plays to the right side of the line were called and St. Louis stopped them all.
I don't know if Zorn is trying to appease Clinton Portis or if he really felt that he'd pull one over on Steve Spagnolo by running the ball on every single down. This play calling is what the "boos" were directed at and rightfully so. Still a win is a win and the fact that at the end of the game the fans still booed Zorn is a little embarrassing but that just shows the frustration of the fans.
Next week the 'Skins go to Detriot and an offense game plan like this will result in a loss that will send this town into a frenzy. Sports radio this week will be abuzz with talk of canning Zorn for his simple-minded approach to the redzone and everyone will wonder whether anything will change for this week. After 18 games of the same thing I wouldn't look for anything to change at this point and I may soon be preparing to rev-up the new coach bus that Snyder is sure to be piloting.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
My Try at the 'Skins Final 53
- Jason Campbell
- Todd Collins
- Colt Brennan
There has been much controversey surrounding this position since the offseason and much of it surrounding the incumbent starter Jason Campbell. In his latest outing JC showed he was far and away the starter by leading the team to a halftime tie with the Patriots. The real battle was originally to be for the backup spot with Brennan and Collins duking it out for that spot but as the preseason went on Brennan's real battle was for a roster spot at the thrid-string with Chase Daniel. The only reason Colt stays is that he's more attractive on the waiver-wire than Daniel and has more experience in this offense.
- Clinton Portis
- Ladell Betts
- Rock Cartwright
- Mike Sellers
- Anthony Alridge
Most of these spots were thought to have been locked up all the way through camp, but when the 3rd preseason game came around and Marcus Mason once again flashed his ability someone's spot seemed to be in jeopardy. Some thought Cartwright could become a casualty and other thought Betts would be. After thinking about it long and hard and seeing Mason's lack of pass protection skills I decided that Betts was too important to the offense and Cartwright too important to special teams to be let go and thus Mason gets his walking papers once again. In Mason's place will be Anthony Alridge who by some accounts is Vinny Cerrato's guy and could make the team because of that. Alridge does have amazing speed and if he sees time in a game he could be that game breaking running back the 'Skins haven't seen in years.
- Sanatana Moss
- Antwaan Randle El
- Malcolm Kelly
- Devin Thomas
- Marko Mitchell
This is a make or break season for the two 2nd-year players in Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas. Kelly has shown a grasp of the offense this year and could unseat Randle El for the #2 spot which could benefit this offense with ARE in the slot. Thomas is still raw but has the talent to contribute if he can learn the offense. The suprise in this group could very well end up being Marko Mitchell who has shown thus far that he can play at this level scoring two TDs on fades. Is Mitchell the missing redzone piece for this offense or is he just a "one-route" wonder? By keeping Mitchell, this group becomes much younger and much more inexperienced making the TE position that much more important to this team.
- Chris Cooley
- Fred Davis
- Todd Yoder
OL - 9
- Chris Samuels
- Derrick Dockery
- Casey Rabach
- Randy Thomas
- Stephon Heyer
- Jeremy Bridges
- Will Montgomery
- Mike Williams
- Chad Rinehart
DT - 5
- Albert Haynesworth
- Cornelius Griffin
- Anthony Montgomery
- Kedric Golston
The biggest offseason acquisition sits here and he should be a force up front creating opportunities for the backers behind him and the ends to either side. All the interior lineman in this group have playing experience and all should contribute substantially.
- Andre Carter
- Phillip Daniels
- Renaldo Wynn
- Jeremy Jarmon
While there are only 4 listed in this group you can really consider it as a 6 people deep with two draft-picks, Jarmon and Orakpo, 3 vets, Carter, Daniels, and Wynn, and a young wild-card who is a speedster off the edge in Wilson. This may be one of the deepest positions on the team.
- London Fletcher
- Rocky McIntosh
- Brian Orakpo
- H.B. Blades
- Chris Wilson
- Cody Glenn
- Darrel Young
- DeAngelo Hall
- Carlos Rogers
- Fred Smoot
- Kevin Barnes
- Justin Tryon
- LaRon Landry
- Chris Horton
- Reed Doughty
- Kareem Moore
- Shaun Suisham
- Hunter Smith
LS - 1
- Ethan Albright
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Reaction to 'Skins-Pats
Jason Campbell - Jason had a decent game last night going 15-23 for 203 yards and leading the team to two first half scores and a tie with arguably one of the best teams in the league. The only problem I saw was that he was still not very accurate on some of his passes, missing a streaking Santana Moss for a touchdown in the 1st quarter. Campbell still needs to work on his timing with receivers making sure the ball is on the correct shoulder and not floating them too high.
Defensive Line - I liked what the D-line did last night applying pressure but the pocket never really did collapse on the quarterback and with a veteran like Tom Brady all that needed to be done was step into the void and deliver a pass.
DBs - Deangelo Hall was abused last night by Randy Moss. This was their first match-up in their careers and clearly Moss was the superior player catching two TDs over top of the shorter Hall. The rest of the DBs played ok but giving up too many 3rd down plays and a few pass interferences. Kevin Barnes made his first INT with great coverage but I didn't like how he undercut the ball before looking for it. Had that pass been a bit more to the outside of the receiver it could have been a first down.
Red Zone - The 'Skins were finally able to score in the red zone this week but I didn't like the personnel in there when they ran the two fades to Malcolm Kelly. I think that getting Kelly and Marko Mitchell in there at the same time running two fades on opposite sides of the field may help Campbell with two options because the Pats knew Kelly was going to get the fade each time by putting safety help over top. Running two fades may also open the middle of the field for a Cooley TD or even a slot receiver underneath.
Kicking - Good here was the punts by Hunter Smith but the bad was Shuan Shuisam missing a 52 yd FG that led to the Pats game winner.
All in all I think this outing was a little more reassuring to the fans that this team can compete but I still think overall they have a lot to work on to push themselves up into the upper half of the league.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Phil Mickelson has done it again
I think its time for Phil to pull a Tiger-like move and go with a solid color that he only wears on Sunday or the final round. How about the "all black" look he pulled out for The Players Championship in 2007 or even just a black shirt like when you won The Masters in 2004. Whatever is it a change must be made in the colors.
Even the style of shirt he wears must change. Those tighter fitting, shortened sleeved numbers that Phil trots out need to be replaced one a bit longer. Only guys like Sergio, Tiger, and Camillo can pull those off, guys that are in shape. Phil on the other hand is a bit pudgy and saggy and needs to hide it with a nice loose fitting shirt that we had become accustomed to a few years ago.
Anyways, the US Open for the most part was very eventful with a final round that nearly saw David Duval regain some of his old feel and pull of an upset for the ages. Mickelson may have been the best storyline with his wife battling breast cancer in the hospital. If it wasn't for the fact that once again Phil couldn't hold on to a tie lead and faltered with his putter at the end we might be watching Phil hoist the trophy or an 18 hole playoff tomorrow.
For Lucas Glover, it was a bit of redemption for him since he had to regionally qualify for the Open and had only won once before on tour making him only the fifth player ever to have to qualify for the tournament and win. All in all we got a great show eventhough the weather didn't cooperate for much of the weekend.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
One for the Ages
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The Last Stand
For the Capitals though, advancing to the next round would mean more to the city of DC than anything else right now. In a sports down void of any real winner over the past decade-and-a-half, the Capitals have been the closest thing to a champion since the Redskins won the Super Bowl back in January 1992.
What has plagued the Caps in this series is a defense that too easily gets sucked in throughout the neutral zone and gives up an odd-man rush leading to shots on goal and rebound chances for a Pens team that thrives on that. The speed of Pittsburgh seems to be overwhelming at times and to make up for getting beat the Caps tend to hook, slash, or trip the Pens on their way to the goal.
The absence of two of the Caps leading scorers, Alexander Semin and Mike Green, also doesn't bode well for their chances. The fact that these two have been non-factors throughout these games leaves on Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom as the only real threats to Pittsburgh. For being the NHL's highest scoring teams in the league during the regular season, the absence of the two drops point production dramatically.
It may be time for the Washington area to reload and hope that in the fall the Redskins can make a miraculous run to get to the Super Bowl but the chances of that are very slim. Looks like DC may be in for another summer of boring baseball and may once again have to pin their hopes on the Caps next year. Barring a change in play I'll most likely be hanging up my jersey's and getting ready for football season. It hurts me to say this but I wish our big name players could step up and give us hope. Game 6 hangs over us and so does our hopes of championship coming to town.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Steroids Claims Another
The reaction to the news of Manny is not all too surprising but is something that maybe needs to be re-looked at. The fact that many people still can't seem to wrap their heads around the amount of "cheating" that has occurred and still occurs is amazing. One of the things that has been said all along about steroids is that as long as they are testing people there will be ways found around the tests and newer performance enhancing drugs that aren't detected.
Another big thing is that these accusations and confessions will lead to a period in baseball where some of the games most prolific hitters and pitchers not being inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame. With the stance creeping closer and closer to not voting these players in we'll see a lull in the amount of player who actually with make it into the HOF. Does baseball need a period in which the amount of people inducted declines to levels never seem before? Or that the quality of the player that is inducted isn't as good in comparison to the rest of those in Cooperstown?
Part of me believes that even though these players cheated by using performance enhancers some of the blame needs to be put on commissioner Bud Selig for turing a blind eye to all of this. Selig is one of the reasons the Players Association got away with all they did. He did not pursue the right course of action until it was too late. He knew players were juicing and just turned the other way and basked in the glory of the home run battles. Baseball thrived in the years in a time when after the strike it needed fans more than ever.
Will Manny be the last big name to fall? No. There is no chance when watching a game that there are players out there who got as big as they did without the help steriods. Guys like Albert Pujols, Mark Texiera, CC Sabathia, Dustin Pedoria all put up insane numbers and all would be no surpise if they too were linked to some sort of enhancer.
At this point I'm over it. I don't watch baseball wondering whether or not players are juicing because to be honest I don't really care. I'm there to be entertain and as long as that happens I'll be happy. It's those baseball purist who are hurt most by this but in this era where seemingly everyone was doing it the playing field may have been in fact level the whole time.