Commanders Post at The Warpath - Skins need to further invest in the trenches next season

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Re: Skins need to further invest in the trenches next season

[quote=GTripp0012;736310]Up by 17 in the third quarter is about as favorable of a running situation as there is in the game of football.

You pass to get the lead, which we clearly did today, but running the football efficiently is still critically important to run out the clock. We did a really bad job running out the clock at the end of the game with the opponents on the rope.

That's pretty much the only thing we did bad today.[/quote]

There were 3 offensive series in the 3rd Quarter. 2 of them belonged to the Texans and they resulted in a field goal and TD respectively. Our 3rd Quarter drive resulted in a Chris Cooley TD pass. Score going into the fourth 27-17.

At the start of the 4th Quarter the Skins tried to run the ball but something funny happened.
1-10-WAS 20 (15:00) 27-L.Johnson left end to WAS 10 for -10 yards (29-G.Quin).

Obviously we had to pass when we're looking at 2nd and 20. Remember the score is 27-17 at this point and we're facing a high powered Texans offense that dominated the third Quarter. If we get a first down we can go back to the run, but on 2nd and 20 we'd be stupid to run it.

Next drive results in a Texans FG, now it's 27-20. It was on our next drive that drive where we actually started running the ball well.

(9:39) 26-C.Portis up the middle to HST 26 for 2 yards (95-S.Cody).
2-8-HOU 26
(8:59) 26-C.Portis left end pushed ob at HST 14 for 12 yards (21-B.McCain).
1-10-HOU 14
(8:28) 26-C.Portis right guard to HST 9 for 5 yards (92-E.Mitchell).
2-5-HOU 9
(7:49) 26-C.Portis left end to HST 5 for 4 yards (31-B.Pollard, 29-G.Quin).
3-1-HOU 5

Here's where everything really started going downhill.

(7:49) PENALTY on WAS-77-J.Brown, False Start, 5 yards, enforced at HST 5 - No Play.

3rd and 6 27-27. Do you want to run it here?
3-6-HOU 10 (6:45) (Shotgun) 5-D.McNabb pass incomplete short middle to 89-S.Moss (26-E.Wilson, 72-J.Nading).

Still hurts to even think about this play
[/B]4-6-HOU 10 (6:40) 4-G.Gano 29 yard field goal is BLOCKED (31-B.Pollard), Center-57-N.Sundberg, Holder-6-J.Bidwell, RECOVERED by HST-95-S.Cody at HST 16. 95-S.Cody to HST 16 for no gain (75-A.Hicks).

So we get the ball back after a failed Texans drive. Now I'll admit, this was pretty dumb
2-5-HOU 46
(4:22) 89-S.Moss left end to WAS 46 for -8 yards (31-B.Pollard). End around

Still it's 3rd and 13 so we have to pass. Incomplete we punt, Houston scores. Now we're tied 27-27. We get the ball back with 2:03 left in the 4th Quarter. Obviously we can't run it now.

Looking back the End around to Moss, the Chanelling Barry Sanders moves, and the Jamaal Brown false start on 3rd and 1 combined with our defenses second half breakdown prevented us from using ground and pound to finish the game. As painful as it is to relive it's by no means a personnel problem.

Re: Skins need to further invest in the trenches next season

Good breakdown.

I'm not ready to panic when it comes to the running game either. The game plan today clearly was to attack the weak Texan's secondary.

Re: Skins need to further invest in the trenches next season

[quote=GTripp0012;736329]What I'm saying is: the rushing offense is clearly the achillies heel of our team. You need a strong running game to finish off blowouts. This game should have been a blowout, but we were ahead of them because McNabb was playing other worldly for nearly three quarters.

He played more in line with his career numbers in the fourth and that great running game he didn't have in Philadelphia that Shanahan was going to provide him with to help him extend his career...well, that was a fun myth while it lasted, was it not?[/quote]

I agree...any idea why?

I have my suspicions that our OLinemen are mostly just average run blockers and our backs are mostly just average backs. I have watched plenty of football the last few weeks and the thing that sticks out to me on offense is that all of our backs look so damn plodding. No quickness, no explosion. CP does a lot of good things but he simply isn't the runner he used to be. It's too bad because he still catches the ball decent and blocks far better than other RBs. Watching us try to run the ball is an exercise in utter frustration.

Re: Skins need to further invest in the trenches next season

Larry Johnson just flat out sucks

Re: Skins need to further invest in the trenches next season

[quote=Beemnseven;736281]Amen -- and the best way to do that is to stock up on as many 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round picks as we can. Trading Haynesworthless might get us an extra pick or two in that range.[/quote]

Yeah, but we consistently underachieve with those picks (this regime hasn't shown any signs of breaking that trend). We won't pick a Haynesworth type player, that is a certainty.

Re: Skins need to further invest in the trenches next season

[quote=Beemnseven;736291]Guilty as charged. I thought about that too. It's games like this that make you take a long hard look at the weak links.

The sting for this game is wearing off though, and like I said earlier, our secondary just ran into a far superior opponent. We won't be the only ones who look like amateurs against Houston.[/quote]

I don't know if we looked like amateurs. We pissed it away...

Re: Skins need to further invest in the trenches next season

[quote=EARTHQUAKE2689;736327]It was 4th and 10[/quote]

I thought it was but didn't feel like researching it. That makes it even worse.

Re: Skins need to further invest in the trenches next season

[quote=Dirtbag359;736359]There were 3 offensive series in the 3rd Quarter. 2 of them belonged to the Texans and they resulted in a field goal and TD respectively. Our 3rd Quarter drive resulted in a Chris Cooley TD pass. Score going into the fourth 27-17.

At the start of the 4th Quarter the Skins tried to run the ball but something funny happened.
1-10-WAS 20 (15:00) 27-L.Johnson left end to WAS 10 for -10 yards (29-G.Quin).

Obviously we had to pass when we're looking at 2nd and 20. Remember the score is 27-17 at this point and we're facing a high powered Texans offense that dominated the third Quarter. If we get a first down we can go back to the run, but on 2nd and 20 we'd be stupid to run it.

Next drive results in a Texans FG, now it's 27-20. It was on our next drive that drive where we actually started running the ball well.

(9:39) 26-C.Portis up the middle to HST 26 for 2 yards (95-S.Cody).
2-8-HOU 26
(8:59) 26-C.Portis left end pushed ob at HST 14 for 12 yards (21-B.McCain).
1-10-HOU 14
(8:28) 26-C.Portis right guard to HST 9 for 5 yards (92-E.Mitchell).
2-5-HOU 9
(7:49) 26-C.Portis left end to HST 5 for 4 yards (31-B.Pollard, 29-G.Quin).
3-1-HOU 5

Here's where everything really started going downhill.

(7:49) PENALTY on WAS-77-J.Brown, False Start, 5 yards, enforced at HST 5 - No Play.

3rd and 6 27-27. Do you want to run it here?
3-6-HOU 10 (6:45) (Shotgun) 5-D.McNabb pass incomplete short middle to 89-S.Moss (26-E.Wilson, 72-J.Nading).

Still hurts to even think about this play
[/B]4-6-HOU 10 (6:40) 4-G.Gano 29 yard field goal is BLOCKED (31-B.Pollard), Center-57-N.Sundberg, Holder-6-J.Bidwell, RECOVERED by HST-95-S.Cody at HST 16. 95-S.Cody to HST 16 for no gain (75-A.Hicks).

So we get the ball back after a failed Texans drive. Now I'll admit, this was pretty dumb
2-5-HOU 46
(4:22) 89-S.Moss left end to WAS 46 for -8 yards (31-B.Pollard). End around

Still it's 3rd and 13 so we have to pass. Incomplete we punt, Houston scores. Now we're tied 27-27. We get the ball back with 2:03 left in the 4th Quarter. Obviously we can't run it now.

Looking back the End around to Moss, the Chanelling Barry Sanders moves, and the Jamaal Brown false start on 3rd and 1 combined with our defenses second half breakdown prevented us from using ground and pound to finish the game. As painful as it is to relive it's by no means a personnel problem.[/quote]

Excellent breakdown Dirtbag. On a side note though, I'm firmly on the Larry Johnson Sucks train. He hasn't done anything of note and his bad plays (see: Channeling Barry Sanders) outweigh what few positive plays he has had.

As for our breakdowns in pass d (honestly never thought I'd see the day when a Washington Redskins defense would allow 500 passing yards in a single game), well they attacked Chris Horton as soon as he was in the game, and I feel like Doughty was solid if unspectacular. I'm not gonna hold Andre Johnson's touchdown catch against him, I mean honestly that's a top 5 wideout in this league and I would've had 2 guys on him, especially on a play like that. I don't feel comfortable with our depth though, honestly I feel like Kareem Moore showed us enough in preseason/camp to be our starting free safety, and with Moore/Landry we'll be set, but I don't like having 2 true strong safeties in Doughty and Horton as our backups, especially with Doughty having to shift to free when Moore is out. We need a true free safety to backup Moore.

Other than that I feel like it's hard to pinpoint exactly why our pass defense is so bad. I felt like we got good pressure, but at the same time Schaub was prepared for it and got the ball out quickly. But when we sat back (which was extremely rare in this game) they still moved the ball at will.

So we do have some questions that need answering, but honestly this loss isn't as deflating as I felt like it was earlier. It still stings watching my favorite team blow a 17 point lead but I don't feel like it's anything that's not fixable.

Re: Skins need to further invest in the trenches next season

[QUOTE]Other than that I feel like it's hard to pinpoint exactly why our pass defense is so bad. I felt like we got good pressure, but at the same time Schaub was prepared for it and got the ball out quickly. But when we sat back (which was extremely rare in this game) they still moved the ball at will. [/QUOTE]
It's simple. Blitzes, like the one on the Johnson TD, are meant to drop the QB quick and are being picked up. We don't have enough "intimidating" fat boys to adequately free up the OLBs and ILBs. Carriker is our best D-linemen, and he's a DE. Our NTs may draw double teams sometimes, but they get their asses whooped more often than not. Golston is an overachiever, but who really thinks he's great space eater who requires double teams as well? Holliday is going to expire soon, and Jarmon has been nonexistent.

Re: Skins need to further invest in the trenches next season

We need a fast bruiser of a back.

CP as much as I like the guy, on that 3rd and 1 that J Brown jumped of sides, the play before that CP either should have got the firstdown or he should have scored, but he kinda stumbled on his own feet again.

Re: Skins need to further invest in the trenches next season

I think given our Quaterback and Coaching staff, the redskins will be able to overachieve the rest of the year. Talent wise, the team just doesn't have a ton. I give a lot of credit to the scheme and on offense Donovan McNabb making things happen.

Redskins are the oldest team in the NFL, even after cutting 10 players who would have made that average even higher. We are simply a talent depleted team. On top of that, there is the big transition of changing schemes.

Offensively, there isn't a position i have a ton of faith in other than TE and QB. Defensively, we just don't have the 3 people up front just yet to open everything up for the linebackers. It's going to take some time to get the talent.

Re: Skins need to further invest in the trenches next season

Its amazing how good an O line can look passblocking with a QB that can get the ball out. They can look really bad runblocking with RBs that are too slow to hit a hole. I agree that the line needs further investment but the Skins need to get new RBs as well.

Re: Skins need to further invest in the trenches next season

[quote=artmonkforhallofamein07;736415]We need a fast bruiser of a back.

CP as much as I like the guy, on that 3rd and 1 that J Brown jumped of sides, the play before that CP either should have got the firstdown or he should have scored, but he kinda stumbled on his own feet again.[/quote]

yep that is CP's bread and butter move. Tripping over his own feet or someone elses feet. forgot about that play