Who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

I'm sure if our passing game comes out like they did against Philly, we are done. Not sure why, but when the skins/Brunell start off slow, we stay slow and out of sync FOR THE ENTIRE GAME. It seems we never dig our selves out of sluggish starts by the passing game. As important as the running game is, I really think the skins need to come out throwing and establsh the passing game ...

I don't think Brunell was that hurt either, I just think that when he is off, he stays off ... I hope we come out slinging...

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

[QUOTE=gortiz]I'm sure if our passing game comes out like they did against Philly, we are done. Not sure why, but when the skins/Brunell start off slow, we stay slow and out of sync FOR THE ENTIRE GAME. It seems we never dig our selves out of sluggish starts by the passing game. As important as the running game is, I really think the skins need to come out throwing and establsh the passing game ...

I don't think Brunell was that hurt either, I just think that when he is off, he stays off ... I hope we come out slinging...[/QUOTE]

I think well coming our running the ball. Last time we played them Portis had almost 100 yards in the first half.

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

The skins dont need to get off to a rip-roaring start like WVU did vs UGA (although it would be nice) but they better get going faster than they did vs Philthy.

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

The problem against Philly was Brunell's inaccuracy. Our D had to dig us out of that hole by coming up with 6 turnovers. We definitely need more accuracy from Brunell this time, bad knee or not.

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

i agree that he needs to be more accurate but one thing mark brunell has done this year as compared to last is when he misses,its always in a good spot meaning that if a redskin player doesnt catch it no one does.it seemed like last year every other pass was borderline being intercepted

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

[QUOTE=dmek25]i agree that he needs to be more accurate but one thing mark brunell has done this year as compared to last is when he misses,its always in a good spot meaning that if a redskin player doesnt catch it no one does.it seemed like last year every other pass was borderline being intercepted[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I agree, throwing 10 picks in 16 games is damn good ...

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

Philly did a good job of blanketing Chris Cooley and Robert Royal through the whole game. Those play-action roll-outs just didn't fool anyone. It seemed like the Eagles coaches came in with the attitude that, if they lost, it wasn't going to be because of Chris Cooley.

I still think that if the Skins had another viable wideout threat other than Santana Moss, this offense would be unstoppable. Unfortunately, neither Thrash and especially Taylor Jacobs offer that kind of complimentary role.

Those six forced turnovers were what saved us against Philly.

In Tampa on Saturday, they must run the ball effectively, and with authority -- meaning 25 to 30 carries for Portis and 12-15 for Betts. If that kind of rushing attack is established, Brunell will be much more productive.

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

With how inaccurate Brunell was, I think his knee was hurting more than he let on. You could see he wasn't stepping in to his throws.

Hopefully he's closer to 100% this week or else we're in trouble.

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

I really think our slow start on Sunday came from a let down of emotion becuase NY won the title the night before. Our boys really wanted that, and if NY would have lost I don't think we would've had that same slow start. I think the boys just had to focus and push forward once they knew the NFC title was no longer in reach. Emotions play a huge part and I just think we needed to do a re-think and pick it up - which we did. All will be well in Tampa. The boys have the Bowl in their sites and little is going to stop them. They want that trophey so bad. They are going to shock everyone when they get it.

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

[QUOTE=Mattyk72]With how inaccurate Brunell was, I think his knee was hurting more than he let on. You could see he wasn't stepping in to his throws.

Hopefully he's closer to 100% this week or else we're in trouble.[/QUOTE]

On that note, I'd hope Gibbs is prepared to plug Ramsey in there if Brunell looks troubled again. Brunell had a horrible season last year, and the reason given by Gibbs was the hamstring injury. Last week his knee was bothering him, couldn't step into throws, and went 9 for 25.

I hope to the good Lord that Brunell is 100%, because he's better than Ramsey by a mile. But a hurt Brunell is not good, as shown by recent history. If Brunell is still hobbled, we're better off with Ramsey, because a Brunell with a bad leg is a Brunell with a very low completion %.

In the playoffs, you gotta be prepared to win or go home. I hope Joe keeps a close eye on Brunell as the game begins.

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

You can look at it two ways, either run alot to open up the pass, or pass to open up the run. We usually run to open the pass.

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

I think we need to come out slinging. Listening to Ronde Barber talk on Sirrius last night he didn't once mention stopping Santana Moss. Both Tiki and Ronde said Portis is an amazing player and even said first time Giants played they knocked him out of the game and were able to run away.

I really think we need to attack through the air early to get their gameplan back on it's heels. I'm not saying keep that up, but give them a quick dose.

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

[color=black][font='Times New Roman']Brunell has playoff experience. He's confident, much more so than during the regular season. He was oozing confidence during his press conference after the Eagles game. He isn't going to let us down. He has tremendous respect for Gibbs, and I truly believe he’s going to step it up. Now that they are in I think the whole team is focused and much more confident that they really have a shot. Brunell isn’t afraid! Ramsey on the other hand..... if for some reason he has to go in then I think the rest of our team will protect him enough to get a few decent accurate throws off. Moss will make him look good when he grabs his overthrown, in the air balls out of the sky.[/font][/color]

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

We need to keep doing what has brought us here. Run the football down their throats! That's why guys like Moss and Cooley have been so successful...especially the last few weeks.

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

[QUOTE=gortiz]I don't think Brunell was that hurt either, I just think that when he is off, he stays off ... I hope we come out slinging...[/QUOTE]
He was limping the entire game. I think he was hurt enough that it affected his accuracy. Hopefully he'll be better this week.

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

I do get nervous when Brunell and his receivers start out of rhythm . . . they tend to stay that way for the whole game (or, in the case of last year, the whole season). HOWEVER, look at Dallas #1 and you realize that if our D keeps the game close, anything can happen.

My question is, can Gibbs expand the playbook now that we're in the playoffs? The Eagles pretty much shut down our bread-and-butter plays (or tried, in the case of Portis pounding), and we had nothing new to show them. Will this be the case in Tampa?

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

hey hess,welcome!whats up with the small print?

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

[QUOTE=gortiz]I'm sure if our passing game comes out like they did against Philly, we are done. Not sure why, but when the skins/Brunell start off slow, we stay slow and out of sync FOR THE ENTIRE GAME. It seems we never dig our selves out of sluggish starts by the passing game. As important as the running game is, I really think the skins need to come out throwing and establsh the passing game ...

I don't think Brunell was that hurt either, I just think that when he is off, he stays off ... I hope we come out slinging...[/QUOTE]

I disagree, dude limped around noticibly the whole game. When he ran, he looked slow. He was not sprayin' balls all over the place, he missed high. Dude is a warrior, and I think he down played his true condition, to not reveal any weakness to the birds.

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

I feel extremely comfortable with our running game against Tampa, Portis has had two very productive running game in last years and this years meeting with the Bucs. There is something their I am not sure what, but he looks really good running against them even when we were not dedicated to the run. He broke off his longest run as a Redskin against them and Nov looked like he almost broke the exact same play for a TD. I think they will come out hoping the run opens up the pass. He blew it up in the first half then we pulled away from the run a little if I remember correctly.

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

[QUOTE=Hog1]I disagree, dude limped around noticibly the whole game. When he ran, he looked slow. He was not sprayin' balls all over the place, he missed high. Dude is a warrior, and I think he down played his true condition, to not reveal any weakness to the birds.[/QUOTE]

Brunell was DEFINITELY hurt. it was painfully obvious, you could see it every time he took a step. he couldn't evade the rush as well as usual (notice the lack of throws to Cooley? thats usually when he goes to him) and when was the last time you saw overthrows like that? haven't seen them in a while, but they were pretty familiar. 2004, when i now know without a doubt he played hurt. only way to explain the night and day change in his play.

i give it to Mark for trying, especially on that scramble for the first down, he's a tough guy who gives it his all to win and not make mistakes. but if he can't make those throws on target or on the run like he does when he's healthy, then i'd definitely prefer a healthy Ramsey out there than a hobbled Brunell. we need good shots downfield and to Cooley (remember Ramsey basically discovered Cooley) and not out of bounds.

Get well Mark, but if you're less than 70% on gameday and they're locking down on Portis, Ramsey has to show.

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

[QUOTE=illdefined]Brunell was DEFINITELY hurt. it was painfully obvious, you could see it every time he took a step. he couldn't evade the rush as well as usual (notice the lack of throws to Cooley? thats usually when he goes to him) and when was the last time you saw overthrows like that? haven't seen them in a while, but they were pretty familiar. 2004, when i now know without a doubt he played hurt. only way to explain the night and day change in his play.

i give it to Mark for trying, especially on that scramble for the first down, he's a tough guy who gives it his all to win and not make mistakes. but if he can't make those throws on target or on the run like he does when he's healthy, then i'd definitely prefer a healthy Ramsey out there than a hobbled Brunell. we need good shots downfield and to Cooley (remember Ramsey basically discovered Cooley) and not out of bounds.

Get well Mark, but if you're less than 70% on gameday and they're locking down on Portis, Ramsey has to show.[/QUOTE]

Totally correct. It would nice to be able to keep a "happy" PR for that reason!

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

Aside from Brunell's health, we do have one more thing going for us. If they do decide to blanket Cooley like Philly did I think the addition of a healthy Thrash made a big difference last week and I look for him to play a bigger role. He looks like he's finding his rhythm again with Brunell.

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

[QUOTE=Hog1]I disagree, dude limped around noticibly the whole game. When he ran, he looked slow. He was not sprayin' balls all over the place, he missed high. Dude is a warrior, and I think he down played his true condition, to not reveal any weakness to the birds.[/QUOTE]

Well I feel better cause I didn't think he was hurt, but then I have to admit I don't look at certain things as close as I should ... I didn't notice limping but a few of did so you all can't be wrong ...

Re: who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

[QUOTE=onsidekick]Aside from Brunell's health, we do have one more thing going for us. If they do decide to blanket Cooley like Philly did I think the addition of a healthy Thrash made a big difference last week and I look for him to play a bigger role. He looks like he's finding his rhythm again with Brunell.[/QUOTE]

Yea we need other recievers to step up like Trash last game, thats the only way we can win, because they had Cooley and Moss covered. Hey maybe other recievers as well, like Brown, or maybe, maybeeee even Jacobs. Yea I said Jacobs lol.

Re: Who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

We should get Mark some early, high percentage passes (short hitches to Cooley, dump-offs to Portis, etc) so that he gets into a nice groove.

Re: Who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

Can you see the greatest upset since the Bosox vs. the Yankees? The Redskins will win the Superbowl in Detroit. The cast has already been set. In the Starledger newspaper of New Jersey, the reporter asks the question, " Why do Redskins fans have a reason to believe they will get to the Superbowl? The answer was that every NFC to make it to the Superbowl defeated the Eagles to get there. The Redskins winning the last game of the season puts them in position to fulfill a streak that has seen the Bucs, Rams, Giants and Panthers in Superbowl after defeating Philly!

Re: Who's afraid of a slow start by our passing game?
 

haha.. I have no idea why the print is small in my reply...

Brunell is perfectly healthy. Saw the clip of him at practice yesterday. No brace or tape. Knee is good to go!!