Keys to Winning
 

What do you guys think we have to do this week to get that victory over the Seahawks? Besides all the same stuff Portis over 100 yards, Moss having a big game, Brunell hitting his WRs, and the D playing at the same level that it has been over the past 6 games. I feel the key to this game is somone who is not normaly a big play maker having a big play for us or several big plays. Like Jacobs catching 7 to 8 passes for 90 yards, Harris getting an int for a TD or Brown scoring on a return. I just feel this is the week that someone new has to step to the plate and come up big for his team.

Re: Keys to Winning
 

No turnovers, no turnovers, did I say no turnovers?
Force turnovers, force turnovers, did I say force turnovers?

Re: Keys to Winning
 

As I posted on another message board

Factors that could play into an upset this weekend-
>The Seahawks struggle against physical teams. The 4 'physical' teams they played (Jacksonville, Washington, Dallas and NYG) all either beat them or took them the distance. The two home games played by Seattle against NFC East opponents were their two closest games, winning each by 3 points. Both teams were destroyed by Washington (albeit at home) late in the season but they play the physical style that the Redskins play.

>The book on Hasslbeck is hit him early and often and he gets gun shy and will make a bad decision. The Seahawks have the best OL in the conference so that is very difficult to acheive though. In the last game the Redskins didn't have Lavar Arrington, Joe Saleve'a or 'Toast' Walt Harris. Playing at less than 100% was Sean Taylor and they still held the Seahawks to 17 pts and Alexander to less than 100 yds. This time the defense comes in at full strength and full health. Expect to see a lot of blitzing with Springs, Rogers, Taylor and Harris all healthy and able to cover WR one on one.

>The Seahawks lack of success in the postseason is well documented as is Joe Gibbs success in the postseason, but a stat I heard on one of the shows this week is the 2nd time their team faces the same opponent in the same season, Gibbs has like a 73% winning percentage vs. Holmgren at about 52%.

>Finally, a lot has been put on the 122 yds of offense the Redskins put up last week. In that game, with a 14 pt lead in the 1st quarter, the coaching staff took all of the long passing plays out of the playbook (as was noted in a Washington Post article earlier in the week) and played conservatively to keep the ball secure. Of the remaining 11 or so possessions, 9 were run on 1st down, run on 2nd down, short pass on 3rd down. There was no attempt to rack up more yards or put more points on the board. For more of what to expect from a game plan, look at the Cowboys and Giants games from late in the season. Run on 1st down, play action on 2nd down, run or pass (depending) on 3rd down with at least one long attempt per possession that goes more than one cycle of downs.

Bottom line, the Redskins do need to play a near perfect game to capture the upset but I am going with 27-23 Redskins.

Re: Keys to Winning
 

If we have at least one turnover, I think we can still beat these guys.

More importantly, we have to limit penalties and get good penetration on kickoffs. We can't give Alexander and Co. a short field. Won't work.

I think our defense will come up with two very big plays!

Re: Keys to Winning
 

[QUOTE=saden1]No turnovers, no turnovers, did I say no turnovers?
Force turnovers, force turnovers, did I say force turnovers?[/QUOTE]

and do it for 4 quarters of football.
all out football all day long until the clock reads 00:00.
by the way force some turnovers. fly to the football on defense.
win from the trenches offense and defense.

lay it on the line cause this is the playoffs and nothing else will surfice.

Re: Keys to Winning
 

I also posted my keys to the game in another post and I can't seem to remember where that was.

1.Line of scrimmage. Whichever team controls this line will probably get a W. Look for alot of running in this game.

2.Don't give up the big plays; Make big plays. Using our strong Defense we need to not bite on the play fake or on trick plays like the flea flicker. Using the X-factor in this game, Chris Cooley, as a short and middle range receiver with great hands look for him to open up big plays for Portis and Moss.

3.Limit turnovers and stupid penalties.

4.Field position. Keep the Seahawks on their side of the field as much as possible. Dont give up alot of return yards on special teams.

Redskins fall behind early but rally to win 17-14.

Re: Keys to Winning
 

On the offensive side, I don't care if it's Portis, Betts, Cartwright, are all 3 together, we absolutely have to control the game with our running game.

I think we'll find a bit more room this week vs. last week against Tampa. We won the last 5 games of the season by shoving it down people's throats, and that's the only way we'll be able to pull this one out.

On the defense, bottle up Alexander (which I think we'll do) and force Hasselbeck and co. into some 3rd and longs.

Win the time of possession battle, win the turnover battle, grab an early lead and make Seattle force the issue a bit and we'll be one win away from Detroit!!

Re: Keys to Winning
 

Greeting from a DC native and skins fan living in Washington State.

I found a lot of Skins Fans out here in "Big Foot Country".

IMO...The key to this game is what they have been already doing... that is...
(stopping running games cold).

The skins defence will do its job and the offense will clean up. (Skins 28 / Hawks 10)

Re: Keys to Winning
 

bigskin ,new member alert,new member alert

Re: Keys to Winning
 

Yeah...I'm a newbie but a longtime fan. I am really looking forward to posting regularly. I'm not one of those "fair weather fans" ... This is the "real deal" and part of me. ....Skins 4 Life brothers.

Re: Keys to Winning
 

The Redskins need to break out a trick play on special teams. I don't believe that Gibbs has EVER run a fake out of field goal formation. I remember Norv throwing a pass with Frerotte against the Giants in about '96 but I don't think Gibbs has. If someone can think of one please post. I thought Frost showed great speed on that tackle last week so maybe a direct snap to Hall and pass to Frost. The key to winning will be big plays on special teams. It is the one area where we should have a definite edge.

Re: Keys to Winning
 

Welcome aboard DC!

Re: Keys to Winning
 

IMO John Hall needs to have a good day on kickoffs we can't afford to let Seattle start on the 35 yard line every time.

Re: Keys to Winning
 

We need to bring some things to this game we haven't done much of on offense. Portis screens come to mind, and some early playaction deep.

Our D just needs to keep doing what they are doing. Hold Shawn under 100, get some pressure from front 4. If we have to start run blitzing to early then we will have to have a good performance from offense to keep up on scoreboard. Matt will pick us apart with no pressure and LBs not getting back in coverage.

Re: Keys to Winning
 

[QUOTE=Funbunchfan]IMO John Hall needs to have a good day on kickoffs we can't afford to let Seattle start on the 35 yard line every time.[/QUOTE]

YES!!!! Very very key to their running game. The short field must STOP:censored:

Great point Fun:food-smil

Re: Keys to Winning
 

Back to Redskin's Football, under the genius of coach Gibbs. Gut Check Games are what he lives for.

Re: Keys to Winning
 

Ten reasons why the Redskins can beat the Seahawks.

1) Excluding their meaningless late-season games with the Colts and Packers (W and L, respectively), the Seahawks have played four teams with a winning record and have split those contests. The Redskins, meanwhile, have played eleven teams with a winning record and are 6-5 in those games.

2) The Seahawks two wins against teams with winning records came via monumental gaffes by their opponents. In week 7 against Dallas, Drew Bledsoe threw an ill-advised last-second interception that set up a game-winning Seattle FG. Five weeks later, in another home game against an NFC East opponent, Giants kicker Jay Feely missed three makeable FGs in the 4th quarter and overtime. Don't tell me Seattle is invincible at home.

3) In his nine games against teams with records worse than 6-10, Alexander is averaging 131.1 yards and 2.33 touchdowns. In four games against teams with winning records, Shaun Alexander is averaging 85.5 yards and .5 touchdowns. If A. Rod doesn't play in the World Baseball Classic, maybe Shaun A. could take his place, seeing as they both love piling up stats against inferior opponents but never seem to get it done in big games.

4) Everyone talks about how difficult it is to win a Wild Card and Divisional Playoff game on the road. And they're right. Only twice since the NFL expanded to a 12-team playoff in 1990 have teams won road games in the first two rounds of the playoffs. The last team to do it was the 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars. Their quarterback? Mark Brunell.

5) Joe Gibbs has a career 18-5 record in the playoffs and is 19-4 in games played in January.

6) The Seahawks franchise has not won a playoff game since 1984, the longest such current drought in the NFL. Under Holmgren, Seattle is 0-3 in the playoffs, including a home-loss last season to the underdog St. Louis Rams.

7) Mike Holmgren is a very good coach, but he hasn't won a playoff game without Brett Favre. Joe Gibbs, on the other hand, is a very great coach and has won playoff games and Super Bowls with Thiesman, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien.

8) Seattle tackle Walter Jones is one of, if the not the, best offensive lineman in football. This should help quell Philip Daniels, but the strength of the Redskins d-line is not on the outside but in the middle with Cornelius Griffin and Joe Salave'a.

9) The Redskins have played four "rematch" games this season (Dallas, New York, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia). In the first games against those teams, Washington was outscored 95-66. In the rematches, it was Washington that did the outscoring: 118-57. Gibbs took them from a 29-point deficit to a 61-point advantage, which leads me to #10, the most important fact on this list:

10) Week 3: Washington 20 - Seattle 17. It's one thing to think the Redskins won't win. But to think they can't, especially in light of the fact they've already beaten Seattle this season, is absurd.

Re: Keys to Winning
 

[QUOTE=4mrusmc]Welcome aboard DC![/QUOTE]


Thank you for the welcome.

Fans look for a big game from Portis and Moss... The offense will make a huge return in this game.

Re: Keys to Winning
 

Firstdown, You hit it. Taylor Jacobs - or someone other than SAntana Moss/Chris Cooley/Clinton Portis - has to step up to make defenses PAY for dbl covering Moss and Cooley. Until that happens, the Skins offense is going to be suspect.

First, do not underestimate Seattle. They don't have the best record for nothing. Alexander's success means he's running behind a powerful O-line. John Riggins says Matt Hasselbeck is the best QB in the NFC. He won't be fooled or rattled.

The Skins won because the defense really stepped up to make stops and force turnovers, 14 in the last five games and 3 at Tampa. That's just basic. Cause turnovers, win the game.

Win the line of scrimmage. Running lets our big uglies be aggressive against the Seahawk defense and open holes for Portis/Betts. These two points keep the score manageable. The Skins do [b]NOT[/b] want to get in a shootout with Seattle.

Run the ball. Run it again. And again. If they fall behind, but stay within 14 points, keep running the ball up to mid-way in the 4th quarter.

Brunell mobility in the pocket. He buys time for the receivers to get open. An extra half second helps Moss and Cooley. A full second more [u]might[/u] help Jacobs and the other guy.

Of course, we know all this. We are fans. If we knew [b]HOW[/b] to do it, we would be coaches!

Hail Victory!

Re: Keys to Winning
 

the media has gotten the offense fired up now, thats goooood!! The defense needs to blitz early and shake up hasselbeck.

Re: Keys to Winning
 

no trick plays please!lets dance with what brought us.running the ball and hitting seattles offense right in the mouth(i said hitting not spitting)i dont think seattle as a team can handle our d as physical as the skins have been playing

Re: Keys to Winning
 

Keys to the game....just score more points than they do ....and we'll listen to how our win wasn't justified :smashfrea

Re: Keys to Winning
 

[QUOTE=Redskins88]Keys to the game....just score more points than they do ....and we'll listen to how our win wasn't justified :smashfrea[/QUOTE]


My prediction:

Skins win... experts say Seattle wasn't as good as they thought.

Re: Keys to Winning
 

[QUOTE=GoSkins!]My prediction:

Skins win... experts say Seattle wasn't as good as they thought.[/QUOTE]

That wouldn't be too bad....