Concerns about the offense
 

After watching the Pittsburgh game for the 2nd time, I have some real concerns about our O this year. First off, Ramsey continues to underthrow his receivers. There were at least 2 long throws that became "jump balls" and easily could've been picks. IMO he continues to make poor decisions, even his completions make you hold your breath at times, Moss made a tremdous adjustment to come back to the ball once, and the td to Cooley was close to a pick as well. I think Gibbs' leash on Ramsey will be short this year, 2 bad games back to back and we could be right back to Brunnell. For some reason I get a pit in my stomach when I think of Ramsey facing the Dallas defense, in Dallas, on Monday night of week 2. Thankfully we open against Chicago and a rookie QB in week one.

Is anyone else concerned about our lack of depth on the O-line? They are playing awesome right now, but our depth seems really poor, and certainly there is a better backup center than Raymer available somewhere right now. Just some thoughts for discussion.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

[QUOTE=paulskinsfan]After watching the Pittsburgh game for the 2nd time, I have some real concerns about our O this year. First off, Ramsey continues to underthrow his receivers. There were at least 2 long throws that became "jump balls" and easily could've been picks. IMO he continues to make poor decisions, even his completions make you hold your breath at times, Moss made a tremdous adjustment to come back to the ball once, and the td to Cooley was close to a pick as well. I think Gibbs' leash on Ramsey will be short this year, 2 bad games back to back and we could be right back to Brunnell. For some reason I get a pit in my stomach when I think of Ramsey facing the Dallas defense, in Dallas, on Monday night of week 2. Thankfully we open against Chicago and a rookie QB in week one.

Is anyone else concerned about our lack of depth on the O-line? They are playing awesome right now, but our depth seems really poor, and certainly there is a better backup center than Raymer available somewhere right now. Just some thoughts for discussion.[/QUOTE]

On the contrary, sir. I think Ramsey had a solid, in fact a good game - 12 for 19 isn't bad and he's completed about 63% for the preseason. So on paper he's not having a bad preseason by any stretch. The one int. he had in the Steelers game was simply a miscommunication deal. He probably should have eaten the ball. Is he still learning - yes. Look, I've said it a dozen times, this kid is never going to be a prolific passer. He won't turn into Marino or Manning or McNabb even. He'll be a good solid QB most of his career with a few 3,000 yd seasons to show for it, IMO. But overall I think he's doing most of what Gibbs & Co. are asking of him right now.

As far as the O-line, I couldn't disagree with you more as far as the depth.
I think they have been just short of dominating so far and I like our deph, literally at every position, Raymer included. Don't forget he started last year and although he lost out to Raybach he's still a center most teams could use.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

Ramsey has been up and down, but let's remember he's played against some pretty damn good defenses this preseason. And until last week he didn't have the benefit of much of a running game behind him due to playcalling and Portis sitting out.

As for the line depth, if anything this preseason has made me feel much better about the line overall, depth included. We've run the ball and protected the QB the entire game, whether it's the starters or the backups in there.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

The O-Line is the unit I feel best about on the entire team. Maybe I feel just as good as I do on the RBs. Ray Brown makes great depth at guard. Raymer is definitely high quality backup C material, I mean he was a starter for a long time. I think Molinaro and Wilson are coming along well enough to solidify T.

Ramsey's deep accuracy is definitely still a concern. But I think it will take time for him to synch up with his new WRs. You can tell how much faster Moss & Patten are than Gardner and Coles. Coles has the potential to burn like that, but with the toe issue he was significantly slower. Ramsey seems to underthrow a lot right now, he's probably not used to their speed yet. Hopefully that will come.

I'm encouraged by how good the running game looked though. Ramsey just needs to do enough to keep the D honest. That should set Portis loose, he should go friggin nuts this year.

We're still in the NFC East, and Joe Gibbs is still our coach. We're a RUN FIRST team, the way it should be.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

I'm looking at this preseason like Tiger looks at the tournament before the Masters. For years, Tiger would enter a tournament and do poorly - because he was working out new stuff for the Masters. Hitting fades when he didn't need to, laying up when he could easily reach the green, that sort of thing. It would drive golf guys crazy... at first. Then they'd see him at the Masters. He hadn't lost his big driver, he wanted to make sure he had the other shots.

Ramsey has always had a lot of zip on his passes. Watching him underthrow these passes means the coaching staff wants him to feel comfortable with something other than a laser. We should see a greater range of throws when it counts.

By the way, lose all the confidence you want to lose in Ramsey. His teammates and coaches seem to trust him, and that's enough for me.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

Why is everyone so scared of Dallas's D? I mean have you watched any of there preseason games at all? Yes, Ware is someone to look out for but thats it, there secondary has Williams and it stops there too, Newman and Henry both couldnt cover a blanket...

I just dont get it, maybe Parcells is holding back, but if he is than why does he always looked pissed standing on the sidelines?

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

[QUOTE=Redskins8588]Why is everyone so scared of Dallas's D? I mean have you watched any of there preseason games at all? Yes, Ware is someone to look out for but thats it, there secondary has Williams and it stops there too, Newman and Henry both couldnt cover a blanket...

I just dont get it, maybe Parcells is holding back, but if he is than why does he always looked pissed standing on the sidelines?[/QUOTE]
I don't know why we should be especially scared of Dallas's Defense. We just ran and passed very well against Pittsburgh's 3-4 defense - and they know what they are doing. Half of the Cowboys defense is playing in a 3-4 for the first time in their careers.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

I know everyone is optimistic after the Steeler's game, and I want to see Ramsey do well as much as the next guy, but....

Fact is, Ramsey was not very impressive. Let's be honest, his deep ball is GAWD AWEFUL! It was so consistently underthrown, I was starting to think it was intentional.

As posted earlier, Santana and Cooley made some great adjustments to keep Ramsey from having another 3 INT game.

I was really nervous about this season after watching him (no, I don't care what the box stats were). He really needs to show us the *POTENTIAL* everyone keeps talking about. Hell, I've got *POTENTIAL*.

Having said that, I think we should support him for the first few games and not talk about pulling him unless he's absolutely horrible. Nothing I'd like less than to see the Brunell Bandwagon starting rolling after a bad Week 1 performance.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

Ramsey is still adjusting to trying to get air under his throws, and like someone already said I think he's also adjust to the speed of Patten and Moss.

They obviously have some work to do, but the only way he's going to get better is by playing.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

Guys, I think Ramsey made some really good throws in the Pittsburgh game and some that the receivers made him look good on. But that happens with every team and every QB. My only concern is that he stares down a receiver too much. A couple of his "out patterns" were almost picked, but he had a lot of velocity on them so they turned into completions. Unless our receivers make some double moves, I worry about CBs watching his eyes and "keying in" on where he is going with the ball. I would love to have Musgrave work on that with Ramsey and I wonder if he does. Ramsey actually had a really good night if you take away the INT. The problem is that the Skins have had one of those type of plays "INT for a TD" a lot in the last couple of years. We need some breaks on stuff like that this year.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

I dont see how anyone can quibble with our depth on the o-line. The depth ahs been remarkable. In fact the worst performance of th o-line were the first scrimmage and game when the starting unit looked average. At no time have the backups looked anything but capable. I am encouraged by our depth on the line.

As far as Ramsey I am in a wait and see mode. The offense has looked by any strech of the imagination at least twice as good as last year. I think some people are forgetting just how bad the offense looked last year. It was completely incapable of doing anything. This year at the least the design seems much better. Ramsey has never been a bad QB. He has more TDs than interceptions for his career and has always been under serious pressure. I think given a decent chance and protection he is going to blossom. Just gie him some time guys.

One other thing I have noticed at both the games I was at...Our receivers are fast. Not like a little fast but like run fly patterns and they are open by 6 yards every time fast. Once they hit a couple fo these the offense is going to open up. This offense really has a chance to be good if they can keep Ramsey's confidence up and stay healthy.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

Speaking of out patterns though, I think Ramsey to Cooley/Patten on intermediate outs is going to be HUGE this year. Ramsey DOES always throw with a lot of velocity that allows him to complete those. He seems to have pretty good accuracy with them too.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

Concerns about our offense should be directed to the last five minutes of the first half on Friday. With 5:01 on the clock, with our #1 RB on the sidelines, with a seven point deficit, our offense did everything it was supposed to do. When that 10 play, 55 yard drive was over, the game was tied and Pittsburgh had 38 seconds on the clock. Our QB was 5/5, we never rushed for a loss, and Pittsburgh's first team defense was left apologizing to the coaches.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

Jump balls are in the play book and all teams use them its a matter of putting the ball where the receiver has the advantage as Ramsey did with Cooley. In the Pit game we would have ran the ball alot more because we were so efficent in running but Gibbs wanted to see more of the passing game. I think we would have had another TD before the half if we would have run the ball more and then they would have stacked the line and our passing game would have been even better. If our Oline stays healthy and can keep playing the way they are our O will have alot of success this year. Last year we all talk about if we could only get the running game going and protect the QB our passing game would come along and from what I'm seeing thats what we are doing.If you think we should have concerns look at Roethisberger's stats. 30 attemps 14 completions 0 TD's 2 interceptions and a passer rating of 30. That would realy have me concerned.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

[QUOTE=BrudLee]Concerns about our offense should be directed to the last five minutes of the first half on Friday. With 5:01 on the clock, with our #1 RB on the sidelines, with a seven point deficit, our offense did everything it was supposed to do. When that 10 play, 55 yard drive was over, the game was tied and Pittsburgh had 38 seconds on the clock. Our QB was 5/5, we never rushed for a loss, and Pittsburgh's first team defense was left apologizing to the coaches.[/QUOTE]

That's exactly how I felt. The offense worked the way I've envisioned it working. More of the same, please.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

I agree with the concern about Ramsey's deep throws, for this reason. Our wideouts are getting serious separation on those deep routes. Those should go for TDs. When a WR is 3-4 steps behind the D, you've got to hit it. We're are going to have lots of opportunities like that this year, if our running game looks like it did against Pitt. The play action on 1st-2nd down is going to be devastating. So Ramsey has to get that throw to work.

I agree with Matty that he's trying to adjust his deep ball and get more air under it--but it's time to get it to work! He more often overthrew the deep ball last year, if I recall correctly, so he's clearly got the arm, as we know. Let's just hope he finds the happy medium and starts hitting it. If he does, we're going to light it up.

The o-line looks great to me, and I'm not so worried about the depth issue, though our starters are obviously much stronger than the backups.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

I don't think many will ever be happy. Is their something about finding something bad to say about the skins consistently in regards to Ramsey. The guy is performing much like your other quarterbacks in the league with an interception here and an interception there. Every interception that is thrown is considered a bad decision. Bad decisions are made by all the quarterbacks and the agressive defenses and blitzes create a problem for all quarterbacks when they are rushed. Ramsey can underthrow all day as long as he gives his receivers a chance to make a play on the long ball that we so desperarately missed last year. Many people would argue for a good quarterback those throws were great put where the reciever had a chance or only where the receiver could have gotten it. It would be ideal to hit receivers on the run, but it just does not happen that way all the time and never will. We will win a lot of games this year due to a greatly improved offense if we compare to last year and considering Gibbs still has plenty to show when the regular season opens. I feel good about our chances.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

I agree that Ramsey is working on putting more air under his deep balls, so he is underthrowing a bit, but as we saw the WR's started adjusting better on Friday and coming back to the ball. They go over these plays every day in practice, so I'm sure that once Ramsey gets it down, they'll be right with him. Plus, a couple deep balls with only few or no YAC is better than no deep balls at all like last year!

On another note, I can't help but notice how our new receivers CATCH THE BALL! Practically anything close and they have it! Quite a nice change from "drop it like it's hot" Gardner, and "my toe hurts and now I jammed my finger" Coles! Thrash has always been very consistent too, not to mention Cooley.....VERY promising!!! :biggthump

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

[QUOTE=SkinsRock]I agree that Ramsey is working on putting more air under his deep balls, so he is underthrowing a bit, but as we saw the WR's started adjusting better on Friday and coming back to the ball. They go over these plays every day in practice, so I'm sure that once Ramsey gets it down, they'll be right with him. Plus, a couple deep balls with only few or no YAC is better than no deep balls at all like last year!

On another note, I can't help but notice how our new receivers CATCH THE BALL! Practically anything close and they have it! Quite a nice change from "drop it like it's hot" Gardner, and "my toe hurts and now I jammed my finger" Coles! Thrash has always been very consistent too, not to mention Cooley.....VERY promising!!! :biggthump[/QUOTE]

yeah, i'm a big fan of receivers that can catch... its a good quality to have, and something we should demand.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

Don't get me wrong--I'm am not unhappy with Ramsey--he played a great game against Pitt and is going to lead us to lots of victories this year. All I'm saying is that he isn't hitting the deep ball yet (Moss did a fantastic job coming back to the ball on at least 2 plays), and when he does, he will really take us to the next level. The fly route is going to be there, and it needs to be hit properly--ie, hitting the WR in stride so they don't have to slow down. Given our speed, that's going to equal TDs, and it's going to put us over the 21 point mark on a regular basis. But it is not there yet, and it needs to be there soon! We'll be fine with passing like we saw against Pitt; but if PR hits the deep one right, we'll be a force.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

gotta agree with jw here, his bombs aren't that great yet...

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

This is the first pre-season game I have seen this year. To make a long story short, I saw something I haven't seen in burgundy and gold in more than 10 years.............a damn football team! I thought the o-line was monstrous. Running game kicked ass. good protection for Ramsey. Defense will AGAIN be a Juggernaut. Lavar seemed to be everywhere. One more thing. Ramsey is a work in progress. He looked on the solid side of decent, nearly good!!! Much better than I expected. I might point out a dude named Joe Theisman sat the bench for numerous seasons, because he did stupid rookie stuff and could not get ahead of Billie Kilmer. So much for the short story

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

Good post, Hog1. I agree with you--been a while since we've seen it!

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

Didn't Ramsey have a problem with overthrowing in the past instead of underthrowing like he has this preseason? My guess is that he's over-compensating. Give him time, and he'll probably have it under control soon enough.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

[QUOTE=paulskinsfan]After watching the Pittsburgh game for the 2nd time, I have some real concerns about our O this year. First off, Ramsey continues to underthrow his receivers. There were at least 2 long throws that became "jump balls" and easily could've been picks. IMO he continues to make poor decisions, even his completions make you hold your breath at times, Moss made a tremdous adjustment to come back to the ball once, and the td to Cooley was close to a pick as well. I think Gibbs' leash on Ramsey will be short this year, 2 bad games back to back and we could be right back to Brunnell. For some reason I get a pit in my stomach when I think of Ramsey facing the Dallas defense, in Dallas, on Monday night of week 2. Thankfully we open against Chicago and a rookie QB in week one.

Is anyone else concerned about our lack of depth on the O-line? They are playing awesome right now, but our depth seems really poor, and certainly there is a better backup center than Raymer available somewhere right now. Just some thoughts for discussion.[/QUOTE]

I get a 'pit in my stomach' no matter who's starting at QB for the Redskins against Dallas.

I think Ramsey's slowly improving with each performance. If he can just stop making stupid mistakes and throwing picks, he'll be OK with the help of a strong running game. Which by the way, is what we saw against Pittsburgh. For most of the game, the Skins O-line completely manhandled the Steelers.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

Take it for what it's worth being that it's preseason, but the Skins are ranked #2 overall in total offense.

[url]http://www.nfl.com/stats/teamsort/NFL/OFF-TOTAL/2005/pre?sort_col_1=4[/url]

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

[QUOTE=Mattyk72]Take it for what it's worth being that it's preseason, but the Skins are ranked #2 overall in total offense.

[url]http://www.nfl.com/stats/teamsort/NFL/OFF-TOTAL/2005/pre?sort_col_1=4[/url][/QUOTE]

against defenses you'd hardly call "pushover". we may not be scoring enough yet, but we're moving the ball on the ground AND the air. thats 500% improvement anyway you look at it. plumb that stat a bit more and see we're #2 to last in penalty yards. even more improvement.

Re: Concerns about the offense
 

[QUOTE=illdefined]against defenses you'd hardly call "pushover". we may not be scoring enough yet, but we're moving the ball on the ground AND the air. thats 500% improvement anyway you look at it. plumb that stat a bit more and see we're #2 to last in penalty yards. even more improvement.[/QUOTE]

Good points.

I know it's the preseason, but I'm encouraged by these #'s.

It's a good start.