Game Review, Offense -- Campbell, Moss among elite NFL passing tandems

GTripp0012 · 10-01-2008, 01:50 AM

The Redskins are now seen as a powerhouse NFL team! The Redskins played their best game of the season, but the still have some things to improve on if they want to 1) beat the Eagles next week, 2) take down the Giants later this year, and 3) Withstand the Cowboys when the come back to FedEx looking for revenge.

Jim Zorn

Playcalling (69 plays):
Run 35 (51%)
Pass 34 (49 %)

Personnel Packages:
Base (2 WR, 2 RB): 19 (28%)
2 TE: 14 (20%)
3 WR, 1 TE: 31 (45%)
3 WR, 2 RB: 5 (7%)

Cooley played on all but 6 downs, replaced on one play at TE by Yoder. The Redskins, I think have a great oppertunity to get Fred Davis some plays on offense. I like the offensive balance this team has, and clearly Campbell is very comfortable right now. The first three halves of the year, Campbell was just looking to protect the football. Now, he’s still doing that, but he’s doing it well shaking sacks and making plays deep down the field under duress. The playcalling has shifted more towards the pass because of this, but the Redskins pounded the Cowboys in the 4th quarter, and the poor Cowboys were helpless to stop us!

Pass Offense

Success Rate: 18/34 (53%)
Total Adj. Passing Yards: 215
Yards per Pass Play: 6.32

Yeah! Right now, no team is throwing the football quite as well as the Washington Redskins. The Redskins aren’t only creating winning type passing plays more than half the times they drop back, but they are also creating big plays down the field. Time to see how the receivers did in this one. Jason Campbell didn’t exactly spread the ball around:

(Targets, Receptions, Catch %, Yds/Target)
Santana Moss 13, 8, 62%, 11.0
Chris Cooley 6, 4, 67%, 4.5
Antwaan Randle El 4, 4, 100%, 9.5
James Thrash 2, 2, 100%, 4.5
Clinton Portis 2, 2, 100%, 7.5

Only 5 different receivers got a look, and Todd Yoder, Ladell Betts, and Devin Thomas were all on the field for at least 10 plays each. The Redskins tried to set up a screen to Betts, but I’m not counting it as a target because after it was sniffed out Campbell just threw it as his feet. By definition, not a target.

Santana Moss will probably be back in the pro bowl.

Offensive Line

Another good performance on the whole from this group. First the negatives: Randy Thomas struggled to remain consistent again, failing at his block on at least 5 different plays. Casey Rabach had those two penalties to kill a drive, but the holding call was really iffy (it may have been holding, but it just as easily might have been Zach Thomas diving into his arm). Rabach played his best game of the season by far against Jay Ratliff. Thomas struggled greatly with Ratliff and Jason Hatcher. Jon Jansen did alright, but got beaten three times in pass pro. He’s still good enough to fill in in a pinch, but when Heyer is healthy, this is his job.

Samuels struggled early on in pass pro, but got little help from Betts. He and Kendall were beyond dominant in run blocking. Chris Cooley really struggled against the Giants in run blocking. Since then, Cooley has been a great run blocking TE. On the touchdown run by Portis that was called back on Rabach’s hold, Cooley first kicked DeMarcus Ware well out of the hole, and then threw him to the ground like a rag doll. Ware was abused in the running game all day by a “receiving TE.”

Mike Sellers also had his best game of the year in run blocking. Overall, I think the Redskins OL benefited greatly from facing the Cards last week, as Dallas’ defensive schemes were similar to the Cards, except far more simplistic.

Rush Offense

Success Rate 16/35 (46%)
Total Adj Ground Yards: 152
Ground yards per play: 4.34

Clinton Portis
21 rushes, 121 yards

I’ve never seen Portis run as hard as he did on Sunday in the time he’s been on the Redskins. If not for Campbell, he would be the player of the game.

Ladell Betts
11 rushes for 33 yards

Betts got the grunt work in this game, and actually ran pretty well. He didn’t break any long runs versus the Cowboys’ run heavy defenses.

Antwaan Randle El
1 rush for 5 yards

Zorn holds the status quo for misdirection plays — all successful thus far.

Jason Campbell
1 rush for 6 yards

Campbell steals a nice play from Betts. They averted a fumble and then Campbell followed him up the middle for 6 yards. His next play was even better, but called back by illegal man downfield.

The O-Line is the star of the running game right now, and the zone blocking schemes I think are the critical supporting cast. Portis finally hauled ass in the open field.

Overall Offense

Success Rate: 34/69 (49%)
Total Adj Off. Yards: 367
Yards Per Play: 5.32

This was a DOMINATING offensive performance. The Redskins didn’t only exploit the Cowboys’ main weaknesses, they exploited all of them. The Redskins DESERVE to be considered a better team than the Cowboys, although clearly there will be personal discretion between people on who is the better team. The Redskins, all of a sudden, are a legitimate threat to win the NFC East, and Jason Campbell is on his way to becoming an ELITE Quarterback.

GMScud · 10-01-2008, 02:19 AM

Fantastic assessment.

IMO Campbell's best (or most tell tale) play of the game was when he snagged the fumble on that failed hand off to Betts and immediately turned it upfield for a 6 yard gain. What % of QB's in this league would have either just fallen on that ball or flat out lost it? I believe that one play shows how in-tune he is with everything on the field. To me, this play shows that the game may finally be slowing down for Jason. He's not only seeing the field well, but has the presence to grab that loose ball (he led the league in fumbles last year) and rather than panic, turn it into a successful running play. He's breathing through his eyeballs now.

GTripp- Any thoughts on how we'll match up against Philly's D this weekend? I hate their blitz packages.

GMScud · 10-01-2008, 02:44 AM

We're still settling for too many FGs.

TheMalcolmConnection · 10-01-2008, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMScud

We're still settling for too many FGs.

While I love just putting up ANY points, I do agree to an extent here. With all the trips we had in the red zone against the Cowboys, we should have destroyed them.

WillH · 10-01-2008, 02:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMScud

Fantastic assessment.

IMO Campbell's best (or most tell tale) play of the game was when he snagged the fumble on that failed hand off to Betts and immediately turned it upfield for a 6 yard gain. What % of QB's in this league would have either just fallen on that ball or flat out lost it? I believe that one play shows how in-tune he is with everything on the field. To me, this play shows that the game may finally be slowing down for Jason. He's not only seeing the field well, but has the presence to grab that loose ball (he led the league in fumbles last year) and rather than panic, turn it into a successful running play. He's breathing through his eyeballs now.

GTripp- Any thoughts on how we'll match up against Philly's D this weekend? I hate their blitz packages.

Well said. I was thinking the same thing. That play took incredible presence of mind. I have never seen anything like that from a QB. JC is scary good, and I agree with GTripp that he's becoming the elite QB most of us expected. I would be very surprised if he doesn't remain in the top 5 rated QB's this year. He very well could remain the best QB in the NFCEast, which is no small feat. I'm so excited to finally have a franchise QB.

firstdown · 10-01-2008, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillH

Well said. I was thinking the same thing. That play took incredible presence of mind. I have never seen anything like that from a QB. JC is scary good, and I agree with GTripp that he's becoming the elite QB most of us expected. I would be very surprised if he doesn't remain in the top 5 rated QB's this year. He very well could remain the best QB in the NFCEast, which is no small feat. I'm so excited to finally have a franchise QB.

It was a good play but if you have never seen anything like that from a QB you have not watched allot of football. I agree wih your other points and it seems that the work that Zorn is doing with JC is really paying off.

bertoskins2 · 10-01-2008, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillH

Well said. I was thinking the same thing. That play took incredible presence of mind. I have never seen anything like that from a QB. JC is scary good, and I agree with GTripp that he's becoming the elite QB most of us expected. I would be very surprised if he doesn't remain in the top 5 rated QB's this year. He very well could remain the best QB in the NFCEast, which is no small feat. I'm so excited to finally have a franchise QB.

what JC did have compared to most of the QB's is his poise, focus, humbleness and work ethic. ingrients to sucess

GTripp0012 · 10-01-2008, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMScud

GTripp- Any thoughts on how we'll match up against Philly's D this weekend? I hate their blitz packages.

Philly has the best run defense in the NFL right now. They also have the best defense in the division through four weeks.

They like to play zone, and their LBs are not good in coverage. They are especially vulnerable to passes to the tight end. I think Campbell has proved that blitzing him is a poor plan, and I do think the Eagles are paying attention. Of course, they'll still bring the pressure on third down if they feel they can prevent a big play to Moss from occurring. MLB Stewart Bradley might be the most underrated player in the division now that Westbrook and Campbell are getting their dues.

I'm more worried about our defense vs. their offense then our offense vs. their defense. Campbell will do well, I think.

saden1 · 10-01-2008, 03:41 AM

Great work once again GTripp.

MTK · 10-01-2008, 09:33 AM

Good stuff. The offense is rolling right now.

Paintrain · 10-01-2008, 10:08 AM

Great work as usual.. The great thing is this offense is still in it's infancy. When everyone becomes more efficient and things start to be natural it could be scary for teams that we face. JC, Moss and Portis are a strong triple threat to put out there every week. When (if) Thomas, Davis and Kelly are able to contribute, we have the potential to be a top 3 offense.

MTK · 10-01-2008, 10:59 AM

Remember we've had a few sketchy calls in recent weeks that have taken TD's off the board. So some of those FG's definitely should have been TD's.

TheMalcolmConnection · 10-01-2008, 11:25 AM

Very true. If anything, I'm mostly amped about the potential for a BUTT LOAD of points.

Warren85Ellard · 10-01-2008, 12:19 PM

A guy I know (a Cowboy fan) told me this moring that one of Suisham's field goals was hooked and the refs made the wrong call. He said that he noticed it during the game and that it was brought up by the host of a show on ESPN radio. I'd usually dismiss this as typical Cowboy fan behavior after a loss, but the guy I know is a trustworthy guy, which I can't say about many Cowboy fans in northern VA. Did you happen to notice if any of Suisham's field goals were questionable? Thanks for you reviews.

Ade Jimoh Fan Club · 10-01-2008, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warren85Ellard

A guy I know (a Cowboy fan) told me this moring that one of Suisham's field goals was hooked and the refs made the wrong call. He said that he noticed it during the game and that it was brought up by the host of a show on ESPN radio. I'd usually dismiss this as typical Cowboy fan behavior after a loss, but the guy I know is a trustworthy guy, which I can't say about many Cowboy fans in northern VA. Did you happen to notice if any of Suisham's field goals were questionable? Thanks for you reviews.

Here's a pretty good breakdown of the field goal in question:
Tuesday, September 30: Just Because You’re Paranoid… « The Official Blog of The Washington Redskins

Looks good to me. Still it's irrelevant, b/c if it had been called a missed FG, we would have played differently at the end of the game and therefore who knows if it would have had any impact on the outcome. You can't just assume that since we won by two - if it didn't count, we would have lost.

10-01-2008, 01:50 AM	#1
GTripp0012 Living Legend Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Evanston, IL Age: 36 Posts: 15,994	Game Review, Offense -- Campbell, Moss among elite NFL passing tandems The Redskins are now seen as a powerhouse NFL team! The Redskins played their best game of the season, but the still have some things to improve on if they want to 1) beat the Eagles next week, 2) take down the Giants later this year, and 3) Withstand the Cowboys when the come back to FedEx looking for revenge. Jim Zorn Playcalling (69 plays): Run 35 (51%) Pass 34 (49 %) Personnel Packages: Base (2 WR, 2 RB): 19 (28%) 2 TE: 14 (20%) 3 WR, 1 TE: 31 (45%) 3 WR, 2 RB: 5 (7%) Cooley played on all but 6 downs, replaced on one play at TE by Yoder. The Redskins, I think have a great oppertunity to get Fred Davis some plays on offense. I like the offensive balance this team has, and clearly Campbell is very comfortable right now. The first three halves of the year, Campbell was just looking to protect the football. Now, he’s still doing that, but he’s doing it well shaking sacks and making plays deep down the field under duress. The playcalling has shifted more towards the pass because of this, but the Redskins pounded the Cowboys in the 4th quarter, and the poor Cowboys were helpless to stop us! Pass Offense Success Rate: 18/34 (53%) Total Adj. Passing Yards: 215 Yards per Pass Play: 6.32 Yeah! Right now, no team is throwing the football quite as well as the Washington Redskins. The Redskins aren’t only creating winning type passing plays more than half the times they drop back, but they are also creating big plays down the field. Time to see how the receivers did in this one. Jason Campbell didn’t exactly spread the ball around: (Targets, Receptions, Catch %, Yds/Target) Santana Moss 13, 8, 62%, 11.0 Chris Cooley 6, 4, 67%, 4.5 Antwaan Randle El 4, 4, 100%, 9.5 James Thrash 2, 2, 100%, 4.5 Clinton Portis 2, 2, 100%, 7.5 Only 5 different receivers got a look, and Todd Yoder, Ladell Betts, and Devin Thomas were all on the field for at least 10 plays each. The Redskins tried to set up a screen to Betts, but I’m not counting it as a target because after it was sniffed out Campbell just threw it as his feet. By definition, not a target. Santana Moss will probably be back in the pro bowl. Offensive Line Another good performance on the whole from this group. First the negatives: Randy Thomas struggled to remain consistent again, failing at his block on at least 5 different plays. Casey Rabach had those two penalties to kill a drive, but the holding call was really iffy (it may have been holding, but it just as easily might have been Zach Thomas diving into his arm). Rabach played his best game of the season by far against Jay Ratliff. Thomas struggled greatly with Ratliff and Jason Hatcher. Jon Jansen did alright, but got beaten three times in pass pro. He’s still good enough to fill in in a pinch, but when Heyer is healthy, this is his job. Samuels struggled early on in pass pro, but got little help from Betts. He and Kendall were beyond dominant in run blocking. Chris Cooley really struggled against the Giants in run blocking. Since then, Cooley has been a great run blocking TE. On the touchdown run by Portis that was called back on Rabach’s hold, Cooley first kicked DeMarcus Ware well out of the hole, and then threw him to the ground like a rag doll. Ware was abused in the running game all day by a “receiving TE.” Mike Sellers also had his best game of the year in run blocking. Overall, I think the Redskins OL benefited greatly from facing the Cards last week, as Dallas’ defensive schemes were similar to the Cards, except far more simplistic. Rush Offense Success Rate 16/35 (46%) Total Adj Ground Yards: 152 Ground yards per play: 4.34 Clinton Portis 21 rushes, 121 yards I’ve never seen Portis run as hard as he did on Sunday in the time he’s been on the Redskins. If not for Campbell, he would be the player of the game. Ladell Betts 11 rushes for 33 yards Betts got the grunt work in this game, and actually ran pretty well. He didn’t break any long runs versus the Cowboys’ run heavy defenses. Antwaan Randle El 1 rush for 5 yards Zorn holds the status quo for misdirection plays — all successful thus far. Jason Campbell 1 rush for 6 yards Campbell steals a nice play from Betts. They averted a fumble and then Campbell followed him up the middle for 6 yards. His next play was even better, but called back by illegal man downfield. The O-Line is the star of the running game right now, and the zone blocking schemes I think are the critical supporting cast. Portis finally hauled ass in the open field. Overall Offense Success Rate: 34/69 (49%) Total Adj Off. Yards: 367 Yards Per Play: 5.32 This was a DOMINATING offensive performance. The Redskins didn’t only exploit the Cowboys’ main weaknesses, they exploited all of them. The Redskins DESERVE to be considered a better team than the Cowboys, although clearly there will be personal discretion between people on who is the better team. The Redskins, all of a sudden, are a legitimate threat to win the NFC East, and Jason Campbell is on his way to becoming an ELITE Quarterback. __________________ according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

10-01-2008, 02:19 AM	#2
GMScud Swearinger Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 12,626	Re: Game Review, Offense -- Campbell, Moss among elite NFL passing tandems Fantastic assessment. IMO Campbell's best (or most tell tale) play of the game was when he snagged the fumble on that failed hand off to Betts and immediately turned it upfield for a 6 yard gain. What % of QB's in this league would have either just fallen on that ball or flat out lost it? I believe that one play shows how in-tune he is with everything on the field. To me, this play shows that the game may finally be slowing down for Jason. He's not only seeing the field well, but has the presence to grab that loose ball (he led the league in fumbles last year) and rather than panic, turn it into a successful running play. He's breathing through his eyeballs now. GTripp- Any thoughts on how we'll match up against Philly's D this weekend? I hate their blitz packages. __________________ Tardy Last edited by GMScud; 10-01-2008 at 02:34 AM.

10-01-2008, 02:44 AM	#3
GMScud Swearinger Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 12,626	Re: Game Review, Offense -- Campbell, Moss among elite NFL passing tandems We're still settling for too many FGs. __________________ Tardy

10-01-2008, 03:41 AM	#9
saden1 MVP Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Seattle Age: 45 Posts: 10,069	Re: Game Review, Offense -- Campbell, Moss among elite NFL passing tandems Great work once again GTripp. __________________ "The Redskins have always suffered from chronic organizational deformities under Snyder." -Jenkins

10-01-2008, 09:33 AM	#10
MTK \m/ Join Date: Feb 2004 Age: 52 Posts: 99,608	Re: Game Review, Offense -- Campbell, Moss among elite NFL passing tandems Good stuff. The offense is rolling right now. __________________ Support The Warpath! \| Warpath Shop

10-01-2008, 10:08 AM	#11
Paintrain Pro Bowl Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL Age: 54 Posts: 5,006	Re: Game Review, Offense -- Campbell, Moss among elite NFL passing tandems Great work as usual.. The great thing is this offense is still in it's infancy. When everyone becomes more efficient and things start to be natural it could be scary for teams that we face. JC, Moss and Portis are a strong triple threat to put out there every week. When (if) Thomas, Davis and Kelly are able to contribute, we have the potential to be a top 3 offense. __________________ Paintrain's Redskins Fandom 1981-2014 I'm not dead but this team is dead to me...but now that McCloughan is here they may have new life! Jay Gruden = Zorny McSpurrier Kirk Cousins = Next Grossman

10-01-2008, 10:59 AM	#12
MTK \m/ Join Date: Feb 2004 Age: 52 Posts: 99,608	Re: Game Review, Offense -- Campbell, Moss among elite NFL passing tandems Remember we've had a few sketchy calls in recent weeks that have taken TD's off the board. So some of those FG's definitely should have been TD's. __________________ Support The Warpath! \| Warpath Shop

10-01-2008, 11:25 AM	#13
TheMalcolmConnection I like big (_\|_)s. Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Charlottesville, Virginia Age: 43 Posts: 19,233	Re: Game Review, Offense -- Campbell, Moss among elite NFL passing tandems Very true. If anything, I'm mostly amped about the potential for a BUTT LOAD of points. __________________ Regret nothing. At one time it was exactly what you wanted.

10-01-2008, 12:19 PM	#14
Warren85Ellard Special Teams Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Reston,VA Posts: 330	Re: Game Review, Offense -- Campbell, Moss among elite NFL passing tandems A guy I know (a Cowboy fan) told me this moring that one of Suisham's field goals was hooked and the refs made the wrong call. He said that he noticed it during the game and that it was brought up by the host of a show on ESPN radio. I'd usually dismiss this as typical Cowboy fan behavior after a loss, but the guy I know is a trustworthy guy, which I can't say about many Cowboy fans in northern VA. Did you happen to notice if any of Suisham's field goals were questionable? Thanks for you reviews.

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