The Redskins Are Close

[44Deezel]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

I'll offer another possible anti-Campbell argument. Not one that I necessarily agree with, but since we're going to debate the QB position anyway, somebody's got to make the argument against (and SCSkinsfan can't be here all the time).

He's been victimized by drops throughout his career. Just victimized. But, what if what we perceive as being dropped passes are actually plays that Campbell's timing was off on and the end game was a dropped pass.

Specifically, (and not that this was Campbell's fault) the Devin Thomas drop in the end zone occured mostly because (in my opinion) the Rams won the play up to that point. They took away the first two options on the play (Portis and either Cooley/ARE, tough to tell exactly), and got pressure on the quarterback. While I think Thomas could have been quicker to flash in the hole in the coverage, Campbell's throw was low because it had to be low.

So Thomas gets blame for dropping a ball that hit him in the hands, and cost the team a TD. But while we say, "that's another dropped pass that's killing our quarterback" the drop itself was due in part to being a complete last-chance option on the play. In this case, it's not the quarterback being completely victimized, it's just a defensive win on third down.

So while that play was hardly Campbell's fault, the consistently high dropped pass totals is probably partially attributable to the quarterback. In the same way that interceptions are rarely 100% the fault of the QB, dropped passes may be less than 100% the fault of the receiver.

I thought the play to Sellers was actually a nice, well run play that should have been an easy TD. The play to DT was another one of those awkwurd, herky-jerky red zone plays for the Skins. Not to say that's an excuse for either the arguably poor throw or dropped pass, but it demonstrates a lack of comfort level with red zone plays. Plays seem to break down when they get down there. They look less fluid and more sandlot when they get close.

As for dropped passes throughout his career, I guess you'd have to look at each drop individually and make an assessment. What constitutes a drop? Were balls thrown low, behind, high? Did the Receiver have to make an unreasonable adjustment? And has the issue been compounded by being in a ball control, run first Offense that makes it difficult for Receivers to get into the rhythm of the game to the point that they lose focus and drop a few more balls than would be considered normal. Obviously, there are drops that are completely the Receiver's fault and ARE and Moss definitely had their fair share, especially ARE. But TO dropped more passes than anyone and the Cowbitches still managed to have a prolific passing attack.

I thought it was interesting that Zorn went to more running plays in the red zone, because passes were being dropped. Only 2 were dropped after all, and DT's was not an easy catch by any means. I wonder if he did the same thing after Campbell missed Kelly on the first play or threw out of bounds to DT or missed by a mile on another bomb attempt. I heard a caller on 980 Sports make a good point the other day. In the Super Bowl last year, what if Tomlin decided to run on the last play of the game because Santonio Holmes dropped that pass right before his game winning catch? Instead, he went right back to the same play just to the other side. Now, they were smart enough to throw on 1st and 2nd, instead of waiting for 3rd down, but that's neither here nor there