Post Rams Debacle Thoughts

[hurrykaine]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Does anyone doubt that Holt would have seen some doubles had this been a regular season game. Don't get me wrong the guy is a great WR, top 3 in the league, but he was running wide ass open in single coverage. That kinda stuff doesn't happen in the regular season.

Almost certainly - Saw an interview with Greg Williams on Comcast Sports Net - he fended off comments about the sucky performance saying basically that it was his plan to intensively test the secondary (starters as well as 2nd & 3rd stringers). Of course, the secondary got mauled, but I bet it gave the coaching staff a clearer picture of who's capable of playing and who's not. I for one am not high on Ralph Brown - hope Rufus Brown makes the cut instead of him. Jimoh will certainly be gone, whew!

Could be wrong here, but part of the plan may have even been to hold back on the pass rush (on 1st and 2nd downs) and leave the secondary to hold fort by themselves. Starting DEs such as Upshaw and Wynn left the game in the 1st quarter itself. Gibbs had no interest in trying to win the game as was obvious in the 3rd quarter when Brunell came in and the play calling was still conservative - no long bombs, sweeps or anything of the kind.

About Ramsey - agree with most that he needs to sit back and learn from Brunell - accuracy has never been one of Ramsey's strengths, and he still has too many miscommunications with his receivers for a starting qb . Its certainly been a humbling experience for him and being a back up will aid his development as a qb.

On another note, a pity, but it seems like Rock will be cut - he's pretty ineffective as a runner - Betts played only 2 sets of downs and showed the coaches why he's a better back.

[Defensewins]

YES, the defense did not play well last night. But they were on the field way too long. It reminded me of last year. Our offense did not hold the ball at all.
Maybe cause Ramsey started last night. Ramsey's poor play led to many 3 and out drives. The opening drive was Ramsey's only one that moved down the field. However the ref's helped on two or three failed third down plays, which gave us automatic first downs. I am not worried about the defense as much as you guys. Yes they had a bad game, but compared to last year I can already see signs of much better play. They are a much better defense than last year. This defensive coaching staff has players already playing a much more sound and disciplined level of play. They have a great base to build on. When we get Lavar Arrington, Mike Barrow, Cornelius Griffen, Phillip Daniels and Walt Harris back, this defense will be back to playing well. Plus I hear Saalvea (who has looked good this preseason ) played limited snaps due to minor injury. When you have six guys from any defense missing, you are not going to have a good day.

[Defensewins]

I noticed they finally played Andre Lott at SS along side FS Taylor for the first time this preseason . I noticed on a couple plays where he really did a good job. However there were a few bad plays by Lott as well. But overall he plays better than Bowen.
Bowen on the other hand continues to look really bad. We may have cut the wrong guy (Iffy). Iffy should have been given a fair chance at SS before we gave up on him. I can not see how Bowen can be just given the SS position. He has yet to make a single good play. That pass interference play by Bowen was unforgivably bad. I am not sure Bowen was in a single good defensive play last noght or all preseason.

[SKINSnCANES]

I think you guys are using Champ as an easy excuse. Its one thing to get beat on a couple plays because youre not a top corner, but to put up those kinda numbers in a half isnt one players fault. Id like to think, and im going to assume, that Williams wouldnt have had Holt in single coverage like he was. Im going to take this with a grain of salt and assume with our lbs and dine all healthy and playing the whole game that it would have been completly different.

This did show us though that if we dont get pressure with our linebackers early and often, then we are going to get picked apart. If our linebackers are blitzing, its takes them out of coverage. So when it doesnt work the middle of the field is always going to be open...

[Hogskin]

Originally Posted by SKINSnCANES

I think you guys are using Champ as an easy excuse.

Yeah, I noticed that, too. I kind of figured it just came from listening to that clown Collinsworth harp on it all through the game. That guy develops a lot of biases, then uses every opportunity to push them. Even when they do not apply, as in several of his comments last night.

[illdefined]

i saw Griffin out there and Marcus Washington. no penetration against that weak Rams Oline. thats not about schemes, or Champ, its about beating the guy in front of you. the Dline was a concern before preseason, it will be one after.

apparently Gibbs thought so too cuz looks like we offered Gardner, Betts AND a fifth for Ogun...

[Dana87]

"We've been real vanilla, man," cornerback Fred Smoot said. "The preseason's about who can hide the most, and I think we're one of the teams that's hiding a lot of what we've got."
Williams' complex defense, which features a host of blitzes and packages, has been reduced to bare bones so far. The former head coach of the Buffalo Bills guessed that he's revealed less than 30 percent of his system through the first three weeks of the preseason, and he doesn't intend to show much more the next two weeks.

Like I said we are not seeing what the Redskins are really going to look like in the preseason.

You know I thought that when we got coach Gibbs back that alot of the Whiner fans that complain about every little detail of a preseason game would find a little patients with a team that has to learn a whole new system both offense & Defense. Unfortunatly that doesn't seem to be the case.

[MTK]

Brunell is the clear cut guy for the job right now. He didn't do anything special last night, but he knows how to read the D, check down when he has to, keep the chains moving and he won't turn the ball over.

Ramsey is still struggling with those simple fundamentals. He's a year away from challenging for the job.

[jtheskin]

It's preseason and hopefully Gibbs is keeping it simple so we can do something when it matters. I just hope he has something up his sleeve or we could be having a repeat of his
previous tenure. Which wouldn't be bad if it includes three SB's!!!

[NY_Skinsfan]

You know, I hear lots of talk about how "vanilla" our offense and defense is throughout this preseason and that we will be much better in the regular season...my problem with this is, aren't all the other teams doing the same thing? What makes us better by showing nothing in the preseason? Maybe this season will be as bad as the game vs. the Rams....I'm ok with that because it might take a few years the build a championship team.

[SmootSmack]

I don't think the Rams were very vanilla yesterday though, not when they had Isaac Bruce throwing a pass

And none of our expected front 7 starters on defense played past the first quarter. Plus the Rams still had Holt in there late in the game going up obstensibly Ralph Brown, but really a zone defense

I wasn't at all pleased with last night's performance because I'm a fan and want to see the team do well always but I'm not concerned.

[JudgeJebus]

I'm getting more and more impressed with Sean Taylor every day. And it's not even for the pick last night--anyone should have caught that, and his lateral was just plain stupid. There was one play, though, were the Rams' running back (I think it was Jackson, maybe) had broken through the line and had busted it outside for a big gain. Taylor was being blocked, and Jackson had already run past him. Taylor shed his blocker, caught up to Jackson, and tackled him. While he was tackling him, you could see that he instinctually went for the strip, and he does it in a way that it doesn't jeopardize the tackle. You can't teach that stuff.

Once this kid settles down and gets a little more experience, he's gonna be a beast. I know this is nothing new, and we've been singing Taylor's praises for weeks, but I just can't contain myself!

[la73hof]

Originally Posted by smootsmack

I don't think the Rams were very vanilla yesterday though, not when they had Isaac Bruce throwing a pass

And none of our expected front 7 starters on defense played past the first quarter. Plus the Rams still had Holt in there late in the game going up obstensibly Ralph Brown, but really a zone defense

I wasn't at all pleased with last night's performance because I'm a fan and want to see the team do well always but I'm not concerned.

Agreed..and as mention by the fox crew calling the game, the Rams had been embarrassed in KC the previous week and played with a chip on their shoulders

They arent as good as they showed and you guys sure arent as bad as you showed either

On the play Brown got burned, you guys sold out on a blitz and put a 4th CB on a premier WR...if Williams doesnt learn from that..well..morre power to you guys

[Daseal]

Jebus: I thought that strip may have cost him the tackle on an experienced back. I also disagree anyone would make that pick. He had to gain a lot of ground to get there on time, and the lateral though not accurate was the right idea. 20 seconds left in the half a TD there would have put them back into the game.

We both agree that Sean Taylor is a beast and I am salivating to see him come free on a blitz. I wanna see the pain he can bring.

[JudgeJebus]

Originally Posted by Daseal

Jebus: I thought that strip may have cost him the tackle on an experienced back. I also disagree anyone would make that pick. He had to gain a lot of ground to get there on time, and the lateral though not accurate was the right idea. 20 seconds left in the half a TD there would have put them back into the game.

I know where you're coming from on the strip. My first reaction was the same, that it cost him some on the tackle. But when they showed it on the reply, Jackson went right down. I don't whether it's because Taylor's so strong that even with the attempted strip he can still knock a player straight to the ground, or whether he just strips with the right technique. You're probably right, though, that we should withhold judgment until we see how that works on experienced backs (although Taylor has made quite a few tackles during the preseason and always goes for the strip, and I haven't seen a back shed one of his tackles yet).

As for the INT, don't get me wrong, I'm happy he made it--especially because we've had a lot of players drop easy picks they should have made. I just didn't think that was as impressive as some of the other ones on his already substantial highlight reel.

I still disagree with the lateral. You're right about the idea. But, if I remember correctly, he was going down when he pitched it, and he almost sent it into our own endzone. A fumble that was recovered for a Rams touchdown would have been as devastating (and more likely) as a Redskins touchdown would have been inspiring.