What's Our Weakness?

[freddyg12]

Originally Posted by dgack

Sure, they all produced against weak opposition. Branch is possibly one of the most overrated WR's in recent memory, and the rest of those guys are decent but unspectacular. It's a team full of WR2's and 3's.

Besides, saying any one of those guys could start as our #2 is like saying anybody here could become the chief trash collector for the city of DC. It might or might not be true, but in either case it's not particularly impressive

"Decent but unspectacular" - well that about equates to what I said; none are pro bowl caliber but they get open. Particularly Engram. If the weather isn't crazy (see the weather thread) & we're playing cover 2, watch for Engram to find the seems in the middle of the zone. He didn't catch 94 passes this year just because they played "weak opposition."

Branch may be overated, but if he's healthy is a legit deep threat & LL will have to pay extra attention to him if he's playing free safety in cover 3.

As for your trash collector analogy, point taken; so it's not saying much to be the #2 WR in wash. We can agree on that, so I'll rephrase; any of those guys could start for about half the teams in the league.

[FRPLG]

I don't know that we have any glaring deficiencies. I would agree that our secondary is exploitable with the right matchups and that Collins needs protection which may or may not be an issue again depedning on matchup. I'd say as good as our running game has gotten it isn't all the way there. We seem to get stuffed a little more than I'd like. I think we have lost some playmaking ogf defense which hurts. These are all minor quibbles and rely on really good coaching and matchups to exploit.

The one thing I am worried about is our ability as a team to simply lay an egg. We seem to have trouble with success for a while now and I guess I am jaded enough to keep waiting for it to happen. We need to stay motivated and focused. We alos need to stay confident. Confidence is a key. We have it and have to simply believe in waht we are doing in the face of anything and believe that we are better than the guys across the line.

[70Chip]

No team that has glaring weaknesses could do what the Redskins have done over the last month. However, my concern against Seattle is that Holmgren will find ways to exploit the youth of Landry/Doughty in the passing game. He has a proven scheme and a QB who can run it. It's sort of like facing Andy Reid but with an accurate QB instead of one who throws the ball into the dirt half the time.

[Bill B]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

I'm really concerned about Heyer this week. So far he has been very solid. But this week he's going to have to deal with a very very loud stadium with speed pass rushers. We had better give him some help, even if it hurts the passing game. We can't afford to have our qb gettting hit and fumbling the ball. I remember the 05 game and the O-line really struggled w/out Thomas.

I'm also concerned with the emotional state of the team. After the last 5 weeks these guys have to be emotionally drained. Can they get re-focused, travel across country on a short week to play a good Seattle team? Seattle is one of the toughest places to play in the NFL. I'm not going to bet against these guys, but this is going to be a very very tough task.

I think this is a great point - the Skins only have a couple of days to prepare for the Seahawks. The Skins game with the Cowboys ended around 7pm on Sunday night and I would think from a practice standpoint Gibbs would have to give the players Monday off to recouperate (maybe I am wrong - anyone know if the SKins practiced Monday?). So with that the players could only really practice Tuesday-Thursday and than they have a long flight to Seattle Friday. I guess with the win against the Bears the team showed they can play against anyone with minimal time. The one nice thing about the Saturday game is that if the Skins do win it the get an extra day to prepare for the Cowboys.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by Bill B

I think this is a great point - the Skins only have a couple of days to prepare for the Seahawks. The Skins game with the Cowboys ended around 7pm on Sunday night and I would think from a practice standpoint Gibbs would have to give the players Monday off to recouperate (maybe I am wrong - anyone know if the SKins practiced Monday?). So with that the players could only really practice Tuesday-Thursday and than they have a long flight to Seattle Friday. I guess with the win against the Bears the team showed they can play against anyone with minimal time. The one nice thing about the Saturday game is that if the Skins do win it the get an extra day to prepare for the Cowboys.

To be honest, I'm not terribly worried about the team travelling or this or that. They took a few days after Sean's funeral and kicke the Bears in rear, so they know what that feels like.

I think this team is in a zone right now and the only way Seattle beats them is for them to actually beat them. I don't forsee the Skins caving in, giving up a second half lead, turning the ball over, or giving up untimely penalties. All of this could happen, I'm just not expecting it to happen.

[BDBohnzie]

Not wanting to repeat anything previously mentioned (I agree with secondary and depth being major factors...Collins being part of depth, as if he goes down, the Skins are totally screwed), I'd have to say a weakness is waiting for the bubble to burst.

This has been an amazing 4 game run for this team as they've played their way into the playoffs. However, I just can't imagine another 4 game run like they've had. Granted, it's quite possible the Skins run the table from here on out, but the probability of it happening is incredible, especially with everything they've been through emotionally and physically.

Here's to me being wrong...

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by BDBohnzie

Not wanting to repeat anything previously mentioned (I agree with secondary and depth being major factors...Collins being part of depth, as if he goes down, the Skins are totally screwed), I'd have to say a weakness is waiting for the bubble to burst.

This has been an amazing 4 game run for this team as they've played their way into the playoffs. However, I just can't imagine another 4 game run like they've had. Granted, it's quite possible the Skins run the table from here on out, but the probability of it happening is incredible, especially with everything they've been through emotionally and physically.

Here's to me being wrong...

I think everyone is standing with bated breath on this one.

[dmek25]

2 things worry me. one is being on an emotional high for over a month now. and the other thing is the play calling. over the 4 game winning streak, the play calling has been superb. lots of passing on first down. i hope coach doesn't go back to the " you have to run the ball in the playoffs" mind set. that's probably how Seattle beat us in 2005. later in that game, when Brunell started to open it up. the skins started to have some success

[Schneed10]

Actually for me, the idea of an emotional and/or physical let-down is the furthest thing from my mind. I think that this coaching staff, with this group of players, would have to be ranked #1 in the league right now when it comes to getting emotionally ready to play.

The leaders on the team (Portis, Moss, etc.) are taking serious initiative to play their asses off for Sean Taylor. With every snap of the ball, everyone on the field is going balls out. I think there's no doubt they'll all continue playing with major heart, the character of this team just won't let us down in that department, IMO.

As for the physical, I think Gibbs has made sure not to beat them down too much as we came down the home stretch. I don't think we'll have an issue with effort or physical performance. Execution and gameplanning will tell the tale for us, IMO.

[SmootSmack]

I worry about Chris Samuels vs. Patrick Kerney.

[RobH4413]

I think if your Seattle, you're going to try and exploit the banged up O-line.

Someone brought up (I believe Schneed but I'm too lazy to look) the fact that TC is immobile. If they can get a solid rush, they may be able to really hammer him in for some huge losses.

Conversely, the fact remains that we've got great hot route options.

Run moss on a drag. Cooley on an out. There's so many ways... but if they force a third and long... then we've got issues. We may have to come out passing on early downs. I'm worried that if they stuff the run early... force a third and long. They day will be over.

[hail_2_da_skins]

The Redskin defense is very good when it's well rested The defense tends to break down when the offense is ineffective. So it is important that the offense produces long sustained drives that puts points on the board. Therefore, that would take the Seattle crowd out of the game, force Hasselbeck to beat the Skins with the pass and keep the defense well rested.

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

I worry about Chris Samuels vs. Patrick Kerney.

Absolutely, and that goes hand-in-hand with Schneed's worries about TC fumbling. Samuels has been beaten consistently during recent weeks, and I'm sure Seattle will try to continue that trend.

I too believe our biggest weakness is the pass-protection, and specifically our LT spot. However, the draw play has been fairly successful, so I'm hoping we can use it to hurt them and slow down the pass rush.

[jsnyder03]

Center exchange.

With the weather predictions and TC's propensity to lose the exchange, I'm worried a few of these could bite us in the butt.

The good thing is that this routine function can be practiced until perfect, now let's go execute it!

If we win the turnover battle, I love our chances!

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Ok, this has been great the past month talking about how all aspects our team (passing, running, defense) have stepped up during our winning streak. But as hot as we are right now, there must be something that could hold us back. Some area of our team that opponents could expose to our disadvantage.

So, what's our biggest weakness going into the playoffs?

Well, that's easy. The offensive line.

Chris Samuels isn't really playing his best football right now, but he's still got pro bowl skill. Pete Kendall hasn't been good this year, and Rabach has looked downright terrible at times, while average at others. Fabini has been a consistent performer, but the Redskins have really given him a lot of help on interior linemen in the passing game. Our coaching staff really doesn't trust him and it's hurting everyone else. Heyer has been playing...maybe the best out of anyone, but he's still a rookie and can be overwhelmed at the point of attack.

Our interior offensive line has been brutal, and it has cost us a pretty significant part of our running game. That's huge, because Portis leads the NFL in carries, and on the whole, has been downright terrible in effectiveness.

However, as usually happens when the defensive opposition starts to wear down late in the year, Portis manages to keep himself healthy into December, and he's looking like a man amongst boys out there. Portis' running style throughout the year is very conducive to strong playoff running, and I expect him to produce. On top of that, Betts is healty. So we have no excuse not to get everyone blocked up for these guys.

It's just that even with the late season advantage at RB, it's still going to be tough to run on anyone with the line up there. These guys as a unit just aren't very good.