John Clayton on the Redskins' Playoff Chances

[hugeskinsfan182]

i have to agree with most of you in that the defensive upgrades this offseason will lead to better pressure on the QB which weve needed since dexter manley and charles mann it seems... therefore leading to more picks and mistakes in our favor. All at the same time helping the offense...

i dont know how much control over this problem people like jim zorn has in playcalling... coordinators with schemes and all... or the players in terms of experience.. skill.. and trust in each other.. but we just play way to conservatively. there has to be a healthy balance.. and even in my own personal life i play it safe and im also by no means a fan of going "fun and gun" again... but it kinda relates to chicken monkey.. big plays.. we can do the normal chip away and sometimes brilliantly pull off the dink and dunk and make other teams look silly.. but we just cannot consistantly hit that 15+ yard connection. (when we need it) and it drives me nuts on sundays. so with devin thomas playing more (hopefully).. kelly back from injury and jason campbell having his first 2 year in a row program.... i hope our offense takes a step forward even though our o-line, and ports have all aged another year.

we have to take that downfield shot and test those corners. if it doesnt work at least you kept em honest and it might open the run game? sometimes we just gotta take a chance... other than when its the 4th quarter with under 2 mins to go.. its 4th and 16 and were down by 5.

(expletive)

[an23dy]

21 points a game would put us at 23rd in the NFL for last year, not outrageous. I don't think 5 points is as big a number as people think. If you analyze where the points will come from that's way too complicated and tough to make a logical case. I don't expect this year to along with Detroit and Cincy to be the only teams to not score more than 30 points in any game this season. There's a lot of random stuff like that which will be different, also stuff like schedule. I also don't expect our o'line to be so injured that Justin Geisenger plays left tackle or for Suisham to be as bad when he has a better holder. I expect our punting and defense to be better, I expect a lot of guys to improve and for people to grow more accustomed to Zorn's stuff. Pretty much every player should get better, not just the rookies, because everybody was learning Zorn's stuff last year and most guys are still pretty young and getting better.

[53Fan]

Originally Posted by hugeskinsfan182

i have to agree with most of you in that the defensive upgrades this offseason will lead to better pressure on the QB which weve needed since dexter manley and charles mann it seems... therefore leading to more picks and mistakes in our favor. All at the same time helping the offense...

i dont know how much control over this problem people like jim zorn has in playcalling... coordinators with schemes and all... or the players in terms of experience.. skill.. and trust in each other.. but we just play way to conservatively. there has to be a healthy balance.. and even in my own personal life i play it safe and im also by no means a fan of going "fun and gun" again... but it kinda relates to chicken monkey.. big plays.. we can do the normal chip away and sometimes brilliantly pull off the dink and dunk and make other teams look silly.. but we just cannot consistantly hit that 15+ yard connection. (when we need it) and it drives me nuts on sundays. so with devin thomas playing more (hopefully).. kelly back from injury and jason campbell having his first 2 year in a row program.... i hope our offense takes a step forward even though our o-line, and ports have all aged another year.

we have to take that downfield shot and test those corners. if it doesnt work at least you kept em honest and it might open the run game? sometimes we just gotta take a chance... other than when its the 4th quarter with under 2 mins to go.. its 4th and 16 and were down by 5.

(expletive)

I think we will this year. That drove me absolutely crazy last year but with the receivers running their routes better and JC hopefully having more time and knowing the receivers routes himself, I expect the passing game to be much improved.

[FRPLG]

It's hard for me to envision our offense not being pretty improved outside of debilitating health issues.

[hooskins]

I know it is easy to say that everyone shares blame, but I think they do. What is JC suppose to do if receivers can't catch and they run bad routes? How about CP struggling after the line got hurt. Also, Zorn blamed execution, but we all know he got kinda predictable towards the end of the season.

But I really think the important change comes with D. Hall, Big Al and Orakpo should add to turnovers. This directly leads to more possessions further down the field. Our D last year kept points low but our offense didn't get shorter fields and momentum changers. Not saying it is all on the D, but with a less than average offense more is.

[KI Skins Fan]

Basically, we need 5 more points per game from someone, anyone. Because we don't care where that touchdown comes from, we can't continue to overlook any area of the team that can be improved to help us get those points. We've done some positive things in that regard, but we need to do more.

1. ARE must be replaced on punt returns. With a good PR, we could pick up 1 or two TD's per season on PR's.

2. We still need another proven NFL WR. ARE is not effective as a wide out - he belongs in the slot as a #3 receiver and I don't think we can count on any of the young WR's to get the job done.

3. We need to upgrade our FG kicker. This should have already been done and if it's not done it will cost us a game or two.

4. Our new FG kicker needs a big leg on kickoffs, as well. We're surrendering field position on kickoffs.

5. It wouldn't hurt to have more speed in the game at RB on 3rd downs. Speed kills, you know. We need to get an occaisional "home run" from a RB via run or pass.

6. Jason Campbell must get a lot better in the Red Zone. He also needs to take more chances, particularly with the long ball. I think he will.

[jdlea]

Originally Posted by hooskins

I know it is easy to say that everyone shares blame, but I think they do. What is JC suppose to do if receivers can't catch and they run bad routes? How about CP struggling after the line got hurt. Also, Zorn blamed execution, but we all know he got kinda predictable towards the end of the season.

But I really think the important change comes with D. Hall, Big Al and Orakpo should add to turnovers. This directly leads to more possessions further down the field. Our D last year kept points low but our offense didn't get shorter fields and momentum changers. Not saying it is all on the D, but with a less than average offense more is.

I think that's a great point. It always seems like, no matter how good the Skins' D is, they're never that opportunistic kind of defense. They never seemed to get a ton of turnovers, more like a bend, but don't break team. There are defenses, like Baltimore and Pittsburgh's who will bend you to their will and make you make mistakes and occasionally, they'll put points on the board. The Skins have had that kind of a defense recently, I would to see that.

I, personally, believe it could happen with Hall. He may not be able to cover that well, but he can catch and turn it around for 6 because he does well with the ball in his hands. I think Landry could end up being very good at returning turnovers as well, but he plays so far up the field a pick-six would be tough for him.

[REDSKIN1]

Originally Posted by KI Skins Fan

Basically, we need 5 more points per game from someone, anyone. Because we don't care where that touchdown comes from, we can't continue to overlook any area of the team that can be improved to help us get those points. We've done some positive things in that regard, but we need to do more.

1. ARE must be replaced on punt returns. With a good PR, we could pick up 1 or two TD's per season on PR's.

2. We still need another proven NFL WR. ARE is not effective as a wide out - he belongs in the slot as a #3 receiver and I don't think we can count on any of the young WR's to get the job done.

3. We need to upgrade our FG kicker. This should have already been done and if it's not done it will cost us a game or two.

4. Our new FG kicker needs a big leg on kickoffs, as well. We're surrendering field position on kickoffs.

5. It wouldn't hurt to have more speed in the game at RB on 3rd downs. Speed kills, you know. We need to get an occaisional "home run" from a RB via run or pass.

6. Jason Campbell must get a lot better in the Red Zone. He also needs to take more chances, particularly with the long ball. I think he will.

Man you read my mind on all of your points except on number 6. I think that if we get one of the sophmore wideouts to stepup into the number 2 spot, then that will give us more playcalling ability in the Red Zone. I think that Jason didn't have enough options. The only players he could count on consistently were Santana and Cooley. Most of the time they were double covered so he would end up taking a coverage sack. I especially agree with you on point number 5. We need a speedy third down back, I'm sorry but Betts is not getting the job done on third downs. I hope we can fit Marcus Mason in at this position. And for Gods sake please don't let ARE return punts anymore.

[freddyg12]

Again, don't count on Orakpo to improve the pass rush/turnovers. IF he does, he's exceeding expectations for a rookie.

I think most everyone here is assuming the D will return to form, but last year's D was not an imposing unit, they just played disciplined & hard under Blache. In the latter half of the year they looked worn down at times too, not just from being on the field too long either. LB is still an issue & we don't know how that will turn out. Can A. Carter get some sacks again?

[redskinjim]

we have had a problem scoring points in the past. long drives that keep the defence off the field are the key to winning the close games we have a lot of 3 and outs that wear down the defence

[over the mountain]

honestly i cant remember the last time the skins O put up more than 20 ppg. every year we have a solid bend dont break defense and an offense that fails to stretch the field. i see next years O and D being the same as last years and the year before and the year before etc.

we basically have the same O unit. while the rookies are a year older now so are samuels, rabach, thomas, moss, portis. this unit has been together long enough to know what they are going to give us = approx 16-18 ppg.

im proud that we are a defensive team, just gave up hope on this offensive unit (JC, moss, portis) doing anything electric or game breaking.

go skins!!

[MTK]

Originally Posted by over the mountain

honestly i cant remember the last time the skins O put up more than 20 ppg.

2007

20.9 PPG

2007 Washington Redskins Statistics & Players - Pro-Football-Reference.com

[budw38]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

2007

20.9 PPG

2007 Washington Redskins Statistics & Players - Pro-Football-Reference.com

That was also playing the last 14 games minus our RG & RT. In 05 we had 22 PPG .

[53Fan]

Originally Posted by over the mountain

honestly i cant remember the last time the skins O put up more than 20 ppg. every year we have a solid bend dont break defense and an offense that fails to stretch the field. i see next years O and D being the same as last years and the year before and the year before etc.

we basically have the same O unit. while the rookies are a year older now so are samuels, rabach, thomas, moss, portis. this unit has been together long enough to know what they are going to give us = approx 16-18 ppg.

im proud that we are a defensive team, just gave up hope on this offensive unit (JC, moss, portis) doing anything electric or game breaking.

go skins!!

Alzthiemers is a bitch ain't it mountain?

[The Goat]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

2007

20.9 PPG

2007 Washington Redskins Statistics & Players - Pro-Football-Reference.com

Snap!!! Nice stat too btw...