Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Week 1)

[SmootSmack]

Welcome to a new weekly feature where I get all Daseal up in here and pour out the pessimism like a 40 on North Capitol Street on the people, places, things that have let me down after each game (at least I'll try).

I'll even do this after wins to appease to the irishes of the world. To be clear though, this isn't a "we suck, the season is over" type of thread.

Anyway, this week I'm laying the smack down on the following:

1. Shawn Springs: How do you miss this game? With the experience and talent you have you should be a captain on this team but it's moments like this that explain why you're not. I agree that it's just one game but you're the leader of that secondary and you should have set an example and set a tone for the season by suiting up.

2. Carlos Rogers: First off, congratulations on making the starting lineup on opening day. Tremendous comeback from a devastating injury. That said, you need to step up and start making plays. Some people have the misconception that you suck, which of course is wrong. You don't suck, in fact you're very good. If you weren't you wouldn't be in position to make plays so often. But you need to start making those plays. If all you want to do is swat the ball, add 100 pounds and we'll line you up at DT

3. Stan Hixon: I'm putting the WRs woes on you. Too harsh? Perhaps. But someone has to take the blame here and your wide receivers (from Thomas all the way up to Moss) need to run past the first down marker on third downs. What killed us more than anything was that we would complete the pass short of the first down marker and then couldn't even break any tackles. The West Coast Offense is all about breaking tackles and adding yards. That has to improve, asap.

4. The Fans: Don't give up after week one. That's all I ask.

[mheisig]

5. Clock Management
I hate to add on to another man's list, but I can't ignore this one. I was as upset about every other aspect of the game as anyone else, but the clock management at the end of the half and especially the end of the game was absolutely infuriating.

We're nothing short of lucky that we managed to score at the end of the half, completely in spite of poor clock management.

Do we not even have a 2-minute offense? A 4-minute offense? I swear it was like Zorn didn't even realize it was the 4th quarter or that this game actually goes on the record. The play calling was atrocious and the timeout management was like they weren't even sure how the system worked.

The sense of urgency, the playcalling and the time management was reminiscent of either a preseason game or a 3rd quarter drive.

[dmek25]

6. no free pass for your boy, Fred Smoot. was down right horrible. and then gets kicked in the back, and is done for the game. he has definitely got to play better, if the skins are to be successful

[KLHJ2]

7. Jason Taylor: Stop the run.

[mheisig]

8. Everyone on the Offense Who Apparently Doesn't Realize How The First Down Markers Work: We had what, 4 series in a row in the 2nd half that ended with JC throwing a pass to a receiver who was 2-3 yards short of the first down?

It's like they weren't quite sure where the FD was or how those orange sticks on the side work.

[Hog1]

I abhor your wholesale negfest to the mighty Redskins. I belkieve it's more a a series of misunderstandings:
Carlos and the other fella's don't understand that they are not to simply accompany the opposing reciever around the field to make sure he catches and properly secures the ball for delivery to the endzone.
Our WR need to understand that "it's ok" to leave the opposing defenders alone, and that it will not stigmatize or bruise their ego to "seperate" from same. Very polite, those wide outs.
I think our lineman misunderstand the process at hand. It's SOOOO simple, just like the Vampire hunters creed! Don't invite a vampire into your house. Why? It's bad! See same rule of thumb applies here.
GOOOO mighty Redskins...........fight your guts out

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by mheisig

8. Everyone on the Offense Who Apparently Doesn't Realize How The First Down Markers Work: We had what, 4 series in a row in the 2nd half that ended with JC throwing a pass to a receiver who was 2-3 yards short of the first down?

It's like they weren't quite sure where the FD was or how those orange sticks on the side work.

Great, great choice.

[Gmanc711]

Originally Posted by mheisig

5. Clock Management
I hate to add on to another man's list, but I can't ignore this one. I was as upset about every other aspect of the game as anyone else, but the clock management at the end of the half and especially the end of the game was absolutely infuriating.

We're nothing short of lucky that we managed to score at the end of the half, completely in spite of poor clock management.

Do we not even have a 2-minute offense? A 4-minute offense? I swear it was like Zorn didn't even realize it was the 4th quarter or that this game actually goes on the record. The play calling was atrocious and the timeout management was like they weren't even sure how the system worked.

The sense of urgency, the playcalling and the time management was reminiscent of either a preseason game or a 3rd quarter drive.

In addition to the WR's not getting to the sticks (or JC throwing past the sticks)...this is the one thing that really bothers me coming out of this game. I understand, for Zorn & Co, its a transition to becoming an NFL head coach. I get that. Our offensive performance as a whole, I'll chalk up to that in a way. We didn't play well at all, but I can see how that might take some time to come along....HOWEVER, there is no excuse for the clock management. Weather your a new head coach, or one who has 32 years of experience, theres just some things you need to know how to handle, and this is one of them.

There was absolutely no excuse for the piss poor clock management we had last night. Coming out of the game, thats the one thing that really bothers me.

[Mwoody85]

Originally Posted by Angry

7. Jason Taylor: Stop the run.

....as Brian Mitchell said on the post game- selfish move keeping the streak alive just to get blown out on almost every play.

[mheisig]

Originally Posted by Gmanc711

In addition to the WR's not getting to the sticks (or JC throwing past the sticks)...this is the one thing that really bothers me coming out of this game. I understand, for Zorn & Co, its a transition to becoming an NFL head coach. I get that. Our offensive performance as a whole, I'll chalk up to that in a way. We didn't play well at all, but I can see how that might take some time to come along....HOWEVER, there is no excuse for the clock management. Weather your a new head coach, or one who has 32 years of experience, theres just some things you need to know how to handle, and this is one of them.

There was absolutely no excuse for the piss poor clock management we had last night. Coming out of the game, thats the one thing that really bothers me.

I think the reason it's so infuriating is that it seems relatively simple. I'm not saying I could be a coach in the NFL or understand the game half as well as these guys do, but it just seems like the goofed on really, really simplistic stuff.

Maybe it's more of a mindset. There seemed to be no sense of urgency. You're down by 2 scores with less than 3:00 on the clock and there's no hurry up, still huddling, still casually walking up to the line, Zorn is still on the sideline squinting and staring and calling 5 yard dives up the middle JC hitting receivers in the middle of the field for a gain of 4 yards.

It seems SO simplistic and such a dumb thing to screw up on which I guess is why it's so maddening. It's not like it felt like two offensive or defensive geniuses scheming and playing a hard fought game. It felt like the Giants were an NFL team and we were complete amateurs, totally fucking clueless as to what to do next.

[redsk1]

Originally Posted by mheisig

5. Clock Management
I hate to add on to another man's list, but I can't ignore this one. I was as upset about every other aspect of the game as anyone else, but the clock management at the end of the half and especially the end of the game was absolutely infuriating.

We're nothing short of lucky that we managed to score at the end of the half, completely in spite of poor clock management.

Do we not even have a 2-minute offense? A 4-minute offense? I swear it was like Zorn didn't even realize it was the 4th quarter or that this game actually goes on the record. The play calling was atrocious and the timeout management was like they weren't even sure how the system worked.

The sense of urgency, the playcalling and the time management was reminiscent of either a preseason game or a 3rd quarter drive.

I can almost live w/ the other bad parts of the game, but the clock management was horrible. I don't really give him a free pass b/c he's a 1st yr head coach. When there's only 6 minutes left in a game and your down by 2 scores you'd better be in your hurry up offense. I know they had one b/c at the end of the game w/ about 1 min left they used it. Wasn't pretty but they used it. It was pretty bad. John Madden was trying not to be too critical but he couldn't help himself.

[SC Skins Fan]

Originally Posted by mheisig

I think the reason it's so infuriating is that it seems relatively simple. I'm not saying I could be a coach in the NFL or understand the game half as well as these guys do, but it just seems like the goofed on really, really simplistic stuff.

Maybe it's more of a mindset. There seemed to be no sense of urgency. You're down by 2 scores with less than 3:00 on the clock and there's no hurry up, still huddling, still casually walking up to the line, Zorn is still on the sideline squinting and staring and calling 5 yard dives up the middle JC hitting receivers in the middle of the field for a gain of 4 yards.

It seems SO simplistic and such a dumb thing to screw up on which I guess is why it's so maddening. It's not like it felt like two offensive or defensive geniuses scheming and playing a hard fought game. It felt like the Giants were an NFL team and we were complete amateurs, totally fucking clueless as to what to do next.

Agreed. Zorn does not deserve a free pass here. He looked overmatched last night and over his head. DS and Vin wanted the guy they felt comfortable with and they got him. On a personal level I can understand it, because even when I watched the post game interviews I was taken with the man. But he has never been a head coach on any level and you saw last night that the learning curve remains steep for him. He even looked Sonny in the face in the locker room and indicated he had total control of the clock at the end of the game. The guy gives a good interview, but we've retarded the offense yet again and maybe ruined Jason Campbell for good. Anyone else notice that the best looking throws he made all night were the ones down the field (including that one that James Thrash should have caught at the end of the game), could we incorporate that into the offense? Apparently DS&V made it a priority to find someone to help Jason Campbell's development in their extensive interview process. But I guess it didn't cross their mind that just bringing in a "QB Guru" to run a new offense might not be as good as keeping Al Saunders and retaining some offensive continuity (Gregg Williams first choice apparently, retain the staff for the good of Campbell's development ... maybe that guy understands football ... novel concept). Zorn might be fine, but it might take a while. I wonder if he'll even get the time? No one else has gotten that luxery.

[MTK]

Good thread, I'll add my own shots:

1. Jason Campbell: Trust what you are seeing out there. On that swing pass you attempted to Betts early in the game that got batted down you had Cooley open over the middle and you looked him off and instead made a more difficult attempt to Betts. Don't lock on... settle down and trust your reads and get the ball out! Things are there, you're just not trusting what you're seeing.

2. Jim Zorn: The 4 minute offense was non-existent. Where was the tempo? Too many times we took way too long getting in and out of the huddle. Ever heard of a guy named Chris Cooley? Get this guy involved early and often! When 2 passes go his way all night something is seriously not right.

[doughtydoubter]

Anyone else notice that the best looking throws he made all night were the ones down the field (including that one that James Thrash should have caught at the end of the game), could we incorporate that into the offense?

i totally and emphatically agree...ill give zorn till week six...to at least prove he has some wits about him. Im with you on pretty much everything you said SC.
sigh..the sad thing is there really arent that many other coaches out there right now.

[rypper11]

Nice feature Smoot. Will it be four every week? As well as a Smackdown how about a Pat on the back each week too?

I agree completely about Springs. Even if he was extremely limited and only got in a few plays, having him in uniform changes what the offense thinks we can do.