Breaking News!!! ....We Suck, Lions 19 Skins 14

After a week of scrutiny from the fans and media, the team with the "most talent in the league" according to Portis, lose to the Detroit Lions 19-14. Once again the Skins fail to score in the red zone early and the defense uncharacteristically allows a 99 yard drive early, establishing the momentum for the Lions throughout the game.

Is it O.K. to boo now Robert Henson?

Chris Paul Redskins Remix: Week 3 "Turn Our Swag On"

Help Please!

I've been a redskins fan since 1991. I've lived and died with every win and loss like most skins fans have. Usually I can take a 9-7 win for what it really is--a win--but not this particular win. I have NEVER in my life came away from a Redskins win with such a sour taste in my mouth. That taste reeks of horrific, untimely, and non-imaginative play calling inside the red zone by Zorny Boy. Oh...and by the way....the boos you heard at FedEx were definitely justified. I bet Zorn was so vain that he probably thought the boos were all for him. Well...most of them were....but not only for him. The anguish expressed by the Redskins faithful throughout Sunday's narrow win represented so much more than discontentment about the offense. Those boos were a reflection of the mediocrity that the Redskins organization has exemplified from the front office down to the players on the field. Those boos reflected a piss poor three playoff appearances since 1991, poor free agent signings, poor stadium experience, and the perceived acceptance for being a 2nd rate franchise

The Redskins are kind of like the hot girlfriend that cheats on you every year but the undying faith you have for her keeps you coming back hoping that some how, some way things are going to change. And as for this past Sunday it's obvious things aren't changing, at least for this season.

The Offense

Lets flush out all the estrogen and lets get beyond the emotional aspect of the game because there were positives from Sunday other than finding out Suisham is automatic on 20 yard field goals.

Campbell's Performance- Definitely an improvement from the Giants game as far as making plays with his feet, and seeming to find a rhythm. Cooley remains Jason's favorite sure-handed target as he caught 4 balls for 40 yards during the second possession after going three and out in the first. To convert a 3rd and 2 from the skins 22 yard line in the 2nd quarter, Campbell ripped off his ankle shackles and used his feet to run for 14 yards down to the Rams 8 yard line. I definitely had an issue with the 5 yard bullet pass to Devin Thomas, Campbell had room to run and maybe should have took his chances doing so. Towards the end of the 1st half there could have been better time management, with 2:40 to go Jason was still calling plays out of the huddle deep in his own territory. He should have been in full fledged hurry up, some can argue this is a coaching issue but I disagree. The possession after the Donnie Avery fumble, Jason held the ball entirely too long while standing in his own end zone on 2nd down. He narrowly avoided a safety as he was sacked at the 1 yard line. Overall he had a good day moving the ball he finished 23-35 for 242 yards and no interceptions. Unfortunately you need touchdowns to consistently win in the NFL and Campbell finished with none of those, but that's not entirely his fault. Hey Mike Sellars!!!......you just got a contract extension right? catch the ball when its thrown to you!

The infamous RED ZONE-Vinny Cerrato has a show on sportstalk 980 every Friday ironically called "Inside the Red Zone". I think Vinny should change the show format to have fans fax in their best red-zone plays. In the first quarter after the offense went 3 and out on the first possession. I wrote in my game notes

You don't make a statement on offense by going 3 and out on the opening drive. This smells of a close defensive game.

And boy was I right..... 5 attempts inside the 2o yard line and Suisham gets extra point practice only without the touchdowns. This isn't a new phenomenon, Campbell and the offense has had scoring issues going back to the Gibbs 2.0 days. Campbell can lead a team up and down the field but seems to choke inside the 20. That's due to being over coached by an inexperienced play caller who is too meticulous on every aspect of the offense that it hinders Jason's ability to feel comfortable on the field. Where is your imagination in the play calling Zorn! You can't run dive plays to Clinton Portis between the guard and center every time you get a first down inside the 20. How about a fake reverse along with that iso play? Or fake dive to Sellars and pitch it out to CP? How about stretching out with 4 wides and running the draw. You have to do the unexpected in this league or else your not going to score.

The Defense

Once again the D carries the team to salvation. Great pressure by Haynesworth and Griffin, especially late in the game

Horton- Acknowledging that his game has improved Blache said "I wish he had a great read on that 58-yard run too". The good out weighed the bad however as Horton created a crucial turnover deep in Redskin territory by causing a fumble on WR Donnie Avery. Later in 4th Chris broke up a desperate throw on 4th down by Rams QB Bulger essentially ending the game. Horton's motor is similar to Polamalu's in that he seems to always be around the ball.

Cover Corners- Coming out of the Giants game there were concerns on how well our corners really were. They made Manningham a household name with missed tackles and blown coverages. With Smoot being out with a rib injury it only made those concerns even worst because Tyron had to step in. Yet again they made a nobody into a star by allowing Lauren Robinson to catch 6 balls for 54 yards and a touchdown. I'm not sure if its the scheme that's forcing them be ten yards off the WR or its by choice but I do know it needs to be addressed. It's going to be interesting to see how Blatche will scheme for the 6'5'' Calvin Johnson next week in Detroit.

K.T. Skinsington

By the SKIN of Their Teeth, Redskins 9 Rams 7

The Redskins beat the St. Louis Rams with three field goals by Shaun Suisham. Despite 5 trips inside the red-zone the Skins offense can only muster 9 points. Poor play calling and execution continues to hinder the progresion of the offense inside the ten yard-line. Stay tuned for analysis.

2009 Chris Paul Redskins Remix : Week 2 "Always Packed"

Trust Issues?

It's never fun watching your team lose especially in week 1. Especially after watching The Danny add the most disruptive player in the league, Haynesworth to your already top ranked defense. Especially after observing the baby boys Thomas, Kelley, and Davis take off the training wheels and merge into this offense. But if we're thinking long term over a 16 game season the lost to NY was a game I'm sure everyone budgeted for when making your picks. I understand that doesn't mean there aren't things to complain about after losing the way we did. Like for instance....the Campbell fumble....Santana body slam....Landry's 15 yard penalties continue....Campbell's interception....play calling....missed tackles.....Eli's third down conversions....time of possession etc. There's a buffet line of things to improve on but we should be able to build some consistency with the schedule coming up

Offense

Digging for the Positive
Many say Jason's strength is the deep ball. Yes Jason has a tremendously strong arm but that's not an indication of whether he can hit receivers deep in stride. He's not accurate throwing deep. His strength to me is his ability to throw laser passes 15 to 20 yards down field. The offense managed to muster 15 first downs in which 12 were converted with Jason's arm. He completed 7 plays of 11 yards or more and 4 plays of 20 yards. Some of those plays were converted on that last hurry-up drive when Cooley caught a 17-yard touchdown pass but Jason did have success going over the middle to Randle El and Cooley when they were still very much in the ball game. Randle El had his best game as a Redskin catching 7 balls for 98 yards.

Not hard to Dig for the Negative
Considering how awesome the Giants are at ripping a Quarterbacks head off, the offensive line played decent enough to allow Campbell to make plays. But again the same indecisiveness and lack of awareness that seems to be deeply embedded in Campbell caused the biggest play of the game. In my opinion it was the turning point and the lowest point of the game when Osi Umenyiora stripped Campbell and returned a fumble 37 yards for a touchdown making it 17-0 late in the 2nd quarter. On that particular play Chris Samuels allowed Osi to come around the edge but Samuels blocked him enough up field for Jason to step up in the pocket to either find a check down receiver, run, or throw the ball away.

The middle of the Giants defense was wide open all game which was evident by the production the offense received from Cooley and Randle El. Santana was covered well and much respect goes to Corey Webster who did a phenomenal job and gets kudos for Body Slam of the Week. Some say Webster took Santana out of his game after the incident. I'm not buying that at all.....it's up to Zorn to call plays for him and Jason's job to get him the ball. If he's covered then he's covered but its not like he dropped a whole bunch of balls thrown to him.

Rushing Game and Play Calling
The rushing game is straight up non-existent. After Clinton's initial run of 34 yards he gained only an additional 28 yards the rest of the game. And by the way.....can someone please tell Cerrato to get rid of Ladell Betts? Really...what has he done sinse he's been here? Why is he the third down back?

To be fair to Zorn hindsight is 20/20 when we criticize the play calling of any coach. When it came to the reverse pass when Randle El got sacked on the 2nd play of the game I thought the play call was brilliant coming off a long smack-you-in-the-mouth first play. However, Zorn was beating a dead horse Sunday by calling mundane run plays to the left thinking he could expose that side of the line based off the first play with Clinton in which he ran to the same side. The run was stuffed time and time again. Like I said before, the middle of the field was wide open the entire game. This was a situation where Zorn needed to adjust his play-calling and he failed to do so. I heard the Z-Man on sportstalk 980 say that he didn't feel the need to abandon the run because he felt that they were still in the game. But its not so much about abandoning the run than it is about exposing weakness in the defense. This was an opportunity to put the game in Jason's hands and allow him to attack the middle but Zorn said "No Jason, I don't trust you".

Defense
Greg Blathe's 4th rank defense a year ago resembled what they always have been; a hard hitting, bend but don't break defense. Two characteristics that balanced their performance out was poor tackling, and creating turnovers.

DeAngelo Hall was KILLING us with missed tackles and personal fouls....nice pick by the way. He resembled what he looked like in Oakland right before Al Davis released him last season. Can't forget about Landry looking for payback against Jacobs. Carlos Rodgers dropped another pick early in the game. Hanyesworth obviously needs to get in shape as he's been out all of preseason.

I'm not worried about the defense so much only because they've been the consistent group over several years. It comes down to tackling and covering, and with this being a veteran D I believe they will turn things around quickly. Only giving up 16 points in a division game on the road is pretty good by my standards. The Defense has been waiting for the Offense to get on their level for years now.