JLC Rant/Rip on Playcalling

To get 40 running plays, you gotta convert your third downs. We did a great job of that in the first two games; we failed to do so in this game. Then, we gave up LONG drives on D, and we lost the lead. So, you pass.

I feel the same about execution, RobH--if you don't block well, you can't run. And if you don't pass well, you can't convert or score deep. We didn't play well in the second half, whatever the play calling was.

Gibbs is most likely correct: it's a combination across the board. Bad play calls at times, bad execution at others, good plays (hard as it is to admit!) by the gints, bad D/good O on the other side of the ball. Altogether, it equals a very tough loss. (BTW, better than our first game against the gints last year, though that was in NY...)

I understand we have an identity of a being a smash-mouth run first team. As we should with a strong O-line and Portis/Betts/Sellers. But you CANNOT ignore a team's weakness. The Giants got completely shredded in the air weeks 1 and 2, and we didn't start throwing in the 2nd half until our backs were against the wall. I also understand we were trying to protect a lead, but we've got to develop a killer instinct, score more points, and learn to better exploit weaknesses. How we come out week 5 against Detroit is going to dictate the rest of our season. Our schedule only gets harder.

No, I agree totally... I'm just saying I think that's what Saunders was trying to open up given the history of the Giants pass defense.

Jason Campbell was saying that they changed a lot of their looks from their previous game,

"They took away a lot of the deep stuff, played a safety over our receivers.... We hit one deep ball, got by the Safety, but they played the two shell, trying to not give up anything deep and leave us with just stuff in the underneath..."

I agree with JLC, and I think we should have run the ball more. I think Saunders had a lot of confidence in Jason from his strong outing on Monday night, and so he didn't give it to his running backs as much. Turned out to be a fatal error.

What was the fatal error? JC didn't lose the game for us. The only obvouis mistakes were portis fumbling and the coaches telling campbell to spike the ball...wasting a down. those two mistakes cost us 14 points...neither were campbell's fault in my opinion

We had done exactly nothing in the run game all day long. I don't think we needed to continue to go 3 and out in the fourth. So, i gotta disagree w/ JLC.

Now, i do agree w/ him on JC. He should start putting up some #'s and be more comfortable managing the game in our 2 minute offense. Right now he's not. He's a 3rd year player w/ about 10 games played. Has he had a 300 yard day? A 3 TD day yet? Yeah, i know, what alot of you are going to say...He makes some great passes and he's young. True, but i remember hearing that about Patrick Ramsey too.

Bottom line JC has got to start showing improvement and scoring some points. He's got to start showing some signs for us to bank on him being the answer.

We have the talent there is no excuse for this team.

What was the fatal error? JC didn't lose the game for us. The only obvouis mistakes were portis fumbling and the coaches telling campbell to spike the ball...wasting a down. those two mistakes cost us 14 points...neither were campbell's fault in my opinion
Well, potentially running the ball more could have burnt the clock down... rested a worn defense, and changed the dynamics of the game.

It's all pure speculation of course, and if you don't execute it doesn't matter, but in general, running the ball with a 14 point lead makes more sense than passing as much as we did, especially if you're the Washington Redskins.

I was saying in my post that our game plan could have been influenced by Jason's prior success, and the Giants prior futility. Why not design a game plan attacking a weak Giants secondary? That's what we all expected wasn't it? A blow out.

The only problem was that since the Giants changed their defense around, this provided a window, aided by our ineptitude to convert first downs and hold onto the ball, that the Giants capitalized on. We couldn't run that offense, plain and simple. Our o-line couldn't hold up, Jason played inconsistent, and we were stifled.

On top of it all, the type of futility we suffered was the worst kind. Not only did we lose the ball, but we preserved the clock.

The Giants then downright beat us. They sustained several long and efficient (converting countless 3rd downs) touchdown drives. Our defense got torched all the way up the field, and no thank to our offense...had to go right back out there almost instantly.

But we saw the game, we know what happened... and we wouldn't be Redskins fans if weren't masochistic enough to relive the pain and talk about it for two weeks. :)

I read somewhere that the Giants converted something like seven 3rd downs in the second half, and all but one was 3rd and 5 or longer.

When you are leading 17-3 at halftime, coaching is easy. You rely on your defense, and you run clock. The coaches did just that. The defense let us down this time.

Bottom line: our defense lost this game for us. Plain and simple.

I read somewhere that the Giants converted something like seven 3rd downs in the second half, and all but one was 3rd and 5 or longer.

When you are leading 17-3 at halftime, coaching is easy. You rely on your defense, and you run clock. The coaches did just that. The defense let us down this time.

Bottom line: our defense lost this game for us. Plain and simple.

I couldn't disagree more. Our offense couldn't get a first down if their life depended on it in the 2nd half. Like Rock Cartwright said after the game, "If you can't give your defense a minute to rest, something is eventually gonna break." That's exactly what happened. We moved the ball well in the first half and the D had little problem stopping the Giants, getting pressure on Eli, and forcing turnovers.

I couldn't disagree more. Our offense couldn't get a first down if their life depended on it in the 2nd half. Like Rock Cartwright said after the game, "If you can't give your defense a minute to rest, something is eventually gonna break." That's exactly what happened. We moved the ball well in the first half and the D had little problem stopping the Giants, getting pressure on Eli, and forcing turnovers.

So you would blame the terrible 3rd down defense on the offense's failure to move the ball in the second half? Is the defense in any way responsible for giving up so many 3rd down conversions?

I blame the loss on the 3rd down conversions. We had them in 3rd and long several times, and we couldn't stop them. I blame defense for the inability to stop the Giants on 3rd down. Therefore, I blame the loss on the defense.

So you would blame the terrible 3rd down defense on the offense's failure to move the ball in the second half? Is the defense in any way responsible for giving up so many 3rd down conversions?

I blame the loss on the 3rd down conversions. We had them in 3rd and long several times, and we couldn't stop them. I blame defense for the inability to stop the Giants on 3rd down. Therefore, I blame the loss on the defense.

How was the 3rd down defense in the first half when the offense was actually moving the ball and spelling the D? Exactly. The D was on the field for 21+ minutes in the second half. Unacceptable. The D has been great on 3rd down for 10 outta 12 quarters this year. Our offense is mediocre at best, averaging 17.7pts a game. We had 82 rushing yards in this one. But sure, it was the defense's fault.

The game went downhill for the redskins in the second half for 3 reasons -
(1) Campbell lost his rhythm (and only got it back in the final series)
(2) The Giants came out after the half and concentrated on stuffing the run. After taking away the Redskins running game, they started to focus on getting to Jason Campbell.
(3) The Giants offense gained rhythm (probably because they often were able to get the ball back quickly after the Redskins offense sputtered, see#1)