JLC Rant/Rip on Playcalling

Redskins Insider (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/)

Bear in mind, this morning I defended against those who called the playcalling too "conservative". JLC goes the other direction and suggests the Skins should have run MORE in the second half. I still think players failed to make plays in this game, but I think JLC's analysis is a lot closer to the truth than those ripping Gibbs/Saunders for being too "conservative". The Skins need to run and JC is not ready to take a game on his shoulders at this point at least. Also, though I didn't necessarily see a ton of glaring breakdowns on the right side (apart from Strahan getting off a couple of times) I think JLC's analysis of the trouble caused by the injuries is spot on. Randy Thomas going down is going to hurt us big time and it just freaking kills me.

Redskins Insider (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/)

Bear in mind, this morning I defended against those who called the playcalling too "conservative". JLC goes the other direction and suggests the Skins should have run MORE in the second half. I still think players failed to make plays in this game, but I think JLC's analysis is a lot closer to the truth than those ripping Gibbs/Saunders for being too "conservative". The Skins need to run and JC is not ready to take a game on his shoulders at this point at least. Also, though I didn't necessarily see a ton of glaring breakdowns on the right side (apart from Strahan getting off a couple of times) I think JLC's analysis of the trouble caused by the injuries is spot on. Randy Thomas going down is going to hurt us big time and it just freaking kills me.Obviously, JLC wasn't paying attention to the first 4 second half drives. The overly conservative play calling on those drives led to 3 three and outs and a fumble, and the Skins didn't register a first down until they attacked the Giants with the pass late. NY hadn't been able to cover anyone all year, yet for the first 55 minutes, Gibbs/Saunders didn't trust Campbell enough to exploit that weakness.

It's funny, I started my thread this morning trying to prove that the play calling was bad. After looking at the 2nd half again, I was totally convinced it was lack of execution. I still believe you've got to place blame on the failure to execute.

I think a point JLC makes is that we could have squeaked by without having to execute these complex plays. He says we should stick to our weapons, CP and Ladell. Lineman would rather run block anyways. Sometimes what's best, is what's simplest. Makes a valid argument.

But after Campbell's performance on Monday night, if your Saunders, don't you feel like you want to open up the offense and "go for the kill." I mean, your defense has been playing great all year, giving up only one touchdown. I think that's what Saunders was trying to do, and I don't think our offense showed up for the challenge.

The game yesterday just shows us Campbell and this offense aren't ready yet for the full blown Saunders experience. Maybe Jason is right, and we should stick to the run, eat up the clock as much as we can, and utilize Campbell with the play action. It makes sense to me.

I think Saunders saw what Campbell did on Monday night, and liked what he saw. He decided to open up that play book and let Campbell run it. Let him look deep first, and then take what's available. Unfortunately, it looks as if it was a bit early, and the poor execution (especially Portis' fumble) cost us a football game.

Going for "the kill" doesn't have to mean 50 yard bombs. The kill can be a 8 minute power running drive that results in points and time taken off the clock.

true but they werent getting it done. Its alot easier to defend the run if they know its coming every time. Having all of our WR we should mix it up alot more to keep them guessing.

It's funny, I started my thread this morning trying to prove that the play calling was bad. After looking at the 2nd half again, I was totally convinced it was lack of execution. I still believe you've got to place blame on the failure to execute.

I think a point JLC makes is that we could have squeaked by without having to execute these complex plays. He says we should stick to our weapons, CP and Ladell. Lineman would rather run block anyways. Sometimes what's best, is what's simplest. Makes a valid argument.

But after Campbell's performance on Monday night, If your Saunders, don't you feel like you want to open up the offense and "go for the kill." I mean, your defense has been playing great all year, giving up only one touchdown. I think that's what Saunders was trying to do, and I don't think our offense showed up for the challenge.

The game yesterday just shows us Campbell and this offense aren't ready yet for the full blown Saunders experience. Maybe Jason is right, and we should stick to the run, eat up the clock as much as we can, and utilize Campbell with the play action. It makes sense to me.

I think Saunders saw what Campbell did on Monday night, and liked what he saw. He decided to open up that play book and let Campbell run it. Let him look deep first, and then take what's available. Unfortunately, it looks as if it was a bit early, and the poor execution (especially Portis' fumble) cost us a football game.


Rob, I'm of the opinion bad play calling and lack of execution go hand in hand. I really believe this. While it's easy to chart the play calling, execution is a matter of focus; it's more mental. And I think the two are absolutely related.

Look, they played bad in the second half. There's no denying that. But I think it's kind of like a prize fighter, once he starts to think his left hook is dangerous and deadly, and you say look I think you can take this guy out with your right jab. You just lose something there.

true but they werent getting it done. Its alot easier to defend the run if they know its coming every time. Having all of our WR we should mix it up alot more to keep them guessing.

Well, between 14-3 Redskins and 17-17. We had 5 running plays and 9 passing plays

Fabini << Thomas

plain and simple.

The bye week is coming at a good time. We need to work on solidifying the right side of the line and readjust run blocking. Cooley is being kept in to much or asked to chip block and his passing stats are suffering because of it.

The good news is at 2-1 we are still in good shape, have time to make some adjustments, and a few winable games coming up. If we can get Thomas back for the 3-5 final games, we should be able to make a push for the playoffs

Going for "the kill" doesn't have to mean 50 yard bombs. The kill can be a 8 minute power running drive that results in points and time taken off the clock.
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.

Rob, I'm of the opinion bad play calling and lack of execution go hand in hand. I really believe this. While it's easy to chart the play calling, execution is a matter of focus; it's more mental. And I think the two are absolutely related.

Look, they played bad in the second half. There's no denying that. But I think it's kind of like a prize fighter, once he starts to think his left hook is dangerous and deadly, and you say look I think you can take this guy out with your right jab. You just lose something there.
Very true.