What's your defnition of 'conservative playcalling'?

I'll have to watch some of the game again but I honestly wasn't very impressed with his blocking ability. Granted the Cards have a big and physical defensive line, but I saw Puccillo getting blown up way too much for my taste. Rabach is a big loss and I think we saw just how valuable he is yesterday.

The biggest issue was at center........ARizona was reading the snap count ALLL GAME, by the time pucillo snapped the ball, there were two DT's in the backfield.....if he has a whole week to practice and cannot change up the snap count....that is on the coaching staff. Arizona knew exactly when the snap was coming on every third down...giving JC no time to convert on the third down passes.

THAT'S high school level football.

I get so tired of everyone crying about the injuries to the o-line. I would understand if we had rookies on the right side of the line. Balt. had three rookies starting on the o-line yesterday. If we had that situation then I could see. But these guys have been in the NFL for a long time.

Why is it so hard for people to comprehend that sub par O line play has a negative impact on EVERYTHING the Redskins try to do offensively? In yesterdays game specifically, there were next to no running lanes, and Campbell was under constant pressure all day. He was hurried every time he took more than a three step drop. How were they supposed to take shots downfield with linebackers and ends rushing him, basically untouched?

We're going to be discussing the playcalling all week long again because there are a segment of us who are fed up with the offense we're seeing and a segment of us who would like to see more but feel we are doing what we can with what we have to work with.. Which camp are you in an what would you like to see different or stay the same?

I think we're too conservative, especially with a lead.. What seems to be missing from our offense once we have a 2 td lead is:

1. Aggressiveness-Gibbs seems to throttle back the aggressiveness once we've gotten a 'comfortable' lead on the other team and doesn't keep attacking. NE has a defense that rivals if not exceeds ours and they never play like they are comfortable with their lead.. I'm not comparing personnel, just philosophy.. Being aggressive isn't bombing the ball 30 yards downfield at every chance. It can be as simple as calling a mid range pass play on 1st and 10 rather than a dive play. It can be calling a screen on 2nd and 5.. Our mid range and across the middle of the field passing game disappears in the 2nd half of games. There are many ways to be aggressive without taking a 7 step drop and looking deep..

2. Imagination-When 90% of us can call the play before the Redskins break the huddle, that's bad. How many times have we seen run, run, pass, punt in the second half of games this year? As great as our defense is, how much better would they be if they weren't on the field for 20 minutes in the 2nd half? I believe Saunders has the plays and imagination to call a dynamic game plan (which we saw vs. Detroit) but is handcuffed..

3. Courage-How many times have we heard JG17 allude to he was 'afraid of what bad may happen' in post game pressers? He's afraid of turnovers, afraid to put his players in certain positions during a game, afraid of getting a FG blocked, etc.. Scared money don't make money in the NFL.. When you coach scared, your players play scared (see Brunell, Mark) and you can't be effective.. Against the Giants, we all felt like we went down with plenty of bullets left in the gun.. Same as yesterday, we got SO tight in the 2nd half once Portis scored it was crazy.. We all know about the OL injuries and that certainly has an effect on play calling and the game plan, but we've still got to man up and play OUR GAME with what we have.

Agree with everything here. Good post.

The offense has been undoubtedly affected by the injuries to the o-linemen. Moreover, when JC drops back to throw and dumps it off, it's hard to know what play was actually called. Did Saunders call for JC to dump it off? Or were the wideouts covered and was JC, therefore, forced to throw to a back in the flats? So, it's hard to conclusively say that the offense is "conservative."

However, we did seem to be running the ball an awful lot. I understand that it is important to run the ball and get the d-linemen to back off of bliting JC. But, when the running game is your bread and butter, and it is ineffective because the D is stacking the box, it is important to at least establish the threat of going deep. We have been able to do that in some games and have failed to do so in other games.

Hopefully, our offensive woes are a function of the injuries and once guys heal, our offense will display the explosiveness that we all expect, or at least want, to see.

True- and I'll be the first to admit that when i watch the game, I probably can't tell you what the aim of each pass call was...but i tend to agree with pain train with the perception of conservatism. We seem to run, run, pass, punt far too often with the lead. fact is, we aren't good enough to run for first downs consistently...

I also agree that the 0-line injuries are largely a part of it, but aren't these guys pros? Wasn't Wade supposed to be so good as to challenge jasen (teammate opinion? At this point, a lot of the line have played several games together not to mention practice (i'm not specifically talking about yesterday's game either), if they aren't good enough to fill the void (perhaps we should be more prudent about giving way draft pick- which deplete our depth).

at the same time, a win is a win...
i'll take it...4-2 ain't bad

Why is it so hard for people to comprehend that sub par O line play has a negative impact on EVERYTHING the Redskins try to do offensively? In yesterdays game specifically, there were next to no running lanes, and Campbell was under constant pressure all day. He was hurried every time he took more than a three step drop. How were they supposed to take shots downfield with linebackers and ends rushing him, basically untouched?

No excuse. Throw the damn ball down the field! Just throw and keep on throwing.

~removes tin foil hat~

can someone explain how the first half ended?
were we surprised that the cards went for the TD and thus called the TO? i feel like we really bailed them out there with the TO as they had NO chance of getting the play off in time...(in terms of play clock)...

if we had the wrong personnel on the field, that is fine, clearly, but seems like we bailed'em out of a 5 yard procedure penalty...

LOSING franchises make excuses

WINNING franchises make up for it....we are at a crossroads right now..and what happens this sunday in NE may set the trend

For people here to say or act like they know so much about football I've read some pretty stupid stuff.

No excuse. Throw the damn ball down the field! Just throw and keep on throwing.

~removes tin foil hat~
I don't think there are many people on here wishing to change to the run and shoot but how is mocking a desire for a more imaginative and consistent offense constructive dialog?? Are we to take from your comments and stance that since we have injuries on the OL then we should be happy with 3 & outs until we're healthy??

I don't think there are many people on here wishing to change to the run and shoot but how is mocking a desire for a more imaginative and consistent offense constructive dialog?? Are we to take from your comments and stance that since we have injuries on the OL then we should be happy with 3 & outs until we're healthy??

Who's happy with the offense right now??

I'm certainly not... however I can understand there are legit reasons as to why the offense is struggling.

That understanding seems to be escaping a lot of people right now.

The offense will only improve as the health of the line improves. People that are calling for more imaginative plays and more consistency just don't understand that you can't have that without solid, consistent play from the front five... you just can't.

When you're juggling the lineup every week, signing guys off the street, and moving a DL to the OL just to have enough guys to practice, that doesn't scream problems to anyone else??