Is Sean Taylor that good or...

This game does expose on thing:
Reed Doughty is not ready to be in the safety rotation. He really pissed me off.
I know GW and Gibbs have a man crush on R. Doughty, but it is time to cut our loses. The guy is a good special teamer, but that is not enough in these days of the salary cap. Everyone has to be good enough to eventually play in the starting lineup. Injuries hit every year and we can not afford to carry a guy on the roster that is a good Special teamer but can not hold down his position in the starting line up if called upon.
Doughty has been given a ton of chances and every time he gets extended playing time he gets burned.

I agree. He's no Matt Bowen. I appreciate his situation with his sick son and how hard he works, but sometimes you just need more from a guy in the talent department. He didn't come close yesterday. I'm not saying we have a better option right now, but I find it hard to believe he'll be around next year. He was one of the last guys to make the 53-man this year.

I think everyone is saying that the game would TOTALLY be different if ST was in the game just because he wasn't. We will never know if is true or not.

If ST would have covered TO well, Witten would have had a career day. If not Witten then Crayton.

BTW, Big C...nice sig. I hope we beat UVA in the Commonwealth Bowl.

And if not Crayton then Anthony Fasno, or maybe if ST was playing then Dallas would have run the ball for 300 yards, or ...

That sort of speculation is less founded than others saying ST would have changed the game. It would have been a different game with Sean Taylor, he is an elite player, he is a top five pick, and Reed Doughty is a 6th round special teamer. Here's another fact, in four games when T.O. has played against the Skins with Sean Taylor patrolling the middle he has never gone over 100 yards receiving:

T.O. has never even gone over 100 yards receiving when facing Skins defense with Sean Taylor in the lineup:

2004 - 2-24; 6-46
2005 - DNP; DNP
2006 - 3-19; 7-76

Here's an easy way to settle it...on the field. 41 days...

Oh, and Wahoo Wa, Chris Long is coming too.

yes my man Sean Taylor is THAT good, TO wouldve prob scored once if ST played

Sorry to be the dissenter here but if Sean Taylor had played he would probably not have picked off one of TO's TD passes and broken up two others. Sean Taylor's great strength is the big hit and the spectacular play. He is not now - nor has he ever been - really good at that thing they call "coverage".

Go back and look at game films from past seasons when he's been perfectly healthy and you'll see him chasing people into the end zone and arriving just a tad late to break up pass plays.

And you'll see him biting on double moves like Rosie O'Donnel going after an elcair.

The Skins were hampered by the loss of Taylor because it made them play a far less "gambling" defense because they did not have him back there 20 yards from the line of scrimmage to handle the mistakes of others. But if anyone thinks that he's "the great cover guy" who can stop a player like TO ask yourself this:

If he covers so well, how come he isn't the best shut-down cornerback in the NFL?

Sorry to be the dissenter here but if Sean Taylor had played he would probably not have picked off one of TO's TD passes and broken up two others. Sean Taylor's great strength is the big hit and the spectacular play. He is not now - nor has he ever been - really good at that thing they call "coverage".

Go back and look at game films from past seasons when he's been perfectly healthy and you'll see him chasing people into the end zone and arriving just a tad late to break up pass plays.

And you'll see him biting on double moves like Rosie O'Donnel going after an elcair.

The Skins were hampered by the loss of Taylor because it made them play a far less "gambling" defense because they did not have him back there 20 yards from the line of scrimmage to handle the mistakes of others. But if anyone thinks that he's "the great cover guy" who can stop a player like TO ask yourself this:

If he covers so well, how come he isn't the best shut-down cornerback in the NFL?

Ummm, because he plays safety? ;)

And if not Crayton then Anthony Fasno, or maybe if ST was playing then Dallas would have run the ball for 300 yards, or ...

That sort of speculation is less founded than others saying ST would have changed the game. It would have been a different game with Sean Taylor, he is an elite player, he is a top five pick, and Reed Doughty is a 6th round special teamer. Here's another fact, in four games when T.O. has played against the Skins with Sean Taylor patrolling the middle he has never gone over 100 yards receiving:

T.O. has never even gone over 100 yards receiving when facing Skins defense with Sean Taylor in the lineup:

2004 - 2-24; 6-46
2005 - DNP; DNP
2006 - 3-19; 7-76

Here's an easy way to settle it...on the field. 41 days...

Oh, and Wahoo Wa, Chris Long is coming too.

Would be a different game? Most probably. Would the outcome be different? Very much doubt that.

Last year, the game they played here with the blocked FG (GRRR), TO dropped a beauty from Romo, Taylor had nothing to do with it. He also had a TD in that game so ST is not shutting him down or anything. 7 catches for 76 yards and a TD is not a bad production by any stretch. The first game against Washington, he had a broken hand that he was hiding from the coaching staff.

Like some said here, ST is a safety not a CB. He can't shut TO down on those long passes. I have seen ST get burned by decent receivers.

Sorry to be the dissenter here but if Sean Taylor had played he would probably not have picked off one of TO's TD passes and broken up two others. Sean Taylor's great strength is the big hit and the spectacular play. He is not now - nor has he ever been - really good at that thing they call "coverage".

Go back and look at game films from past seasons when he's been perfectly healthy and you'll see him chasing people into the end zone and arriving just a tad late to break up pass plays.

And you'll see him biting on double moves like Rosie O'Donnel going after an elcair.

The Skins were hampered by the loss of Taylor because it made them play a far less "gambling" defense because they did not have him back there 20 yards from the line of scrimmage to handle the mistakes of others. But if anyone thinks that he's "the great cover guy" who can stop a player like TO ask yourself this:

If he covers so well, how come he isn't the best shut-down cornerback in the NFL?

Nice one Matty!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?! The range that ST has when he is 20 yards deep and "ballhawking" IS the BEST in the NFL and if your tell me ST doesnt break up those 2 TD passes down the middle of the feild OR pick one off... well then you just havent watched too many games. Go back and watch the GB game and then tell me TO scores on 3 deep balls.

Would be a different game? Most probably. Would the outcome be different? Very much doubt that.

Last year, the game they played here with the blocked FG (GRRR), TO dropped a beauty from Romo, Taylor had nothing to do with it. He also had a TD in that game so ST is not shutting him down or anything. 7 catches for 76 yards and a TD is not a bad production by any stretch. The first game against Washington, he had a broken hand that he was hiding from the coaching staff.

Like some said here, ST is a safety not a CB. He can't shut TO down on those long passes. I have seen ST get burned by decent receivers.

Facts are facts though. TO has never gone for over 100yards or more than 1TD in a game that Sean Taylor has started. Taylor laid the hit that broke his finger last year too. #21 loves ringing that loudmouth's bell, and I don't think there's any way TO has half the game he had if Taylor is in there. Obvioulsy Taylor wouldn't be lined up 1 on 1 with TO, but when he rolls over on him in coverage, TO struggles.