BringBackJoeT
01-06-2008, 03:51 PM
Seattle was the better team today and they are a good football team. Especially at home. They earned the right to play a playoff game at home. Josh Brown made his FG's, our kicker did not. Our O-line got pushed around all game long, Seattle gave Hasselback time. Our wr's dropped some passes, Seattle's did not. Sometimes you have to tip your hat to the other team.
Yeah, that's pretty much how I feel about it. The Redskins had all of the momentum on their side, they were gifted the ball inside the Seattle's 20, and had a chance to go up by 8 and put some panic into the Seahawks. The problem was that the Seahawks, while not playing a perfect game, were ready at the most critical time. We can point at Cooley and say, "If he doesn't drop that pass . . . " But why were we throwing on 1st down in that situation to begin with? Because the Seahawks showed up well prepared and committed to not letting Portis gain the same yardage he did against the Giants, Vikings and Cowboys. I'm not saying that Saunders didn't throw on first down in any of the previous games, but rather that the Seahawks defense had rendered Saunders less confident in giving the ball to Portis--the anchor of the offense--at a critical point in which Saunders knew how important it was to walk away with a TD. And then there was the subsequent formation confusion between Collins and Sellers. How often did we see confusion on the Redskins' side of the ball in the previous four games? The confusion was hardly an accident or a freak occurrence--the Seahawks defense was forcing the Redskins to tinker with the formations. By the time Suisham came in for the field goal attempt, the Redskins were virtually no closer to the end zone than when they hadn't gotten the ball in the first place.
I know the Seahawks played in a weak division, had few (was it only one?) victories against .500+ opponents, weren't near the top of any team stat category, and, as I said, didn't play a perfect game. But I also heard/read several times last week that they were being underestimated, and there is no question that they showed up more prepared than any of our previous four opponents and also did a better job at exploiting our weaknesses. The bottom line is that, while there is no question there is talent on our sidelines, the whole organization, the media, and the fans have been talking about the emotion that has been driving our team the last several weeks, and we lost yesterday's game because we were outplayed by a better team. If we have no injuries, it's a different story. But the overall talent that was on the field yesterday wasn't equal, and emotion proved to be insufficient.
Yeah, that's pretty much how I feel about it. The Redskins had all of the momentum on their side, they were gifted the ball inside the Seattle's 20, and had a chance to go up by 8 and put some panic into the Seahawks. The problem was that the Seahawks, while not playing a perfect game, were ready at the most critical time. We can point at Cooley and say, "If he doesn't drop that pass . . . " But why were we throwing on 1st down in that situation to begin with? Because the Seahawks showed up well prepared and committed to not letting Portis gain the same yardage he did against the Giants, Vikings and Cowboys. I'm not saying that Saunders didn't throw on first down in any of the previous games, but rather that the Seahawks defense had rendered Saunders less confident in giving the ball to Portis--the anchor of the offense--at a critical point in which Saunders knew how important it was to walk away with a TD. And then there was the subsequent formation confusion between Collins and Sellers. How often did we see confusion on the Redskins' side of the ball in the previous four games? The confusion was hardly an accident or a freak occurrence--the Seahawks defense was forcing the Redskins to tinker with the formations. By the time Suisham came in for the field goal attempt, the Redskins were virtually no closer to the end zone than when they hadn't gotten the ball in the first place.
I know the Seahawks played in a weak division, had few (was it only one?) victories against .500+ opponents, weren't near the top of any team stat category, and, as I said, didn't play a perfect game. But I also heard/read several times last week that they were being underestimated, and there is no question that they showed up more prepared than any of our previous four opponents and also did a better job at exploiting our weaknesses. The bottom line is that, while there is no question there is talent on our sidelines, the whole organization, the media, and the fans have been talking about the emotion that has been driving our team the last several weeks, and we lost yesterday's game because we were outplayed by a better team. If we have no injuries, it's a different story. But the overall talent that was on the field yesterday wasn't equal, and emotion proved to be insufficient.