Positives

Smoot's thread gave me an idea. I will try to pick out a few positives each week. This week will be tougher than after a win (yes we will see those this year too).

1 No turnovers - we were actually +1 TO ratio. Over the course of the season this is usually a key stat and it is something every coach preaches.

2 Rock Cartwright his straight line return style isn't flashy and nobody will confuse him with Devin Hester, but that return at the end of the first half gave us a little spark and great field position that the offense used to score the lone TD.

3 London Fletcher 17 tackles, 12 solo. This guy is a tackling machine in general, but he was everywhere on the field Thursday. Could he get over 250 for the season?

4 Blache It took a questionable (at best) pass interference call to get the Giants in the end zone. And, zero points in the second half. He had people in position all night and there is no doubt that he is the boss of the defense.

Smoot's thread gave me an idea. I will try to pick out a few positives each week. This week will be tougher than after a win (yes we will see those this year too).

1 No turnovers - we were actually +1 TO ratio. Over the course of the season this is usually a key stat and it is something every coach preaches.

2 Rock Cartwright his straight line return style isn't flashy and nobody will confuse him with Devin Hester, but that return at the end of the first half gave us a little spark and great field position that the offense used to score the lone TD.

3 London Fletcher 17 tackles, 12 solo. This guy is a tackling machine in general, but he was everywhere on the field Thursday. Could he get over 250 for the season?

4 Blache It took a questionable (at best) pass interference call to get the Giants in the end zone. And, zero points in the second half. He had people in position all night and there is no doubt that he is the boss of the defense.

No kidding, that PA was absurd. Toomer pushed off, just like Smoot told the ref. I can admit when a Redskins corner has a legit PA, but that one was a bad call. Then Madden came on with is "yeah, that's definitely pass interference" analysis. That really pissed me off. Aikman would have called the refs out, which is why he's the best color guy working these days.

not only was rock good on returns, he did an excellent job on punt coverage, had a really nice tackle. definitely showed his value last night. i also thought portis had a pretty good game after he started hitting the holes hard

5. Clinton Portis- his running, and blocking skills keep him in the upper tier of the elite
6. special teams play as a whole
7. Laron Landry- other then getting trucked by Jacobs, i thought he played very well. even with out the pre season

The Defense actually played well in the 2nd half. I thought Andre Carter and LaRon Landry looked especially active. Our DBs have to improve holding onto INT opportunities, which really could have made the game close.

anybody notice tryon played well on a few plays out there? i have no real complaints about the defense other than my dissapointment with the defensive takles not being as dominant against the run as i had hoped.
Portis as always is the man..
rock...had a good return and hes a special teams stalwart. (still wish we had hester)
kendell had a great game.
fletch is a beast..nuff said.
and devin thomas actually caught a ball

The D adjusted well especially in the 2nd half.

Considering the length they were on the field, the D held up well. That could easliy (and looked like it would) have been a ROUT.
Portis....that block was incredible!
Smoot caught an int!

Agree with the posts above. If we win the TO differential--most games that will bode well. At least it will keep us in games.

As for Fletcher; it was a positive and negative. He is a tackling machine and that is great. But part of his stats can be attributed to the Dline getting manhandled in the running game. Now maybe the scheme is built to funnel the running back to the MLB--I am not sure. But I thought that Jacobs and Ward were in our defensive secondary far too often yesterday--forcing our LBs and safeties to shoulder too much of the tackling burden.

And as a Carlos Rogers hater--I have to say I was impressed with how well he played given the circumstances (his first game after a serious injury). I think Plax just played awesome and on some of his catches Rogers was right there with him.

Rogers did have some really tight coverage at times and there wasn't much more he could have done. Well, except for catch the damn ball when it hits him in the hands but that's business as usual for him.