Gmanc711
10-24-2008, 07:01 PM
Tony McGee on the Washington Redskins/Cleveland Browns
Hello All,
At 5-2 after 7 games, the Redskins are off to their best start since 2000, and last week against Cleveland is a perfect example of the type of football that has them to this record right now. To be honest, this seems like the type of football that Joe Gibbs tried to play in his time here in Washington, smash mouth style football. I thought the game against Cleveland was a solid game on both sides of the ball, which resulted in a big win.
The Redskins defense is playing incredible football right now. I’m still concerned about the lack of pass rush on this team, but outside of a turnover that left the Browns with new life at the Redskins 30 yard line; Washington has not allowed another offensive touchdown since the opening drive of the Eagles game….
As far as when the offense will catch up with the defense? That remains to be seen. It is an offense that has moved the ball on opponents, including Cleveland last week. It’s an offense that nearly doubled the Rams offensive output in a loss last week, so its not an inept offense. However, when you don’t have the points to show for it, people will look at your offense as inept. Between the twenties, they’re great, because Clinton Portis has a lot of room to operate, and they have a lot of different plays to work with. When they tend to get close to the goal line, where they’ve had some issues; teams are quick to put more guys in the box and take away the running game. I think the Redskins passing attack still has a little bit of a ways to go, but I still believe they are ahead of the curve in terms of where I thought they’d be at this point in the season. Jason Campbell has done a great job protecting the football, and I attribute that to the coaching of Jim Zorn. There is a lot to be said about a coach who has spent some time in the league and gone through the same things players are going through. I think they are able to teach little mechanics that are hard to pick up on if you haven’t played the game before.
The difference in home field advantage in FedEx Field vs. RFK Stadium? It’s really not even close. That could me being a bit biased as a person who played in RFK and not in FedEx, but it really is not even close. I liked everything about RFK, the location was perfect, the passion there was incredible. It was just a phenomenal venue and the atmosphere there was incredible. That’s not to say that FedEx doesn’t have a nice set up, or that people there don’t seem to enjoy themselves. It’s the little things, however. If you listen when the Redskins make a couple bad plays, the stadium gets really quiet, and whether you want to believe it or not, crowd plays a factor in your level of emotion in games. A lot of it, I’m sure has to do with the general level of success the past 15 years in Washington. But simply put, the atmosphere between the two is not even close, huge advantage goes to RFK.
Quickly on a couple non-Redskins related issues. First off as far as New England goes, I know there is a lot of head on Bellichek for leaving his players in too long, which in this case caused a potentially career threatening injury to Rodney Harrison. I mean, maybe he shouldn’t have been in the game at that point, but it is still football. Harrison was exposed to the same risk at the beginning of the game, as he was at the end of the game. It is not the same as high school or college, when you can replace your entire first team with an entire second team. You have to leave players in to still make things click and work. I don’t read too much into that or believe Bill Bellichek did anything wrong there.
Finally with the Brett Favre situation, I again do not think there is too much to be worked up about. This type of thing goes on all the time in the NFL. When I was traded from New England, I was would lend any advice I knew about the team to help us win football games, and if I had a friend somewhere else that asked me anything about the scheme, I would answer the question. I don’t think Brett Favre sought out the Lions to hurt Green Bay, it probably just came up in the course of a conversation. However this type of thing is normal in the NFL, so I am not reading too much into that.
Thanks Guys! Talk to you after Detroit!
-Tony
###########
Tony McGee's NFL career started in 1971 where he was a starting defensive end for the Chicago Bears. In 1974, Tony began a 7 year stint with the New England Patriots and earned the nickname, "Mac the Sack." His unique ability to swarm opposing quarterbacks helped coin the phrase, "designated pass rusher." Tony's career as a Washington Redskin began in 1982, and included a Super Bowl championship. Tony ended his spectacular career in 1985 with 106 career sacks and played in over 200 games -- a feat achieved only by a select group of NFL defensive linemen.
For more information visit REDMAGPLUS.COM
__________________
Hello All,
At 5-2 after 7 games, the Redskins are off to their best start since 2000, and last week against Cleveland is a perfect example of the type of football that has them to this record right now. To be honest, this seems like the type of football that Joe Gibbs tried to play in his time here in Washington, smash mouth style football. I thought the game against Cleveland was a solid game on both sides of the ball, which resulted in a big win.
The Redskins defense is playing incredible football right now. I’m still concerned about the lack of pass rush on this team, but outside of a turnover that left the Browns with new life at the Redskins 30 yard line; Washington has not allowed another offensive touchdown since the opening drive of the Eagles game….
As far as when the offense will catch up with the defense? That remains to be seen. It is an offense that has moved the ball on opponents, including Cleveland last week. It’s an offense that nearly doubled the Rams offensive output in a loss last week, so its not an inept offense. However, when you don’t have the points to show for it, people will look at your offense as inept. Between the twenties, they’re great, because Clinton Portis has a lot of room to operate, and they have a lot of different plays to work with. When they tend to get close to the goal line, where they’ve had some issues; teams are quick to put more guys in the box and take away the running game. I think the Redskins passing attack still has a little bit of a ways to go, but I still believe they are ahead of the curve in terms of where I thought they’d be at this point in the season. Jason Campbell has done a great job protecting the football, and I attribute that to the coaching of Jim Zorn. There is a lot to be said about a coach who has spent some time in the league and gone through the same things players are going through. I think they are able to teach little mechanics that are hard to pick up on if you haven’t played the game before.
The difference in home field advantage in FedEx Field vs. RFK Stadium? It’s really not even close. That could me being a bit biased as a person who played in RFK and not in FedEx, but it really is not even close. I liked everything about RFK, the location was perfect, the passion there was incredible. It was just a phenomenal venue and the atmosphere there was incredible. That’s not to say that FedEx doesn’t have a nice set up, or that people there don’t seem to enjoy themselves. It’s the little things, however. If you listen when the Redskins make a couple bad plays, the stadium gets really quiet, and whether you want to believe it or not, crowd plays a factor in your level of emotion in games. A lot of it, I’m sure has to do with the general level of success the past 15 years in Washington. But simply put, the atmosphere between the two is not even close, huge advantage goes to RFK.
Quickly on a couple non-Redskins related issues. First off as far as New England goes, I know there is a lot of head on Bellichek for leaving his players in too long, which in this case caused a potentially career threatening injury to Rodney Harrison. I mean, maybe he shouldn’t have been in the game at that point, but it is still football. Harrison was exposed to the same risk at the beginning of the game, as he was at the end of the game. It is not the same as high school or college, when you can replace your entire first team with an entire second team. You have to leave players in to still make things click and work. I don’t read too much into that or believe Bill Bellichek did anything wrong there.
Finally with the Brett Favre situation, I again do not think there is too much to be worked up about. This type of thing goes on all the time in the NFL. When I was traded from New England, I was would lend any advice I knew about the team to help us win football games, and if I had a friend somewhere else that asked me anything about the scheme, I would answer the question. I don’t think Brett Favre sought out the Lions to hurt Green Bay, it probably just came up in the course of a conversation. However this type of thing is normal in the NFL, so I am not reading too much into that.
Thanks Guys! Talk to you after Detroit!
-Tony
###########
Tony McGee's NFL career started in 1971 where he was a starting defensive end for the Chicago Bears. In 1974, Tony began a 7 year stint with the New England Patriots and earned the nickname, "Mac the Sack." His unique ability to swarm opposing quarterbacks helped coin the phrase, "designated pass rusher." Tony's career as a Washington Redskin began in 1982, and included a Super Bowl championship. Tony ended his spectacular career in 1985 with 106 career sacks and played in over 200 games -- a feat achieved only by a select group of NFL defensive linemen.
For more information visit REDMAGPLUS.COM
__________________