GTripp0012
12-15-2008, 07:02 PM
Programming Update: There will be no offensive or defensive game reviews next week. We'll review the Philadelphia tape at some point in the offseason. The GT review will return for the SF game.
The Redskins offense has certainly played worse this season than they played against the Cincinnati Bengals. But I'm not sure that I've been more disappointed by the team more than I was when I put on the tape from this game.
The Bengals are an average defensive team with one fatal flaw: they are totally unable to rush the passer. The matchups favored the Redskins, because they were starting two replacement tackles, and they had the Bengals blocked easily. Jason Campbell, one of the hardest hit QBs in the entire NFL, had ample time and responded with a very efficient day, getting Chris Cooley and Santana Moss involved often. This should have been the Redskins day.
But the running game, which was the offenses crutch for so long, they let the passing game down. Clinton Portis averaged a hair over three yards per carry against the Bengals, or the same as Bengals counterpart Cedric Benson. The Bengals weren't really playing a lot of 8 in the box stuff, they were playing deep coverage and daring the Redskins to run against them. And Jim Zorn ran, and ran, and ran, but clearly, the offensive line is not what it was against the run even last week. Perhaps Jon Jansen's return will help, but Stephon Heyer is a huge downgrade in the running game from Chris Samuels. Samuels' pass protection was really compromised because of his bum knee, but he was having maybe his best season ever in run blocking. Now, the Redskins don't have a powerful left side running game, and no go to running play.
The Redskins ran and threw at a 50-50 split, and the running plays were largely ineffective. The Redskins would have overcome this though, if not for two absolutely critical turnovers in high leverage situations: the first drive of the game, and at the goal line. The officials have no excuse for not blowing Sellers' dead when his legs stopped churning prior to being stripped of the football, but Cooley's fumble on the third offensive play of the game -- not to mention the longest play of the day for the Redskins -- is no ones fault but Cooley's himself. Once again, skill position players in the offense let down their team, although they are now finding new and improved ways to do it (the Redskins did not drop a pass).
Pass Offense
Vital Statistics
Total adj yards = 184
Yards per play = 5.75
Success Rate = 50% (16/32)
Campbell was not sacked, and he only absorbed a single QB hit, right to the "funny bone". If there was an issue here, it's that they were unable to create a play of 20 or more yards. Not that the fact that Santana Moss didn't turn one of his 17 yard catches into a 22 yarder, but that the Redskins never once got behind the safeties of the Bengals. The Bengals played their free safety deep consistently, and I thought Leon Hall did a pretty decent job against Santana Moss even though the Redskins' gameplan was to attack Hall. The Redskins need to create run after the catch, which they did not do in this game, and Chris Cooley fumbled trying to get yards after the catch. The longest run from scrimmage for the Skins actually came out of the passing game: a run by Jason Campbell for 17 yards.
This was the only game where the Redskins threw more than 70% of their offense to their top two targets: Moss and Cooley. For the first time in a while, the Redskins faced a secondary that really lacked the ability to match up with the top targets, and would give them all the intermediate passes they wanted.
Still, even though the Bengals are not the standard for pass defense, the Redskins had no troubles at all putting the ball in the air. That's the way it should have worked, but unfortunately, pass offense was the only phase of this game that went according to plan.
Receivers
(Targets, Completions, Success rate, YPA)
Santana Moss - 11, 7, 55%, 6.5
Chris Cooley - 7, 6, 57%, 7.4
Antwaan Randle El - 2, 1, 50%, 4.5
Clinton Portis - 2, 1, 50%, 3.0
Fred Davis - 1, 1, 100%, 15.0
Mike Sellers - 1, 1, 100%, 14.0
Devin Thomas - 1, 0, 0%, 0.0
Fred Davis really had a monster of a game. He did a heck of a job blocking the Bengals defensive lineman, I charted him with at least 4-5 good blocks, and he looked decisive in his route running for the first time this year on film.
For Moss though, pretty good day, but he was targeted 11 times, and couldn't make 100 yards. This doesn't mark the return of Santana Moss to the elite of the NFL, it merely is a nice capsule of where Santana is right now. He's one of the top five most targeted receivers in the NFL now, and that shouldn't be based on his production. He's got an outside shot at matching his career high for receptions (84), and he will probably make 1,000 yards, but Moss is one of the larger reasons why the Zorn offense hasn't worked. Santana Moss, when healthy is an above average receiver with gamebreaking skills. But he's not the type of player who is a mismatch in man coverage, and the Redskins better hope that Malcolm Kelly or Devin Thomas can be that player.
Offensive Line
I can't say much here. This is not a good run blocking line right now. They've struggled on interior runs all season long. That much hasn't changed. They always had a lot of success running left, and used to be able to run right off of Cooley's hip against certain defenses. They can probably still run off Cooley, but not against the Bengals. Running off the left side seems like a thing of the past now. As good as Pete Kendall is, Stephon Heyer is not Chris Samuels, and that's going to kill the running game.
The pass protection was good, but the Eagles will be the real test.
Rush Offense
Vital Statistics
Total adj yards = 98
Yards per play = 3.16
Success rate = 45% (14/31)
The running game was streaky in this one. For the first five drives, it was completely unproductive. The next two, the Redskins caught the Bengals in a bunch of blitzes, and ran inside of it with great success.
Portis' longest run though was ten yards, and he had way too many 1 yard gains to make it worth the effort of running the ball. Ladell Betts continues to convert first downs when he is called upon.
Rushing Chart
(Runs, successful runs, YPC average)
Clinton Portis - 25, 10, 3.1
Ladell Betts - 2, 2, 3.5
Mike Sellers - 2, 0, 0.5
Devin Thomas - 1, 1, 8.0
Overall Offense
Vital Statistics
Total adj yards = 282
Yards per play = 4.84
Success Rate = 47.6% (30/63)
The lack of big plays weighs down the yards gained per play. I think the success rate captures it well though: this was a below expected offensive effort, but not a bad offensive effort. However, the one thing the vital statistics do not capture is how the fumbles cost the Redskins points. At least ten points, probably fourteen.
People will ask what's different with the Redskins from the 6-2 start to the 1-5 recent finish. It basically comes down to three things:
1) Who they've played
2) Defensive schemes
3) Fumbling games away (or nearly doing so against Seattle)
But as for this effort, it was just the St. Louis game all over again. St. Louis and Cincinnati have two things in common: they'll be picking in the top five of the draft, and they both beat the .500 Redskins. The Redskins simply put the ball on the turf too much to comfortably win those games, and when a potential blowout became a nail biter, it's not the Redskins who are coming up with the key third down plays and other big plays.
The Redskins offense has certainly played worse this season than they played against the Cincinnati Bengals. But I'm not sure that I've been more disappointed by the team more than I was when I put on the tape from this game.
The Bengals are an average defensive team with one fatal flaw: they are totally unable to rush the passer. The matchups favored the Redskins, because they were starting two replacement tackles, and they had the Bengals blocked easily. Jason Campbell, one of the hardest hit QBs in the entire NFL, had ample time and responded with a very efficient day, getting Chris Cooley and Santana Moss involved often. This should have been the Redskins day.
But the running game, which was the offenses crutch for so long, they let the passing game down. Clinton Portis averaged a hair over three yards per carry against the Bengals, or the same as Bengals counterpart Cedric Benson. The Bengals weren't really playing a lot of 8 in the box stuff, they were playing deep coverage and daring the Redskins to run against them. And Jim Zorn ran, and ran, and ran, but clearly, the offensive line is not what it was against the run even last week. Perhaps Jon Jansen's return will help, but Stephon Heyer is a huge downgrade in the running game from Chris Samuels. Samuels' pass protection was really compromised because of his bum knee, but he was having maybe his best season ever in run blocking. Now, the Redskins don't have a powerful left side running game, and no go to running play.
The Redskins ran and threw at a 50-50 split, and the running plays were largely ineffective. The Redskins would have overcome this though, if not for two absolutely critical turnovers in high leverage situations: the first drive of the game, and at the goal line. The officials have no excuse for not blowing Sellers' dead when his legs stopped churning prior to being stripped of the football, but Cooley's fumble on the third offensive play of the game -- not to mention the longest play of the day for the Redskins -- is no ones fault but Cooley's himself. Once again, skill position players in the offense let down their team, although they are now finding new and improved ways to do it (the Redskins did not drop a pass).
Pass Offense
Vital Statistics
Total adj yards = 184
Yards per play = 5.75
Success Rate = 50% (16/32)
Campbell was not sacked, and he only absorbed a single QB hit, right to the "funny bone". If there was an issue here, it's that they were unable to create a play of 20 or more yards. Not that the fact that Santana Moss didn't turn one of his 17 yard catches into a 22 yarder, but that the Redskins never once got behind the safeties of the Bengals. The Bengals played their free safety deep consistently, and I thought Leon Hall did a pretty decent job against Santana Moss even though the Redskins' gameplan was to attack Hall. The Redskins need to create run after the catch, which they did not do in this game, and Chris Cooley fumbled trying to get yards after the catch. The longest run from scrimmage for the Skins actually came out of the passing game: a run by Jason Campbell for 17 yards.
This was the only game where the Redskins threw more than 70% of their offense to their top two targets: Moss and Cooley. For the first time in a while, the Redskins faced a secondary that really lacked the ability to match up with the top targets, and would give them all the intermediate passes they wanted.
Still, even though the Bengals are not the standard for pass defense, the Redskins had no troubles at all putting the ball in the air. That's the way it should have worked, but unfortunately, pass offense was the only phase of this game that went according to plan.
Receivers
(Targets, Completions, Success rate, YPA)
Santana Moss - 11, 7, 55%, 6.5
Chris Cooley - 7, 6, 57%, 7.4
Antwaan Randle El - 2, 1, 50%, 4.5
Clinton Portis - 2, 1, 50%, 3.0
Fred Davis - 1, 1, 100%, 15.0
Mike Sellers - 1, 1, 100%, 14.0
Devin Thomas - 1, 0, 0%, 0.0
Fred Davis really had a monster of a game. He did a heck of a job blocking the Bengals defensive lineman, I charted him with at least 4-5 good blocks, and he looked decisive in his route running for the first time this year on film.
For Moss though, pretty good day, but he was targeted 11 times, and couldn't make 100 yards. This doesn't mark the return of Santana Moss to the elite of the NFL, it merely is a nice capsule of where Santana is right now. He's one of the top five most targeted receivers in the NFL now, and that shouldn't be based on his production. He's got an outside shot at matching his career high for receptions (84), and he will probably make 1,000 yards, but Moss is one of the larger reasons why the Zorn offense hasn't worked. Santana Moss, when healthy is an above average receiver with gamebreaking skills. But he's not the type of player who is a mismatch in man coverage, and the Redskins better hope that Malcolm Kelly or Devin Thomas can be that player.
Offensive Line
I can't say much here. This is not a good run blocking line right now. They've struggled on interior runs all season long. That much hasn't changed. They always had a lot of success running left, and used to be able to run right off of Cooley's hip against certain defenses. They can probably still run off Cooley, but not against the Bengals. Running off the left side seems like a thing of the past now. As good as Pete Kendall is, Stephon Heyer is not Chris Samuels, and that's going to kill the running game.
The pass protection was good, but the Eagles will be the real test.
Rush Offense
Vital Statistics
Total adj yards = 98
Yards per play = 3.16
Success rate = 45% (14/31)
The running game was streaky in this one. For the first five drives, it was completely unproductive. The next two, the Redskins caught the Bengals in a bunch of blitzes, and ran inside of it with great success.
Portis' longest run though was ten yards, and he had way too many 1 yard gains to make it worth the effort of running the ball. Ladell Betts continues to convert first downs when he is called upon.
Rushing Chart
(Runs, successful runs, YPC average)
Clinton Portis - 25, 10, 3.1
Ladell Betts - 2, 2, 3.5
Mike Sellers - 2, 0, 0.5
Devin Thomas - 1, 1, 8.0
Overall Offense
Vital Statistics
Total adj yards = 282
Yards per play = 4.84
Success Rate = 47.6% (30/63)
The lack of big plays weighs down the yards gained per play. I think the success rate captures it well though: this was a below expected offensive effort, but not a bad offensive effort. However, the one thing the vital statistics do not capture is how the fumbles cost the Redskins points. At least ten points, probably fourteen.
People will ask what's different with the Redskins from the 6-2 start to the 1-5 recent finish. It basically comes down to three things:
1) Who they've played
2) Defensive schemes
3) Fumbling games away (or nearly doing so against Seattle)
But as for this effort, it was just the St. Louis game all over again. St. Louis and Cincinnati have two things in common: they'll be picking in the top five of the draft, and they both beat the .500 Redskins. The Redskins simply put the ball on the turf too much to comfortably win those games, and when a potential blowout became a nail biter, it's not the Redskins who are coming up with the key third down plays and other big plays.