Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs. Colts)

I wasn't talking about going deep all the time. Of course deep throws are low percentage. I believe I used the adjective "occasional."

I simply alluded to the fact that taking an occasional shot keeps the defense honest. We haven't really done that yet this year. And such shots can be taken safely, without much fear of a turnover. Many teams do this.

A lack of taking shots is only problematic if it is chronic. We haven't yet had a chance to see if it is chronic. But we haven't taken shots in the first two games - that is all that I was saying.

Rex took two shots versus the Steelers. The first one was on the play action bootleg to his left, where he had Davis open for the first down, but threw it deep to Stallworth in the end zone. It was incomplete. The second shot was on a pump and go to Santana Moss. Moss was double covered by the corner and the safety. Incomplete.

Versus the Colts, there was no point in "taking a shot to keep the defense honest", because the defense more or less bailed on being worried about the run game. In the whole time Beck was in the game, I count them blitzing twice (and on one, Beck hit Moss on a crossing pattern that resulted in a first down). Every other time, they dropped 7 guys into coverage and rushed the passer with 4 guys.

The Colts pretty much sold out the run by being totally committed to defending the deep pass. At that point, "taking a shot to keep the defense honest" is pointless, because the defense is pretty much giving you the run game and the ability to throw it short whenever you want it.

And it's funny, because last year, Kyle was accused of trying to go deep too often. Now he's accused of not trying to go deep enough. (Not by you, just in general).

How quickly things change...

I'd rather consistently go 80 yards in 10-15 plays, while moving the chains and controlling the clock, than to go 80 yards in a single play on occasions.

I'd rather consistently go 80 yards in 10-15 plays, while moving the chains and controlling the clock, than to go 80 yards in a single play on occasions.

Bingo.

I thought we sucked last year a controlling the clock. No point in McNabb throwing a 78 yard bomb to anyone if he gets to the red zone and the drive stalls and we have to kick a field goal. Teams kick our butt a lot based on TOP, which also contributed to our defense being torn up all season.

I'd rather consistently go 80 yards in 10-15 plays, while moving the chains and controlling the clock, than to go 80 yards in a single play on occasions.

Yes, that's what I would also call - being in full control of the game.

It's boring to some, but this is what I enjoyed and why I became a fan of the redskins during the reign of Gibbs I. Every season, under the Gibbs I era, they were consistently competitive even when they weren't good enough to compete for the superbowl. And some of the main reasons were the ones that you mentioned above.

much greater concern than throwing it deep is converting in the red zone. I dont give a sh*t if we throw it long to get down there or dink and dunk. But it doesnt take a genius (even though many of us are on this board) to understand coming away with 7 is better than 3 and in our recent history of kicking fieldgoals, 0. Throw the damn ball in the endzone or a RB run over someone to get in...our redzone issues are nothing new

Matt Schaub attempted forty 20+ yard passes last season out of 574 attempts. He attempted 48 20+ yard passes in 2009 out of 583 attempts, which was Kyle Shanahan's last season there.

Andre Johnson's also had a 1500+ yard season in 2009. What this means is that a hell of a lot of the yards he got were from short and intermediate passes.

The Texans had a remarkably efficient passing game, and they didn't go deep that often.

Besides, with the touchback off kickoffs as king this season, teams will have to be able to move the chains or suffer in the field position battle.

We don't need to go deep we have guys peeling off 50 yard runs.

who cares if he can throw 60 yards? He's accurate and makes good decisions

The thing about that is, his really bad drops all came in his first two years at Miami. His last two seasons, he was there most consistent---if not their ONLY consistent--weapon. Once he settled down in the offense and worked on just focusing and concentrating on catching the football, he was more than solid.

So he has corrected the problem before, and he drops were kind of overplayed, as tends to be the case. But his senior season, he didn't have a game where he caught less than three passes.

That's why I'm not worried now, because I know exactly what the problem is, and I know he fixed it once, and after dropping one on Friday he came right back and made two more catches on almost the same route.

We knew what we were getting when we drafted him. I'm more than willing to guess Keenan, Mike and Kyle knew this might happen, and they know how to solve it.

If you say so ... I just know I personally spoke to Dan Schonka (Ourlads, on a radio call-in show) and he said the same thing -- the reason Hankerson fell to the third round was his issue with drops. Don't get me wrong, I'm rooting for the guy.

But we already had one wide receiver here with the nickname "50/50". He didn't last too long.

Matt Schaub attempted forty 20+ yard passes last season out of 574 attempts. He attempted 48 20+ yard passes in 2009 out of 583 attempts, which was Kyle Shanahan's last season there.

Andre Johnson's also had a 1500+ yard season in 2009. What this means is that a hell of a lot of the yards he got were from short and intermediate passes.

The Texans had a remarkably efficient passing game, and they didn't go deep that often.

Besides, with the touchback off kickoffs as king this season, teams will have to be able to move the chains or suffer in the field position battle.

So in 2009 Schaub averaged 3 deep balls a game and 2.5 deep balls a game last year.

We've thrown maybe 2 deep balls in 2 games (I say "maybe" because the Stallworth throw was right about 20 yards and thus not that deep). Even if we count the Stallworth throw, we thus average 1 deep ball per game.

1 per game vs. 2.5 or 3 per game. There's a difference here.

If Houston's offense is the standard - which is debatable - then we have a lesser vertical element in our offense so far. That was my point.

As I said above, things may change with time.