MTK
10-10-2005, 11:20 AM
Well, the first quarter of the season is in the books and the Skins are standing tall in the East at 3-1. Raise your hand if back in August you honestly thought the Skins would win 3 of their first 4. I know that personally I would have been overjoyed at a 2-2 start, so 3-1 is just pure gravy.
We lost one we should have one in Denver, but we also have to consider we had our share of luck against Dallas and Seattle, two games we easily could have lost. So in the end it all balances out.
Here's my report cards, feel free to chime in with your own:
Overall grades:
Offense: B+
Say hello to the 8th ranked overall offense in the league folks. We piled up over 400 yards of offense on what was the #6 overall Denver defense. Still, points are what really matters and the last remaining issue Gibbs needs to resolve. Things are looking very promising though.
Defense: C+
The lack of turnovers and sacks are a big concern and what knocks this overall grade down from a B.
Special teams: C
Plenty of room for improvement.
Coaching: B+
Gibbs and co. have weathered the storm of a tough 6-10 season and appear to have corrected many of the problems from last year. There's still plenty of work to do though as Williams is now under the gun to create more pressure and turnovers. Gibbs still needs to find a way to get more points on the board to help out the D.
Positional:
QB: B+
Ramsey went from starter to clipboard holder in all of 19 minutes in the opener against the Bears, and to Gibbs' credit it appears that he most certainly made the right call and in addition he probably should have had an open QB competition in camp. No need to dwell on the past though, right now Brunell is looking like the comeback player of the year in the NFL. Get a load of these numbers: 78 of 137, 56.9%, 909 yards, 6 TD, 2 INT, 85.7 QB rating, 2-1 record as a starter. The QB debate is over for now. Brunell is the starter, end of story.
RB: B
Portis has yet to have that breakout game this year, but he's quietly on pace for 1400+ yards this year and his yards per carry is a much more respectable 4.4 this year as opposed to 3.8 last year. I think with Portis the best is yet to come. Betts has been solid in relief of Portis as he has taken on an expanded role this year in an effort to save some pounding on Portis.
OL: B+
Solid B+ for this unit. The run blocking has room for improvement, but the pass protection is really coming together and appears to be the strength of this unit. Jansen and Samuels have re-solidified themselves as the outstanding tackle bookends they were billed to be a few years ago. The job Jansen is doing with two broken thumbs is nothing short of amazing. Samuels seems to be playing with a chip on his shoulder, he could be headed back to the Pro Bowl this year. Thomas has been his usual solid self at RG, and while Dockery remains the 'weakest link' he's shown improvement and isn't the liability he once was. Rabach has been a nice upgrade in the middle and excels at making the line calls, but he's prone to getting shoved around by physical defensive tackles at times. Overall the OL looks like it's really coming together and by season's end it will be one of the better units in the leauge in my opinion.
Receivers and TE: B+
Moss gets an A++ for his efforts alone. Through 4 games he has 23 catches for 458 yards and 2 scores. His speed has brought an entirely new and much needed element to the offense this year -- the ability to take the ball to the house on any play and change the course of a game. Cooley has recently become much more involved with the offense as he and Brunell have gotten more comfortable with each other. Cooley has 17 catches through 4 games. David Patten appears to be on the brink of finally breaking out with his 7 catch effort against Denver. Thrash with 9 catches continues to be a solid, clutch player Brunell can go to in a pinch. Royal has been a pleasant surprise with 7 catches.
Special Teams: C
It appears that John Hall's tenure with the team could be winding down as his continued leg problem is something that the team is going to have to address sooner rather than later. Look for him to be placed on IR soon, his roster spot is too valuable. Novak has stepped in and done an admirable job and appears that he could be trusted to handle the job the rest of the year. Still, 2 blocked FG attempts are a concern. The loss of Tupa is something we'll probably feel the effects of all year. Groom was quickly replaced with Frost and the results haven't been very different. Kick coverages have generally been solid but there is still plenty of room for improvement.
DL: B-
The line has done a solid job against the run but is a major liability when it comes to rushing the passer. There doesn't appear to be many answers in sight, unless LaVar can work his way back in to rush the passer from the DE spot our line is what it is, and exactly what it was last year. A solid group against the line but a unit that isn't going to provide much heat on the QB.
LB: B
Marcus Washington has picked right up where he left off last year and appears to be headed to Hawaii once again. Lemar Marshall has done an admirable job in the middle and has made the loss of Pierce much more bearable. Holdman has taken Brunell's title as the most hated player on the team since he has "stolen" fan favorite LaVar Arrington's starting position.
Secondary: B
Springs has continued his stellar play from a year ago, but replacing Smoot has proven to be a little more difficult than expected. When on the field, Walt Harris has done a great job, but he can't be counted on with his injury problems. Rookie Carlos Rogers has played well, but he's better suited in the nickel at this point in his young career, mainly because when Rogers is starting that elevates everyone's favorite TD machine (for the other team that is) Ade Jimoh. Or in the case of yesterday when Springs went down, Jimoh is lined up across from Rogers. I'm still shivering at that thought, but hey let's throw THE ADE some credit, he actually played pretty well yesterday. Taylor has had his share of trademark bone jarring hits this year, but he hasn't exactly taken over the league as some of us might have expected. He's still young and learning though, don't worry he still has time to take over the NFL world.
We lost one we should have one in Denver, but we also have to consider we had our share of luck against Dallas and Seattle, two games we easily could have lost. So in the end it all balances out.
Here's my report cards, feel free to chime in with your own:
Overall grades:
Offense: B+
Say hello to the 8th ranked overall offense in the league folks. We piled up over 400 yards of offense on what was the #6 overall Denver defense. Still, points are what really matters and the last remaining issue Gibbs needs to resolve. Things are looking very promising though.
Defense: C+
The lack of turnovers and sacks are a big concern and what knocks this overall grade down from a B.
Special teams: C
Plenty of room for improvement.
Coaching: B+
Gibbs and co. have weathered the storm of a tough 6-10 season and appear to have corrected many of the problems from last year. There's still plenty of work to do though as Williams is now under the gun to create more pressure and turnovers. Gibbs still needs to find a way to get more points on the board to help out the D.
Positional:
QB: B+
Ramsey went from starter to clipboard holder in all of 19 minutes in the opener against the Bears, and to Gibbs' credit it appears that he most certainly made the right call and in addition he probably should have had an open QB competition in camp. No need to dwell on the past though, right now Brunell is looking like the comeback player of the year in the NFL. Get a load of these numbers: 78 of 137, 56.9%, 909 yards, 6 TD, 2 INT, 85.7 QB rating, 2-1 record as a starter. The QB debate is over for now. Brunell is the starter, end of story.
RB: B
Portis has yet to have that breakout game this year, but he's quietly on pace for 1400+ yards this year and his yards per carry is a much more respectable 4.4 this year as opposed to 3.8 last year. I think with Portis the best is yet to come. Betts has been solid in relief of Portis as he has taken on an expanded role this year in an effort to save some pounding on Portis.
OL: B+
Solid B+ for this unit. The run blocking has room for improvement, but the pass protection is really coming together and appears to be the strength of this unit. Jansen and Samuels have re-solidified themselves as the outstanding tackle bookends they were billed to be a few years ago. The job Jansen is doing with two broken thumbs is nothing short of amazing. Samuels seems to be playing with a chip on his shoulder, he could be headed back to the Pro Bowl this year. Thomas has been his usual solid self at RG, and while Dockery remains the 'weakest link' he's shown improvement and isn't the liability he once was. Rabach has been a nice upgrade in the middle and excels at making the line calls, but he's prone to getting shoved around by physical defensive tackles at times. Overall the OL looks like it's really coming together and by season's end it will be one of the better units in the leauge in my opinion.
Receivers and TE: B+
Moss gets an A++ for his efforts alone. Through 4 games he has 23 catches for 458 yards and 2 scores. His speed has brought an entirely new and much needed element to the offense this year -- the ability to take the ball to the house on any play and change the course of a game. Cooley has recently become much more involved with the offense as he and Brunell have gotten more comfortable with each other. Cooley has 17 catches through 4 games. David Patten appears to be on the brink of finally breaking out with his 7 catch effort against Denver. Thrash with 9 catches continues to be a solid, clutch player Brunell can go to in a pinch. Royal has been a pleasant surprise with 7 catches.
Special Teams: C
It appears that John Hall's tenure with the team could be winding down as his continued leg problem is something that the team is going to have to address sooner rather than later. Look for him to be placed on IR soon, his roster spot is too valuable. Novak has stepped in and done an admirable job and appears that he could be trusted to handle the job the rest of the year. Still, 2 blocked FG attempts are a concern. The loss of Tupa is something we'll probably feel the effects of all year. Groom was quickly replaced with Frost and the results haven't been very different. Kick coverages have generally been solid but there is still plenty of room for improvement.
DL: B-
The line has done a solid job against the run but is a major liability when it comes to rushing the passer. There doesn't appear to be many answers in sight, unless LaVar can work his way back in to rush the passer from the DE spot our line is what it is, and exactly what it was last year. A solid group against the line but a unit that isn't going to provide much heat on the QB.
LB: B
Marcus Washington has picked right up where he left off last year and appears to be headed to Hawaii once again. Lemar Marshall has done an admirable job in the middle and has made the loss of Pierce much more bearable. Holdman has taken Brunell's title as the most hated player on the team since he has "stolen" fan favorite LaVar Arrington's starting position.
Secondary: B
Springs has continued his stellar play from a year ago, but replacing Smoot has proven to be a little more difficult than expected. When on the field, Walt Harris has done a great job, but he can't be counted on with his injury problems. Rookie Carlos Rogers has played well, but he's better suited in the nickel at this point in his young career, mainly because when Rogers is starting that elevates everyone's favorite TD machine (for the other team that is) Ade Jimoh. Or in the case of yesterday when Springs went down, Jimoh is lined up across from Rogers. I'm still shivering at that thought, but hey let's throw THE ADE some credit, he actually played pretty well yesterday. Taylor has had his share of trademark bone jarring hits this year, but he hasn't exactly taken over the league as some of us might have expected. He's still young and learning though, don't worry he still has time to take over the NFL world.