A Very Troubling Statistic

[MTK]

People longing for the deep ball have obviously missed the hiring of Jim Zorn, a west coast disciple. Moss with a bad hammy didn't help matters last night either, along with the constant pressure.

[WillH]

Originally Posted by Jake2008

Sorry that you don't agree with the logic, but doesn't mean it is invalid because you don't happen to agree. You just have a different opinion so sorry if I am not allowed to express mine. I never said it has to be dominant to count, but I do believe good teams will dominate bad teams. We have won by margins of 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 points. Those games could have gone either way. Take the Giants, they have won by margins of 3, 7, 9, 12, 21, 28 and 38. I would say 4 of those are pretty dominant and they didn't have much to worry about.

I think this is a valid point . . .

Yes we're 6-3 and that is a good record (and a completely unexpected record) at this point in the season, and no amount of speculation can change that.

But if as fans we can consider things like the difficulty of our schedule when trying to evaluate the strength of our team, certainly margin of victory can come into consideration.

These feelings of inadequacy on the part of the fans is also somewhat valid. We came into this game under the pretense that this would be a statement game, one that decided whether or not the struggles of this team against clearly inferior teams the past few weeks was simply them playing down, or cause for legitimate concern. Pitt was the first very good team we have faced from outside of our division, and to have been beaten so convincingly is a huge letdown.

So yeah I'm glad we're 6-3, and I'm fairly confident that we'll make the playoffs, but after losing to Pitt we cannot start thinking of our team as elite. Furthermore, this game has exposed a huge weakness in our Offense, with alot of pressure and no Moss we're managable. Now Pitt has the best defense in the NFL, so No, I doubt many other teams will hold us to only six points, even under similar conditions, but we should certainly have some concerns about our Offense. And that may be accurately reflected in our slim margin of victory in our 6 wins.

[BrennanBeliever]

I agree with replacing Heyer for Jansen, and the Yoder-Davis switch, but I honestly believe that a lot of blame for the offencive stagnation in the first half rest squarely on the shoulders of Jason Campbell. I don't see his passion for the game, or atleast its not expressly evident in a visceral sense. The intensity just isn't there for me, not to mention his dropback from under center looks almost robotic. He's a trained passer not an improvisational natural athlete. This is probably not the best analogy to make on a football site but its the difference between watching a ballet dancer and a contemporary dancer. The ballet dancer is groomed, technically sound, but rigid, stoic, and apathetic. The contemporary dancer on the other hand, may not fit into molded perfection, but their movement reflects their emotion, they are daring and fearless and passionate and there is no question about their commitment even if its flawed. Take Brett Farve for example, the guy has made more mistakes than homeless, crack addicted prostitute, but is still considered one of the greatest to ever play the position. It seems to me that Zorn is like a father that gives his kid the keys to the car but won't allow him to drive any further then around the block. I say unleash the fury.

[GMScud]

We're winning VERY narrowly. Sure, a W is a W, we should be happy with 6-3, blah biddy blah blah. The point is, anyone who isn't concerned is blind. We just got exposed in the worst way. Like caught with your pants down with shrinkage kind of exposed.

We have glaring weaknesses in the most important of areas- pressuring the QB, forcing turnovers, pass protection (for our the franchise QB we FINALLY have after years and years), and SCORING. Sound defense and a good running game have helped mask these deficiencies somewhat.

We have the 25th ranked scoring offense. That's just bad. Someone on another thread mentioned how we're in the top 10 in total offense and defense (10th and 4th respectively). The NFL's "total" stat is garbage. It's yardage based. Points win games, not yards. I don't care how many pretty yards we gain. When they turn into punts and field goal attempts, we're not gonna win much, especially when up against tough defenses.

We've got a long way to go if we hope to win any playoff games, or even make the postseason for that matter.

I know people think I'm a debbie downer around here. That's fine. If I'm saying anything that's wrong, by all means, tell me.

I'm thrilled to be 6-3. I love JC's development, the defense's stoutness, Portis' MVP caliber 1st half of the season, the job Zorn is doing... But I want to keep improving, so I call it like I see it.

[53Fan]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

People longing for the deep ball have obviously missed the hiring of Jim Zorn, a west coast disciple. Moss with a bad hammy didn't help matters last night either, along with the constant pressure.

I understand it's WC but even WC goes long once in awhile. This isn't exactly the strict definition of WC we've been playing anyway. Moss had a couple of fairly long balls in the second half of the Detroit game. That certainly helped us win the game. I understand he's hurt. But what exactly do we have DT out there for anyway? I'm not sure we have anything to lose by going deep to him once in awhile compared to what we may gain.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by 53Fan

I understand it's WC but even WC goes long once in awhile. This isn't exactly the strict definition of WC we've been playing anyway. Moss had a couple of fairly long balls in the second half of the Detroit game. That certainly helped us win the game. I understand he's hurt. But what exactly do we have DT out there for anyway? I'm not sure we have anything to lose by going deep to him once in awhile compared to what we may gain.

From what I'm reading, he's still running the wrong routes. At this point in the season that's really disappointing.

[MTK]

Thomas cut off his route which led to the 2nd pick last night. I know we want to see him do well but when you can't do the basics on the field you're just not going to get many looks.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Thomas cut off his route which led to the 2nd pick last night. I know we want to see him do well but when you can't do the basics on the field you're just not going to get many looks.

Oh man, I didn't hear that specifically. That's really bad. Come on Devin. All that physical talent and he can't learn the playbook? Grrrrrr.

[mike340]

I'm not too worried.

First, a lot of the important players were out or questionable. I would have to think the latter would have a tough time being 100%. (Among them, Samuels, Moss, Landry, Rogers). That may be why Rogers gave one of his old-style cushions on the TD.

Another, we were really in the game until another QB came in who we weren't prepared for. Sometimes that works to one team's benefit, sometimes to the other's. Ben's QB rating for the first half was around 15.

Lastly, some people here say we aren't dominating games. I heartily disagree. The reason that the games have been close is that the other teams have been scoring TDs to get close near the end of the game and hoping for a miracle. I'd say that's pretty solid.

At the same time, I feel as though the playcalling has been more to avoid losing games than to win them. (As opposed to when we were playing better earlier in the season.) I want them to open it up; not so much long passes as making sure they get all their weapons involved in each game. This will give them one-on-ones with their good players for long gains. I've also been seeing too many running plays on first down.

Lastly, the receivers seem to have reverted to ignoring the first-down marker when running their routes. This is huge. If you (frequently) need 2 completions (or successful plays) to get the first down instead of one, it greatly reduces your chance of getting first downs and getting extended drives. Against the Eagles and the Cowboys it seemed they were doing a good job of running their routes to get the first downs.

[53Fan]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Thomas cut off his route which led to the 2nd pick last night. I know we want to see him do well but when you can't do the basics on the field you're just not going to get many looks.

I did hear Charley Casserly say today, "The Redskin coaches are'nt stupid, if Devin Thomas could help they would go to him." It is EXTREMELY disappointing to hear he can't even get the basics right. It's just frustrating.

[53Fan]

I probably need the bye week as much as they do.

[CRedskinsRule]

This link has an interesting stat chart.
ESPN - A different way to look at the red zone - NFL Nation

[htownskinfan]

Originally Posted by downtown4life

I know everyone is freaking out about how bad the skins played, we have to remember they are 6-3. When "experts" say the outcome of the game is decided by a handful of plays- in this case its true. If you look at the 40 yard (questionable) pass interference call and the blocked punt, here are two plays that cost them 14 points. You take that from the final score and you cant say the steelers played that much better than the skins. The defense did their job.

I agree with everything except the questionable pass int call,it was def pass int

[htownskinfan]

Originally Posted by skinsnut

Why is everyone harping on Campbell?
Coverage was great downfield, Moss was hampered by his injury, the oline pass blocking was poor.

Campbell is AWESOME when we win, and its ALL HIS FAULT when we lose.
Face it, we were dominated.

I lay this TREND at the hands of the offensive coordinator, ZORN.
I am not suprized, he said it himself.
Defenses will catch up to what his is doing, this happened about 4 games ago, when we started struggling with teams like the rams, lions, browns....c'mon man...
Our defense is solid, the issue is the offense.

Bottom line is, Zorn did not adjust, pregame or halftime, to account for the Pitt defense PLUS he abandoned the run.

I mentioned it in the predictions thread.
The only way to win this was with Shotgun, draws, reverses, screens, misdirection, runs up the gut....that is how you slow down a fiery defense.
My only question was how Moss and Samuels would hold up.
Unfortunately, Zorn did almost none of this....I only remember one or two screens and a couple draws. This is why I gave Zorn a 3.5 of 5....he is not tested yet, he has not stayed ahead of the curve, Defensive coordinators have figured out how to play this offense.....we are still 2nd in the league in rushing yet only 25 in Points.

I say it is time to add some new plays and players to the mix....we haven't seen any production from our top 3 picks....time to MAN UP. and C'mon Zorn, call a play thats not on film yet.

And I also throw Special Teams in here, they have generally stunk...except kicker.
Did you see that Pittsburg Gunner on the punts? He was beating 2 blockers every time causing randle el to fair catch everything....and if there was no punt blocked, we'd easily be in the game...this is easily Danny Smiths crappiest coaching year here, he aint helping...thank goodness we recovered that onside kick, I am suprised that we did based on who was on the field to attempt the recovery...lucky.

great post except I disagree on the last part,from what I recall there were at least 2 times,maybe 3 where ARE called for the fair catch and nobody was within 10 yrds of him

[53Fan]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Thomas cut off his route which led to the 2nd pick last night. I know we want to see him do well but when you can't do the basics on the field you're just not going to get many looks.

I just read an article by Gary Fitzgerald that says the second interception was on a pass intended for Thrash not Thomas and there was a miscommunication.Washington Redskins It's under "A Tough Night For Campbell"