Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Giants at Redskins)

[44ever]

Originally Posted by mlmpetert

Yeah i think thats the plan too. Plus his hand was broken 4 weeks ago, a couple hits and it could rebreak and he could fumble the ball. You got to worry about a RB's pass protection too with a surgically repaired 4 week old broken hand. Might have soreness and swelling affecting his strength and mobility and might have a little nerve damage too. Keep him fresh while Hightower is playing well

I Agree with you there. In any case, the fact that we have 3 stud RB's who may not get all the touches they would like is a great problem to have. I would feel comfortable with any of them starting.

Im curious to see if Hightower can gain momentum as the game goes into the second half. Something just seemed off with him in the later part of the game. He admitted himself he likes to start fast so there may be a need for more balance to keep him running hard the whole game.

Looking forward to see how they mix it up next week...

[SmootSmack]

Well, Armstrong and Gaffney each had a couple of nice catches as well so it can slide today.

[rbanerjee23]

Yeah, Armstrong dropped two catches but kind of made up for it with that sick diving catch where he barely missed the endzone.

The only reason I bring up the OL play was because there were some plays where Grossman was getting plastered and I actually felt bad for the guy. Great win though, as I said somewhere else, we were neck and neck with the Giants the whole game and dominated them in the second half.

People are going to bring up how depleted the Giants team was ... mofos, look at the redskins, half our team are new players from our RB, C, DT(2), DE ... and the list goes on. Lots to be positive about today.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by rbanerjee23

Yeah, Armstrong dropped two catches but kind of made up for it with that sick diving catch where he barely missed the endzone.

The only reason I bring up the OL play was because there were some plays where Grossman was getting plastered and I actually felt bad for the guy. Great win though, as I said somewhere else, we were neck and neck with the Giants the whole game and dominated them in the second half.

People are going to bring up how depleted the Giants team was ... mofos, look at the redskins, half our team are new players from our RB, C, DT(2), DE ... and the list goes on. Lots to be positive about today.

I'm sure people will bring this up, but what they forget is that our team couldn't beat the teams we were supposed to beat. I do hope that we do well against good teams, but also I want to continue to see us do well against inferior teams and not play down to the level of our competition.

[warriorzpath]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

I'm sure people will bring this up, but what they forget is that our team couldn't beat the teams we were supposed to beat. I do hope that we do well against good teams, but also I want to continue to see us do well against inferior teams and not play down to the level of our competition.

I don't think that will happen anymore. I think the redskins losing games in the 4th quarter or allowing teams to come back is over. Like the way the defense was still going strong until the very last play. And even after the fumble by grossman, the offense builds on the blocked field goal by marching it downfield to score a td-- with grossman capping it off. I believe that the days where the redskins fall apart in 4th quarter are over.

The giants were relying on those same ol redskins to wilt. Ha! All I have to say is: HTTR!!!

[diehard]

Originally Posted by rbanerjee23

Yeah, Armstrong dropped two catches but kind of made up for it with that sick diving catch where he barely missed the endzone.

The only reason I bring up the OL play was because there were some plays where Grossman was getting plastered and I actually felt bad for the guy. Great win though, as I said somewhere else, we were neck and neck with the Giants the whole game and dominated them in the second half.

People are going to bring up how depleted the Giants team was ... mofos, look at the redskins, half our team are new players from our RB, C, DT(2), DE ... and the list goes on. Lots to be positive about today.

[Applause] This win shouldn't be downplayed one bit.

[FRPLG]

I thought our protection issues were exacerbated by poor recognition a lot. Either by Rex or the line there seemed to be ample opportunity to diagnose and react to the pressure. Most of their pressure was artificially generated via overload it seemed. A couple times Rex just needed to see it and get rid of the ball faster. I have to think the ability to do so will come with more time on the field in the scheme.

[rbanerjee23]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

I thought our protection issues were exacerbated by poor recognition a lot. Either by Rex or the line there seemed to be ample opportunity to diagnose and react to the pressure. Most of their pressure was artificially generated via overload it seemed. A couple times Rex just needed to see it and get rid of the ball faster. I have to think the ability to do so will come with more time on the field in the scheme.

But that's true of any OL/QB ... Rex looked a lot worse on some plays because of the OL play and the fumble was 20% Rex's fault and 80% the OL's fault. Hell, one play, I saw Pierre Paul run by Williams where Williams just fell down. That has got to be fixed.

[GusFrerotte]

Yeah, I thought they would bring in another RB and give HT a break. They need to mix it up with HT and give the opposition new looks with more options with running plays and putting in the guy that might best run that specific play. The days of the feature back are slowly slipping away into history.

[44Deezel]

Originally Posted by GusFrerotte

Yeah, I thought they would bring in another RB and give HT a break. They need to mix it up with HT and give the opposition new looks with more options with running plays and putting in the guy that might best run that specific play. The days of the feature back are slowly slipping away into history.

More of an observation than a criticism, but did anyone else notice how many times Hightower seemed to be running wide open in the flat? I noticed it in the pre-season as well. Beck seemed more willing to throw to the RBs when the play downfield wasn't there, but Rex seems totally oblivious to it. He's always looking to make the play downfield, which I don't mind, but RB screens can turn into big plays. I could see Helu thriving on plays like that.

Good thing is Rex seemed to make a play downfield just about every time Hightower was open in the flat, with a few notable exceptions.

[MTK]

Too happy right now to diagnose our issues. Obviously there are some things to work on, but I'm just gonna enjoy this one for now.

[vallin21]

Hightower played as well as he could have, considering our O-Line got pushed back almost every run play; add on that the Giants stacked 8 men in the box, meant they had some respect for Hightower and the run game. Almost every stretch play our O-Line got pushed back into Hightower. That's not his fault. His 3 yard average is a reflection of our mediocre O-Line play. NOT Hightower. We've seen what he can do when the O-Line opens holes. Everyone has touched on the poor O-line play and that needs to be addressed, but the stretch play did set up the bootleg and play action pass which was key in the win.

[rbanerjee23]

Originally Posted by vallin21

Hightower played as well as he could have, considering our O-Line got pushed back almost every run play; add on that Giants stacked 8 men in the box, meant they had some respect for Hightower and the run game. Almost every stretch play our O-Line got pushed back into Hightower. That's not his fault. His 3 yard average is a reflection of our mediocre O-Line play. NOT Hightower. We've seen what he can do when the O-Line opens holes. Everyone has touched on the poor O-line play and that needs to be addressed, but the stretch play did set up the bootleg and play action pass which was key in the win.

Totally...what is more disheartening is that this is our starting OL against effectively their backups due to their not having Tuck and Osi. Let's hope they can tighten that up and get better next week.

[vallin21]

Originally Posted by rbanerjee23

Totally...what is more disheartening is that this is our starting OL against effectively their backups due to their not having Tuck and Osi. Let's hope they can tighten that up and get better next week.

Very True. Which is quite alarming and dissapointing.

[FRPLG]

Running game had it's moments today but it still needs a little maturation time to me. That stretch zone is really a major coordination nightmare. Last year we didn't have the skill-sets to even really have a chance for it to work. Now we do have mor athletic guys but it may take some time for it to mesh up. Giants filled pretty well all day on gaps. Generally I expect NY to have a pretty good run defense this year.