2014 Washington Redskins Thread

JHS5120

I'm not looking to turn this into a political discussion, there are 4 or 5 good threads on the team name discussion. I'd like to talk about football

Game 1: Washington 6 : Texans 17

RGIII looked surprisingly good, but very rusty. He completed 29 out of his 37 passes for 267 yards and no interceptions (all good), but he didn't throw a TD pass either and only rushed for 2 yards (and gave up two fumbles).

He threw mostly short passes, but with JJ Watt threatening to kill the guy, I don't blame him for dumping the ball off for short gains. It's good to see RGIII not try to run too much, but I would like to see him more mobile going forward.


The defense didn't do too terribly and Alfred Morris was a lot better than he was during the preseason! Honestly, if it weren't for the special teams (two blocked kicks, really?) I think the Redskins could have won. If I had to give out grades they would be:

RGII: B-
Receivers: B
RBs: A-
O-Line: D
D-Line: B (they gave Arian Foster 100+ rushing yards, but held him to 3.5 yards/attempt)
Secondary: C+ (The only gave up one big mistake, but it resulted in a 76 yard passing touchdown)
Special Teams: F (two blocked kicks - one resulting in a touchdown. What more do I need to say)

DIMEMAN

Don't tell me you are a Redskins fan too!!!

JHS5120

<< <i>Don't tell me you are a Redskins fan too!!! >>



Too? As I said in the first Romo thread, I'm a lifelong skins fan

elsnorto

It was good to see RG III effective again, albeit not nearly as electric as his rookie campaign.

I'm no Redskins fan... a vestige from my early days as a Cowboys fan and their rivalry, but my heart sank when RG III went down to injury.

I'm rooting for the guy to have a long and successful career... but for the Redskins to collectively wallow in mediocrity.

Snorto~

gregmo32

Hard to believe in Week 2, but if they lose this week, they are effectively DONE. Schedule is brutal after this week.

JHS5120

Week 2: Washington 41 : Jacksonville 10

RGIII = OUCH

I'd be shocked if he plays again this year - that injury looked brutal.

Kurt Cousins came in and was pretty dominant, ending the day going 250 yards with 2 TD's and no interceptions.

Grades:

Cousins: A-
Receivers: B+ (losing DeSean Jackson also hurt)
RBs: A-
O-Line: B
Secondary: C+ (they still looked shaky against a bad Jacksonville team)
Special Teams: F (they were actually a C+, but I'm still mad at them for last week's game)

sparky64

They were wise to hold on to Mr. Cousins.
He's a cool customer and a legit NFL starter, imho.

garnettstyle

I hope the REDSKINS win the super bowl, just to piss off the progressives

DIMEMAN

>>>I hope the REDSKINS win the super bowl, just to piss off the progressives <<<

+1 If they are the NFC Champs.

shouldabeena10

The next 2 weeks should be pretty telling ... as to whether the Redskins have any chance of making some noise this year.

As much as I liked the effort and confidence of RGIII, he just didn't look comfortable as a pocket passer. He was holding the ball too long, not finding his 2nd and 3rd reads, and just seemed awkward on most plays. He started the Jacksonville game off strong, but I guess we'll never know if he would have played better / worse than Cousins did? It's also becoming harder to believe that RGIII is sturdy enough to stay healthy for a complete season. This was another self inflicted injury where nobody touched him.

The rumor around DC is that Coach Gruden has secretly felt that Kirk Cousin's would be the better option for his offense right now, and since there's no way he was going to bench RGIII anytime soon, this might have been a blessing in disguise for him? He gets to run the offense scheme he's more comfortable with and not worry about all of the read option plays and twists that were needed for RGIII. RGIII will probably be out for at least 8 weeks (maybe more?), which should be long enough to see if Cousins has any future as a starting NFL QB.

One of the problems the Redskins are going to have next year is that a lot of our stud players have contract renewals coming up, so we need to figure out what our QB situation is now.

As for this year, it looks like our defensive line and linebackers are going to be strong. Jason Hatcher was a great pickup, and Ryan Kerrigan just keeps getting better each game. David Amerson looks like the real deal as a corner, and we get Brandon Meriweather back this week to replace our weakest safety link; Rambo. I was a little surprised we didn't get more pressure on the QB in that first game against Houston, but I'm hoping the 10 sack field-day they just had with Jacksonville will motivate them to keep bringing the pressure. The defense should be good enough to keep us in games this year, and if the front line keeps getting stronger at the rush, I think we could be a top 10 defense this year. Baring any significant injuries, of course.

Special teams looks to be much improved (couldn't have gotten much worse) and Andre Roberts could be another great pickup for the return game.

The offensive line worries me the most, as their pass blocking skills still leave a lot to be desired. They run block well, so Alfred Morris, Roy Helu and Darrel Young look set to have a good year. I was glad to see the Coach use Darrel Young, as he wasn't used to play calling with a full back in Cincinnati. I also liked what I saw in Silas Redd last week. The kid looked strong and broke some tackles.

At tight end, Jordan Reed should be back soon (and can hopefully stay healthy) ... and Niles Paul seems to have really progressed since last year. He dropped that one easy pass last week, but made up for it with all the other catches. These two guys could really be something special this year.

The wide receivers should keep getting better each week as they find their rhythm with Cousins. The rookie, Ryan Grant looks good and might get some playing time, and Pierre Garcon hasn't even broken a sweat yet. I hoping DeSean Jackson can play this week in Philly, as you know he wants to show them they made a mistake by cutting him.

I expect Kirk Cousins to have a few up and down games, throw some picks and ducks before he starts to feel comfortable out there. He hasn't been playing with the starters all pre season, or getting any first team reps. Unfortunately, we don't play Jacksonville every week, and teams are going to come after him. The good news is he seems to read the defenses better than RGIII did, he makes quicker decisions, throws to a spot, and gets rid of the ball pretty fast. The bad news is our O-line may not even give him the second or two needed to make the passes.

I think our season will all come down to how well our O-line protects Cousins, and how well Gruden adapts his play calling ... if the line isn't holding up.

So far, I like what I see in Coach Gruden. It's refreshing to have someone with a sense of humor and more of a player's mentality. He answers questions honestly instead of using "coach speak" all the time. It was really hard to watch Shanahan speak sometimes, he reminded me of Norv Turner ... who I also felt always looked uncomfortable speaking in public.

The next few weeks will show us more about the coaches play calling abilities, and if the Redskins can start to finally turn the ship around this year.

Looking forward to a fun, successful season.

shouldabeena10

Wow, I didn't realize how long that was. Sorry for the dissertation. lol

JHS5120

What an exciting game! Too bad the skins couldn't come away with the victory. Special Teams killed us AGAIN! Not only was the missed 30 yard field goal the difference in the game, but the kick off TD return killed us. It's the little things too, it seems our kicker can't reach the end zone on kick-offs. Each time they only reached the goal line or 5 yard line - always returned well past the 20.

If it weren't for special teams mistakes the Redskins would be 3 and 0.

Cousins: A+ (he tore apart that EAgles secondary!)
Receivers: B+ (everyone did great except Niles Paul dropping a few catches)
RBs: B+ (A mild game for Alfred Morris, but Roy Helu stepped up big on one 4th quarter drive)
O-Line: B+ (Kirk looked poised and appeared to have time in the pocket)
D-Line: A- (Held McCoy and Sproles to a combined 72 yards!)
Secondary: B- (They gave up a few big plays, but did fairly well against the #1 offense)
Special Teams: F (Worst. Special. Teams. Ever)

grote15

RG Who?

JHS5120

<< <i>RG Who? >>



I know right?

If Cousins has a couple more games like this it'll be difficult for RG3 to regain his starting job.

DIMEMAN

RG III bless his heart.......is like our LB Lee.....made out of glass!

grote15

Good ol fashioned whooping tonight at hands of G-Men..

shouldabeena10

Yea, that was embarrassing. The wheels fell off early in the game, and it just snowballed from there. Cousins completely melted down towards the end.

Good thing they have an easy game -vs- Seattle next week. lol

DIMEMAN

Yes, Cousins get the "Tony Romo" award for that game!