Yeah, I don't know if Campbell is the root of all our problems in Washington. Is he clutch? No, not really; but he isn't TERRIBLE, and the guy does (to quote our beloved former coach) "fight his guts out". There's no quit in him.
I think this offseason needs to be spent patching up our front line and changing our identity as a whole. Hopefully, that'll mean the end of Cerrato's time in D.C.
This points in the general direction of what all my posts in this thread have been based upon. In the Saints game, for a number of reasons, Campbell was afforded an opportunity to operate at QB and utilize all the skills he has-and he did a marvelous job. You want to talk stats, well, take a look at these:
30 for 42 passing, 71.4% completion rate, 367 yards, 3TDs, 1 INT, passer rating 111.9, 0 sacks(!)
Pretty damned impressive. Under the right circumstances, Jason Campbell
can perform admirably. When I posted earlier about the team itself freezing in the clutch-I forgot to add something. I believe the coaching staff is a major part of this team's failure to win close games. With the changes that have been recently made, the team is performing better, they're giving more effort, the scheme changes have definitely made it easier for the offense to move the ball. The offense is more open, more daring, more "taking it to the opponents defense". Until it's in the second half of the fourth quarter-then things seem to go into a "Oh, God, we gotta slow down and play conservatively or we'll lose it". Which is usually what then happens. Frankly, I think this is a bullsh*t way to approach the situation. Momentum gets lost, focus and intensity wanes, players start trying too hard not to screw up rather than continuing to try to put the game away. I've heard it said that the more you try to be quiet by tiptoeing around the more noise you're going to make.
Jason Campbell isn't perfect, but he's better than I thought he was early on. He still has a problem making quick reads and quick decisions and holding on to the ball too long and getting into trouble because of it. However, I tend to look at a team as a whole and try not to single out a player as the "goat", sometimes I fail at this but I do try. Had he played against NO like he had early in the season, I'd be anxious to bid him farewell. If, however, the team/scheme/playcalling/personnel changes continue to work and the coaches grow some
cojones during the last 8-10 minutes of the fourth quarter, I may just have to reexamine my perspective on some things.
The next couple of games could be interesting in judging the direction things might go.
Just sayin'
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