GAME DAY! Preseason Wk. 1 vs FALCONS

[Kel Varnsen]

Not going to comment on the game until I see it.

Anyone know if and when it'll be on NFL network?

I think it was on around 2 this morning. I found it and set my DVR and will watch it tonight or sometime this weekend. I just can't remember if it was on this morning or tomorrow morning. They will probably have another replay on as well.


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[TomE]

I generally agree with the overall look having last years flavor but I was hoping to focus on individual players not yet in the starting lineups.

Unfortunately I suck and singling out individual players without a printed roster in front of me and being able to actually see the numbers on the jerseys during a play on the TV, particularly the lines. So it was pretty much a fruitless endeavor.

Overall feel for the game was...... it was a preseason game and it don't count for squat, thankfully... we still look like a pass first team and the run game on both sides is still a work in progress.

They need to 'clean up a few things', calling in FEMA might be overreaction but 18 inches per carry by the starters, couple o' dozen penalties and the like calls for a bunch of scrubbing.

it was a preseason game and it don't count for squat

No notable injuries AFAIK, Niles limped off the field with a hyperextended knee but should be OK probably a few other dings, and one of the rookie RB's looked to have his bell rung a little but stayed on the field anyway but that's my own observation via smallish flatscreen HD

 

[Cycleans]

I reminded myself that it's pre season and it really doesn't mean much except you want your starters to look sharp and stay healthy. Don't get too high or too low. That said, I thought Cousins looked Great!

 

[bird_1972]

The lack of run game is precisely what concerned me when we took no steps to improve our OL in the offseason. As this game may be showing us, is that the folks we have in the interior now just aren't getting the job done.

I'm not sure all of the blame can be placed on the RB if they can't even get a lane to run through.

 

[Bulldog]

On defense, we have added Smith, Cravens, Fuller as picks to go along with Norman and Breeland in the backfield. Great for the future.

What we have chosen not to do in the draft or free agency is address the interior DL or OL to any great extent.

Kedric Golston is 33 years old and is working on a one year $1.5M contract. That's backup term and money for an 11 year veteran.

Ioannidis as a #5 pick may be a keeper down the road but doesn't appear like he is going to be a major factor in 2016.

So, that leaves us with a 3-4 defense base package with no functional nose tackle. Not that Terrence Knighton played that well last year, so my point is Barry and Haslett before him have been running a 3-4 of one stripe or another since 2010 and we STILL have never adequately addressed the NT position.

Why not just move to a 4-3 and then you have Preston Smith and Trent Murphy as DE candidates where they may be much more productive vis a vis what we have at DE right now (other than Baker)?

On offense it seems to be the same story.

From Keim's comments it appears Reiter is nowhere close to earning a final roster spot, so unless we acquire a veteran backup we are left with Long or LeRibeus as the de facto center if Kory goes down.

And with that consideration is the fact that at 31 Kory is an average starting center in the NFL when healthy. He is not elite, he is not above average. And being undersized he needs to be near 100% to be effective on the field as he depends upon technique to remain competitive.

Overall, I like a lot of the moves over the past 2 years that Scot has made. I just wonder why OC and DT just don't rate that highly in this team's plans, much as they did not in the Shanahan regime the previous 4 years.

Is it coincidental the defense has trouble stopping the run the past five years since 2010?

I know we were able to garner an extra draft pick for 2017, but I would have tried to keep a pick in 2016 in Round 4 and try to find another candidate to compete at OC or DT.

We needed it.

 

[bird_1972]

Bulldog - I can't agree with you more.

It's very strange why such a glaring hole in the roster (both interior DL and interior OL) were overlooked. We did absolutely nothing to improve either in the offseason with the exception of Ziggy Hood - and that's really a "maybe".

So frustrating.

I fully expect our run game to suck again this year. And everyone will blame it on the backs instead of the OL.

Thank god for Kirk.

 

[ntotoro]

Gruden has never had an Offense with even a decent run game. Historically, as in forever as in never. Ever. That even goes back to Cincinnati. Tons of attempts with stugots to show for it. Unless he changes his scheme, it'll stay that way.

Nick

 

[Riggotoni]

I was in the stands rather than watching on TV, but Kelley looked both quick and decisive. I know there are lots of lousy RBs who look stellar against preseason 3rd stringers but aren't NFL material- like Sultan McCullough or whatsisname Mason from a few years back. Typically, though, if one looks objectively, those guys wouldn't pass the eye test. McCullough danced around- dude was fast but couldn't find an open hole in a crowded brothel. Mason was an obvious tweener - too slow to be a scat back, and too weak to be a powerback. Kelley reminded me of the Falcon's UDFA rookie last year Devontae Freeman.

Sudfeld can definitely make all the throws. Plenty of rookie mistakes, but he threw well on the run, and had nice touch on the deeper balls. He's an interesting project.

I love the Dunbar story as much as anybody, but a couple more performances like that and he won't make the team. We were depleted at CB last year, but since then we've drafted Fuller and signed Norman. He seemed lost tracking the ball.

 

[bird_1972]

Nick - I thought he had a pretty decent run game w/ Giovanni Bernard, etc.?

Definitely isn't the key to his offense but it was serviceable. Ours is a joke.

Good thing is that run game isn't necessary for success - see Patriots.

 

[Bulldog]

what's interesting there, though, is New England won 3 of its 4 Super Bowls under Bellichick with a 1,000 yard rusher - twice Antowain Smith and then Corey Dillon.

so, you don't have to dominate in the run game, but you need a functional ground effort. What we are seeing here is not functional.

I have some concerns that even if Kirk passes for 80 yards on a drive, it may stall on the two yard line because we can't run the ball in at the goal line.

 

[McD5]

I think everyone here has made some good points. I'm most thankful that we didn't have injuries.

I just read an article talking about how teams are now going to extremes to prevent injuries this year. That's always been a huge fear in previous preseasons, but check this out. Here's a list of the scratches for Green Bay tonight. It's wild.

Among #Packers' 17 scratches tonight:
A. Rodgers
Hundley
Cobb
Ryan
Matthews
Peppers
Janis
Henry
Nelson
Linsley

It's almost as if GB is boycotting this preseason game tonight with the starters. Not even one series?

 

[Henry]

I think everyone here has made some good points. I'm most thankful that we didn't have injuries.

I just read an article talking about how teams are now going to extremes to prevent injuries this year. That's always been a huge fear in previous preseasons, but check this out. Here's a list of the scratches for Green Bay tonight. It's wild.

Among #Packers' 17 scratches tonight:
A. Rodgers
Hundley
Cobb
Ryan
Matthews
Peppers
Janis
Henry
Nelson
Linsley

It's almost as if GB is boycotting this preseason game tonight with the starters. Not even one series?

It probably also depends on the team some. Established powerhouses will definitely rest more. They have fewet kinks to iron out and more to lose of theres an injury.

Im not sure we're up to the 17-scratch level yet, but it was nice to see out starters go out so quickly and not think twice about it.

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[Fear The Spear]

Martell Spaight's on fire !

https://twitter.com/Redskins/status/763869087156080640?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I finally got to watch the game. My first thought: Unwatchable. I usually like to see which young guys impress and find that one guy you really root for to make the team. But the penalties just made the game hard to watch. Throw in the fact that meant more screen time for the worst ref in football and my frustration level was at an all time high for a pre-season game.

The one player I am worried about though is Morgan Moses. He looked like he did his rookie year and not like the guy who earned a starting spot last year. He was being beat a lot and could only stop the rush by holding (a few he got away with).

The running game was worse than expected, which is sad because the bar is so low. But I'm not going to panic about that until it fails during the regular season and costs games. Short passes work just as well as runs sometimes, so there are ways to compensate.

 

[Win4us]

Spencer Long.

Copy...appreciate it. Going by comments he didn't exactly light it up in the run game.

 

[JohnssBass]

On defense, we have added Smith, Cravens, Fuller as picks to go along with Norman and Breeland in the backfield. Great for the future.

What we have chosen not to do in the draft or free agency is address the interior DL or OL to any great extent.

Kedric Golston is 33 years old and is working on a one year $1.5M contract. That's backup term and money for an 11 year veteran.

Ioannidis as a #5 pick may be a keeper down the road but doesn't appear like he is going to be a major factor in 2016.

So, that leaves us with a 3-4 defense base package with no functional nose tackle. Not that Terrence Knighton played that well last year, so my point is Barry and Haslett before him have been running a 3-4 of one stripe or another since 2010 and we STILL have never adequately addressed the NT position.

Why not just move to a 4-3 and then you have Preston Smith and Trent Murphy as DE candidates where they may be much more productive vis a vis what we have at DE right now (other than Baker)?

We needed it.

(Bulldog has more above; just trying to save some space)

Lots of good points and probably not many dissenters. I thought that when the Skins came up their Murphy plan of magically turning him into a DE that instead maybe he should be moved to like a inside LB just sitting behind the DL. Kind of 3-1-3 or something. Trent, not really fast enough to play DE on passing plays. The run defense wasn't good anywhere but the second level was a sieve which can't continue. I think he can help the team out by playing somewhere on running downs; just not sure where.

Looks like the staff likes LeRibeus for backup Center. Didn't the Skins pickup a vet C last year during the season? Did he play even 1 down? So even down the stretch when Josh didn't look so good they left him in even with other options. If Kouandijo could play C it might just be his best shot at cracking the lineup. They've actually been pretty fortunate health wise with Kory considering his milage. 16 games, 2012, 13 & 14. Not going to last forever - last season should've been a warning.

Oh, yeah - Cravens was a bright spot last night. Looks like they could play him anywhere. Jensen did well and really stood out on ST's. Obviously - preseason but he did do some good stuff (caught a TD, too). That could be interesting down the line - him possibly making the team on ST's and who may get bumped to make room.

Scot said the rebuild was going to take about 4 years. It hasn't been about 4 years yet. I would think one would start with linemen - they usually have longer careers than most other positions and when you bring in the skill guys everyone is hopefully peaking at the same time. But I'm not a highly paid, successful GM and never will be. Probably.

 

[DieselPwr44]

If Spaight,who was a bright spot the other night, keeps it up, we won't have to worry about Murphy playing ILB.

 

[TomE]

Back to the Trent Murphy 'theme', most of what I read from 'pundits' has him being very active, moving well, sometimes explosive and making some plays against the run.

Granted this was preseason and time will tell but maybe it'll work out for him and the team.

Still, it's good to see some positives about the guy.

 

[McD5]

It's only one preseason game, but maybe a good sign?

Washington’s fifth-round pick, NT Matt Ioannidis (Temple), played 23 snaps and graded above-average in both run-defense and pass-rushing. He earned the fourth-highest overall grade among interior defenders out of the six games.

From PFF.

 

[Fear The Spear]

If Spaight,who was a bright spot the other night, keeps it up, we won't have to worry about Murphy playing ILB.

And then there's Cravens, who can plug-and-play into almost any defensive position on the field.
Got a weakness ?
Just plug in Cravens there.