Offensive Ineptitude (2022 Version)

[Chris]

Points? Points? Who the hell needs stinkin’ points?

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Yes

 

[Boone]

I went pass protection although QB play was close. I guess I’m trying to give the limited talent at QB a little benefit of the doubt (as you said on last night’s pod, failing to address OL in the off-season undermined everything we tried to do on offense this season).

 

[Om]

I could argue for any or all of those as the biggest reason ... but in the end I'm a QB guy. We saw hints on Sunday of what even this flawed offense was capable of with a trigger man who can and will actually pull the trigger.

That said if we don't make a heavy investment in the OL this offseason, I'll co-sign the malfeasance lawsuit Chris plans to file.

 

[Canadian Hog]

It's a hard question to answer with 100 percent certainty, as a lot goes into it. That being said, in my time as being a fan of this team, I have seen them win a Super Bowl with Doug Williams and Mark Rypien. Fans outside of Washington will never identify those guys as all-time greats. What they both benefitted from though was having the luxury of playing behind the greatest OL in the history of football. That helped them greatly in excelling. I also know that somehow a lesser New York Giants team was able to knock off the greatest QB in football history twice in the Super Bowl by making his life very uncomfortable as he dropped back to throw all day. We have a ton of speed at receiver between Samuel, McLaurin, Dotson, and Brown. A defensive back can't cover those guys forever and it is criminal that we couldn't take advantage of that more due to very poor pass protection. Mark me down I suppose based on all of this for pass pro and being the culprit. I certainly hope that the Blind Pig Mock Draft pod is littered with the names of big uglies.

 

[Bulldog]

With Patrick Mahomes on this team Washington goes 12-5 and is in the playoffs by 3 or 4 games over teams like the Giants or Seahawks.

Washington had a top 12 defense and capable wide receivers and running backs.

Great quarterbacks can work around average offensive lines or injuries by using a quick release and rolling out and throwing with accuracy on the edge.

When you don't have that, you need EVERYTHING else on your team to work well for the quarterback to be successful.

There were some years in his prime when Aaron Rodgers was quarterbacking a team to an 11-5 record when minus #12 on the roster, the club objectively was a 6-10 or 7-9 outfit.

McCarthy benefited from years from Rodgers bailing him out by making plays on his own.

It was only when Green Bay faced a top club in the playoffs or NFC title game did that not become enough.

 

[MikefromOH]

Play calling all day long. We would run the ball a few times a game or we'd run it the entire game.

We'd run Samuels up the gut when we needed 1 yard, we'd call long developing plays when the OL sucked, we'd call out routes across the field.

The reason Turner was fired was easy to see.

 

[burgold]

I struggled between choosing pass blocking and play calling. It almost feels like a chicken and the egg thing.

 

[Chris]

I struggled between choosing pass blocking and play calling. It almost feels like a chicken and the egg thing.

I would liken the play calling and the QB play as more of a chicken and egg. Asking any QB to execute so many of the plays that they were, knowing that the protection was an extreme challenge, was ludicrous.

Turner rarely put his QBs in a consistent position to be successful. Like a chef that can imagine a great menu but doesn’t know how to turn on the stove.

 

[Neophyte]

I'll start by saying that all 3 of these things contributed to our offensive woes this year and depending on the game you pick will determine which issue was the biggest.

Having said that, I voted for play-calling (probably to no one's surprise).

It is the OC's job to look at the skills of the players he has, determine how best to use them, and call plays that work to those players' strengths thereby putting them in a position to succeed. Far too often that didn't happen. In fact, in many games we watched the opposite happen with plays that better suited Wentz called for Heinicke or vice versa. We routinely saw sweeps called for Robinson or Williams while Gibson was run between the tackles. The OL was frequently left pass blocking 1v1 in obvious passing situations while the QB was waiting for long routes to develop with no check down.

Some games I wondered if Turner had a hat full of plays scribbled on slips of paper that he was pulling out randomly. Or perhaps using a Magic 8-Ball. An ouija board would have offered greater consistency.

Worst, it rarely felt like he understood the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents.

Yes, more talent can put some lipstick on the pig but a great play-caller can hide a multitude of personnel sins. Sadly, we had the sins without the play-caller.

 

[Bulldog]

Patrick Mahomes took a Chief's team with a truly poor offensive line back to the Super Bowl in 2020. Yes, they lost to the Bucs, but it is evidence a good OC and talented skill players can still make hay if the OL is not among the best.

The Chiefs that year suffered injuries at LT (out for year), OG (player sat out COVID) and in-season injuries at OC, etc.

So, I would vote for playcalling as the primary reason Washington couldn't win one or two more games to make the playoffs.

Seattle and the New York Giants are average teams and going up and down the rosters I would think Washington actually has a more talented team overall. I don't see any of the Giants receivers even making the Washington roster.

My guess and it is only that is that a Kyle Shanahan looking at the inaccuracy of Carson Wentz in training camp and Taylor's arm limitations would have been much quicker to go to Sam Howell and get him ready to get on the field and contribute.

Rivera is living in the 1990's when veterans played and rookies were supposed to sit on the bench learning for 2 or 3 years.

That is OLD THINK.

Good players don't sit any longer. Coaches call the plays and shape the playbook to what a player can do.

I think Howell would have beaten Cleveland and Washington would have finished 9-7-1 and beat Seattle out for that last playoff spot.

The team might also have NOT lost that game against Tennessee where Wentz threw an interception at the ONE yard line late in the fourth quarter.

That play and his overall performance in his 7 starts in 2022 is evidence that Ron's approach in supporting Wentz because of who he USED to be 3-4 years ago was a team killer.

 

[Knightingale]

I went with Pass Protection, as I think it arguably limits the other options anyhow.

Our QBs would be average (and with Wentz, I think that's a generous assessment!) with a GOOD Oline protecting them it relegates them to below average. While an elite QB like Mahomes can work with a bad line, a below average one just can't overcome such a handicap.

And if you've got a bad line and sub-average QBs, then the OC has his hands tied to a degree. It limits what they can do. Arguably they should be working to make the best of what they've got (which I don't think Scott did all the time) but they're still limited.

 

[SilentThreat]

I went with Play Calling, but I'll freely admit that my frustration with Turner likely drives that. I think you could very easily make a case for any of those things.

One place I think Play Calling was such a detriment, is because we KNEW our deficiencies elsewhere, and the play calling is the 'fastest' way to work around that. At times, he was actively play calling AGAINST what strengths we did have on the team. We knew we had a deficient arm behind center, yet we had a higher Yards per Attempt, as well as AIR yards per attempt with Heinicke, than we did with Wentz. I keep going back to it, but it encapsulates my frustration perfect... 4th and 1, and you pitch the ball 6 yards behind the LOS to your 4th string QB. The frequency we run a spread offense, empty backfield, shotgun formation which forces 5 down lineman to protect the LOS while we KNOW we have struggles on the O-line. While the team is winning, we run a max protect, heavy blocking package with sometimes 3 TEs AND an RB in to at least chip defenders... then we get away from that offense over the final 6 weeks of the season when we're making a playoff push....

Wentz can't just get 'more' awareness like it's Madden. The O-line won't just 'click' and be able to block Joey Bosa 1 on 1...

 

[Chris]

Carson Wentz only cost 14m per win last season.

“Everyone keeps wanting to say I didn’t want to have anything to do with Carson, well bulls–t,” Rivera, in his third season in Washington, screamed at reporters. “I’m the f–king guy that pulled out the sheets of paper, that looked at the analytics, that watched the tape of the fricken, when we were in Indianapolis. And that’s what pisses me off.”

Yeah, Rivera’s the f-king guy that’s going to pick the next QB, too. And that’s what pisses me off.

 

[burgold]

I really hope Howell is the guy next year in no small part because Rivera and the Marties thought Fitzpatrick was the guy and then thought Wentz was the guy.

I don’t trust them with the checkbook nor the trade market.

 

[MikefromOH]

I wish these coaches would sometimes look at the comment section of their press conferences or when someone is up for free agents.

The fans of the team where the player WAS will always let you know the truth. Indy fans were screaming he sucked and to not pick him up long before we did.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

While my previous comment stands that yes it’s all if this, because it is all of it. But I agree with the comments about the coaching. A good coach and a good play caller would call the plays to get the most out of his players. You can’t cover all deficiencies since the O line has to block, the QB has to throw, and the WR and RB have to do their jobs. But what we clearly saw was a coach that called plays expecting better skill than what he had on the field. He just expected them to be able to execute.