Preseason Game 1 Quick Hitters: First of all, calm the hell down

[PennSkinsfan]

http://dcprosportsreport.com/2009/08/preseason-game-1-quick-hitters-first-of-all-calm-the-hell-down.html

Pretty brutal, especially when combined with the fact that the Redskins defense gave up 500 yards of offense to the Baltimore Ravens. And getting shut out is never a good thing. It was a complete and utter domination from beginning to end.

 

[riggins44]

Even though just first preseason game...it was hard to watch and does not give me a good feeling about this team. I know we didn't play a lot of starters, but regardless that was awful.

 

[Om]

Not picking on anyone in particular, but I have to ask ...

Does anyone here think that Greg Blache's defense is going to give up 500 yards of offense to the Baltimore Ravens in a regular season game?

I can see fans believing the #1 defense in the NFL might shut us out--I mean, they're really good--but it's hard for me to imagine any serious NFL observer thinking that Joe Flacco's Raven offense would simply run roughshod over this Redskins defense.

Point being ... that 500 yards of offense definitely says something, but I'm thinking it has far more to do with how the respective teams approach these preseason affairs than it does about where the respective teams will be when they start playing actual games.

 

[Chris]

The defensive performance doesn't concern me, I still firmly believe they will be very good.

The offense, however, remains a quite considerable concern. I bet we will be the only team shutout this weekend.

 

[PennSkinsfan]

Om---No. Albert Haynesworth will have a huge impact and Justin Tryon best not be playing with starters. he got owned, eaten, and spit out. Next time he is tutored by Darrell Green he should at least try and pat attention. You are also right in the fact the offense struggled against the top defense. BUT, a positive to take out of this is, the offensive line protected Campbell well against the top defense except for one hard hit JC took, but that was the fault of a poor block attempt by Chris Cooley.

 

[Special K]

Well, that sucked to watch. No matter whether it's preseason or not, I frickin hate losing. Regardless, I think I'm going to save my freakout-over-the-Redskins-performance energy for the regular season, Lord knows there will be plenty of time for that if we continue to look like this. I am wanting to agree with Om here though in the fact that I think this game was very much an indicator of how these teams approach the preseason differently.

 

[Neophyte]

Point being ... that 500 yards of offense definitely says something, but I'm thinking it has far more to do with how the respective teams approach these preseason affairs than it does about where the respective teams will be when they start playing actual games.

Agreed.

I think it also says something about the scheme or rather lack there of. Zero game planning will do that to a team, especially if the coach is calling coverages designed to show him something specific rather than stop the other team. I would be more worried if I thought for a sec that Blache lost sleep over giving up 500 yards last night but I'm pretty sure he slept better than I did. After all, he got what he wanted from Orakpo, better than what he expected from Jarmon and all without Haynesworth suiting up.

 

[dchogs]

while we shouldn't take much away from that defensive performance, i think that (despite know that it is preseason and without much game planning if any) we need to see some real improvements in our offense. we need to move the ball, get tough first downs, and score touchdowns. after such a shaky finish to last year and years of offensive mediocrity, the offense needs to develop their confidence and swagger. it seems that they are spending so much time on the big picture (learning plays, how players fit into the offense, etc) that the small things are taking a back seat, leading to fumbles, false starts, and the like. i doubt that the offense will be "winning" many games for us this year and will rely heavily on a dominant defense (hopefully!), but i really want to see some sound progression towards a well-oiled offensive machine.

 

[Sarge]

Fire Zorn

Fire Campbell

Fire all the coaches

Fire the kicker

Fire Vinny

Fire Snyder

And the waterboy to boot



There. Problems solved

 

[riggins44]

What concerns me about the defense was the poor tackling by starters and backups. I know we're missing people but fundamentals is fundamentals.

I know we're not going to give up 500 yards per game. Can't put my finger on it, but we looked like a very uninspired team. Hearing everyone after the game saying we're okay and things felt good gave me nightmares when players said same thing during Marty S.'s preseason.

If don't see better effort and progress in next couple of games it will be a major concern.

On the bright side our punter looked good.

 

[Sarge]

What concerns me about the defense was the poor tackling by starters and backups. I know we're missing people but fundamentals is fundamentals.

I know we're not going to give up 500 yards per game. Can't put my finger on it, but we looked like a very uninspired team. Hearing everyone after the game saying we're okay and things felt good gave me nightmares when players said same thing during Marty S.'s preseason.

If don't see better effort and progress in next couple of games it will be a major concern.

On the bright side our punter looked good.

Kinda the same feeling ya got when you heard "What we do works"?

 

[Henry]

I didn't even watch the game.

Did anyone get hurt?

If not, whatever.

 

[riggins44]

Kinda the same feeling ya got when you heard "What we do works"?

Sarge I would feel much better today is players mad and embarrassed after the game. At least that would show some spark and fire.

There are times to stay medium, but there is also times when need to be mad as hell.

 

[Sarge]

Sarge I would feel much better today is players mad and embarrassed after the game. At least that would show some spark and fire.

There are times to stay medium, but there is also times when need to be mad as hell.

Not many people have that fire anymore, especially not professional athetes. They get paid whether they win or lose.

 

[Om]

riggins44,

I'm trying to recall what starters I might have seen missing tackles. Only really bad play I saw from the starting unit was London Fletcher biting on the RB, getting sucked into the line, then letting the RB get behind him for that big pass/run on the first series. Other than that I thought the starting D was fine---especially considering the uber-vanilla scheme Blache kept them in. You may be right that there were missed tackles by that unit, but I don't recall seeing them. Any examples?

 

[LoyalSkinsFan]

I'll be watching the game tonight and will have a much better feel for things....but, I have to say that I'm NOT AT ALL concerned with the defense. Honestly.

I must admit, though, that as much as I'm trying to push it away, there's this awful knot in the pit of my stomach about Campbell. My intellect and analysis are justifying things, but this knot just won't go away.

Time will tell........

Back tomorrow after I've had a chance to watch the game and process.

In ANY case.........HTTR.

 

[LizKauai]

Bad dress rehearsal - great opening night.

At least that works in theatre sometimes.

I'm watching the game tonight.

 

[servumtuum]

I, personally, think that throwing in the towel on the season at this point is a bit premature. This preseason schedule is a "throw-'em-to-the-wolves" in terms of the competition the Skins are up against in the first three games at least. The Ravens, Steelers and Pats back-to-back-to-back? If the coaching staff wanted to give the new guys and backups a trial-by-fire intro to the season they could hardly have ordered up anything better than this. There is no three game stretch in the regular season schedule that even remotely resembles this in terms of the level of competition they will have to face. Yes, I know all about the problems, QB, OL, WR's, new, if talented, people on defense-but, if you wanted to test the backups and newbies, give them an intro the hard way I can think of few things better than putting them up against some of the toughest the NFL has to offer and see how they handle that situation-knowing that during the regular season the opposing teams , for the most part, simply won't be at the level they're facing now. Yeah, they got slapped around be the Ravens, but the Ravens slap around most of the teams they play anyway-so will Pittsburgh, and the Pats-I think Jacksonville is doable actually.

My points is, in many aspects the Skins are a better team than last season, especially on defense, and this preseason, because of the powerhouse schedule, will not necessarily be a good predictor of how the actual season will go. Besides, the Pats went 0-4 preseason last year, the Ravens went 1-3 and damned Detroit was 4-0!

I'll start worrying seriously if the Skins are 0-4 when they come to play the Carolina Panthers on October 11th.

 

[riggins44]

riggins44,

I'm trying to recall what starters I might have seen missing tackles. Only really bad play I saw from the starting unit was London Fletcher biting on the RB, getting sucked into the line, then letting the RB get behind him for that big pass/run on the first series. Other than that I thought the starting D was fine---especially considering the uber-vanilla scheme Blache kept them in. You may be right that there were missed tackles by that unit, but I don't recall seeing them. Any examples?

OM, not sure if it's my age or selective memory loss, but can't remember any specific details. From what I remember we seemed to just go for kill shots and not wrap up a player. You may be right. I could be lumping the starters in with the second and third string guys. Then I'd be guility of judging the whole basket over some bad apples.

By nature I'm not a chicken little. Just the lack of effort and fire worries me.
Are we staying too medium?

 

[Mayor]

Same Old Same

I’ve heard it before. Pre-season games don’t count. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose a pre-season game. That’s been the Redskins mantra for the last few years…”It’s just pre-season. It doesn’t matter”. I don’t buy it. Especially from a team that had similar problems in the passing game last year. This is a golden opportunity to get it right. Someone said, “You play like you practice”, and I agree. If you can’t perform in a pre-season game, what makes you think you can do it when the regular season rolls around? So why did the Redskins stink it up once again last Thursday against the Ravens?

Teamwork!

It’s been a long time since the Redskins fielded a pro-caliber passing offense. Even in Joe Gibbs v.2.0 they won with a strong running game and good defense. This is getting so frustrating that I had to look back to see when the Redskins last had a top-ten passing game [by yards passing]. According to NFL.com, the Redskins were last a top ten passing team in 1999. 1999! That’s nine seasons of under-achieving with no light at the end of the tunnel. So why haven’t the Redskins been able to do much in the passing game despite different coaches with different philosophies and different players?

Teamwork!

Why were the Redskins successful under Joe Gibbs v.1.0 and George Allen?

Teamwork!

What will it take for the Redskins to improve and achieve greatness?

Teamwork!

Let’s hope Zorn and company can get the offense to act like a team soon. How about this coming Saturday against the Steelers?