Random Commanders Thoughts

[stevenaa]

Go look at the stats. We dominated in TOP for which they've been leading the league. The loss Sucks. That it was to Dallas sucks more. But from where we've been to where we are, to where we are clearly heading, you have to sit back and just think "hell yeah". We played them tough and I think we had a better chance to win than the coaches gave us. Still may not have won, but you have to see things are heading in the right direction, and it's not just smoke and mirrors. ,

 

[Kel Varnsen]

The difference in this game was scoring in the red zone. Dallas scored TDs and the Redskins did not. For all the teams flaws and problems, it really is that simple. If they scored TDs in those situations, they win.


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[Fear The Spear]

The sun will rise tomorrow.

 

[FuriousD]

Josh Norman quickly entering DeAngelo Hall territory: known more for his mouth than his play.

Some real bush league hi-jinks just trying to start shit today.

From NFL.com
"The two faced off for the first time last season in Week 12's Cowboys-Panthers tilt, when Norman held Dez to just six yards and one catch on five targets. So if you're keeping track at home, on 12 career targets against Norman, Bryant has four catches for 38 yards."

I, for one, am not complaining...

 

[Fear The Spear]

From NFL.com
"The two faced off for the first time last season in Week 12's Cowboys-Panthers tilt, when Norman held Dez to just six yards and one catch on five targets. So if you're keeping track at home, on 12 career targets against Norman, Bryant has four catches for 38 yards."

How is that career total possible, if Dez had 5 catches for 72 yards today alone ?

 

[SkinsFTW]

How is that career total possible, if Dez had 5 catches for 72 yards today alone ?

He's not covering him on every down.

 

[DixieFlatline]

I usually think Kleim is pretty good, but to say Hopkins hasn't helped this year?

"Redskins kicker Dustin Hopkins, so good a year ago, hasn’t helped this season, and he missed from 43 and 55 yards Thursday. "

Dez Bryant of Dallas Cowboys, Josh Norman of Washington Redskins get into scuffle after Thursday's game

 

[stevenaa]

Hopkins has some critical misses. the 55 yarder was stacked against him, but still, he's a kicker and that's what he gets paid for. They don't run him out there if they don't think he can make it. He must make it fairly routine at that distance in practice.

 

[Win4us]

Probly too disgusted to go back through the video but it seemed quite a few times Long was driven into our backfield. Dude is good sized but has little strength.

 

[Goaldeje]

Hopkins has some critical misses. the 55 yarder was stacked against him, but still, he's a kicker and that's what he gets paid for. They don't run him out there if they don't think he can make it. He must make it fairly routine at that distance in practice.

That one's on coaching. My Dad and I were yelling at the TV as he was walking out that was a horrible idea. Not sure what Gruden was thinking with that one.

The other miss is all on Hopkins.

Red Zone. This game is about 7 instead of 3. Period. We're a good team right now, but cannot be great until we stop settlng for 3.

 

[Knightingale]

Yeah Hopkins had a tough time of it this year. I think the criticism of him is harsh TBH.

His misses were into the sun in Dallas, with that CRAZY wind in Baltimore and on the odd turf in Wembley.

I'm not giving up on him, I still think he's one of the best kickers in the league. I'm not sure Forbath would have done any better. I'm not sure he had the range to even attempt a 55 yarder into the sun.

And at the end of the day, our Offense should be finishing off drives, not stalling in and around the endzone.

I like Gruden, but have to admit... some really odd strategy choices with plays yesterday.

That early FG attempt... we were only 7 down int he 4th quarter. I think I'd have taken another shot at the endzone on that 4th down. Worst case scenario you don't get it and they get the ball deep in their half and you still have 3/4's+ of the game to get the score back. Instead we take a long FG attempt into the sun which I think had a very slim chance of success. If Dusty's view was anything like what I was seeing on TV, I'm amazed he was that close!

 

[Docsandy]

And the other coaching decision to go for the first onside kick.. I don't agree with that one either. Coaches knew our defense was vulnerable.. offside kicks are more often not successful...to give Dallas the ball near the 50 with the way they were moving the ball I just feel was a wrong decision. Also agree with the FG attempt.. pooch punt it there.. set them back. Those two decisions alone, if the opposite decisions were made, we might have had a different outcome.

 

[McD5]

I missed the first half of the game due to Thanksgiving. The second half was a lot of fun though. A few takeaways:

*I loved the call for the bomb to Desean on 3rd and 1. Risky, yes. But great.
* I loved the call for the onsides kick in the fourth. We couldn't stop their offense, and they couldn't stop ours. Try to get the ball back.
*Jordan Reed is a beast. To play with that injury is incredible.
*Cousins is awesome. Very happy that we finally have our franchise QB.
*I'd hate to loss either Garcon or Desean next year. Both are still top WRs.
*Why wasn't Cravens shadowing Dak in the fourth? That was upsetting.
*Kendall Fuller still isn't ready.
*Disappointing day from Hopkins.
*If the situations were reversed and Dallas played late Sunday and traveled, we likely win that game. It just looked like our D ran out of gas in the fourth.
*Great effort. It's hard for me to get too upset about that performance.

 

[micks113]

Gruden gifted a Cowboys team that clearly was able to move the ball at will today when they decided they wanted to by spotting them the ball at midfield on two occasions against what is clearly an inferior defense - once during the 55 yard failed FG attempt, a second time during the premature onside kick with over 9 minutes left in the 4th quarter.

At some point, as a coach you have to be honest with yourself and put your units in the best possible position to succeed. Forcing an overmatched defense out on the field and expecting them to stop the Cowboys from midfield is not a great situation. Gruden needs to see that and be patient. I'd much rather have seen a pooch punt to the sideline by Way before half and maybe a shorter kickoff that forced the Cowboys to return the ball in the 4th quarter. Instead, Jay was quick to chase points all day, largely as a result of previous poor coaching calls that he made at earlier junctures in the game.

Jay simply wasn't realistic about what his defense would have been able to accomplish today and he paid the price.

Agreed we played right into Dallas' hands. With Cows don't ever give them the ball first, OK maybe they won the toss, but they make hay when leading and pounding and time of possession. That has been their winning formula and we played right in to it. That's on Jay.

And my apologies to Redskins fans here, I went off and apologize. I am the loser.


As for Cousins, its his stat line I don't like. Stats mean nothing, we will probably be 8-8 and #1 in the league in stats. Really now, so what? The red zone is killing us and Cousins is in charge of the redzone. sorry I don't care who calls the plays down there, he can audible, call a time out, adjust to the d formation, etc. Nope we run just what was dialed up and pretty much other teams play us in the red zone like they know the play. That's predictability. In the red zone, the on field general is the #1 guy. That's Kirk. Prior to this year, it was Gruden/Mcvay play calling that made for easy redzone scores. The league has caught up to that, its on Kirk now.

just my no count opinion.

 

[Chris]

I know Kendall Fuller is young and I'm trying to be patient but, damn, OC's are clearly game planning toward him.

 

[Knightingale]

I know Kendall Fuller is young and I'm trying to be patient but, damn, OC's are clearly game planning toward him.

Yeah I felt he was targetted yesterday. That's ok, he'll hopefully learn from this trial by fire.

As a shout out....

What about REED! He scored 2 TD's and played a blinder while he was suffering with that shoulder injury.

He was a trooper yesterday.

 

[Chris]

Fuller was heavily targeted by Minnesota as well. I'm sure that brought some smiles in the Dallas coaches room while reviewing the film. Arizona and all others left on the schedule will do the same.

 

[riggins44]

I have no problem with the first on-side kick. I see it as Gruden say let's try to recover the ball because our D can't stop them. Yes, they scored on short field, but at same time it saved some time for us at the end. You can make an argument either way on this call.

There was 2 pivotal plays in this game. One was the bonehead call to run a wildcat with Kelly in backfield in redzone. Everyone knew it was a run. Put someone back there that is a run and pass threat. The second was when Whitner dropped the INT. I guess there were 3, because just remembered Whitner drew a personal foul for hitting Prescott on his slide.

We win this game going away if can fix red zone issues and our D does a better job tackling and getting off the field. Have to admit their D did a good job tackling.

 

[Chris]

I have a big problem with the onside kick. Do it in the first half and it's worth the risk.

And the wildcat call? WTF? I'd rather the qb have a run option instead of telegraphing our intentions.

 

[stevenaa]

Kirk definitely missed a TD opportunity in the redzone. Don't know which receiver/TE it was, but he came open on a slant right in front of the goal line. Kirk either didn't see him, or didn't pull the trigger. Ended up throwing it away basically. So yea, some of the Redzone is on Kirk, but the play calling is atrocious.