Ten Predictions

[servumtuum]

The season has started sorting itself out a bit so I'd like to present these ten predictions for the rest of the season.



1. The two touchdown win over the Giants will be forgotten as Redskins face a nerve-wrenchingly large number of games decided by less than seven points. Many Redskins fans will regard the Giants game as a dream they had after having had too much pasta for dinner.


2. There will be a record number of games both won and lost by the 2011 Redskins by a margin of three points or less. This will result in a noticeable spike in retail sales of Rolaids, Mylanta and Zantac in areas with high concentrations of Redskins fans. A similar spike wil be seen in retail sales of beer and various hard liquors in the same areas causing local changes in marketing strategies.


3. The BGO Chat Room will be used by neurologists in a clinical study investigating how quickly a human being's mood can change from eye-popping euphoria to abject teror to murderous rage.


4. Several dozen Redskins fans will faint and be rushed to local hopitals when an upset win over a probable playoff contender is won by Graham Gano kicking five straight field goals including one of more than fifty-one yards.


5. Several thousand Redskins fans will faint and be rushed to local hospitals when Rex Grossman completes a 50-yard-in-the-air pass to Santana Moss for a TD to win a close game. The Center for Disease Control and various terrorism task forces will investigate this as a possible terrorist incident.


6. The NFCE will set a record with all four members having a 3-3 division record at the end of the season since nobody looks good enough to sweep anybody else in the division. There will be several mentions of this in the sports media using phrases like "ultra-competitive", "completely unpredictable", "totally confusing",and "So, how about that Tony Romo-huh? Ain't he just the greatest competitor you've ever seen?"


7. The Redskins will restore some small amount of calm and reassurance to fans that the universe hasn't gone completely crazy by beating a team that will compete for a conference championship and losing to a team with only one other win for the season.


8. At least one person will post a request on a Redskins forum that the Redskins trade their first, second,third and fourth round draft picks for 2012 and 2013 in order to draft Andrew Luck. At least two dozen other posters wil be banned for their replies.


9. DeAngelo Hall will make a game saving INT and run it in for a TD causing many Redskins boards to erupt in total confusion and disarray.


10. The Redskins will come just close enough to looking like a serious contender at times to raise the hopes of even the most cynical fans and sporadically look inept enough to chrush the dreams of the most devout homer. Just like every other 8-8 level NFL team has done.

 

[DieselPwr44]

Danny Smith's unit will cost us two more games(the first one was MNF) to give us a total of three games lost due to our Special Teams.

In the offseason, he won't be fired, causing confusion and gnashing of teeth.

 

[Elephant]

I am calling it now, the Redskins are going to upset the Patriots.

 

[fansince62]

5 and 8!!! crack me up Serv!!!! I'm still looking for my arse! (as in LMAO...just to be clear)

 

[Bulldog]

The Redskins have been done in by poor special teams performances over the past 10-15years and it doesn't appear as if anyone has a handle on how to improve things.

Botched holds. Missed field goals - actually the worst conversion rate in the NFC last year. Blocking schemes that don't account for 6'7 players rushing straight ahead to block the kick.

And a return game that is rarely special when it is needed most. Banks makes some returns but he set the team up at the 14 or 15 yard line several times.

And where is that burst to put the pressure on the defense in the open field on punts?

That is the real area to shine with the new rules on kickoffs.

 

[Elephant]

The Redskins have been done in by poor special teams performances over the past 10-15years and it doesn't appear as if anyone has a handle on how to improve things.

Botched holds. Missed field goals - actually the worst conversion rate in the NFC last year. Blocking schemes that don't account for 6'7 players rushing straight ahead to block the kick.

And a return game that is rarely special when it is needed most. Banks makes some returns but he set the team up at the 14 or 15 yard line several times.

And where is that burst to put the pressure on the defense in the open field on punts?

That is the real area to shine with the new rules on kickoffs.

I watched that FG block by Calis Campbell a few times. He had a straight line almost entirely untouched. It looked like the player that was schemed to block him slid to double team the player to his right, the left of campbell. Why? That left 2 players to block 4 defenders on that side of the line. Horrible!

I have been saying all season Banks is a step slower, but others don't seem to see it. Maybe I am wrong, but I am convinced his knee is worse than we ever thought. Banks is not super fast, he is explosive. That burst is gone.

I will say he is lacking the blocking he needs to hit a seem. There has just been smaller seems this year.

 

[Dik Shuttle]

Thank you DIESEL

Danny Smith's unit will cost us two more games(the first one was MNF) to give us a total of three games lost due to our Special Teams.

In the offseason, he won't be fired, causing confusion and gnashing of teeth.

I'm changing my tag line now. Indirectly it may be more than 3. Don't forget field position gaffes. They're coming.

I'll add to this my continual complaints about the training staff. How many games do you give Landry?

 

[SirClintonPortis]

I watched that FG block by Calis Campbell a few times. He had a straight line almost entirely untouched. It looked like the player that was schemed to block him slid to double team the player to his right, the left of campbell. Why? That left 2 players to block 4 defenders on that side of the line. Horrible!

I have been saying all season Banks is a step slower, but others don't seem to see it. Maybe I am wrong, but I am convinced his knee is worse than we ever thought. Banks is not super fast, he is explosive. That burst is gone.

I will say he is lacking the blocking he needs to hit a seem. There has just been smaller seems this year.

People let their biases cloud their judgment, even in the face of video data. I mean, even Anthony Armstrong was called slow and Kerrigan unathletic.

Banks has indeed slowed down. What would have been an easy turn of the corner last year has become a much more "difficult" affair for him; they are no longer sure things for him. Quite frankly, I'd say he's at risk of getting cut when Moore and Buchanon start taking up a roster spot again.

 

[Elephant]

Welcome aboard SCP!

It will be interesting to see who will be gone once Buchanon comes back. We'll know soon enough. I'm thinking Sellers is gone.

 

[Goaldeje]

Banks may have more pressure than any of us realize on him for this weekend. If he doesn't produce, this is the perfect time and excuse to cut him and get Paul an extra week or prep work.

 

[servumtuum]

I got curious and checked the stats on how our punt return situation looks in comparison to St. Louis' ST.

First of all, we're still tied with the Jets for the lead in holding down the opposing team's 3rd down conversion rate to 21.9%.

Second, the Rams are 31st in the league on converting 3rd downs on offense at 25.6%.

Conclusion? It's very likely we will be on the receiving end of several punts in the game.

Question: In light of the above discussion, how will we do?

Well, the indicator I looked at was the average length of punt return given up by the Rams so far this season.

They are allowing an average of 8.0 yards per punt return with a long return of 29 yards. They are ranked 11th lowest in the league so far in this stat.

Want something to compare this to?

Dallas is ranked 13th allowing 8.2 yards per punt with a long of 20 yards.

Dallas, BTW is also ranked 13th in kickoff return yardage allowed with an average of 22.1 yards per KO return with a longest of 43 yards.

The Rams are ranked 18th with an average of 24,5 yards and a longest of 30 yards.

So far, again BTW, the Redskins are averaging 12.9 yards per punt return-good for 9th in the rankings and 23.0 yards on KO returns-good for 15th place.

Another thing-St. Louis does a poor job of "burying" teams deep in their own territory. Only 2 of the 19 punts they've made have been inside the opponents 20 yard lone.

The Redskins, BTW, lead the league in putting 9 of their 14 punts inside the opponents 20. Go Sav!

Stats link: http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/punting/sort/puntsInside20