The 1st Quarter?

[Boone]

So - let's get serious for a moment.

Setting aside all of the justified man-love over our new and refreshing draft strategy (a complex philosophy involving keeping our picks, and selecting players who can actually make the team), assuming we take care of business against the Rams, how happy would you be with our '1st Quarter' of the season?

Let's get real - we're in full-blown rebuilding mode. We shed a lot of dead weight this off-season, have Quisp or Quake to choose from at quarterback, have a stable full of young, but inexperienced new players, and...

We'd be 3-1 to start the 2011 campaign, 1-1 in the NFC East and going into a bye week before returning to face the Eagles at home on October 16th. Then come games against the Panthers, Bills, 49ers, and Dolphins, before a revenge re-match with the Cowboys at home.

Don't get me wrong...I'm a firm believer in 'Any Given Sunday'. But if we rebound tough against the Rams, I think the Redskins could rattle of 3 or 4 wins and come home to face Dallas ready to step on their throats and show who is really the up-and-comer in the NFC East.

How happy and confident would you be at 3-1 heading into a rest break and some games we should feel confident about winning?

We wrap up the 1st Quarter this Sunday. I can't wait for the rest of it.

 

[Chris]

I am already pleased with the change of direction that has been evident so far. 3-1 would thrill me (considering I predicted 3 wins for the season.)

2-2 would temper that pleasure but not eliminate it. A loss to the Rams, after one to an injury-plagued Dallas team, would certainly take some shine off of my growing optimism though.

Oh, and Boone- games we should feel confident about winning? Way too soon for me to even dream about that.

 

[Boone]

You gotta tip-toe up to the edge of that precipice of hope, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and leap Chris.

One of these days - this team will be a contender. And it might not be as far off as we think.

Yeah - I know - brave words after that crap performance last week. But minus quite a bit of bad luck, we easily win that one. We're on the move.

 

[Henry]

I'd be very pleased with 3-1. I don't know if I'd have chalked up any of our first four games as a win at the beginning of the season, so ... 3-1 would be a lot better than that.

Not only that, but our one loss would be a road loss, against our toughest opponent (injured or not.)

Frankly, 2-2 is ahead of where I thought we would be, but a loss this week would curb my enthusiasm a bit. Two straight losses could mean the first two weeks were the aberration and we really are still a ways away, whereas a win would be further evidence we are ahead of the curve ... that I've created in my mind.

Either way, I do like the direction we are heading. It's been a long time since I could say even that.

 

[Chris]

You gotta tip-toe up to the edge of that precipice of hope, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and leap Chris.

Been there, done that.

All I have to show for it is multiple trips to the emergency room and one of those goofy looking bicycle helmets.

 

[servumtuum]

I had pretty much expected us to go into the bye-week at 2-2-on the way to an 8-8, middle of the pack record. An improvement over last season's 6-10 and an indication of potential for even better-Wild Card?-next season.

3-1? Well, from what I've seen so far and with our next opponent, St. Louis, in the midst of an OL meltdown and Bradford getting pummeled more often than Jay Cutler I wouldn't be surprised. And yes it would feel good.

However-(there has to be one of those doesn't there?)-a couple of caution lights get to flashing in my brain. One is the bye week itself. How would the team-especially with all the new young guys-respond to the sudden release of the weekly pressure of game preparation. I'm not saying whether it would cause any los of intensity or anything like that, it's just the uncertainty of not having any idea what to expect from them.

Secondly, when I first made my pre-season estimate of a 6-10 record I had made a couple of assumptions that evidence is indicating weren't going to turn out to all that accurate. First, we have looked better than I had expected-in the Giants game and especially in the Cardinals game-I'm referring to the team's demonstrating the ability to come back after losing a lead in the second half. Last Monday night, as disappointing as it was wasn't all that much a surprise to me. Dallas at Dallas? On MNF? Two bogeymen we have yet to knock out of the way. (To be honest-I would be more fearful of St. Louis right now had we won the Dallas game.)

So, I changed my estimate to an 8-8 season (always with a +/- 1 game margin). Would 3-1 change that? Honestly, no. When I made my initial estimate I had Buffalo,Seattle and the 49ers down as probable wins. Now, I'm not so sure on those three. Interestingly enough I think our best shot may be Buffalo. We could be a potential trap game for Buffalo if they come through Cincy, Eagles and Giants with no losses or no more than one loss. Seattle is at that sonic torture chamber CenturyLink (formerly Qwest) field and the 49ers are erratic enough to be too unpredictable.

I'm still hanging inthe 7, 8, or 9 win area for now.

For me, I always hope for a win-confidence, however, comes only with calculated expectation.

Edit-I still consider the Panthers a probable win, BTW.

 

[McD5]

I would be absolutely thrilled. I really want to see some improvement in just about every area--Grossman, our run game, special teams and our secondary.

 

[DieselPwr44]

Boone,

Everytime I feel like I'm ready to take that leap of faith,the old,dark, deep demons of Norvitis raise up and bite us...like 3rd and 21 or a botched snap.

I like our direction,just need to see more.

 

[Ax]

I keep hope in my stride, everyday. That'll never change. So, no problem there.

I am also mindful not to celebrate, or mourn, that which hasn't happened yet.

We'll have a week to go over it all, starting later this afternoon/evening.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

im not gonna get too excited, or angry, we have a young roster now that is going to improve rather than decay, I might not love everything we are doing but at least we are heading in the right direction, the only thing that would make me get angry would be regression and even then it would have to be major regression. this offseason will be the tell tale for me, if we do not get linemen and fill holes, then I will have something to say.

 

[Boone]

Of course you're right Ax, none of us wants to fall into that trap. Still, this is a big game. Good teams recognize when they've arrived at a critical juncture and respond accordingly. We'll see if the Redskins can seize today's moment and finish out the 1st Quarter in style. If they do, it's a brand new day.

 

[Ax]

Of course you're right Ax, none of us wants to fall into that trap. Still, this is a big game. Good teams recognize when they've arrived at a critical juncture and respond accordingly. We'll see if the Redskins can seize today's moment and finish out the 1st Quarter in style. If they do, it's a brand new day.

Right you are, my friend. When I listened to Rak on the radio earlier in the week, I got the sense that he, and the whole team, was more than just a little pissed about letting Jerry's Kids off the hook.

I know a lot of guys/teams have said this in the past, but somehow, it seemed more real this time.

Here's to a fast start. Scoring early, and often. With a crushing finish, leaving Ram fans heading to the gates, early.

My heart could stand an early start to the buy week.

 

[redskins26]

Been there, done that.

All I have to show for it is multiple trips to the emergency room and one of those goofy looking bicycle helmets.

the police were looking for some guy wearing a goofy bicycler helmet so i pointed them in your direction. :kick_can:

 

[burgold]

I'm glad to be 3-1, but even more excited to be 3-1 seeing the pups do well. Seeing a Ryan Kerrigan be defensive rookie of the month and getting sacks, interceptions, causing fumbles. Seeing Helu contributing heavily. Seeing Paul lay a perfect hit on special teams (I can't be convinced that was a foul. That was horrible reffing) and blocking really well in some third down situations.

We're still struggling and learning to win, but we're finding ways to survive. Next thing this team needs to do is figure out how to turn a dominating performance into a dominating win.

 

[Elephant]

After the win today, I am ready to give my 1st Quarter of the season analysis.

I am very pleased with the defense. Haslett has made a couple of questionable calls, but over all this unit is pretty darn good! They held a battered Rams offense to under 200 yards like they were supposed to do.

Offense?

Well, it is easy to put a lot of the blame on Rex Grossman, some deservedly so! But I am going to say I am extremely concerned with the lack of maturity Kyle Shanahan is showing with his play calling! We are running the ball down their throats and he decides to get cute with it. He needs to be much more disciplined than that. I will give him credit, he ran a lot when we needed to, but once they rattled off some yardage with the run, we hit a wall at the 50 yard line. He was saved by the defense today, but if you give a team like the Eagles a chance like that, we lose! We should have stuck the dagger in the Rams today!

Overall, I like what I see. We go into the the bye in 1st place in our division! We will struggle further with rex behind center as long as Kyle tries to do too much with him. Just let the run game go Kyle! Let the run game go!

 

[fansince62]

everyone wanks about the o-line but it's infinitely better than it has been in the past. as for pressure....some is o-line...some is RG holding onto the ball too long. I do know this...the offense isn't scoring much. I'm a DC I shut the rushing game down and I know the Skins are in deep doo doo.

the defense has been much more impressive than expected. it's not dominant but that is the unit that has been keeping the Skins in games. couple more pieces and it may become a top tier D. as for the O......work in progress. you know what I think is needed so I won't bring it up!!!!

also...I thought they'd be 2-2 at this point so - ahead of sched. strangely...I have found the Skins when they have the ball rather boring. Great seeing the running game going...but overall.....it just isn't all that exciting/interesting to me. personal thing I guess.

 

[Boone]

The offensive line is better - but nowhere near where it needs to be. For a good portion of the first half, they were getting owned by the Rams DL. The playcalling has been more than a little suspect the past 2 weeks. If you know Grossman isn't Tom Brady, stop calling plays like he is. We have three, that's THREE good running backs. We should be leading with our strength. Grossman can make some plays if you're not asking him to be the primary driver of your offense. Honestly - if we're going to be a pass happy offense, starting Grossman is a mistake, and we'd be better off with Beck in there who at least isn't going to make game-changing mistakes on a consistent basis.

If we can start using the run to set up the pass, we can make a lot of hay the rest of the way.

And I love what our defense is doing, but some of it they're accomplishing with smoke and mirrors - our DBs are not consistent, and the above average and top tier QBs in this league will eat us alive through the air. We are getting pressure on opposing QBs in crunch time, and we're creating more turnovers than I can recall in a long while. That's a beautiful thing.

On Special Teams, Sav Rocca is the best punter we've had in a long, long time. We are showing great aggressiveness on coverage duties. But on returns, Banks has been a disappointment to date, failing to breakout and be a game-changer, and frequently bringing balls out of the endzone only to fail to reach the 20. And Gano? I don't know what to say. He's great. He's awful. Sometimes in the same game

All that being said, we are 3-1, and we are a young team that can continue to improve. I believe the Shanahans have us moving in the right direction, and we have some young stars in the making. I really believe we'll be a team to be reckoned with for the next 5 years or more.

 

[burgold]

I'm hoping the week off helps Banks recover his speed and explosiveness. My fear is that he's just too small and the hits mount to quickly for him. When he's healthy and ready he's great, but if he's slowed at all... he's what he was today and last week.

 

[fansince62]

I agree running is the formula. that's pretty much what I said above. we have no deep passing game. the formula this year is controlling the clock and stout defense....I don't see this offense winning any shoot-outs. you don't know if the playcalling has been suspect cuz you don't know:

- what KS has been trying to set up

- what limitations KS feels like he has been working with

The strategy for today was pretty obvious. score early and often. clearly this offense has weaknesses at several key positions that just doesn't make that a matter of will or play calling. can't see it on TV but my suspicion is that the receivers just aren't getting separation deep and RG simply does not see the field all that well.

 

[fansince62]

I'm hoping the week off helps Banks recover his speed and explosiveness. My fear is that he's just too small and the hits mount to quickly for him. When he's healthy and ready he's great, but if he's slowed at all... he's what he was today and last week.

seems to me the blocking has been all that hot.