what we learned today good and bad

[Rymanofthenorth]

Good and bad- our Oline played pretty well after Rabach went out, this is good because it showed that its not our entire Oline that is killing us but bad because rabach was our Omvp and a captain.

Good and bad- Our Oline showed up against a very tough defence and gave Mcnabb a lot of time, bad because it exposed Mcnabb for what he is, a happyfooted inaccurate qb who makes it very hard for his receivers to catch balls, he throws high way too often which not only leads to picks in this offence but he cant throw slants screens or any pass that needs touch, he can gun it in there but he hasnt figured out when to take some off of his rockets. You cant blame this performance of his on the oline.

Good and bad- keiland williams showed he could be a very effective back if he can develop a little more , this is bad because Portis reinjured himself and despite all the recent hate Portis is by far our best back.

Good and bad- Davis showed why he is a redskin, he showed that despite the bad press he is a stud athlete with great speed at TE and he has brilliant RAC ability but this is bad because our brialliant coaches have known this all year yet today was the first time weve seen both Tes on the field at the same time for any length of time. why are our coaches fighting so hard against what we are good at?

Good and bad-the defence played "ok" they yet again allowed piles of yardage because of scheme deficiency and poor form, but they did play hard and aggressive. this is good because we needed a win today to have any self respect, we lose today and frankly the season is over. bad because there are still morons saying " we just need to give the 3-4 time" good lord, its not about time, the problems we have with the scheme are not things you coach out with time, especially when almost all the defence will be gone if we stay with this defence.


all in all im glad we won, but im more than a little fed up with this roller coaster, I see how much potential this team has, we are not elite by any means, but we need to start putting our team in positions to succeed rather than watching them play their heart out while put in bad spots.

 

[Goaldeje]

I hate to sound like I'm bitching after a win, but WTF is the deal with the 2 TE sets? Did the coaches not look at tape from last year at all? (OK, given how horrendous last year was, maybe they wanted to save themselves from viewing that crap-fest, actually somewhat understandable) So we threw the ball to Fred in the first half, he did GREAT. The defense then keyed in on him, so we threw the ball to Cooley in the second, and he rocked.

Serious question. Can someone find out how many times Cooley and Davis have been on the field together, and also how many target they have in those sets? I wonder if they have been on the field together and I have just missed it, or if McNabb isn't looking Sleepy's way?

Having said all that, heckuva win. Can not believe how well the line played, I am actually shocked at that one. Defense looked pretty good too, pretty damned good considering we were without our best player this year, and a pretty good cover corner.

Anyone know what the hubbub is all about with Vince Young? People are saying he might not start again this year for the Titans even if healthy? I didn't think he played that poorly. And Rusty didn't look, ummm, inspiringly great to me.

 

[Boone]

He got into it (Young) with the coaching staff, also made gestures to the fans coming off the field, and apparently threw his clothing into the stands at the end of the game. He apparently stormed out of the locker room saying to his head coach 'I'm not walking out on the team, I'm walking out on YOU' or words to that effect. That's why was being reported in the media. I suspect they've had enough of him and he won't see the field again, just a feeling though.

 

[Goaldeje]

Yeah, just saw that on Mike and Mike. Yeesh. Real winner there.
Posted via BGO Mobile Device

 

[Henry]

Good and bad- Our Oline showed up against a very tough defence and gave Mcnabb a lot of time, bad because it exposed Mcnabb for what he is, a happyfooted inaccurate qb who makes it very hard for his receivers to catch balls, he throws high way too often which not only leads to picks in this offence but he cant throw slants screens or any pass that needs touch, he can gun it in there but he hasnt figured out when to take some off of his rockets. You cant blame this performance of his on the oline.

I'm no huge McNabb guy but I disagree with your 'bad' on this one. Our OL was better than crappy yesterday, but it wasn't great. I think we forget what great OL play looks like. McNabb was still running for his life and creating plays at times, and he did a very good job of it.

But the OL was definitely better, and it definitely showed up in McNabb's stats. Outside of the Texans game McNabb posted his best day pretty much across the board. He had 376 yards passing, completed 60% of his passes, 7.5 yards per attempt, had a passer rating of 81.2. All of these numbers are significantly better than his season average. Not only that, our third down conversion percentage was wildly above normal, from 22% to 50% yesterday. 23 passing first downs on the day. With a minute and change left and one timeout McNabb needed to get us into FG range and, miracle of miracles, he did. ... I think McNabb looked pretty good myself. Did he look perfect? No. Is he an elite QB? No. But he looked good.

If anything I thought this game illustrated just how badly we need to fix our line. When it plays well other things just fall into place. We're down to our third (sometimes fourth) string RB. Our WR corps is downright horrid. But with enough time to throw it our QB can give us a respectable offense. That's good to know.

Anyway, that's what I saw.

 

[riggins44]

I wonder if the multiple TE sets were in original gameplan or a result of patchwork OL?

Yesterday I was impressed with how well the team responded and stuck together with all the injuries. I mean even Heyer did a decent job as a guard.

My biggest concern is how porous our defense is. With a decent QB we have the potential of being torched. I don't think this is guys learning a new scheme.

Another concern is Gano. I know he made the game winner, but he was also short on a 47 yarder. His other field goals were a little too close to left upright. Just don't feel confident when he lines up to try any FG.

 

[Sarge]

I think we learned who our new center should be

 

[Elephant]

...

Another concern is Gano. I know he made the game winner, but he was also short on a 47 yarder. His other field goals were a little too close to left upright. Just don't feel confident when he lines up to try any FG.

I am concerned with the kid as well. But he said the kick he missed from 47 was into a strong head wind. I don't know how accurate that is. I have a friend who was at the game so I will ask them to see. But looking at the kick again it does look like it just dies. let's hope that's the reason because he did hit it on target, just short.

That same friend of mine posted on FB last night, there was no denying the incident where Young through his jersey and shoulder pads into the stands. He was sitting a few seats away from the area where he threw them.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

"We" didn't learn anything about Rabach from his benching. "We" have been clamoring for the Skins to can his ass for YEARS. Hate him. I've hated him ever since he cost us the victory against the Chargers in 2005.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

"We" didn't learn anything about Rabach from his benching. "We" have been clamoring for the Skins to can his ass for YEARS. Hate him. I've hated him ever since he cost us the victory against the Chargers in 2005.

LOl when I say WE I am taking a backhanded shot at someone who stubbornly insisted Rabach could be a starting calibre center despite what a simple eyeball test has told even basic fans.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

I'm no huge McNabb guy but I disagree with your 'bad' on this one. Our OL was better than crappy yesterday, but it wasn't great. I think we forget what great OL play looks like. McNabb was still running for his life and creating plays at times, and he did a very good job of it.

But the OL was definitely better, and it definitely showed up in McNabb's stats. Outside of the Texans game McNabb posted his best day pretty much across the board. He had 376 yards passing, completed 60% of his passes, 7.5 yards per attempt, had a passer rating of 81.2. All of these numbers are significantly better than his season average. Not only that, our third down conversion percentage was wildly above normal, from 22% to 50% yesterday. 23 passing first downs on the day. With a minute and change left and one timeout McNabb needed to get us into FG range and, miracle of miracles, he did. ... I think McNabb looked pretty good myself. Did he look perfect? No. Is he an elite QB? No. But he looked good.

If anything I thought this game illustrated just how badly we need to fix our line. When it plays well other things just fall into place. We're down to our third (sometimes fourth) string RB. Our WR corps is downright horrid. But with enough time to throw it our QB can give us a respectable offense. That's good to know.

Anyway, that's what I saw.

the danger of simply looking at stats is clearly illustrated in that. although I can respect your viewpoint , its much more optimistic than mine.

here is why
1- Mcnabb threw several very bad passes but on a couple, the rceeiver made outstanding efforts to catch the ball and made Mcnabb look a lot better, on one SCREEN PASS williams made an outstanding leaping catch but was tackled almost immediately with no chance to do anything with the ball. and those were passes with which he had time, On another Mcnabb threw a pick because he didnt see the open receiver until well after he should have and gave the defence time to recover. thats not on the Oline at all.

2-more importantly , while we may have converted a lot more third downs,but yet again we were TERRIBLE AT SCORING TOUCHDOWNS. the biggest similiarity between this and the houston game was that we yet again couldnt do anything when it mattered, only this time we made a couple of big fieldgoals, Mcnabb is terrible in the clutch. I dont care if we move the ball between the 40's we need to score.

im pretty choked that its taken us 6this long to find the two TE set, how the hell could any non braindead coach NOT play this a majority of the time? .lol anyway we will see what happens with Mcnabb next week, hopefully we can replicate this performance by the Oline and get some production from this offence.

 

[Henry]

Ryman, I'm not just going by stats. It's just easier to cite them than to describe various plays from my perfect memory.

I can say that while watching the game, especially in the late third quarter and beyond, I was watching McNabb repeatedly connect with Cooley (and occasionally Armstrong and Banks) on third down and thinking 'THIS is what it would be like if we had a line!'

If you want to argue that McNabb is not perfect, and that he makes bad throws occasionally, well, I agree with that. Oddly, I think he's better suited to the long ball game than the WCO ... which of course we need a good line to run. But I think he showed yesterday that with time he can produce. As for not doing anything when it mattered ... going 5 for 8 (including two spikes) to get us into FG range on the final drive is, I think, something. It's not McNabb's fault Gano missed it.

I seriously question handing off to Sellers on third and goal from the 3 in the second quarter. In my opinion, with the RBs we have available to us that's a passing down. But in any case it's tough to judge McNabb for not being able to punch it in when all he did was hand off once it was 1st and goal from the five. The man converted a 3rd and 16, a 3rd and 4, and a 3rd and 6 on that drive and he should have been given the opportunity to get us into the end zone.

As for not putting up tons of points, well, we still have crap at every other skill position save TE. And the Titans actually do have a pretty stingy defense, giving up an average of 19.8 points a game. I don't think it's a terrible indictment on the QB that we only scored 19.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

Ryman, I'm not just going by stats. It's just easier to cite them than to describe various plays from my perfect memory.

I can say that while watching the game, especially in the late third quarter and beyond, I was watching McNabb repeatedly connect with Cooley (and occasionally Armstrong and Banks) on third down and thinking 'THIS is what it would be like if we had a line!'

If you want to argue that McNabb is not perfect, and that he makes bad throws occasionally, well, I agree with that. Oddly, I think he's better suited to the long ball game than the WCO ... which of course we need a good line to run. But I think he showed yesterday that with time he can produce. As for not doing anything when it mattered ... going 5 for 8 (including two spikes) to get us into FG range on the final drive is, I think, something. It's not McNabb's fault Gano missed it.

I seriously question handing off to Sellers on third and goal from the 3 in the second quarter. In my opinion, with the RBs we have available to us that's a passing down. But in any case it's tough to judge McNabb for not being able to punch it in when all he did was hand off once it was 1st and goal from the five. The man converted a 3rd and 16, a 3rd and 4, and a 3rd and 6 on that drive and he should have been given the opportunity to get us into the end zone.

As for not putting up tons of points, well, we still have crap at every other skill position save TE. And the Titans actually do have a pretty stingy defense, giving up an average of 19.8 points a game. I don't think it's a terrible indictment on the QB that we only scored 19.

I agree that he plays better in a long ball offence, now the problem is that his inaccuracy costs us a lot in certain situations. he needs several attempts to get in a rythym, now people are seeing why the fecals used to pass 65% of the time. if we are willing to go with a 65% passing offence and if we can continue to give him time, then we might be competitive on O.

 

[Om]

On the INT to Galloway, I'm about 50-50 on who I think effed it up worse. I haven't seen a replay yet that would show it, but I'm wondering if McNabb saw Galloway when old Joey first hobbled into the seam. He may well have been screened. I mean, the old dude was seriously open.

I DO know that once McNabb did see him and threw it, old man Joey had taken root. Back when he was alive, I'm thinking Joey would have done what most actual NFL receivers do with throws coming to them late when they're standing still ... come back toward the throw. There was a defender closing fast from behind his left hip--Galloway needed to take just one step back toward the LOS and that ball hits him in the chest.

Just wanted to get that out there. I don't like to speak ill of the dearly departed, but I'm not a big Joey Galloway fan. I think Donovan deserves at least a little benefit of the doubt on that play.

 

[Henry]

I agree that he plays better in a long ball offence, now the problem is that his inaccuracy costs us a lot in certain situations. he needs several attempts to get in a rythym, now people are seeing why the fecals used to pass 65% of the time. if we are willing to go with a 65% passing offence and if we can continue to give him time, then we might be competitive on O.

Nah. I think he plays best when he's playing off the play-action. I think in the future when we have actual NFL calibre players at every position we'll run the ball more and set him up for shots downfield, which seems to be his strength.

Right now I think our run game is mostly smoke and mirrors.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

Henry- we were 8 of 16 on third down, thats not clutch. imho. he is solid in a play action offence but you are right we would need a solid running game to have anyone respect the fake, also it would be nice if we ran the boot off of that boot action even once a game lol.

OM- respect your elders! lol I would probably cut Mcnabb some slack but even on one of armstriongs Tds againt houston when he hit him on a long td, he threw it late enough that instead of getting a wide open td easy catch, armstrong had to make a leaping catch hilite reel type play.

 

[Henry]

Ryman, the very best team in third down conversions this season is New Orleans. They are 67 of 133 for a 50.4% conversion rate.

A 50% percent conversion rate is quite good. Especially when your team is the worst in the league at it.

 

[riggins44]

I didn't realize until today that we have 9 first round picks on defense. If true, then talent shouldn't be a factor in their performance

 

[China]

I didn't realize until today that we have 9 first round picks on defense. If true, then talent shouldn't be a factor in their performance

This surprised me a bit so I looked it up and they are: Adam Carriker, Vonnie Holliday, Albert Haynesworth, Andre Carter, Brian Orakpo, DeAngelo Hall, Carlos Rogers, LaRon Landry and Phillip Buchannon.

As we know, the draft can be hit or miss. Therefore the round in which they were drafted doesn't mean anything as far as their professional performance. That being said they must have some talent to have stuck in the league as long as they have (the average age of these nine players is 28.4 years). However, considering the man-years in the NFL these players represent, the fact that only 3 of them have been to the pro bowl says more about their talent (or performance) level (or lack thereof) than their draft round. So with the exception of those 3 players you have a bunch of underachievers.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

Ryman, the very best team in third down conversions this season is New Orleans. They are 67 of 133 for a 50.4% conversion rate.

A 50% percent conversion rate is quite good. Especially when your team is the worst in the league at it.

again this is a decent "looking" stat but when you look at how many of those third downs the saints convert into touchdowns vs us it tells a different story, although it was a welcome change from us not moving the ball at all for a long time.

I am just trying not to get too excited because as much as I would like to get excited, I have been fooled before. so dammnit Henry stop trying to make me see the bright side.