Sure the Redskins need to think about scoring points. They can run up all the yards they want, but scoring wins games. That's a huge concern for the second half of the season, but overall, who cares? The Skins are 6-2!
Halfway through the regular season the Skins are in prime position to secure a play-off berth considering they have upcoming games against the Niners, Bengals, Ravens, and Seahawks. On the other hand, they still have to contend with the Eagles, Cowboys, Giants, and Steelers.
Taking a quick peek at the first half of the year, it sometimes hard to believe we are 6-2. After the Giants game, it looked like the typical Redskins. Sloppy, sluggish, and downright vanilla. Then Jim Zorn opened up the playbook and let it rip. Jason Campbell went on a tear that led the Skins past Dallas, Philly, New Orleans, and Arizona.
Clinton Portis was running well, the offense was minimizing it's mistakes and capitalizing on the majority of their scoring chances. All of this crashed down around them with a loss to St. Louis.
The Rams came into DC winless and the Skins certainly played unispired football against an uninspired team (they have recently picked it up however). They committed their first offensive turnovers of the year, and failed to score enough points despite outplaying the Rams in almost every category.
Things didn't change much for the next two weeks against Detroit and Cleveland. The same vanilla effort. The same offense that can do anything it pleases except punch the ball into the endzone. However, the Skins did salvage out a pair of wins and that's all that matters. Now, they need to look to the second half because chances are, these Skins have a lot to look forward to.
The experts this week are predicting a Skins choke job. Memo: That was two weeks ago. The Skins don't lose to Detroit. It's happened only a handful of times since my birth. Maybe twice, but not much more than that.
Reports are out that Cowboys' QB Tony Romo could miss the next two games and not return until the November 16th game against our Skins.
CBS Sportsline reported that Romo will not even be the team's emergency QB this week when they play the Buccaneers this week. He will also miss the divisional game against the Giants the following week before the Cowboys have their bye.
Romo can't grip a football properly and meanwhile his team can't get a grip on themselves. Jerry Jones is the self-proclaimed team physician; Terrell Owens has yet to meet a mike he didn't like; Pacman Jones has probably ridden in just about every cop car in existence and Wade Phillips is on thin ice.
Things aren't exactly great in Dallas as they could be looking at a 4-5 record when they head to DC. I would be interested to see if Romo even plays in the Skins game. If he does, there will certainly be some rust.
So how great could that be? The Skins sitting at 6-3 or 7-2 playing the Cowboys who are struggling to even stay in contention for a play-off spot. Like Mastercard, that's priceless.
Jason Campbell came into the season with the entire Redskins Nation holding its collective breath, waiting to witness his performance. Would the young signalcaller step up his game to lead the Redskins offense to some much-needed success? Would he grasp a new offense with a new coach?
Seven games into the season, the answers are slowly coming. Campbell has experienced several great games, but is still in the process of becoming a great QB.
The game against the Saints in week two saw Campbell throw the game-winning 67-yard score to Santana Moss. He threw for over 300 yards in the game and then proceeded to throw a pair of touchdowns in the following week's win over Arizona.
Campbell completed over 73 percent of his passes against Arizona, but his best was yet to come. He led a balanced offense to a victory over the Cowboys in which he tossed two touchdowns and threw for 231 yards.
However, following the Dallas game, Campbell has only thrown one touchdown and the team has only scored 54 points in the past three games. That's an average of 18 points per game.
On the flip side, Campbell has attempted fewer passes the past three weeks (29 against the Eagles, 26 against the Rams, 23 against the Browns) than he had against Dallas, Arizona, and New Orleans. So the question is: does the offense need more of Campbell?
To me, the answer is simple. Campbell needs more involvement. The offense has put up an average of 26.3 points a game when he makes 30+ attempts. When he goes under that mark, the offense averages just 15.3 points per game.
Last time I checked points win games. The Skins are seventh in the NFL in yards per game, but only 24th in points per game. The offense scores more points when Campbell gets more opportunities to throw the ball to Moss and Cooley.
Clinton Portis is having a phenomenal season and the Skins offense has been moving the ball freely all year, but they have had trouble getting the ball in the endzone. Against the Eagles, they had to settle for three field goals in the first half; against the Rams they turned the ball over twice in St. Louis territory. That can't happen and the best way to keep drives from stalling is to get Campbell more involved. If Jim Zorn can bring this about, it will add extra dimensions to the offense.
So it's time to fully entrust the offense to Jason Campbell. He is more than a game manager this year. And it's time to let him prove it.
The Cleveland Browns were knocking on the door deep in Skins territory, down 14-3 late in the fourth quarter. It had already been a hard-hitting game, but London Fletcher brought it to a new level as he stuffed the truck-like Jamal Lewis on two consecutive plays. Then the rest of the team caught on and stopped the next two plays to get the ball back.
Fletcher stepped up to fill the void in a big way all day with twelve tackles. Not only does his play speak volumes, but his fire and leadership really sparks the team. Those primal screams jumpstarted the team several times yesterday. They have been ravaged by injuries, but that didn't seem to matter.
Fred Smoot, Carlos Rogers, and Chris Horton all played with injuries, ensuring that the loss of Shawn Springs would be softened. Horton notched eight tackles and came up with some timely stops. Smoot continued his hard-nosed coverage while Rogers came up with two huge hits and consistent coverage all day.
The physical coverage the Skins have been relying on more and more the last few weeks has been working. Receivers get frustrated as they are beat up and have no room after the catch. When Springs returns, expect to see even more man coverage and more lockdown defense.
Meanwhile the defensive line was able to get a little pressure, but came away with just one sack. This is a line with Jason Taylor and Andre Carter and they can't provide pressure. That needs to change.
However, the line has been stopping the run. They are ranked 7th in the NFL in run defense, only yielding 86.4 yards per game. They stick runners at initial contact and rarely give up big gainers.
On the whole, the Skins defense has been tremendous this season. They are ranked number six overall in total defense and allow just 18.3 points per game. They could stand to force more turnovers and create extra pressure, but as things stand, this defense is as stifling as they come.
After two tremendous wins over the Eagles and Cowboys, I expected to see the Skins take at the very least two out of the next three games. Three cream puffs: the Rams, Browns, and Lions. Two games at home and a road game against a Detroit team who looks like the division I-AA team thrown into division I.
However, the Redskins have decided to make things painful for us. Joe Gibbs' offense was supposed to leave with him, but it didn't seem so yesterday. Jason Campbell doesn't throw interceptions, Jim Zorn. So why did you refuse to throw downfield in the first half.
Sanatana Moss is a guy who can score on any given play. That being said, why not throw to him more often. The way Clinton Portis is running, Moss will get single coverage more and more frequently. He needs to get the ball early and throughout games.
The Skins did a great job moving Moss around the field, making it difficult for the Browns to double team him. This is what Zorn will have to continue doing so his top receiver will have some room to work with.
Again though, the playcalling needs to open up. Zorn did a fantastic job after week one, mixing it up and using the pass to set up the run. This week Zorn seemed to focus on using the run to set up the pass. I think to maintain consistency the Skins must stay aggressive. That killer instinct to finish drives has to be present in every game. The more Campbell gets comfortable early, the more scoring we will see.
So please, Jim Zorn. Take a chance. Let the Campbell to Moss connection work. It will pay off.
I know everyone will want to panic after today's loss, but let's stay reasonable. As the entire FOX crew abandoned their belief in the Skins, I sat back and laughed.
After back-to-back road wins against divison opponents and four straight wins, a letdown was expected. With the next two games coming against the Lions and Browns, the Skins will get back to their winnning ways.
What the Skins really need is that killer instinct to crush the bottom feeders. They don't need to play a ball control game against the Rams. Just air it out early and often challenging that secondary.
The Skins did play very well in terms of moving the ball for parts of the game. However, turnovers hurt the Skins badly. Three fumbles, two deep in Rams territory took points off the board. What Pete Kendall was doing was beyond ridiculous. The fluke plays need to be stopped.
In addition, the defense failed to generate sacks. Two sacks against a weak offensive line just isn't enough, but with two more easy games, they have time to regroup.
More to come.
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