Skins - Cards Post Game Thread

[CanesSkins26]

Nice win but we are going to have to play much better next week if we want to have a shot at winning in Dallas.

The Good
1. Jason Campbell played a hell of good. Good accuracy, no turnovers. Felt pressure well and moved around well in the pocket to give himself more time.

2. Pass rush. We did a very good job of pressuring Warner, especially in the middle of the line. Would have liked to have seen more more from Jason Taylor though.

3. ey. Nice to see us finding ways to get him the ball.

4. Moss. He's looking like the playmaker that he used to be.

5. Brooks. He redeemed himself somewhat today with his punting. He averaged 42.8 yards per punt.

The Bad
1. Offensive line. They opened virtually no holes in the running game. CP got him numerous times in the backfield and averaged just 3.2 yards per carry. Kendall got beat a few times in pass protection. Heyer with an idiotic penalty that cost us the td. Absolutely no reason for him to hit a player in that situation.

2. Wide receivers not named Moss. ARE had 3 catches for 23 yards and Thomas had one catch for 7 yards. That is pathetic and somebody else is going to need to step up quickly or we could have problems against teams that actually have a legit secondary, which neither the Saints or Cards do. ARE, our #2 receiver, is averaging less than 50 yards a game and has zero tds. That is a joke.

3. Run defense. Coming into this game the Cardinals were averaging 2.7 yards per rush attempt. Edge averaged 5.2 ypc and Hightower was at 4.6 on the day. That wont work against Dallas.

4. Coaching decisions. We had a solid game plan, but the decision to attempt that 52 yarder was a rookie mistake on Zorn's part. No reason to have Suisham attempt to match his career long in that situation. We could have pinned Arizona deep instead of giving them great field position.

[Gibbs4Life]

Blloyd is looking like jerry rice out in chitown...sorry for that wah wah moment.

Great game for Gholston! Dude was a beast and even got downfield blocking for rogers on the pick, great game.

[grampi]

This was a nice win for the Skins, and something that was deparately needed as a confidence builder before going into Dallas. There are some issues that still need to be shored up.

What happened to Suisam kicking the ball into the endzone on kickoffs? He was for a while there, now it appears he's back to kicking the shorties again. That, coupled with our poor kick coverage is giving opponents good starting field position. We got lucky today because the Cards kept comitting penatalties on kick returns and pinning themselves deep.

Our D is still generating almost zero pass rush and this defensive scheme uses almost no blitzes. This puts a tremendous amount of pressure on our secondary to cover the receivers. They were able to work it out today, but our secondary is going to have a tough time covering Dallas' receivers.

Our offensive line looked better today. They gave JC more time to throw and they were run blocking better.

I think our key to beating Dallas is our defense. Our offense is going to score against Dallas as I think their defense is pathetic. It's going to come down to our D being able to keep them from having a score fest. If our D can hold them to 24 points or less we have a chance to win this one. If not, we're probably toast.

[roybus14]

Nice win but we are going to have to play much better next week if we want to have a shot at winning in Dallas.

The Good
1. Jason Campbell played a hell of good. Good accuracy, no turnovers. Felt pressure well and moved around well in the pocket to give himself more time.

2. Pass rush. We did a very good job of pressuring Warner, especially in the middle of the line. Would have liked to have seen more more from Jason Taylor though.

3. ey. Nice to see us finding ways to get him the ball.

4. Moss. He's looking like the playmaker that he used to be.

5. Brooks. He redeemed himself somewhat today with his punting. He averaged 42.8 yards per punt.

The Bad
1. Offensive line. They opened virtually no holes in the running game. CP got him numerous times in the backfield and averaged just 3.2 yards per carry. Kendall got beat a few times in pass protection. Heyer with an idiotic penalty that cost us the td. Absolutely no reason for him to hit a player in that situation.

2. Wide receivers not named Moss. ARE had 3 catches for 23 yards and Thomas had one catch for 7 yards. That is pathetic and somebody else is going to need to step up quickly or we could have problems against teams that actually have a legit secondary, which neither the Saints or Cards do. ARE, our #2 receiver, is averaging less than 50 yards a game and has zero tds. That is a joke.

3. Run defense. Coming into this game the Cardinals were averaging 2.7 yards per rush attempt. Edge averaged 5.2 ypc and Hightower was at 4.6 on the day. That wont work against Dallas.

4. Coaching decisions. We had a solid game plan, but the decision to attempt that 52 yarder was a rookie mistake on Zorn's part. No reason to have Suisham attempt to match his career long in that situation. We could have pinned Arizona deep instead of giving them great field position.

Good points (good/bad). The one thing that really concerns me is the run defense. We are giving up too many yards on the ground. We need better LB play on the run because of small DE's. Most of the runs James and Hightower had were off the corners and we didn't have LBs up quick enough to make a play.

The offensive run game will eventually open up because Zorn is keeping people off balance with his play calling and the threat of Moss and ey down field. At some point, a few draw plays will begin to be really effective for us.

Other than that, this team is making improvements every week and the defense is holding high-powered offenses down.

[Fios]

This was a nice win for the Skins, and something that was deparately needed as a confidence builder before going into Dallas. There are some issues that still need to be shored up.

What happened to Suisam kicking the ball into the endzone on kickoffs? He was for a while there, now it appears he's back to kicking the shorties again. That, coupled with our poor kick coverage is giving opponents good starting field position. We got lucky today because the Cards kept comitting penatalties on kick returns and pinning themselves deep.

Our D is still generating almost zero pass rush and this defensive scheme uses almost no blitzes. This puts a tremendous amount of pressure on our secondary to cover the receivers. They were able to work it out today, but our secondary is going to have a tough time covering Dallas' receivers.

What game did you watch? Suisham had 2 or 3 really deep kick-offs and the d-line did a pretty decent job of forcing Warner to make quick decisions.

[SkinsFreak]

4. Coaching decisions. We had a solid game plan, but the decision to attempt that 52 yarder was a rookie mistake on Zorn's part. No reason to have Suisham attempt to match his career long in that situation. We could have pinned Arizona deep instead of giving them great field position.

Good points except for this one. Make that field goal, and we go up by 2 scores with little time left on the clock. The kick had plenty of distance, he just hooked it a bit. The Cards did get good field position, but they went 3 and out, so the FG try didn't hurt us at all.

Zorn has been making great decisions and great play calling. He is mixing it up well and keeping defenses off balance. I would also add that Zorn is calling plays to 'win the game'.

The 4th down slant to Moss last week was one of the gutsiest calls I've seen from a Redskins coach in a long time. Gibbs never would have run that play. Instead, Gibbs would've punted and tried to rely on the defense, only to have the other team drive the field and put up the winning score. How many times have we seen that over the past few years?

With less than 2 minutes on the game clock, the pass play to ey for the first down today was another great play call. It effectively ended the game, as did the slant to Moss last week, Again, Gibbs would've have never passed the ball in that situation. Gibbs most likely would have run the ball again, had to punt and given the opposing offense a chance to win the game.

Zorn is coaching to win, and I like what I see. Is every decision going to be the popular choice? Probably not, but he's got the nads to call the plays needed to win games. I've been impressed with Zorn and the play calling the past 2 weeks.

[SkinsFreak]

Game ball:

Campbell was sharp for the second straight week as he made several clutch third-down throws, tossed two touchdowns and also showed impressive scrambling ability, twice extending drives by rushing for a first down. He finished 22-of-30 through the air for 193 yards and added 26 on the ground.

Campbell is managing the offense well. We are seeing improvements and more confidence every week. I think he deserves a game ball as well.

[aswas71788]

Can anybody explain Jim Zorn in Durant Brooks' face after the missed field goal? My house was kind of noisy so I didn't hear the commentary on tv.

Thanks!

Thought Brooks had a decent game, so I was surprised to see Zorn all over him like that.

my impression was that he thought it was a bad hold. looked good to me though. or perhaps he was still giving him grief from last week.

It wasn't a good hold. If you watch the replay, Brooks did not turn the ball around so the laces faced forward. That probably made the kick go off.

[CanesSkins26]

4. Coaching decisions. We had a solid game plan, but the decision to attempt that 52 yarder was a rookie mistake on Zorn's part. No reason to have Suisham attempt to match his career long in that situation. We could have pinned Arizona deep instead of giving them great field position.

Good points except for this one. Make that field goal, and we go up by 2 scores with little time left on the clock. The kick had plenty of distance, he just hooked it a bit. The Cards did get good field position, but they went 3 and out, so the FG try didn't hurt us at all.

Zorn has been making great decisions and great play calling. He is mixing it up well and keeping defenses off balance. I would also add that Zorn is calling plays to 'win the game'.

The 4th down slant to Moss last week was one of the gutsiest calls I've seen from a Redskins coach in a long time. Gibbs never would have run that play. Instead, Gibbs would've punted and tried to rely on the defense, only to have the other team drive the field and put up the winning score. How many times have we seen that over the past few years?

With less than 2 minutes on the game clock, the pass play to ey for the first down today was another great play call. It effectively ended the game, as did the slant to Moss last week, Again, Gibbs would've have never passed the ball in that situation. Gibbs most likely would have run the ball again, had to punt and given the opposing offense a chance to win the game.

Zorn is coaching to win, and I like what I see. Is every decision going to be the popular choice? Probably not, but he's got the nads to call the plays needed to win games. I've been impressed with Zorn and the play calling the past 2 weeks.

I agree with most of what you say. Just don't see the sense in going for that kick. That is the very edge of Suisham's range and giving another team the ball past the 40 is a big gamble in that situation. Arizona didn't have all of their timeouts so punting and pinning them deep would've made a lot more sense imo. But I agree about Zorn calling plays to win. Loved that passing play to ey that sealed the win.

[Thundersloth]

That was a solid win over a Cards team that came here with a 2-0 record and brimming with confidence. Most of my family lives in Phoenix and they were talking smack all week.

Campbell looks more comfortable but I think he's still a bit late on passes, like the one Thomas should've scored on but it was brought back for a UR penalty.

Let me just say this about that call, it probably shouldn't have been made, but Heyer should've had better judgement. The guy was not near the QB, in fact it looked like he was facing the totally other direction and no threat to making a play. My guess is that there was a little "score" that needed to be settled and that's why he did that.

Defensively, I thought we could've played the run better, but then I realized that the offensive line coach for the Cards is one of the best O-linemen ever, former Hog and Pitt Panther, Russ Grimm. So I know they're well coached, but we can't let ANYBODY get 5 yards per carry and expect our defense to get off the field.

I think special teams was better this week. Along with some help from the Cards, especially on punt returns, they had a couple of penalties that cost them field position. We need someone back who will run north and south and get ARE out of there, he obviously doesn't want to return punts.

Hopefully, Marion "the librarian" Barber will continue to have a tough time running on a defense that held him to 37 yards on 21 carries in 2 games last year. The Cowpunk passing game worries me though.

[Snout]

The NFC East is now collectively 10-2, and my beloved Redskins are in last place with a 2-1 record. Life just isn't fair.

[Irn-Bru]

The NFC East is now collectively 10-2, and my beloved Redskins are in last place with a 2-1 record. Life just isn't fair.

Looks like we're playing in the toughest division this year. . .again.

[RedskinjXd]

The NFC East is now collectively 10-2, and my beloved Redskins are in last place with a 2-1 record. Life just isn't fair.

Looks like we're playing in the toughest division this year. . .again.

To take this a step further... the NFC is 10-2 on the year, and the two losses came at the expense of NFC EAST teams. the NFC East is 8-0 in games played outside of the division. The wins are against the Browns, Packers, Cards, Saints, Steelers, Bengals, and Rams (twice)

[USAFSkinFan]

I had no problem whatsoever with them trying the long field goal... we had a chance to win right then and there, and we went for it... that's aggressive and I like it... I don't think Zorn would have made that call if we were only up by 3 or less, but if you're up by 4 or more, go for it!

[Rayskins69]

I have no problem with the Heyer penalty. The play was still going on and from the replay he caught him either on the side or the front. Now if he hit him from the back I would have had a problem. Heyer was doing nothing more than "getting Clinton Portis' back". The previous two plays Dockett was putting the choke hold on Clinton when he made the tackle. Heyer in my mind was building a little team unity by hitting Dockett. Where was Dockett on the final REdskins drive, I beleive on the sidelines with cramps.

[grampi]

This was a nice win for the Skins, and something that was deparately needed as a confidence builder before going into Dallas. There are some issues that still need to be shored up.

What happened to Suisam kicking the ball into the endzone on kickoffs? He was for a while there, now it appears he's back to kicking the shorties again. That, coupled with our poor kick coverage is giving opponents good starting field position. We got lucky today because the Cards kept comitting penatalties on kick returns and pinning themselves deep.

Our D is still generating almost zero pass rush and this defensive scheme uses almost no blitzes. This puts a tremendous amount of pressure on our secondary to cover the receivers. They were able to work it out today, but our secondary is going to have a tough time covering Dallas' receivers.

What game did you watch? Suisham had 2 or 3 really deep kick-offs and the d-line did a pretty decent job of forcing Warner to make quick decisions.

What the Skins D was doing was more or less getting their arms in the throwing lanes to disrupt Warner. They still aren't able to actually get to and/or pose the threat of a sack as often as needed. As far as the kickoffs go, I saw more short kicks than long ones. He should be kicking the ball into the endzone every time.

[HEROHAMO]

Great game. Any win is a good game.

[SKINFAN]

Can anybody explain Jim Zorn in Durant Brooks' face after the missed field goal? My house was kind of noisy so I didn't hear the commentary on tv.

Thanks!

Thought Brooks had a decent game, so I was surprised to see Zorn all over him like that.

my impression was that he thought it was a bad hold. looked good to me though. or perhaps he was still giving him grief from last week.

It wasn't a good hold. If you watch the replay, Brooks did not turn the ball around so the laces faced forward. That probably made the kick go off.

That wasn't the hold, it was the fact that Brooks "ICED" his own kicker by calling for the ball before Sushi was ready, it sorta looked like a false start, that's why lip service.

[Chris Luva Luva]

What we're seeing is growth... Let's not get too excited and expect leaps and bounds week to week. Some weeks may not look too good, let's keep a level head.

What I do know is that if we keep down this path we'll truly be a contender on the field and not just on paper as in many years past...

[SKINFAN]

Im happy about the D actually... CARLOS ROGERS diving for an INT!!!!! I thought I was dreaming!

[Cappster]

It really feels good that we can score on the first drive of a game. It feels even better that our offense has run out the clock the past two weeks instead of 3 plays and then punt. Zorn, right now, looks as though he knows what he is doing. The team is looking good on both sides of the ball. The O and D are working hand in hand to win games and that is always a good thing.

The offense, while they have looked good the past two weeks, will only get better. Campbell looks comfortable in the pocket and all I can think of when I see Campbell move around in the pocket is Zorn's QB drill where they throw bags at the QB. It is good to see the Campbell is using his natural ability to run for a first down, but I wish he would slide more often than what he does (which is never).

With all of that being said, WE WANT DALLAS!

[SkinsFreak]

I agree with most of what you say. Just don't see the sense in going for that kick. That is the very edge of Suisham's range and giving another team the ball past the 40 is a big gamble in that situation. Arizona didn't have all of their timeouts so punting and pinning them deep would've made a lot more sense imo. But I agree about Zorn calling plays to win. Loved that passing play to ey that sealed the win.

I still agree with the attempt in that situation. Make it and the game is just about over. Sushi had plenty of distance, but it appears there was a bad hold. But again, many views and opinions on the matter.

Zorn is calling great games and keeping defenses off balance...

"It was the total opposite of what we thought we were going to get," said Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett, who apparently missed the news that Joe Gibbs retired and was replaced by West Coast protégé Zorn. "Everything was quick here, quick there, trick plays here, run right, run left — nothing really like up-the-middle-type football that we were used to seeing on films. We thought we were going to get a little East Coast, NFC East, physical football, but, man, they pretty much surprised us."

Cardinals notebook: Defense surprised by 'Skins’ misdirection

Mike Tulumello, Tribune

The Cardinals flew cross-country to play the NFC East. But they got the West Coast offense.

2 big plays cost Cards in 1st loss of season

Cards settle in for weeklong stay on East Coast

Some defensive players expressed surprise at the number of screen passes and misdirection plays by the Washington Redskins that kept them off-balance on Sunday.

“They were getting the ball out quick,” defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said.

“How many times did they go deep? Once or twice? Everything was underneath, everything was sideways, sideways.

“I’m not taking anything from them. They won.

“But I thought this was the NFC East. I thought we were in for a physical game. It was the total opposite.”

Defensive end Antonio Smith agreed: “They brought the misdirection game. They made some key first downs. If we had just got them out on third down, it would have been a whole different game. But some of the misdirection plays caught us off-guard.”

Linebacker Karlos Dansby said the tactics effectively slowed down the team’s speedy defense:

“They tried to slow us down and make us play slower, make us play their game. Once we speeded it up, we got off the field.

“Then they tried to slow it down again by screens and stuff like that.”

A bit of a dissenting note was sounded by safety Antrel Rolle, who pointed out the Redskins’ offense is of the West Coast lineage, brought by Redskins coach Jim Zorn from his days in Seattle.

“That’s their offense,” Rolle said. “They have a guy from Seattle. We know their offense.

“We knew what to expect. We just didn’t know when to expect it.”

But the bottom line is, “It’s up to us to make the plays.

“We fought hard. But they were the better team today.”

Good game plans and good play calling. I like what I see from Zorn.

Link

[Chris Luva Luva]

So that article is saying that they're used to Joe Gibbs predictable Redskins football.

Here's an example:
The run for no gain...
Run for a 2 yard gain...
Throw 4 yards short of the 1st down marker...

Sorry to disappoint them, LOLOLOL.

[SkinsFreak]

So that article is saying that they're used to Joe Gibbs predictable Redskins football.

Here's an example:
The run for no gain...
Run for a 2 yard gain...
Throw 4 yards short of the 1st down marker...

Sorry to disappoint them, LOLOLOL.

That's right.

I like this quote...

said Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett, who apparently missed the news that Joe Gibbs retired and was replaced by West Coast protégé Zorn.

[PulpExposure]

To everyone worried about the run defense, yes, they gave up yards. But I'm fairly certain that was because if you looked at the formation, Blache had the LBs and safeties playing off the line, basically inviting the Cards to run. When the Skins had to stop the run, they stacked the line...and stuffed the run. However, when you look at the Cards, you're really not worried about James and Hightower beating you; you're worried about the passing game beating you.

Blache made a decision to overplay the pass. And, it worked.

I really like how our defense is turning out. It's very solid.