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Redskins' Offense Struggles in Scrimmage vs. Ravens
By David Ginsburg
Associated Press
Saturday, August 6, 2005; 3:51 PM

The Baltimore Ravens' revamped offense showed more improvement than the Washington Redskins' upgraded attack during a scrimmage between the neighboring rivals Saturday.

Neither starting quarterback produced a touchdown, but Kyle Boller got the Ravens a field goal before Patrick Ramsey was sacked four times during his two drives.



BIGGEST IMPACT?


"We still have a long ways to go," Boller said, "but it was good to get the momentum of taking that first drive down there and getting points on the board."

Baltimore's second unit got a field goal and a 32-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Wright to Patrick Johnson. Washington's second team did very little: Mark Brunell threw an interception and failed to move into field goal range.

Ravens coach Brian Billick was delighted with the performance of his top two quarterbacks.

"Both seemed controlled and poised," Billick said. "Kyle seemed in command."

The scrimmage drew a crowd of 35,517, most of whom paid up to $12 to enter the Ravens' home stadium.

A year ago, the Redskins ranked 29th in passing yardage and Baltimore finished 31st. Both expect things to be different this year.

Baltimore made Jim Fassel offensive coordinator to spice up a run-oriented attack and signed free agent wide receiver Derrick Mason, who last year caught 96 passes with Tennessee. The Redskins, meanwhile, added wide receivers David Patten and Santana Moss to an offense that coach Joe Gibbs hopes will be more inventive in 2005.

It didn't look that way Saturday.

After the Ravens got a 38-yard field goal from Matt Stover, Ramsey went 5-for-8 but failed to move the team, mainly because Deion Sanders had two sacks and Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs had one apiece.

"Pass protection didn't look good, and we looked sluggish," Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said. "Anytime you don't do well it's a concern, but it is the first time out and we had a lot of people in there."

John Manfreda wrote:I expected our O to suck. I have no sympathy for them because it was a no brainer to pick Mike Williams at No. 9 and Heath Miller at No. 25. If we did that we could have had a high powered offense, but instead another 30th ranked passing attack. Te and Reciever were by far our two biggest needs and it was this stick to fundamentals and D crap that lead to this dump drafting.

1niksder wrote:

John Manfreda wrote:I expected our O to suck. I have no sympathy for them because it was a no brainer to pick Mike Williams at No. 9 and Heath Miller at No. 25. If we did that we could have had a high powered offense, but instead another 30th ranked passing attack. Te and Reciever were by far our two biggest needs and it was this stick to fundamentals and D crap that lead to this dump drafting.

Would you like some cheese to go with all that whine. That's aged whining at it's best - the draft was 4 months ago.

As far as the performance today. It was a scrimmage( the 1st time they've went full speed against non teammates since January). If everyone out there looked great something would be wrong, to have mistakes made now is the right time. They will go into the filmroom and see what was done wrong and go from there.
This was a scrimmage that everyone played and playing time was probaly equal. Next week Ramsey and the starting offense should be on the field for atleast a quarter and that should tell us more.
From what I understand Portis and Betts never touched the ball today during the scrimmage

Redskins Get to Take On Somebody Else
Defense Outperforms Offense in Scrimmage vs. Baltimore

By Nunyo Demasio
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 7, 2005; E01



BALTIMORE, Aug. 6 -- Washington Redskins linebacker Marcus Washington sprinted toward the quarterback on a blitz. He slowed down in time to avoid contact with Kyle Boller as Baltimore Ravens Coach Brian Billick, wearing a straw hat, blew the play dead. Under scrimmage rules, defenders weren't allowed to hit quarterbacks, and the onus was on the head coach to halt play when defenders had a clear path to the quarterback.

The loosened structure was no different than in practices during the first week of training camp, with regimented two-hour sessions highlighted by 11-on-11 drills.

However, the Redskins' players were excited about practicing against another team Saturday in front of 35,517 fans at M&T Bank Stadium, even if extensive stats weren't being kept. Washington couldn't resist punctuating the play by leaping high, then shimmying, his trademark celebration in real games.

"It was a lot of fun," Washington said. "Anytime you get a chance to compete, I always think you should go out and do your best. It gave us a chance to actually hit somebody else beside ourselves and kind of see some things on film."

Despite allowing a few big passing plays, Washington's defense exhibited its attacking style while playing without key starters. The unit performed markedly better than the offense, which looked mostly sluggish behind quarterbacks Patrick Ramsey, Mark Brunell and rookie Jason Campbell. Pass protection was particularly shaky, but Coach Joe Gibbs said he was satisfied with the opportunity to evaluate several players who are on the bubble.

"I think it was a real good day. Now we'll have to see. Obviously it was very rough for us" on offense, said Gibbs, whose team has its preseason opener Saturday night against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte. "We have a lot of good film.

"Anytime you don't do well, it's a concern. But I think it is our first time out. We had a lot of people in there. So that was our main objective: We wanted to really evaluate everybody, particularly the guys past our starters."

On the first play of a seven-on-seven drill, linebacker Ray Lewis intercepted a Ramsey pass intended for H-back Chris ey near the right sideline. The play brought a roar from the crowd and a grimace from Ramsey. "I missed some throws early that were pretty routine throws," said Ramsey, who completed 5 of 8 passes, "but I felt like after that we did a little bit better."

The Redskins defense's first unit played without several starters, and the opening lineup included cornerbacks Rufus Brown and Ade Jimoh. Starting cornerback Shawn Springs pulled his hamstring during early drills and was kept out as a precautionary measure. And defensive end Renaldo Wynn didn't play because of the death of his father-in-law Friday night. The defense showed its familiar tenacity with obscure players, but the secondary allowed some long passing plays. "We missed too many tackles and gave up too many big plays," said safety Matt Bowen, who played with the third team. "It will be a good teaching film."

The practice was composed of 15 minutes of special-teams play, 30 minutes of seven-of-seven drills, then 11-on-11 drills: Each offense was scheduled for four sets of 10-play drives, starting at their 35-yard line. But with the scheduled two-hour practice running 15 minutes over after Campbell guided Washington's third set, Billick waved to officials that his team was done.

Gibbs was impressed by the size of the crowd, which included more than 4,500 walk-up spectators. (Tickets were $7 for lower-bowl seats and $12 behind the end zones.) Although the crowd was dominated by Ravens fans, the Redskins had a contingent of fans. "I saw a lot of Redskins jerseys," Gibbs said.

A group of roughly a dozen men wore yellow T-shirts emblazoned with "Free Sean Taylor," alluding to the safety's pending trial in Miami for a felony count of aggravated assault.

In the scrimmage, Taylor displayed his ball-hawking and hitting skills with while playing with the second team. On one play during 11-on-11 drills, Taylor's helmet flew off when he sprinted past the line of scrimmage for a hard hit on a Ravens tailback. Later, Taylor broke up a touchdown pass to an open receiver in the end zone. When a completion appeared imminent, Taylor sprinted a few yards and batted the ball down.

"I always kid [that] we keep him in a cage and feed him raw meat. On game day, we turn him loose," Washington said. "He's a heck of a player. We're glad to have him back."

Brunell, who was 4 for 8 with one interception, faced an opponent for the first time since Nov. 14 last year -- a Week 10 loss to Cincinnati -- when Ramsey replaced him.

"I told my wife the same thing: It'll be fun to be out in a stadium, even though it's just a scrimmage," Brunell said
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00697.html

JR_USCG_GOSKINS wrote:I was at the game and there is alot work that needs to be done on offense. I was really amazed by Campbell's performance. This guy is going to be a "Hall Of Famer" and our number one QB sooner then everyone thinks. He is the complete package, trust me. Me and my older son were in the 1st row on the 45 yard line and Portis came up and gave a pair of gloves away and signed a bunched of autographs. Someone in the stands about 3 rows up yelled to Brunell for a gaderade and he tossed one up there with no problems,it had to be least a 10 yard pass. Sean Taylor was also out there signing some autographs, I hope everything works out with him and he becomes a loyal redskin. It was a "Great Day" at M&T.

John Manfreda wrote:Granted hte o line was absolutely horrible, but still.

When the O-line plays like crap there is no way a Qb will do well. A qb can't throw on his back. Another huge mistake we did this offseason was keeping Samuels, he sucks, they should have traded his ass. The only good O-lineman we have worth keeping is Thomas and Jansen and thats it. Casy I have not seen play so I don't know about him.

John Manfreda wrote:Granted hte o line was absolutely horrible, but still.

When the O-line plays like crap there is no way a Qb will do well. A qb can't throw on his back. [size=18]Another huge mistake we did this offseason was keeping Samuels, he sucks, they should have traded his ass.[/size] The only good O-lineman we have worth keeping is Thomas and Jansen and thats it. Casy I have not seen play so I don't know about him.

perfect post. The censor-nazis here probably won't like your choice of words but I do.

A spade is a spade and Samuels is a rotting piece of detritus.

SKINZ_DOMIN8 wrote:

John Manfreda wrote:Granted hte o line was absolutely horrible, but still.

When the O-line plays like crap there is no way a Qb will do well. A qb can't throw on his back. [size=18]Another huge mistake we did this offseason was keeping Samuels, he sucks, they should have traded his ass.[/size] The only good O-lineman we have worth keeping is Thomas and Jansen and thats it. Casy I have not seen play so I don't know about him.

perfect post. The censor-nazis here probably won't like your choice of words but I do.

A spade is a spade and Samuels is a rotting piece of detritus.