Official Game Thread

[num1skinsfan]

Shakey start, line needs a lot of work. Cambell looked like he was lacking confidence, maybe this offense is overcomplicated... Positives, Fletcher, Landry, Mackintosh.... Negatives Left tackle, special teams, Cambell.... I know it's only the first preseason game, but I see red flags. in alot of key spots.... but football season is here, let's get it on....

[patjam77]

OK. The negative Nancy in me is back with a vengence. I said I would wait until after the 3rd preseason game to be chicken little but... UGH!!! Did seven months of offseason work not help the offense at all? HOLY CRAP. Here is a thought and I know some of you will think this blasphamous. Move Jansen to LG and Wade to RT. Jansen can't block anyone anymore coming off the end and last night was more of the same from him from last year. I know that sounds crazy to some of you but Wade is better at tackle. ey should rarely have to be used to help Jansen pass protect.

What else? The coaching staff has messed up but can be fixed. They need to bring in competition for Suisham (sp?). It at least keeps him honest in terms of keeping his kicks "honest". he should have to look over his should in training camp.
D looked good but the Skins are in toruble if the O plays like that again sunday.

[Irn-Bru]

Just finished reading some reports on the game, and it's hard not to be a little worried - here comes deja vu.

This year, teams are going to come after Campbell with lots of pressure, because everybody does that to a young QB. If the o-line doesn't take several big steps forward from last night, then we're in trouble again. Samuels is obviously a huge part of that, but I'm a little bothered by Jansen as well.

I do share some of your concerns but consider:

* Heyer, an UDFA, was in the game in place of an injured, all-pro Sammuels.
* When Portis isn't in the game, the pass protection scheme suffers. I'm not sure if he would have been back there on the 2 fumble plays, but I think blitzers were getting to Campbell far more than they would if Portis was back there cutting them down.
* Jansen has struggled at times with defensive ends simply getting around him.

I also wouldn't take this thread as a good indication of the Redskins performance. If one took the advice scattered around here, Collins would be #1, Campbell would be benched, and we'd tear apart the o-line. I don't think that I was watching the same Redskin team as these other guys.

Overall, I am not encouraged. I still only have my natural optimism to pin my hopes on. Let's hope for something more positive from the offence next week.

Things will be fine, or so I think. Hey, we won the game, and when the starters left the score was only 3 - 0. This was a game with a clear field position battle that most people in this thread are ignoring. We weren't able to march down the field much, but neither were the Titans. They looked to have the upper hand because they were constantly in our territory (while we were punting from our endzone), but that's a classic case of a field position battle — and our D was holding their ground.

I'm still optimistic, too. If I'm wrong, and if all hell will break loose in week one, then there's always: stiff upper lip; the squadron never dies. . .and all that.

[BossHog]

We're doomed.

I mean obviously after a pre-season game like that, we might as well just mail in 16 losses.

... and most of you may as well hibernate for the winter.

No point in even poking your head out to see what's going on -- just go into seclusion and whine incessantly to yourselves.

There were good things to take from the game, there were bad things too. Funny how the same people tend t find one or the other all of the time REGARDLESS of the situation.

Personally, I saw a lot to be happy about, and a lot of stuff that we have to work on -- but then again, that's what they play the games for... other than that, I'd never draw any conclusions from a meaningless pre-season game.

... and we won... not that it matters, but that should count for something -- ok, not really... but at least it's one less thing for the whiners to bawl about.

[Chris Luva Luva]

My thoughts on the line.

Heyer - Rookie
Wade - Rookie* Now less effective cus he's gone from being taught to having to teach Heyer.
Raybach - 100%
Thomas - Injured
Jansen - SLow start
Betts - Not a good blocker

Regular season

Samuels - Beasat
Wade - Will get tons of help from Samuels.
Raybach - Beast
Thomas - Should be healed
Jansen - Should be up to speed
Portis - Can block.

I don't see the offensive line being too much of a big deal for us. Hopefully...

I'm more worried about Lloyds injury and our lack of a true #2 WR. I think Lloyd could be our guy but he has yet to get on the field and prove it.

[ChrisHanburger]

I didn't watch the game, but I have to admit I'm disappointed the reported results weren't better. Sounds like the D did okay, but Young was out. On the other hand, our O line may have played poorly, but its not (hopefully) the same unit we'll see against Miami. (Pointed out so well by CLL)

Being disappointed, however, is different from being concerned and I'm with BossHog on this. Its just a pre-season game. I'm far from concerned. In fact, the bright side is that some of these guys are seeing action they normally wouldn't have a chance to see, so if we need them later in the year, at least they've got some experience under their belts.

Keep the faith, baby, keep the faith!!!! Everyone's still tied for first

Hail!

[EasyMoney]

My take:

Campbell looked good throwing the ball but his pocket presence... not so much. Of his 14 or so passes, two of them were poorly thrown balls. He's putting it where only his receiver can catch it. A couple missed curl routes were the result of excellent plays from the Titans secondary. If our receivers caught some of these balls he should've been closer to 9 or 10 of 14. He needs Samuels back to make him more comfortable with is blindside.

The OL looked ok with a 4 man rush. When the blitz comes its a different story. Heyer has to notice a corner coming full bore off the edge and at least chip the guy. It didn't look like we had a back blocking on either of Campbell's two fumbles. It was either that or they were blocking the wrong side. This seems fixable. Our OL looks exactly the same way it did at this time last year. Meaning we can't run but Mason looked like a smart runner. I didn't see a serious problem with Wade. I thought he was holding his own. After you take Samuels and Thomas not playing into consideration this becomes less of a worry.


Overall I'm not worried about the offense... yet.

We are deep on the DL. There aren't any sack machines or superstars but all of them can play. 77 & 75. The back-up spots at these positions are going to be hard for the coaching staff to choose.

Fletcher is a huge upgrade over Marshall. You don't see any grab tackles with him, he'll find the right gap and crush people. Rocky looks like an upgrade of Holdman. Isn't it nice to see a linebacker not named Washington making plays? Not that I don't want Washington to make plays but I'm happy to see the others contribute.

I'm not sure what to think about the secondary right now. They played ok. They didn't give up huge plays or let anyone score, so that's good. Their longest completion was 26 yarder. As a comparison we gave up an average of 8.8 ypc while they gave up 13.7 ypc. Not great but not terrible either. Landry was a good pick.

Overall this defense could easily be top 10 possibly top 5 if things bounce our way this year. This is exactly what our 04-05 defenses looked like in preseason. This is a huge relief.

Frost was very solid last night. I'm hoping he can remain that consistent. Suisham has the leg but it wouldn't surprise me to see someone else brought in for competition. He did hit the crossbar so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. It's nice to see touchbacks again. How long has it been?

The teams coverage was solid with the exception of one play. I can deal with returns of less than 10 but 35+ isn't going to cut it.

Very few penalties which you like to see after the first preseason game.

This is a pretty solid and deep team. I want to see more from the first string offense. If we get more from our offense (which I think we will), I like our chances.

[HardDawg]

In case people didn't notice......

WE WON!

We have one 100% more games that at this time last season.....

I'd say we are at least goin in the right direction!

[UK Skins Fan]

BossHog wrote:

We're doomed.

I knew it! Thanks for the confirmation

... and most of you may as well hibernate for the winter.

Thanks again, but with all these Yanks driving 4x4's to the local store, the global warming means we don't get winters over here anymore. I'm going to the beach instead.

Personally, I saw a lot to be happy about, and a lot of stuff that we have to work on -- but then again, that's what they play the games for... other than that, I'd never draw any conclusions from a meaningless pre-season game.

Glad you saw some stuff to be happier about. My only information comes from the written press on this game, so I'm working with at least one eye shut. I agree that one preseason game on its own is meaningless, but the malaise that struck the offence last year was rooted in preseason, and the stats from that preseason turned out to be a fair predictor of the Redskins offensive strength, or lack of it. We were dreadful in preseason last year, and pretty poor during most of the regular season.

What I'm trying to say is that it's not all doom and gloom from where I'm looking, but I'd sure like to be seeing some signs of green shoots of recovery from the offence. But this was just game one, and we did get some green shoots from the defence.

[Gibbs4Life]

Personally, I saw a lot to be happy about, and a lot of stuff that we have to work on -- but then again, that's what they play the games for... other than that, I'd never draw any conclusions from a meaningless pre-season game.

So BossHog were you happy with Brunell's performance?

[Chris Luva Luva]

So BossHog were you happy with Brunell's performance?

Brunell is garbage.

[Gibbs4Life]

Brunell is garbage.

I've only been saying this for 3 years now. But whenever I do, I get BossHog's condemnation as just finding something to "whine" about. MB sucks.

[BossHog]

Brunell is garbage.

I've only been saying this for 3 years now. But whenever I do, I get BossHog's condemnation as just finding something to "whine" about. MB sucks.

Actually, you just whine about everything... why narrow it to Brunell? None of your whining means anything to me, or likely anyone else for that matter... because that's ALL you do.

... but hey, thanks for whining about it.

For the record, no I didn't think Mark played well on Saturday. So? Which part of 'I saw some good things and some bad things' did you not understand?

All of it, I guess.

Of course, most people that know football don't judge too much on one meaningless preseason game. You go ahead and wax poetic to yourself about the end of the world being near...


I KNEW I should have marketed those THN tissues.

[JansenFan]

My take:

Campbell looked good throwing the ball but his pocket presence... not so much. Of his 14 or so passes, two of them were poorly thrown balls. He's putting it where only his receiver can catch it. A couple missed curl routes were the result of excellent plays from the Titans secondary. If our receivers caught some of these balls he should've been closer to 9 or 10 of 14. He needs Samuels back to make him more comfortable with is blindside.

The OL looked ok with a 4 man rush. When the blitz comes its a different story. Heyer has to notice a corner coming full bore off the edge and at least chip the guy. It didn't look like we had a back blocking on either of Campbell's two fumbles. It was either that or they were blocking the wrong side. This seems fixable. Our OL looks exactly the same way it did at this time last year. Meaning we can't run but Mason looked like a smart runner. I didn't see a serious problem with Wade. I thought he was holding his own. After you take Samuels and Thomas not playing into consideration this becomes less of a worry.


Overall I'm not worried about the offense... yet.

We are deep on the DL. There aren't any sack machines or superstars but all of them can play. 77 & 75. The back-up spots at these positions are going to be hard for the coaching staff to choose.

Fletcher is a huge upgrade over Marshall. You don't see any grab tackles with him, he'll find the right gap and crush people. Rocky looks like an upgrade of Holdman. Isn't it nice to see a linebacker not named Washington making plays? Not that I don't want Washington to make plays but I'm happy to see the others contribute.

I'm not sure what to think about the secondary right now. They played ok. They didn't give up huge plays or let anyone score, so that's good. Their longest completion was 26 yarder. As a comparison we gave up an average of 8.8 ypc while they gave up 13.7 ypc. Not great but not terrible either. Landry was a good pick.

Overall this defense could easily be top 10 possibly top 5 if things bounce our way this year. This is exactly what our 04-05 defenses looked like in preseason. This is a huge relief.

Frost was very solid last night. I'm hoping he can remain that consistent. Suisham has the leg but it wouldn't surprise me to see someone else brought in for competition. He did hit the crossbar so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. It's nice to see touchbacks again. How long has it been?

The teams coverage was solid with the exception of one play. I can deal with returns of less than 10 but 35+ isn't going to cut it.

Very few penalties which you like to see after the first preseason game.

This is a pretty solid and deep team. I want to see more from the first string offense. If we get more from our offense (which I think we will), I like our chances.

Dude, I was about to write a big post with my thoughts, but it was going to include every point you just made, particularly as it pertains to the offensive line.

Thanks for saving me some typing.

edit:

oh, and I thought Landry made a few mistakes in coverage, but he made up for all of it when he folded Kerry Collins in half like a clean pair of pants.

[REDEEMEDSKIN]

I am sooooo ready...lets speed up the national anthem already.

Elliot Yamin: Great voice, but should hire an attorney, and sue his image consultant. He looked like a bum.

[JansenFan]

He also almost sang oh-oh say dawn you see. He actually said Dan. Maybe Snyder put him up to it.

[REDEEMEDSKIN]

You know what ticked me off the moest about the game? It had an 8:00 start time, and they didn't kick off until close to 8:30. Wassup with that?

Other observations:
1) Marshall Faulk's tie was too short.
2) Jeff Fisher has a close-cropped mullet
3) Joe Gibbs looks like he's oput on some weight since his return.
4) Gregg Williams looks like he's slated to be the next spokesman for "Just For Men".

And those are the "highlights" that I saw on Saturday night. (Pun intended)

Other than that. The Skins looked bad. Campbell needs some seasoning. THNers pushing for Collins to start need a clue.

And, of course, Mark Brunell is a football god.

BTW -I just learned that TRO and the Bride of TRO will be at the Skins-Steelers game on Saturday. That means you can be assured of another win.

[EasyMoney]

Dude, I was about to write a big post with my thoughts, but it was going to include every point you just made, particularly as it pertains to the offensive line.

Thanks for saving me some typing.

edit:

oh, and I thought Landry made a few mistakes in coverage, but he made up for all of it when he folded Kerry Collins in half like a clean pair of pants.

No problem.

At least that confirms I'm not seeing things. I'm sure Bugel is going to be all over those guys this week. Other than dropped balls, the OL was really the only flaw I saw from this team. If we can run the ball against Pittsburgh this week and not have Campbell getting creamed from his blindside I will be very optimistic.

Here's a little story. My roommates drive me crazy. A little background, one is a "Parcells fan" and wasn't a fan of ANY team until Parcells came back. Parcells leaves and he's still going to root for them. Huge bandwagon fan. The other is from south Jersey and he's an Eagles fan. Should be an interesting season at my place huh? The two teams that have the absolute worst fans of all time and I have to live with one of each. Lovely.

I was at my girlfriends place for most of the weekend and ended up watching the game there. I stop at home for a little bit yesterday and they're both in the living room blabbing about football. They see me walk in and they're like "did you watch the game last night?" I said "of course". They go into this rant of how horrible Campbell looked. I was like, name someone that could hold onto the ball after getting blindsided. They couldn't. I was like, did you actually watch the game or did you watch the highlights on ESPN? If you watched it you'd see that Campbell can throw the ball as well as anyone. Protection and running the ball is the issue, not whether Campbell can do the job. Response... crickets.

I've heard ALL summer long about the 31st ranked defense, how they'll never climb out of that hole, etc. They will both go off on some "the Redskins suck" tangent whenever something about them comes on TV. I always let them talk, I never respond and generally keep my mouth shut. I figure the easiest thing to do is to let the team do the talking. Nothing that comes out of my mouth is going to help this team win or lose. But I must admit I am mildly superstitious when it comes to making bets.

So the next thing I ask them is how they thought the D looked. Response... crickets. Not drafting a defensive lineman really put this defense in a bad position huh? Reponse... crickets.

Next they tell me they want to bet me $100 each that the Skins will not win more than 5 games this year. I told them I didn't bet on the Skins and that I thought it was bad luck. They knew this beforehand. So they go into the "you're not confident in your team b.s." and blah blah blah. So I see them later on at a local place that we all hang out. A lot more people around this time. I tell a couple people about this bet they want to make with me. They had at least 10 people walk up to them and ask for the same bet. Both of them declined everyone that offered.

I thought that was hilarious so I thought I'd share. Sorry for the looooong story!

[Irn-Bru]

Nice job, EasyMoney, and good luck with those roomates. Looks like you've got some Football 101 teaching to do. . .

[EasyMoney]

Nice job, EasyMoney, and good luck with those roomates. Looks like you've got some Football 101 teaching to do. . .

Ha! Indeed I do. I give them plenty of Football 101 in Madden though. That's really the only thing I can control. I own both of them in that game and its really funny how angry they get about it. Especially playing the Cowboys fan when I drop passes over Williams' head to Moss for TD's. That's always a really good jab.

I hope we put it on every team this year but especially those two. It'll make my life a lot easier.

[Irn-Bru]

Especially playing the Cowboys fan when I drop passes over Williams' head to Moss for TD's. That's always a really good jab.

I guess those games are more realistic than I sometimes give them credit for.

[Gibbs' Hog]

Next they tell me they want to bet me $100 each that the Skins will not win more than 5 games this year. I told them I didn't bet on the Skins and that I thought it was bad luck.

Funny - I figured with your screen name, you'd take that bet in a heartbeat...

[SkinsFreak]

Courtesy of ES.

That is beautiful!

Even though Landry didn't get the sack, I'm sure he made a huge impression; literally AND figuratively. I'll bet every time Collins dropped back to pass after that hit, he was searching for #30.

I was waiting for that play. If you look at Landry's highlite reel from college, he makes some crazy hits on QB's. I'm 100% sure that Williams is going to blitz Landry like that in every game. Landry has that 4.35 speed to get in the backfield quickly and can hit like a Mack truck. If you watch him, he has no wasted movement in his footwork and always finds the open gap in the o-line. QB's beware!

[HardDawg]

Great story Easy Money. I feel for ya brother. No way I could live with those clowns! Above mentioned pic is great.

This is what REALLY hit him....

http://www.gridironnation.com/wp-conten ... landry.jpg

Someone please get this pic up on this site please....Don't know how