The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

Plese do not kill me, but I am curious as to how we should read the 'skins performance thus far in the preseason? I have been scanning the other games of the "elite" and playoff contender teams, and I am seeing that we seem to still be a long way from them. We still make mental mistakes at inoportune times, which is something that winning teams cannot do.

I have faith in JG and the coaching staff, but I am not so certain about some of the players...not all mind you. If we cannot get consistent play out of our offensive skill positions, it will not matter how good the defense is because we will simply not win games.

I am reminded of Patton when he said, and I paraphrase, "If you can't make a soldier do something simple in peacetime, you can't expect him to do it in a war."

The success of this team is on the quaterback. If Ramsey or whoever Gibbs puts in there can perform then as a team we will be fine.

Our starting defense is great. Specials teams will be fine. As you see in preseason our running game and blocking scheme are much better than last year and our recievers can acutally catch the ball.

That pass that Ramsey had to Patton where he caugt the ball between two defenders would have never been caught by Gardner. So I feel that once the QB is set and plays well this team can make the playoffs. But if Ramsey stinks it up then we won't be going anywhere. This is it for Ramsey...step it up or step out.

Yeah, we need more discipline and we need to just keep possession of the ball. If we can't do that we won't win, period.

In the last game we had some dumb penalties but I have to say it is an improvement over last year. However, on offense I have seen two very encouraging signs on this front.

First of all, we are getting the plays in and the guys to the line in plenty of time, no more running down the play clock and then calling timeouts or being penalized. Huge improvement there!

Second, the guys on the O-line seem a lot more comfortable and they aren't all jumping offsides. Obviously, we haven't played any road games with deafening crowds like we would encounter in the regular season but it is still encouraging that we are not doing this now. I think getting to the line early helps this too. In fact, overall we have had very few penalties on offense which is a HUGE improvement, it has really been defensive penalties that have hurt us and they have generally been made by inexperienced players. I think these can be minimized.

Basically, I think we're going in the right direction. The first string D looked great last week as could be expected. More importantly, it looks like the offense can produce a lot more big plays this year, it's nice to see the vertical passing game being stressed and I'm sure Portis was loving those long catches and just waiting for a chance to play against defenses that can't stack the box. Remember, this team will be much more impressive when we actually have our best offensive weapon, namely Mr. Portis, on the field (and I can't wait until Lavar comes back!).

So, I think that we only have one thing we must really worry about and that's turnovers. It's THE most important thing for any team but I feel like we look fairly disciplined in most other ways on both sides of the ball and on special teams so, IMO, this is now THE ONLY thing that is holding us back from success.

It all boils down to the QB making intelligent decisions and having our guys not fumble. Also, it's important for our special teams to realize that it's more important to get possession of the ball than to go for a big play and mess up. Everyone on the team must realize that we are a ball control team and we want the ball to be in our hands as long as possible. With our great D and a solid running game that is how we will win games.

So, in conclusion, I see A LOT of improvement over last year in almost every aspect of the game. Bigger plays and better discipline for the offense, solid special teams, and that great Gregg Williams D. Also, this year it looks like we will be healthier going into the season as well (I hope). So, all I'm worried about is the decisionmaking from the QBs standpoint and not putting the ball on the ground. In the next two games that is what I am going to be looking for, if we can reduce our turnovers we can beat anybody.

hkHog wrote:
It all boils down to the QB making intelligent decisions

great point - what has ramsey shown during preseason to make you think he is better than his career passer rating of ~ 74?

ramsey will never win a playoff game as QB of the washington redskins.

Yep....I agree....the QB position and the passing game will determine much of our success this season. We've got the running game, defense and special teams to compete. Now we just need to be more complete offensively.

So far I see many positive signs from the first two preseason games. We look to have made some progress in the passing game, and special teams are difinately better. Defensively, we are very good sill. I like to passing yardage we've produced, and the short yardage running game has had success. Both were major areas of concern last year so the imporvements are very positive.

dnpmakkah wrote:The success of this team is on the quaterback. If Ramsey or whoever Gibbs puts in there can perform then as a team we will be fine.

Our starting defense is great. Specials teams will be fine. As you see in preseason our running game and blocking scheme are much better than last year and our recievers can acutally catch the ball.

That pass that Ramsey had to Patton where he caugt the ball between two defenders would have never been caught by Gardner. So I feel that once the QB is set and plays well this team can make the playoffs. But if Ramsey stinks it up then we won't be going anywhere. This is it for Ramsey...step it up or step out.

Good post, couldn't have said it better myself!
The only position to hold us back from the playoffs is our quarterback. There are NO more excuses. We have the players we need, we have the coaches we need, we've had the chemistry period we needed. All we need now is for our quarterback to do what he's meant to do: lead the team to victories. If Ramsey can at least move the team down the field more than Brunell did last year...we will probably be wild card contendors. If he can play to his potential...he can definitely lead us to the playoffs.

Once again, PRamsey has all he needs. A healthy and dominant offensive line (minimal sacks in games thus far). An excellent running back in CPortis. A superb Fullback/Tight-end in CCooley. Some speedy wide recivers. An most of all, great coaches.
If PRamsey cannot lead the team with all of this support, the Redskins should certainly trade him. There are quarterbacks in the league who've had equally/less years of experience AND less support from the rest of their team who HAVE succeded.

I believe PRamsey will lead this team to success BUT if he is not able to, no sympathy should be given. Yes he did go through the Spurrier-syndrome BUT people do have to overcome things. All I have to say to Ramsey is just like what dnpmakkah said: step it up or step out!

I'd almost be willing to give up Ramsey to the Bears if they would give up a 1st rounder. They got to be desperate...don't they?

JG has a plan and IMO he knows he probably needs a quarterback. He will give PR a chance but he drafted a QB to meet the need. I just hope PR can be an avearge QB and we can win but based on what he has done so far, I have questions. Does he know how to win at the Pro Level - avoid turnovers a must.

I don't think QB play is as important as D and a good running game. As I glance back over the past few SB I see names like Brady, Dilfer and Johnson who have won SB. Our QB just has to be steady not great.

DEHog wrote:I don't think QB play is as important as D and a good running game. As I glance back over the past few SB I see names like Brady, Dilfer and Johnson who have won SB. Our QB just has to be steady not great.

This is true...only thing is that Ramsey is not steady. I don't know what is wrong with him, but he really stinks (in preseason).

I still think we are gonna need D-Mac to step up in the red zone or we'll be in trouble with our WR's. I love what they bring in terms of speed and elusiveness but in the red zone we need a big target. I know ey is great in the red zone but he needs help.

oneman56 wrote:I still think we are gonna need D-Mac to step up in the red zone or we'll be in trouble with our WR's. I love what they bring in terms of speed and elusiveness but in the red zone we need a big target. I know ey is great in the red zone but he needs help.

Robert Royal

DEHog wrote:I don't think QB play is as important as D and a good running game. As I glance back over the past few SB I see names like Brady, Dilfer and Johnson who have won SB. Our QB just has to be steady not great.

I think that they all at least need to be on par for the others to succeed. I believe I defense was great, our running game average and passing below average. Our passing game was so bad that they ignored it and keyed in to our average running game. If we can at least get the passing game to the point where they can't stuff the box with defenders against Portis we'll be fine. We should have been making them pay for that, hopefully we will this year.

One thing that kept our defense from being elite last year were the lack of defensive scoring. I think thats what makes a defense elite and if our defense can aid our offense is scoring then we'll be red hot!

My feeling is that our success depends on one category: How Patrick Ramsey hadles the pocket! Does he tap dance or does he remain poised. Does he rush his pass or does he make an intelligent decision. Does he rely on his abilities or does he try to do too much. It all boils down to how he acts in the pocket.

JPFair wrote:My feeling is that our success depends on one category: How Patrick Ramsey hadles the pocket! Does he tap dance or does he remain poised. Does he rush his pass or does he make an intelligent decision. Does he rely on his abilities or does he try to do too much. It all boils down to how he acts in the pocket.

Exactly, he looks good when rolling out but we can't have him do that on every play.

I think we need improvement accross the board. The defense is stellar but we can't depend on the defense every week to get us the W. The QB position has got to be corrected.

I believe we have all the tools necessary to win in the playoffs. We have a stellar defense. Our QB is average to solid this season, our running game should be stellar this season, our OLine should be very good and our recievers should be very good.

As long as Patrick plays average to solid, I see us doing quite well this season and if he plays solid, I see a superbowl trip.

The feeling I get so far...

Offense: The ground game will be much improved. We've completed more 20+ yard passing routes in preseason than the entire regular season last year. Gibbs made the right call going for faster/smaller receivers. A. Brown is not only a good returner but he's a good football player. Betts, when healthy is a solid #2. Our 7th round pick is good. Even though his career hasn't even technically started, I give Byner a pat on the back for finding a hidden gem. He runs very hard. Our offensive line looks good and will only get better as the season goes on. Campbell IS the future. I know I've only seen him play one game but his performance in the Senior Bowl, his poise and accuracy in his first appearance have me convinced. We haven't had a QB like this in a LONG time and it's about time. Patrick needs to step up or Mark will take his job.

Defense: GW and staff know what they're doing. Who would disagree with that? Frankly, I'd rather see the entire 2nd team play for the rest of preseason. When Carlos is in shape he'll be a good player. Anyone who has been out of shape and tried to play football understands. Play a game of flag or touch football out of shape and your lower body will be so sore that you can barely walk. I'm a pretty good athlete and I can definitely vouch for this. I've seen those two plays on SportsCenter more than I'd like to. Everyone needs to give the kid a break. I'm glad to see the actual starters back on the field. This is understandably the part of the team that worries me the least. Our D line continues to play (in my opinion) above their ability. You must give credit where credit is due. Blache is the man.

Special teams: Chandler, thanks for filling in late last season but adios. Hall is back and he looks good. I wish you well. A. Brown has had some good returns. A ball control offense with possibly the fastest guy in the league giving us good field position isn't a bad thing. Punt coverage will be solid with Tupa. I really don't expect a drop off at all.

My take...

I haven't been in the house a lot this weekend. They've been showing Carlos getting burnt all weekend long? I can't say that Im shocked, anything negative about us gets blasted while anything positive is ignored.

Shabba wrote:I think we need improvement accross the board. The defense is stellar but we can't depend on the defense every week to get us the W. The QB position has got to be corrected.

Defense wins championships, and our qb situation IS corrected [/i]

Shabba wrote:I think we need improvement accross the board. The defense is stellar but we can't depend on the defense every week to get us the W. The QB position has got to be corrected.

We have improvement across the board.
Phillip Daniels who was a marvel to watch last season when healthy only played in 4 games. He was a free agent acquisition.
Lavar Arrington who is a playmaker hardly played at all last season.
Matt Bowen is coming back from a early season ending injury.
Carlos Rogers made an impact in the Bengals game and when he wasn't winded was running stride for stride with Chad Johnson.
Lemar Marshall and the bunch who stepped up last season were nobodies, they all flourished in this system.

Lets count em up...
Daniels, Arrington, Bowen hardly played for us last year and are like new players for us because they didn't contribute much to our #3 ranking overall in the NFL.
Carlos Rogers the rookie picked off Palmer in his debut game. Although it hasn't been mentioned he showed a lot of intelligence in recognizing that play from practice and reacting to it perfectly.
Marshall and co. were nobodies until last season and got us to #3 overall!

Im counting 7 people who we did not have have factored in to our gameplans at some point during last season. I didn't even add in the guys that we got like Prioulea(spelling), who have played great during the preseason.

C'mon guys, know your team!

I completely agree with CLL. We HAVE improvement, and if you can't see it, then open your eyes. We did more in the Bungles game than we did all of last season. We have more speed, deptgh, continuity, and experience. That's improvement!

I think that we have seen that the coaches have achieved part of their goal to get our team to play better together and while we have not actually seen much of what will be in the playbook we have seen that. There have been less penalties and we seem to be better prepared.

I am only concerned about our QB. This is still a huge question and I know that Gibbs is going to give him every opportunity to do well and he will help with Patrick's development but we also realise that Gibbs' concern about Patrick is why we have Brunell and Campbell. This is a big problem this year if it does not "work". Mark makes me nervous and Jason will not be a factor as a very effective QB (if at all) for a couple of years.

That being said, I agree there has been some improvement and some very good indications that we are making some progress. I am looking for a tough game here this week and next against some good D but I just hope we come out of it injury free and get the players on the field that need the work to make the team or to stay with us for the season.

Winning or losing does not count - we just need to get ready for the games that count.

DEHog wrote:I don't think QB play is as important as D and a good running game. As I glance back over the past few SB I see names like Brady, Dilfer and Johnson who have won SB. Our QB just has to be steady not great.

brady is one of the best QB's in the game - you cannot seriously be comparing ramsey to brady. at this point ramsey is probably the second or third worst QB's in the NFL ahead of hutchinson and ferrote

Fo_Block wrote:

DEHog wrote:I don't think QB play is as important as D and a good running game. As I glance back over the past few SB I see names like Brady, Dilfer and Johnson who have won SB. Our QB just has to be steady not great.

brady is one of the best QB's in the game - you cannot seriously be comparing ramsey to brady. at this point ramsey is probably the second or third worst QB's in the NFL ahead of hutchinson and ferrote

No I’m not comparing him, I’m just saying we don’t need him to do everything or put up big numbers like McNabb, Manning or Culpepper. As for Brady being good I agree, we just had our fantasy league draft and 9 other QB’s went before Brady because he doesn't put up big numbers. What I’m saying is Ramsey doesn’t have to be great he just needs to be steady like a Brady, Dilfer or Johnson were during their SB runs.