SB Nation - DeAngelo Hall

Friday Night "Mights" - Washington Redskins vs. New Orleans Saints

Sugar — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:25:45 -0000

More photos » by Pablo Martinez Monsivais - AP

Marko Mitchell's deep touchdown catch this week against the Saints will seal Redskins' victory and make Coach Zorn look like a genius.

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We pick up the Friday Night "Mights" this week with the odds stacked against us. To your average betting man, there is a better chance of Hannah Montana filming a porn movie than the Redskins beating the Saints. However, your average Redskins fan has spent a lot more time fantasizing about the win over the Saints. How can we possibly pull this off? Maybe like this:

1) "Wild Hunter" offense must be in effect this week. At some point in the game, a midfield punting formation has to result in Hunter Smith running for a first down. It might not be for a touchdown, but keeping the ball out of Drew Brees' hands for a few more ticks of the clock will be clutch.

2) LaRon Landry will get a game-changing INT. He only lines up about 35 yards downfield on every play so he will be in prime real estate for this Saints' passing game. I will temper my enthusiasm by predicting he takes a tipped pass back for a touchdown (I can't see Brees just throwing it to him.)

3) Haynesworth will bottle up the Saints' running game. The Eagles got a little frisky early in the game with their inside runs. Any other coach besides Andy Reid would have probably called inside handoffs 99% of the rest of the game. The Saints are an accomplished running team. I think they are almost 50/50 in their run/pass ratio on the season. They can beat you a number of ways, but their success on the ground this season gets glossed over by the Uncle Rico-esque performances of Drew Brees each week. So with Haynesworth in the lineup, I think we make Brees test our top-rated pass defense. I leave it to each of you to grade this prediction subjectively.

4) Santana Moss returns a punt for a touchdown. If we are going to beat one of the league's best teams, this is the kind of play we simply have to have. I want partial credit if DeAngelo Hall takes one back. If ARE returns one for a touchdown, I should get zero credit, as I would never predict such a thing...ever.

5) Jim Zorn will make a few play calls during the game that change the outcome and in the press conference, you will hear him take the credit for them. And not 4th down plays or challenges, or whatever else he supposedly has the authority to decide on (headset volume, shirt tucked or untucked, Gatorade flavors, etc.) I am talking about a sustained drive where he sees something and overrules the nonsense on his headset and calls in a play or two to JC that results in points. At this point, I doubt he is worried about getting fired before the season ends and the chance to really stick it in Vinny's face would be something I think he would relish. I'll even tell you what play he switches to: deep ball to Marko Mitchell. There...I have said too much.

Alright...have at it.

The Linc - McNabb's a dad again

JasonB — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:00:15 -0000

Some Things I'm Thankful For - Yardbarker
Donovan McNabb and his wife Raquel welcomed their 4th child into the world last Friday night.

Interesting Debate: Is it the O-Line or Campbell? - Hogs Haven
A more detailed discussion about if Campbell or the Oline is to blame. What's disconcerting is the Redskins NFC East foes have the 3 best defensive lines in the league and Dan Snyder personally went to recruit McCoy and Clausen last week.

Eagles Notes: Eagles' Andrews seeks second opinion | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/28/2009
Shawn Andrews is scheduled to receive a second opinion on his back from a Dallas doctor, coach Andy Reid said yesterday. The Eagles offensive lineman, though, is still scheduled to undergo surgery Thursday, according to a league source.

Redskins Insider - Eagles defense thrives under McDermott
The Eagles' defense has continued to thrive under McDermott, who has held many assistant positions since joining the organization in 1998. McDermott has retained many of the attacking, blitzing principles Johnson utilized in his scheme that helped to elevate Philadelphia among the league's elite defensively during his nine-year tenure.

More after the jump

Redskins Insider - Eagles' defense presents a challenge for Redskins
The Philadelphia Eagles are tied for third (with Pittsburgh) in the NFL in sacks and rank fourth in interceptions. That means that, obviously, pass protection and ball security will be two important keys Sunday when the Redskins face the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. The Redskins' offense, and its offensive line in particular, face another challenging situation.

Redskins Insider - Hall will miss Sunday's game; Rogers to start
Top cornerback DeAngelo Hall (knee) has been ruled out of Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles and the recently benched Carlos Rogers will start for Hall at Lincoln Financial Field, Coach Jim Zorn said after practice today at Redskins Park.

Trotter another worry for Eagles | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/28/2009
It probably wasn't the turkey. Thursday night, after he had his Thanksgiving feast, Jeremiah Trotter awoke with a sting that shot down his left leg. Joe Mays split time at middle linebacker with Trotter in the last game, but he may get his first start. 1 of 5 View images Eagles 24, Bears 20 Chargers 31, Eagles 23 Cowboys 20, Eagles 16 "I never felt that before in my life," the Eagles linebacker said yesterday. "It scared me a little bit. . . . I couldn't sleep."

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

Ted Bartlett — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:30:18 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

about 1 month ago: Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall is stopped by Washington Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall during the third quarter of the NFL football game, Nov. 15, 2009 in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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Happy Tuesday, friends, and welcome to another edition of Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations. Here we are again, with another loss to contend with. This one is worse than the last two, because this one looked like a sure victory when we were marking off W's and L's on the schedule. Of course, if Kyle Orton didn't get hurt, it probably is a W, and the Broncos are still sitting on a 1-game lead over the Chargers. Since that's not the way it played out, we have to do the other thing.

We'll get into the details, from soup to chocolate cake, and make some sense of all this, because that's what we do here. We'll explore what happened, we'll find some things to feel positive about, and we'll have some fun. Out of the echo chamber, and into the fire, y'all. Ready..... BEGIN!!!!

1. There's a certain interconnectedness to a football game, and its outcome, among all phases of the game, and all 45 active players. I've talked about this many times before, and John Bena called the loss a team effort in his postgame writeup. I would call this a team effort whose final score is mostly attributable to the poor second half play of the offense, and mostly, of Chris Simms.

What I mean by that is this. Over the first 6 games of the season, the Broncos led the league in scoring defense. They were especially strong defensively in the second half of games. That trend has been turned on its head the last 3 weeks. The last two weeks, especially, I believe that the main reason why the defense struggled in the second half was that they were on the field for too many plays, due to the struggles of the offense. Each side of the ball needs to help the other. The Broncos have been getting shut down on offense, and worn down on defense, and it's been difficult to watch.

Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth were going on and on Sunday night about how the Colts led the NFL in scoring defense heading into this week. If you've watched the Colts, they don't even have a particularly good defense, if there is any chance you can run the ball against them. They have allowed so few points because they deliberately shorten the game when they're on offense, and because once they get a lead, the strength of their defense comes to the fore. They rush the passer well with four men, and drop 7 men into cover-2. If you stay out of situations that are favorable to Indianapolis, you can gash their defense.

This is what has been happening to the Broncos as well. Remember - in the first 6 games, the offense did its best work in the second half of games. They possessed the ball, they took their time, and they methodically controlled the games. When the defense was on the field, they were fresh, they substituted frequently, and they made plays to get off the field quickly.

Kyle Orton played great in the first half Sunday, just as he'd played very well in the first half of the Pittsburgh game, (outside the one interception). For all the hollering that went on about his lack of deep throwing, he threw a couple very nice deep balls for TDs to Brandon Marshall, and he just barely missed another to Eddie Royal. That opened the field vertically. He also did a very nice job on a few bootleg throws to Tony Scheffler, and a crossing pattern to Marshall. Those plays stretched the field horizontally.

The Broncos had Washington where they wanted them. Remember, they moved the ball on the possession where Correll Buckhalter fumbled, and they had the 17-play drive at the end of the first half, to take the 3-point lead. The Orton injury changed the entire complexion of the game. Simms simply couldn't complete a pass, and didn't seem to know where to go with the ball, and a lot of good work by Knowshon Moreno was wasted.

Most teams will struggle when they lose their starting QB. That's a function of the fact that there aren't 32 good QBs in the NFL, let alone 64 of them. I came into this game thinking that the Broncos are in good shape with Simms, if they needed to use him. I hope that he shows better if he has to play against San Diego, after a week of first-team reps. I still do tend to think that Simms can play.

You hate to have a game get away from you because your backup QB couldn't cut it. The only thing worse would be if two games got away for that reason. I expect that Josh McDaniels will have Simms ready to go next week, and that the gameplan will play to his strengths, if they need to use him.

You have to be careful not to let one game unduly affect an evaluation of a team. All the time, teams lay eggs in games, and lose (or nearly lose) to teams they should blow out. Look no further than New Orleans on Sunday, who seemingly tried to lose to St. Louis. Not to say that Dallas should have blown out Green Bay, but they shouldn't have gotten dominated like they did, either.

There's a lot of Chicken Little stuff going on here, and the one thing that will stop it is a victory against San Diego next week. Yes, I know that the Chargers are on a winning streak and the Broncos are on a losing streak. Remember when the Broncos had won 6 in a row, and the Ravens had lost 3 in a row? The Broncos can beat San Diego, which we know, because they already have this season. If they win that game, they'll re-take command of the division, with a one-game lead, and a sweeping of the head-to-head matchup.

2. In the big-time matchup of the week, the Colts got a win against the Patriots, and on Monday, Bill Belichick is being blamed by everybody who doesn't like him personally (AKA just about everyone). The fact is, Belichick has never curried favor with the media, and reporters tend to be critical of you every chance they get, if you don't pay them their due deference.

Joe Biden could tell you all about how that works. He never trusted the media after their treatment of the death of his first wife and daughter in 1972, and it always hurt him later, particularly in his two Presidential bids. John McCain and Barack Obama both have very deft touches with the media, and longstanding strategies of providing them a lot of access, and it was no accident that both were the nominees of their parties in 2008. If you're going to be a public figure, there's a clear benefit to cultivating relationships with reporters. The thing is, not everybody has the stomach for it, and Belichick is one of those guys who doesn't. Brett Favre benefits immensely from his relationship-building efforts, to the point of it being sickening most of the time. I heard somewhere recently that Favre spends hours with the TV guys on Saturday afternoons, as long as they want to hang out, and they really can't help but love on him.

Back to the lecture at hand, I would have done exactly the same thing as Belichick in that game situation, in going for it on 4th and 2 from his own 28. Why did he do it? Because he was pretty close to certain that he would lose the game if he punted, that's why.

Let's say you go by the book, and punt. Over all 2,293 punts in the NFL in 2008, the average net change in field position was 39.53 yards. The right call, if you ask Peter King, or others, was to punt, and give Manning the ball at his own 32, with about 2 minutes, and all 3 timeouts left. I say that that is choosing to lose the game in a way that will leave the coach blameless, as far as the idiot media is concerned. Well, he trusted his defense, and he played the percentages; it's not the coach's fault. Except he didn't play the percentages.

First of all, let's get this nonsense about trusting your defense dispensed with. You should always trust your defense. Former defensive players like Tedy Bruschi, Matt Bowen, and old friend Tom Jackson love this line of thinking, but it's utter horse (manure). You should only trust your defense if you think they are likely to make the stop, and win you the game. If you think they aren't, then it's a fool's errand to trust them. You say to them, hey, realistically, you guys probably weren't going to stop Peyton Manning, which really doesn't make you much different from any other team's defense. There is no room for blind machismo, or making a statement, or worrying about hurt feelings; this is about winning football games, nothing more.

I didn't spend a great deal of time on it, but I took a look at every game recap for the Colts since 2005. (I think 4 ½ seasons is a reasonable sample size.) Since then, including the postseason, Manning has had the ball late in the game, trailing, on 19 occasions which I counted. He came through to either tie or take the lead 15 times, which is a 79% success rate. (In 2007, he was 1-for-4, which was pretty aberrant for this sample. Two of those misses were against the strong 2007 Chargers, whom the Colts struggled to pass-protect against.)

Here's the deal. Statistically, you have a 60% chance of picking up 4th and 2, but that probability is almost certainly greater, due to the fact that you have an outstanding offense, and the Colts have an average-at-best defense. If I were Belichick, I would have put my conversion probability at 70% for that play. That same source says that an average team returning a punt, given those field position- and time parameters, scores 53% of the time. We already know Manning succeeds 79% of the time, because he's one of the greatest QBs ever.

You can choose to probably win, or you can choose to probably lose, in one moment. What do you choose?

Belichick chose to probably win, and came up on the side where the probable outcome wasn't the actual outcome. Serious poker players know exactly what I am talking about here. Sometimes, you play the hand correctly, and you go all-in with the best cards, but you lose anyway. It's a fact of life. You accept it, and you don't complain about it, because you know you made the right call, regardless of the outcome. The next time you're faced with the same situation, you do the same thing, again, because it was the right call.

When I got home Monday night, all I saw and heard was TV talking heads second-guessing the decision. Stuart Scott pretty much butchered the stats, but he actually cited our friends at AdvancedNFLStats.com. The shockingly anti-intellectual Steve Young promptly claimed that the stats aren't legitimate (except they are). We got to hear from Tedy Bruschi how he'd feel as a defensive player on the Patriots, as if that's germane to anything at all. Trent Dilfer's blood boils when he hears the "other side" of the argument, AKA the correct side. Blah, blah, blah. (Sorry, brief possession by an ex-wife-like-entity again.)

Just imagine the reaction if Kevin Faulk had made the 2 yards. The stories today would have been about the stones on Belichick, and how he is such a great coach to make a risky call. It would be like Mike Shanahan going for 2 in the Hochuli Game last season. (Shanahan correctly thought that was his best chance to win. He felt he had a better-than-50 percent chance of scoring the conversion, and he knew that he had a 50% chance of winning a coin toss, and about a 98% chance that the Chargers would score in overtime, if he lost the toss.)

I'm no great defender of Belichick, the man, but when he's right, he's right. If it's an average QB, and an average offense, you might punt in that situation, but against Manning, that's always going to be the wrong call on 4th and 2. Once again, Belichick is smarter than the average bear, and smarter than every member of the football MSM.

3. Information From My Eyes - Broncos at Redskins

a. All four deep throws Orton made were good throws. Eddie Royal misjudged the one incompletion, and Brandon Marshall got out-fought by DeAngelo Hall on the second, but both were definitely well-thrown balls.

b. That fake field goal was a debacle, but I don't personally blame Mike Priefer. My goat on that play is Darrell Reid, who was telling Marcus Thomas to cover Mike Sellers, while he decided to contain the left edge of the offense, as the play flowed right. Alphonso Smith caught some initial blame, but I disagree there. He was in deep center field, and flowed with the play, like anybody would coach him to. Who knew Hunter Smith could throw back across the field?

c. Ryan Clady got beat badly once on Sunday. That doesn't happen often at all, obviously. That's the first sack he allowed that I would say was fully on him.

d. From the department of good news, Matt Prater doesn't seem to be having a second-half slump this season.

e. I was very impressed with Knowshon Moreno's vision and quickness on Sunday.

f. I've already made my evaluation of Mitch Berger, so everybody knows where I am at on that one. I saw somewhere where Frank Schwab, some beat reporter, speculated that Mitch Berger's 65-yard punt might save his job. If a kick that went about 42 yards in the air, and rolled 23 on the ground can do that, something absurd is going on.

g. I had a busy workday Monday, which set my schedule back, and is unfortunately going to preclude me from taking the time to do Between The Lines this week.

On watching the game a second time, though, it occurred to me that the bulk of Washington's success in running the ball was on zone-blocked plays. As I think about it, the Broncos haven't faced much of that this season at all; really just Oakland, who does it crappily. That's really something to work on, because the lateral movement seemed to unsettle the Broncos defensive line.

h. D.J. Williams got blocked a lot, and took a lot of bad angles. Again. This is getting to be an annoying habit.

i. Andra Davis continued to be a bright spot. He is a terrific blitzer and has a great sense of timing for delaying his rush. His missed tackle on that Devin Thomas catch and run in the 4th quarter was bad, but he otherwise graded out very well.

j. On a painful second pass watching the game, Chris Simms lacked timing with the receivers, as much as anything. Every throw was a little late. It seems like Orton may be able to play next Sunday, but if it's Simms, I hope a week's worth of reps will help him build some timing.

4. Information From My Eyes - Other Games:

a. I was really curious to see the Buffalo-Tennessee game, and I recorded the Short Cut overnight, and watched the game Monday evening. Why would I care about this game? Well, the two teams played in the Hall of Fame Game, way back when it was still warm in Cleveland, and my girlfriend at the time called at halftime to break up with me.

In that game, the Bills couldn't block Tennessee, and the Titans looked like a Super Bowl team. So, I wanted to watch Sunday's game, because I wanted a good sense of where these two teams are. Tennessee probably isn't going to make the playoffs, after starting 0-6, but they've righted their ship, and they'd be trouble if they did make it. Their defensive line is still nasty, and I continue to be impressed with the job William Hayes is doing in replacing Jevon Kearse.

b. On the other side, the Bills still are below average on their offensive line. Their two highly-drafted rookies, Eric Wood, and Andy Levitre, particularly struggled, as they both had in the preseason game. Levitre even ended up playing some LT, due to an injury, and he really struggled outside. Wood got pushed backwards consistently in the passing game, and he's been generally pretty good as a rookie. The Bills need to shore up their offensive line in the offseason, and I am sure their new head coach will make that a priority, if they hire a competent one.

c. I am ready to make a pronouncement. If Vince Young couldn't run, he'd be the second coming of Trent Dilfer. He really isn't much of a thrower of the ball, and he leaves too much air under his throws. You can get by with him in a run-heavy offense, which is what the Titans really are.

Because he can run, he adds a useful element, and the team is really dangerous on option plays, and QB runs. His running ability can dictate that teams play man-to-man defense, and keep a guy out of coverage to spy him. Really, the Titans are back to being the 10-6ish team they were in 2007. I think they'll ultimately decide to stick with Young for next season, and look to build up the interior of their offensive line, and their back 7 on defense.

d. It seems like forever ago, but I did watch the Chicago-San Francisco game intently last Thursday. I think my first thought that I'd like to share is that the Bears defense played like they had some pride. I think Tommie Harris playing well made a huge difference. He is really the key to their whole scheme. I ripped him, and them, last week, and I told the guy from WCG who took exception that I'd say when they played well on defense. They did.

e. I don't really feel like I should say anything about Jay Cutler, because this column aims to stay away from saying obvious things. I'll just say it must be nice to have so many apologists when you mess up. He's like the second coming of Ronald Reagan with how teflon he is.

(Tangential ST&NO story - Reagan is a member of my fraternity. When he died in June of 2004, I was a senior at CSU, and President of my chapter, and I was asked to go on local television, to talk about Reagan as a fraternity man. Our guys did a fundraiser, and jumped on a trampoline for 54 straight days in the 80s, to break a Guinness record, while Frater Ronnie was POTUS. He sent us a congratulatory letter, so I focused on that with the news chick, Angie Lau. I had nothing but nice things to say, as Ronnie was definitely a good fraternity man.)

f. Peter King is really proud of himself for naming San Francisco's Aubrayo Franklin a midseason All-Pro as a NT. When Franklin got that scoring-area INT early on last Thursday, I kind of groaned, because I knew there was going to be some crowing about it.

I never have felt like Franklin jumped out, so I watched him closely, and my review is mixed. He didn't play a lot of snaps, so I wonder about his conditioning. He did play pretty stout against the run at times, and I felt like he was a good player overall when he was on the field. I could easily name 10-12 interior defensive players who are better, though. I guess it's fun to have a guy who is your guy, though.

g. Is Marc Bulger a veteran QB? I have always thought he was, but his command of clock management seemed really bad on Sunday. The Rams had a pretty good shot to beat the Saints, and Bulger and his receivers blew it. Man, I can't tell you how much I would hate to be associated with that team, in any capacity. It's got to be so disheartening to have no talent, be almost completely uncompetitive, then have a chance to beat an undefeated team, and blow it. Can you imagine what it's like to be a fan of such a team?

h. Reggie Bush had a really big game for the Saints on Sunday, stepping up from his usual "highly-paid-decoy" role. It's interesting to speculate on how the Saints value him. Obviously, they don't think he's a full-time RB, but he's paid like he's Adrian Peterson. I'd be happy to have him as a swing player, between RB and WR, but he's a backup at both positions, and I'd only pay him backup money. We'll soon see what the Saints think, because if I recall correctly, his contract is pretty well back-loaded.

i. Josh Freeman continues to look like he's the real deal for the Buccaneers, and Raheem Morris continues to look like he's gotten his bearings as a Head Coach. Both did a nice job in Sunday's game, despite Miami's comeback victory.

j. Speaking of Miami, I want to address the "Wildcat." The Dolphins are the only team which has had a lot of success with it, and every time they have a game with limited success, somebody speculates that the "trend" has run its course.

The thing is, Miami doesn't treat it like a trend. They treat it as a key part of the way they play offense, which puts their best players on the field together. They are committed to it, and they will continue to run it. They trade the disadvantage of being formationally unlikely to throw for the advantage of having 2-3 players who are good ball-carriers, who might get the ball in the running game. Other teams are finding that the direct-snap game maybe doesn't work for them. For Miami, it will continue to be an important part of their gameplan.

k. Joey Porter has had a pretty sub-par year, and he was a healthy scratch on Sunday. That raised some eyebrows, and Tony Sparano wouldn't comment on it. It actually parallels Adalius Thomas basically being shut down by the Patriots. Both teams are showing that having a big name and a big salary doesn't guarantee playing time, if you aren't producing on the field. Expect both players to be released after the season.

l. Another game I decided to watch on Monday was Jacksonville at the Jets. The Jets miss Kris Jenkins terribly, and their defense is nowhere near as good as it was when he was healthy. They are having to scheme to stop the inside run, and to keep Bart Scott and David Harris clean, and these things used to just happen. I expect New England to blow them out this coming week.

m. I can see why people like Mark Sanchez, but I continue not to be a fan. He's well-coached, and he has excellent fundamentals. I just think he's very limited as a natural thrower of the ball. I consider him to be a poor man's Matt Ryan, which is another way of calling him a middle class man's Chad Pennington.

Sanchez plays in a windy place, which I have noted before, and that's going to always be an issue. Another issue is that the offensive scheme he is playing in is very vertical, and Sanchez is a poster boy for the West Coast Offense. Rex Ryan inherited Brian Schottenheimer as offensive coordinator, but I don't think Schottenheimer and Sanchez are a very good match. I have to wonder if the Jets don't make a change in the offseason, to bring in somebody to make the passing game's design more horizontal. Mike Shanahan could do wonders with Sanchez, although he won't be going to New York.

Really, as I think about it, if Sanchez and Jason Campbell could trade offensive coaching staffs, they'd probably both be much better off. Two owners traded teams once; why couldn't this happen?

n. There was a crazy sequence in the third quarter, where Sanchez threw an interception to Quentin Groves, then Maurice Jones-Drew fumbled at the goal line, and then Braylon Edwards fumbled at the end of a 41-yard catch. It was a whole lot of ugly going on at once, like the perennially sloppy tendencies of the Jaguars were rubbing off on the Jets.

o. Torry Holt was a great player for many years, despite playing for some obscure St. Louis teams. Really, you could make a case that he was a better player than a few Hall of Famers. (How about Art Monk, Steve Largent, and Lynn Swann to name a few?) I would go so far as to say that he was better than any WR the Broncos have had in my lifetime, a little ahead of Rod Smith.

My point in giving Holt credit, is that I have to say that I think he is getting pretty close to the end of the line. He has really struggled to get any separation, in the times I have watched him this season. He had two strong games, against St. Louis (bad defense) and Seattle (garbage time in a 41-0 game), but I haven't been impressed with his recent work.

p. I loved the call by the Jaguars to have Jones-Drew take a knee and run the clock out. His apology to his fantasy owners made me cringe, though. I may be 7-3 in the official MHR league, but fantasy football is at odds with my beliefs about football, and I have a hard time reconciling the two things.

q. I couldn't talk myself into watching the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game. Sorry, I know it was a key game, but a game with zero offensive touchdowns offends my sensibilities. (Just in case you were wondering why I had nothing on this game.) I'm sure it was ugly, and I feel fine, personally, having seen the highlights. When I walk into a smelly restroom, I get out as quick as possible. No need to hang around for half an hour, to have a good idea what happened there.

r. Jake Delhomme had a dangerously solid game on Sunday. It was the type of fool's gold performance that makes the regime think they are okay with him as their QB, and really, Jake has been having those games his whole career. The Panthers are suddenly 4-5, and back in the picture for a Wild Card spot, but I really believe that they need a better QB if they ever want to really compete for a championship.

s. Matt Ryan struggled mightily again on Sunday, and his two interceptions were a lot of the reason the Falcons lost the game. His first INT, in the second quarter, led to a TD which set the Falcons behind 21-10. The one he threw in the 4th quarter was converted 3 plays later into the TD which put the game away for Carolina.

Don't get me wrong; Ryan is mostly a good QB, but he has definite limitations, which I have highlighted in the past. He really struggles to beat tight coverage, and he's seen a lot of it lately.

t. Speaking of Hall of Fame-caliber guys who look washed up, old friend Jason Elam seems to have really lost his fastball. He's now 9 for 14, and he's only 3 for 6 between 30 and 39 yards. I would be surprised if he kicks after this season.

u. I always thought Beanie Wells was soft when he was at Ohio State, and he didn't do a lot early this season to change my mind. Lately, though, he's shown a lot better, and he's a big reason why the Cardinals are 6-3, and squarely in control of the NFC West. I've also been more impressed with the play of RT Levi Brown than ever before. He's been blowing some people off the ball in the running game.

v. The Chargers have been really tough in the scoring area lately. Of course, the Eagles helped them out by not even trying to run the ball down there. You have to make the defense think that they have to defend everything, or else they are at a distinct advantage. Only getting field goals of 18, 25, and 25 yards on visits deep into San Diego territory was the difference in that game. A defense can get shredded, as the Chargers did, and if they toughen up in the scoring area, they make up for it. A lot of Donovan McNabb's 450 yards were low-quality.

w. The Chargers sure are paying Darren Sproles a lot of money not to participate very much on offense. He's a lot like Reggie Bush, in being a highly-paid decoy who is never going to be much more than what he is.

x. Hey, Adam Schefter. From a money guy, "large" means thousand. When you say "two hundred fifty thousand large," that means $250 Million. He said that on Monday Night Countdown (Served by Applebee's... really). People misspeak all the time; I just wanted to make sure he knows what "large" means. This is coming from a helpful place.

y. I have to hand it to the Browns. They played really well on defense Monday night. Their offense is just so terrible, that it's no use. Those defensive players are playing for jobs next year, whether it be in Cleveland under a new regime, or elsewhere. Guys who show some pride and effort on bad teams will have some good film for their agents to shop them with. Guys who pack it in will be out of the league, like so many guys who played defense in Denver last season.

z. I actually like to listen to MNF nowadays, as I finish ST&NO every week. The main reason is that I actually think that both Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden are value-adding to listen to. The guys at Mickey Mouse-land spent so many years looking for a good third man, with such horrible results, and they've finally found a good 3-man booth. I actually don't like Mike Tirico, who is good at basketball, but bad at football play-by-play (much like Joe Buck is great with baseball, and abysmal with football).

5. I know the Bengals have always been willing to take on troubled players, but it's hard to imagine what they are thinking in reportedly bringing in Larry Johnson. As LJ was to be the key RB on the Shallow Thoughts team in the official MHR Fantasy League, I can tell you that his performance has been garbage this season. Some of his bad performance can certainly be attributed to bad offensive line play in Kansas City, but Johnson is clearly lacking quickness to the hole, and the leg drive he had in his prime. I just don't see what value the Bengals are going to get out of him.

I've reached midnight, and unfortunately, I need to call it a night. My company is in the process of being acquired, which has caused me to be much busier than normal at this time of the month, and I have an early morning meeting Tuesday. I hope you enjoy this edition of ST&NO, and have a great week. I'll see you all again next Tuesday, hopefully with time to give you my normal output.

Mike Smith Fined $15,000, DeAngelo Hall Not Fined In Wake Of Altercation

Dave the Falconer — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:39:31 -0000

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

4 months ago: Atlanta Falcons' head coach Mike Smith watches as his team practices during NFL football training camp in Flowery Branch, Ga., Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009 in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

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Now that the fine has been handed down, please go here if you're so inclined. This fund, set up and run by Falcons fans, is a symbolic gesture in support of Mike Smith and is set to go toward a charitable foundation, though one has not yet been selected.

Buckle up.

Today, the NFL announced that our coach is being fined $15,000. That's twice as much as Albert Haynesworth was fined, bizarrely, for coming to the aid of one DeAngelo Hall. You may remember Hall as the guy who talked himself out of Atlanta despite his talent and the guy who slammed the Falcons throughout the week leading up to the game. The fine is also three times as much as LaRon Landry, whose late hit on Ryan wasn't all that egregious to begin with.

Guess who didn't get a fine? If you said DeAngelo *&@#$ing Hall, you would be correct.

This is absolute garbage. I kind of expected Smith to be fined, and it's clear that as awesome as his player protection skills are, he overstepped his bounds on Sunday. A group of fans are raising money which will go to the charity of Smith's choice and as a gesture for him, which I support. If a charity can benefit, at least something good comes out of this. I know he came in with a shove, but Haynesworth's fine seems excessive to me given that he was trying to bail out a guy who had gotten himself in way over his head. More to the point, it seems excessive because Hall made it out smelling like a loud, contact-avoiding rose.

Watch this again. Hall goes over to the sideline to get Landry out, supposedly, and yet Landry and Matt Ryan take off on their own accord. Your view on what happens next may vary, but Hall supporters would say he's held there against his will by an ever-growing group of Falcons, while those who either do not like Hall or are familiar with his history suspect he's getting into a trash-talking streak with the Falcons. At more than one point, it looks like Smith may have swung at Hall, tried to get his arm free, or tested the tensile strength of his helmet. At another point, it looks like Hall might be gearing up for a swing or trying to get his arm free.

UPDATE: Director of Athletic Performance Jeff Fish fined $2,500, according to Adam Schefter.

My point is, it's not extremely clear what happened on that sideline. A reasonable person could argue that Smith was a villain, Hall was a villain or they both were at fault. Occam's Razor states, roughly, that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. Thus anyone in the league office assigned to review this fracas and come up with a fair decision probably should have decided on the simplest expanation: DeAngelo Hall should not have been on the sideline stirring up crap as he is wont to do, and Mike Smith should have defused the situation and not contributed to it. That brings down fines for both parties, and whether there's a difference in how much Smith gets and Hall gets or not, at least it recognizes that this kind of incident does not happen in a vacuum.

Instead, the league has chosen to go a route that creates its own Occam's Razor, by making everyone involved but DeAngelo Hall a bad guy. I would have preferred that Haynesworth got little to no fine and that some of that had headed Hall's way, but there's no chance that'll happen now. The only bright spot in this is that Hall is left to wonder why his teammates took so long to come to his rescue, something I doubt the majority of Falcons fans have to think very long and hard about.

Your thoughts?

Poll

Was the way the fines were doled out fair?

Yes, it accurately reflected what happened

29 votes

No, Mike Smith should have been fined less

25 votes

No, DeAngelo Hall should have be fined

279 votes

No, Albert Haynesworth deserved less

13 votes

No, the whole situation is a crock

131 votes

477 votes | Poll has closed

Washington's Signs Of Life Confiscated By Falcons In 31-17 Defeat

Sugar — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:30:10 -0000

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

Todd Yoder provides a highlight-reel type of catch in the back of the end zone as the Redskins fought their way back into the game.

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As awful as the first half was to watch, the second half was that much fun. Far be it for me to proclaim this team to be a contender, but in the second half, there was some actual football being played by the guys wearing white-on-white. It was uncanny how much more successful our offense was after the halftime break. Screen passes worked, the running game was churning up the yards, and there were no drive-killing penalties that caused me to scream.

It is easy to say the game was decided in the first half. But the truth is that when we gave the Falcons the ball back down 24-17, there was every reason to believe that a win was possible. That was the high point of the game for Redskins fans, and whether you want to call it sad or depressing, it may have been the high point of the season so far. Being in a game against a good team with the momentum going our way is a feeling we have not had around here for some time. As we find ourselves squarely in the middle of what promises to be a difficult season to stomach, this is a feeling/moment I won't take for granted.

Trying to look back at that first half and make some sense of it is like attaching a grenade to your scrotum and hoping for the best. It just didn't go well. We gave up big plays on defense, we gave up big plays on offense and we committed penalties that turned into points for them. The only thing missing from the first half was a hundred dollar bill on the night stand.

There was no reason to hope for anything different in the second half. But when our offense took the field and drove 80 yards for a score, I thought to myself, "This I can watch. If we lose, so be it, but this is actual football and this is worth staying tuned into." The subsequent stop by our defense was great and when we pulled to within a touchdown I could not have been the only one thinking the win was in our sights. Rock Cartwright and Ladell Betts were rolling. As if by magic, our offensive line opened up holes they were able to run through and we mounted honest-to-God drives.

Ultimately, once again the team did not do enough for 60 minutes to win the game. The foolish penalties from our $150+ million off-season acquisitions (Hall and Haynesworth) were gut-wrenchingly bad. Haynesworth's pair of offsides penalties were great bookends to the Falcons' opening drive that set the tone of the game early. Hall's battle royale with the entire Atlanta sideline would have been more upsetting if it wasn't so easy to see coming. It reminds me immediately of the line from last week's Parks and Recreation episode where Ron Swanson describes his relationship with his ex-wife. "We are oil an water. Or oil and TNT and C4 and a detonator and a butane torch." That sums up DeAngelo Hall's relationship with the Falcons I guess. Good thing we aren't playing the Raiders this season. Oh crap. LaRon Landry seemed to manufacture sloppiness at times, and once again, the opponent took advantage of the cushion we insist on giving every receiver in the league.

On a higher note, Jason Campbell refused to give up on the game despite being knocked out of it twice. His ability to keep soldiering up as the world crumbles around him is remarkable. The question that comes to my mind is will we ever get to really judge his football abilities behind a legitimate line for an extended period of time? You can question him on any number of fronts these days, but you can't question his toughness and you can't question his commitment to his teammates. Another bright spot on the day for me was Brian Orakpo getting to Matt Ryan. The kid proved yet again that he is an extremely capable pass rusher.

We came up short in the end but there was at least the hint of an air of respectability after that second half. Respectability doesn't get us in the playoffs, but it does make watching the games a lot more fun. I'll end with the stat breakdown below. What number stands out to you? Four 1st downs from penalties! That plus the defensive touchdown Atlanta scored stick out most for me, as I am sure they do for you guys as well. I mean, look at these numbers. We were in this game.

Team Stat Comparison

1st Downs	17	18
Passing 1st downs	11	6
Rushing 1st downs	6	8
1st downs from Penalties	0	4
3rd down efficiency	9-16	4-11
4th down efficiency	1-3	0-0
Total Plays	64	54
Total Yards	312	306
Passing	176	125
Comp-Att	19-27	17-24
Yards per pass	6.5	5.2
Rushing	136	181
Rushing Attempts	32	27
Yards per rush	4.3	6.7
Red Zone (Made-Att)	2-2	1-2
Penalties	10-88	7-54
Turnovers	1	1
Fumbles lost	0	0
Interceptions thrown	1	1
Defensive / Special Teams TDs	0	1
Possession	33:32	26:28

Poll

Which Redskin player was the brightest spot in this game for you?

Brian Orakpo

244 votes

Jason Campbell

73 votes

Ladell Betts

189 votes

Rock Cartwright

24 votes

530 votes | Poll has closed

Friday Night "Mights" - Washington Redskins vs Atlanta Falcons

Sugar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:31:55 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

Look for the Fred Davis Era to begin in earnest this week in Atlanta.

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The bye week really seemed to stretch out for months rather than just the two weeks since we last played an actual football game. After all that has been written, all that has been said, and all that has occurred around this team in the most recent days and weeks, I can tell you this: I am ready to watch my boys get on the field and play a football game. And I intend to reach back into my drawer and pull out my favorite shades--the rose-colored ones--to bring you this week's set of bold predictions for the Redskins-Falcons tilt.

I don't care about 2-5 anymore. I don't. I truly believe it doesn't matter. We are completely capable of knocking off this Falcons team and here is how we are going to do it:

1) Jason Campbell will throw for over 300 yards, 3 touchdowns, and will bottle up the turnover bug that has plagued him in the early goings of the season. I am hopeful that the two weeks off will have given his ankle time to heal enough for him to be just mobile enough to escape the first guy that leaks through. My prediction for the yards hinges on yards after the catch. I think this offensive line will struggle again, but I am betting on quick throws, receivers running into space, and improved decision-making from JC in the dome on Sunday.

2) Fred Davis is going to blow up. Double digit catches, triple digit yardage and at least one score. I think what will impress us the most about Sleepy on Sunday will be his lack of fumbles and his huge first downs. When the line breaks down, Davis is going to get the ball. This might very well be a theme all game long. You look at a guy like Fred Davis and his talent is undeniable. Kevin and I watched him in training camp and the preseason and he was a monster. He is capable of dominating the stats. I am going to assume that Davis understands that this is his chance to really show the Redskins organization that he was a great investment last year. He has put in extra work the last two weeks and it is going to pay off.

3) DeAngelo Hall is going to return a punt for a touchdown. Part of our biggest gripe about this coaching staff was its unwavering support of Randle-El in the return game. The reality though (and I am only speculating guys) is that a lot of capable return men simply don't want the ball in that role. It is as dangerous as it gets in this league and these guys have millions on the line. Call that the right or wrong way to see it from their perspective but I think it is honest. From here, I make the jump to theorizing DeAngelo Hall WANTS the ball in the return game. Let me take you back to the Eagles game. There was a series that the Eagles were forced to punt. Right in front of where I was sitting, I could see Randle El standing on the sideline ready to run in to return the punt. DeAngelo Hall stayed on the field though and waved him off. From my seat, it did not look like this was a coach's decision. In fact, Randle-El made repeated gestures to Hall as if he were beckoning him to leave the field so that ARE could get underneath the punt. This game is Hall's chance to show Atlanta they made a mistake by letting him go. Maybe that makes him more juiced for this one game and we go back to something else next week. Who knows? What I do know is that when he gets the ball as a punt returner, the chance he takes it to the house and dances is great. This week, the Skins will gain some major momentum on special teams when he high steps down the sidelines for a huge punt return touchdown.

4) Devin Thomas will score 2 touchdowns. We are building towards something with this player. This receiver is going to be a key component to our offensive future. He is not our biggest receiver, but he might be the most physical receiver we have. Something is starting to click with him that is helping him understand that his role is absolutely integral on our team. When he gets the ball, he can break tackles, and make guys sorry when they square up to try and tackle him.

5) Marko Mitchell sees his first significant action and makes it pay off with a touchdown. I will be heart-broken if/when he is on the list of inactives this week. Given our current state of things, a player like him simply must be given a shot on the field. His involvement will give us a real warm and fuzzy feeling on Sunday.

Our defense will hold their own--as usual. I think in the last 10 days or so, the players have had a real chance to get some work in with each other while the rest of the world (including us here at Hogs haven) focused on bigger picture issues with this franchise.

Here is what I am most impressed about with regard to this team over the last two weeks: How many stories did you read about players sniping at each other in practice or through the media? How many stories did you read about players complaining about coach's decisions? How many stories did you read about players playing the blame game or spinning the excuse wheel?

I don't think there were any really. Certainly none that were made out to be huge headlines. All the headlines and news focused on Snyder and Cerrato, right? Maybe in the end, this was the best possible thing that could have happened to this team. Maybe a team that should have been put under the microscope a lot more due to its play in the first 7 games escaped that kind of attention thanks to the debacle in the front office! (Maybe I have gone crazy.)

Maybe on Sunday, 53 men come together and beat the hell out of a Falcons team that is completely unprepared for the reinvigorated Redskins.

Eagles win over Redskins - What they're saying

JasonB — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:01:00 -0000

The Redskins' $100 million man Albert Haynesworth sounded despondent

You can say but so much. You've got to actually want to.Once we get to that point where we want to do something, then we'll be something. If we keep going our separate ways, we just keep getting slaughtered like we have..

There's some more sad stuff from Haynesworth after the jump.

Redskins' CB DeAngelo Hall sounded critical of the teams' management.

"We're not built to come from behind," Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall admitted.

Desean Jackson talked about his huge performance.

"On the first one, on the first drive – it was really a blessing to be able to be put in certain positions to take advantage of the defense with my speed. I looked up the field and saw nothing but green grass. Jeremy [Maclin] did a great job 50 yards down the field blocking. I just did what I could to get to the end zone. On the second touchdown it was a third and long versus a pretty good corner in Carlos Rogers. It was a double-move and I went one step in on the in and he bit. I just went up the field and Donovan [McNabb] put it out there."

Newest Eagle Will Witherspoon talked about his pick 6 in the first quarter.

"It's a great feeling any time you get a chance to put your hands on the ball, especially if you get a chance to score. For the first game, with a new team, for me it puts the stamp on it by saying, 'Hey, this is exactly what I want to bring to this team, and this is exactly who I want to be.'

Albert Haynesworth's words after the game were just sad to read. Not the most inspirational guy in the NFL...

"I mean, this is one of the most talented teams I've been on, and just not to get it done is ... I dunno, shocking. And whatever happened, you go out there and play hard and then nothing really happens, you don't get a spark. I mean, the fans are losing interest -- the more games we play, the fewer the fans come. It's just gettin' ... it's gettin' bad. This bye week [is] comin' at a good time right now. Maybe we can come back and come back as a new team."

"I'm feelin' lost, like I don't know which way to turn right now. Maybe this time off and go back to Tennnesee and hang out with my kids that I haven't seen for a while and ... just kinda figure out what we gotta do."

He is right though...

Andy Reid talked about the offensive line.

"I think it was good to get everybody back in there – to get Todd (Herremans) back in there and (Jason) Peters back in there. They made it through the game. That's a good thing. We won't get any worse. We will keep getting better as we go. Stacey (Andrews) had some good downs in there so I'm optimistic about that crew. It comes at a good time as we hit the NFC East here."

LeSean McCoy on his reaction to Brian Westbrook's injury

"It was scary. Any player who is down for that long, you are kind of worried. Especially, with the relationship I have with him. I was more worried about his condition and how he is feeling then getting out there and playing. Hopefully we get him back. He looked fine when he came back in here. We hope he is ready to roll."

Washington Redskins Front Office - Step 1: Admit You Have a Problem

Sugar — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:25:01 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

Washington Redskins coach Jim Zorn leads a team of law enforcement officials and members of the press towards one of the end zones at Fedex Field. Immediately after putting his left foot in, he quickly retreated and kicked a field goal.

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You'd think rock bottom would be a feeling you would just know and recognize. I thought we were there. I was wrong. Being at rock bottom means you can only go UP from here. Losing to the Chiefs was a new low, and with our eyes a little more wide open now, we should all recognize this elevator has a few more floors to hit on its way to "rock bottom."

We have officially concluded the "easy portion of our schedule." Awesome. Has it occurred to anyone yet that we are the "easy portion" of EVERYONE'S schedule? I am betting it has occurred to all of you. We are 2-4 against six teams that had not won a game prior to playing us. I know, I know...throw out the Giants but still, this might be the lowest point in franchise history. How many times has an NFL team played six straight teams without a win? ZERO. NEVER. The Redskins have sponsored more sideline water jug baths than Gatorade this season. And that was before we started playing teams that really know how to stick it to a struggling team like the Redskins.

I sat in my seat and watched every play. The one thing that kept popping through my head: The Chiefs are a really bad team. They made mistakes all over the place. They missed plays on offense and defense. AND THEY SHUT US DOWN. It was a very sobering reminder that we aren't just a player or two away from winning meaningful games in December and January. We are not even a player or two away from beating teams that have no business winning games.

I'm dying to know what the announcers said during the telecast after the 10th or 11th time Cassel threw an out pattern to the sidelines to a receiver that had yet to make his break. I'll tell you what I said from my seat, "Someone on the Chiefs coaching staff figured out a way to beat our corners for guaranteed yards whenever they want it." The worst part of that was that it wasn't even a crazy diagrammed play with various intricacies and complexity. It was a freaking 10-yard turn-around!! The receiver ran to the spot and by the time he turned around, the ball was hitting him in the numbers. And it wasn't just thrown once or twice--it was their primary means of moving the ball. Hell, on one play, the receiver forgot to turn around and Cassel hit him (wide open of course) in the back. Can anyone please tell me I have that wrong? Was there a point later in the game where DeAngelo Hall or Carlos Rogers made an adjustment? It looked to me like they were simply incapable of defending that play. You think Donovan McNabb won't be able to throw that pass--25 times?

Once again, our defense played well enough to be on the winning side. Notice I didn't say the defense played well enough for the Redskins to win. Because they did not. For our defense to play well enough for the Redskins to win, they would have to score points and hold the other team to single digits.

I will not be breaking down our offense in this column. The Chiefs did that for us yesterday. And the Panthers and the Lions and the Buccaneers, too. I will say this though, and this goes against every Clinton Portis-loving bone in my body: How did he not score on that run? It was as if he ran 75 yards like he was running for his life in the open field and then at the end he ran 3 yards like he runs every other carry he gets--straight at the ground. And when the referee spotted the ball at the 10 yard line, leaving us with only 3 chances to get the ball into the end zone, well...we have all seen that movie before.

Back to the issue at hand: we are not built to win it all...we are not built to win much. Key words: we are not built. The sad truth is that these are organizational losses. The offensive line was old and battered at the end of last season. The owner and Vinny decided that our offensive line was in good enough shape to go forward. They were wrong. Our secondary lacked coverage skills. DeAngelo Hall was signed to fix that. They were wrong. Our young wide receivers lacked opportunities to develop on the field and so they kept/re-signed Antwaan Randle El to occupy space we needed to use for that purpose. They were wrong.

A little bit of credit goes to Snyder for opening his wallet to bring guys in the way he does. I will never overlook this or discount it. I don't believe for a second Snyder wouldn't do whatever it took to get a quality player in the door to help the club. But he continues to rely on an average to below-average football mind in Vinny Cerrato to help him identify players and to guide the direction of this team. And he continues to hold on to and cling to players for reasons that escape me. For example, has ANYONE ever seen a team be more loyal to a kick returner than the Skins are to Randle-El? Here's a guy who seems to be out there these days purely based on his ability to not fumble the ball on punts. Yesterday, he fumbled/bobbled/muffed a catch. I grant you this rarely happens, but when he is not giving you ANYTHING else, isn't it time to move on? And not just for a punt here and a punt there to Santana Moss. We need a new punt returner. Don't any coaches/team officials in this organization have the guts to live up to the legacy of guys like Mike Nelms and Brian Mitchell? Punt returners are not just for fair catching and playing it conservatively. They are supposed to be finely tuned, dangerous weapons. We're not even throwing rocks back there.

So Cerrato and Snyder took away Zorn's play-calling status. Big deal. That is not admitting you have a problem. Firing Zorn would not be admitting you have a problem (though if I was Zorn, I would not take much more of this before resigning). Terminating Vinny Cerrato and deciding that the franchise is now going to go in another direction with a proven, credentialed football mind would be both admitting you have a problem and honestly working to correct it.

Only then will we know we have reached rock bottom. And only then can we all be confident that we will indeed go up from there.

Panther Paw Prints: First Victory of 2009 Edition

Jaxon — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:04:54 -0000

More photos » by Chuck Burton - AP

2 months ago: FILE -- This is an Oct. 11, 2009, file photo showing Carolina Panthers' Julius Peppers, foreground,gesturing during an NFL game against the Washington Redskins, in Charlotte, N.C. Days after being called out by teammate Jon Beason, the Pro Bowl defensive end helped the Carolina Panthers to their first victory. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)

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They say winning solves all of a teams' problems. For the Panthers that is true for at least a couple days as this edition of Paw Prints is saturated in the sweet taste of victory. The first four come courtesy of Darin Gannt and QB Jake Delhomme:

Panthers rally from dismal start to post first victory in 287 days | The Herald - Rock Hill, SC
"That is what it's about," Delhomme said. "It's about coming into the locker room after a game when it's just the coaches, players, trainers and equipment managers. It's been a month since the season started. We've got so many young guys, and you want that atmosphere to breed. That is what you want. That is the big thing. "That is why you do any and everything you can during the week; take care of your body to get ready, because this is what Sunday is about. You want it to feel like this on Sunday afternoon."

Jake isn't without his problems but demonstrating leadership isn't one of them.Along those lines, its not often he hear John Fox self-eviscerate:

Panthers' Peppers earns his pay with solid outing | The Herald - Rock Hill, SC
"It was real big," Panthers coach John Fox said of Peppers and Davis' play. "The dumb head coach for the Panthers went for it on fourth down and didn't get it. So, that was important to get field position."

WR Kenny Moore admits to not following his blocks on his first return, then gets it right with his game-changing return:

Moore gives special teams a boost with big return | The Herald - Rock Hill, SC
"Right before the play, I was big on just making a play," Moore said. "Just get something started. I just wanted to come out and do something big, because we looked flat. The play before, I had a chance to, but I didn't run my track right, so that time I was real focused on setting it up right and it was there. "The whole emotion of the game changed after that. That was big. We drove it in and scored on that drive, and the defense came out big and everyone was ready to play after that."

Another player who had a 'big' impact that was maybe less noticeable to the average fan was new DT/NG Hollis Thomas:

Darin Gantt's Panthers Blog | The Herald - Rock Hill, SC
You know who made a big impact today without getting his name called? Hollis Thomas. This just in, it actually helps having a nose tackle to play nose tackle, rather than a narrow-pantsed Nick Hayden. Having a big body helped with the run defense, and helped clear some things for Damione Lewis and the ends. It's no accident it was their best pressure game of the year, and it's not just because of Julius Peppers.

Remember when we were complaining about the poor tackling by the Panthers? Not to exacerbate someone else misery but its nice to hear the other team making these complaints, in particular when they involve our skinny, old QB

Recap: Panthers Game Highlights Everything Wrong with the Washington Redskins - Hogs Haven
I'm still furious with the tackling. The most obvious is DeAngelo Hall's failure to contain on the final bootleg, then his inability to bring down a skinny, old QB in the open field. Did you notice that one run play where Jon Stewart carried the entire Redskins defense for 10 yards and a first down? Look at Hall on that play. He barely throws a shoulder. Pathetic.

It doesn't hurt that they are railing on DeAngelo Hall either. Though KevinE at Hogs Haven keeps it real about his teams tackling, this Chris Chase with Shutdown Corner gets it wrong when describing the Redskins muffed punt:

It's legal to block a guy into a returner who has called fair catch - Shutdown Corner - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
With the Redskins holding a 17-12 lead early in the fourth quarter, the team was set to return a punt after forcing a three-and-out from the Panthers. Antwaan Randle El(notes) signaled for a fair catch but was run into by teammate Byron Westbrook(notes) who, while preparing to block, was pushed into Randle El by Panthers safety Quinton Teal(notes). The ball dropped into the resulting scrum, hit Westbrook in the foot and was eventually recovered by Carolina.

Sorry Chris but Westbrook was fully engaged and just got tooled by Quinton Teal. Speaking of getting tooled, Redskins RT Stephon Heyer

Redskins Return Home With Carolina Blues - washingtonpost.com
The Panthers cut the Redskins' lead to 7-2 in the second quarter when Portis was tackled in the end zone for a safety after Peppers pushed Heyer back into the end zone on a sweep play to the right. "Stephon got pushed back a little bit," Zorn said. "Clinton had no chance."

Pushed back a little? He "got trucked" would be a better description. I guess Zorn has got to be more politically correct when describing his own players but I can see why the 'Skins fans are concerned about their depth on the o-line.

Recap: Panthers Game Highlights Everything Wrong with the Washington Redskins

KevinE — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:05:13 -0000

More photos » by Mike McCarn - AP

"I’m not disappointed we haven’t drafted an offensive lineman," Zorn said. "We are developing some of our linemen. We are hoping that Chad Rinehart develops into an outstanding offensive lineman. D’Anthony Batiste--we hope he can develop." - April 27, 2009

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"You talk about a monkey on your back, this was a gorilla," coach John Fox said. The Redskins continue to give life to every porous team in the NFL.

Ken and I talked on the phone post-game and it's clear the Redskins are not just a bad team about to break out, they are a bad team, period. The fundamental mistakes continue every week, and the ignorance that the offensive line is adequate was again exposed. What has me fuming the most from the loss yesterday is Mike Sellers play that resulted in the safety. Some fans are blasting Zorn for a wide run play call, but if you look at the tape, Sellers doomed this play. As Brian Billick pointed out, the fullback's job is to run forward as if he had the ball. Punch a hole. After the jump is the video (1:35 mark), Sellers as the lead blocker never crosses the goal line. UNACCEPTABLE. How is Portis suppose to find a gap when his lead blocker never runs past the line of scrimmage and never engages a single player?

The Byron Westbrook gaff on the Antwaan Randle El fair catch is another one. It's special teams 101 to stay clear of the punt returner, yet he failed to do that on multiple punts.

Report Card Time

Offense: D-

The Skins only two touchdowns were a result from the defense giving them the ball in the red zone. Why is this offense STILL out of sync after 29 games together (including pre-season)? The 2nd round picks continue to do their best hide-and-seek impressions failing to make any impact. Devin Thomas has to make that catch.

Defense: C-

16 first downs? For as many games as I can remember, the Redskins again lost the time of possession battle. I'm still furious with the tackling. The most obvious is DeAngelo Hall's failure to contain on the final bootleg, then his inability to bring down a skinny, old QB in the open field. Did you notice that one run play where Jon Stewart carried the entire Redskins defense for 10 yards and a first down? Look at Hall on that play. He barely throws a shoulder. Pathetic.

Also, it is clear Orakpo should not be starting at LB. On that one touchdown, he was never in position from the snap, and he for sure will get torn apart in the film study. The discouraging thing was Orakpo wasn't covering a Witten or Dallas Clark, some no-namer. Square peg, round hole.

Special Teams: F

This is an easy one. Besides the punt debacle, allowing the 55-yard kickoff return setup Delhomme's first TD pass, and the momentum changed from there.

Front Office: F--

With Chris Samuels list of injuries last year, it was crystal clear to everyone (including fans like ourselves who know 1/100th of what coaches know) the Skins needed to draft a guard. The fact they thought the line was adequate was totally exposed. D'Anthony Batiste looked lost. Peppers went around him with ease, which changed the entire game plan. Portis was chipping on that side almost every play, and Cooley had to stay in and block for almost all his plays. Awesome! One of the worst offenses in the league now has to use two of their best three offensive weapons (Portis and Cooley) to stay in the backfield and block. Heyer probably wouldn't have a job in the NFL if it wasn't for the Redskins. How does Dan Snyder not take a look at his decision makers and say, "I have some poor talent evaluators here!"

Looking forward to the Chiefs, does anyone think we can beat them? I watched their game against the Cowboys and they looked very good. Then the Eagles? The Eagles will probably be double-digit point favorites for that game. How will Snyder react to a blow-out loss at home on Monday Night football? I don't know either, but it's going to be two weeks full of drama that not even the Lifetime channel could dream of. Let's go Caps?

TEAM STAT COMPARISON

1st Downs	15	16
Passing 1st downs	8	10
Rushing 1st downs	5	4
1st downs from Penalties	2	2
3rd down efficiency	2-9	4-12
4th down efficiency	0-1	0-1
Total Plays	52	60
Total Yards	198	248
Passing	124	162
Comp-Att	17-23	16-25
Yards per pass	5.4	6.5
Rushing	74	86
Rushing Attempts	24	32
Yards per rush	3.1	2.7
Red Zone (Made-Att)	2-3	2-3
Penalties	4-20	5-27
Turnovers	1	2
Fumbles lost	1	1
Interceptions thrown	0	1
Defensive / Special Teams TDs	0	0
Possession	28:43	31:17

Poll

What are you most pissed about?

Westbrook running into Randle-El

83 votes

DeAngelo Hall not making that Delhomme tackle at the end of the game

148 votes

Sellers not blocking resulting in a safety

47 votes

Lack of Oline depth with Samuels getting hurt

207 votes

Play-calling

84 votes

Other (comment below)

32 votes

601 votes | Poll has closed