SB Nation - Andre Carter

Giants at Redskins: 'Kudos & Wet Willies' preview

Ed Valentine — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:00:28 -0000

Let me start by saying this. As a New York Giants fan, I do not have the best feeling in the world about tonight's matchup with the Washington Redskins.

The 4-9 Redskins have played much better than their record indicates in recent weeks, they have a stout defense, and they will be at home. The 7-6 Giants? Well, we should know by now that we just don't know with this team.

Will the defense show up, or will it just play the role of sieve as it has so many times this season?

What part of the special teams will cost the Giants points this week? C'mon, we know one of them will.

Can the offense, playing against a good Redskin defense, score enough points to make up for all the shortcomings around it?

Who knows. The Giants need to win, and they should win. But, things are different for each of these teams than they were in Week 1, when the Giants won, 23-17.

With all of that said, let's run through our usual 'Kudos & Wet Willies' style preview.

There will be lots of 'Kudos' Tuesday if ...

The Giants win in the Red Zone. This will not be easy. The Giants have the league's worst-ranked defense and 25th-ranked offense in that area of the field. So, bluntly, they have been terrible. Washington, on the other hand, has the league's best defense and ninth-ranked offense in the Red Zone. Ominous numbers the Giants must find a way to neutralize.
The defense shows up. Two weeks ago against Dallas Bill Sheridan's group played much more like the unit we expected to see this season. Last week against Philadelphia the defense reverted to the unit we have seen more often than not the last eight weeks. No pass rush, putrid coverage, blown assignments and no big plays. The Redskins offense is not great, and the Giants can't afford to make it look that way.
The Giants can run the ball, at least a little. The Redskins are 23rd in the league against the run. We all know, though, that they will stack the box and try to take Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw away from the Giants. Kevin Gilbride and the Giants have to run enough not to be one-dimensional against an excellent Redskins pass rush.
Eli Manning has a big day. Seems like this is always the case with this version of the Giants. Offensively, they will ride the right arm of Manning and the big-play ability of their exciting group of young wide receivers.

There will be lots of 'Wet Willies' Tuesday if ...

The Giants can't handle Brian Orakpo and Andre Carter. The bookend Redskin defensive ends have been what Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora were supposed to be -- the most dominant duo of pass-rushing ends in the league. They both have 11 sacks, making Washington the only team in the league with two players in double-digits. Rookie Will Beatty will have to deal with Carter, and David Diehl will have to handle Orakpo. If those guys are in the backfield all day, Eli won't be able to create the big plays the Giants will need.
The special teams break down -- again. It seems like every week some area of the special teams falls flat on its face. Last week it was punt coverage, surrendering a touchdown to DeSean Jackson. I would hope for more, but I will settle for the Giants at least not making any huge special teams miscues.
The Giants can't get pressure. Ugh! Again, we need to talk about this. Redskins QB Jason Campbell has posted two straight weeks of 100+ quarterback ratings and has 17 touchdown passes. He might not have a future in Washington, but he isn't exactly JaMarcus Russell. If the Giants don't make him uncomfortable, I have no doubt he will torch the team's beleaguered secondary.

New York Giants notes: Beatty says he's ready

Ed Valentine — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:10:42 -0000

Here are some of the stories regarding our New York Giants that are making news this morning around the Inter-Google.

Ernie Palladino figures rookie Will Beatty, starting at right tackle for the injured Kareem McKenzie, will have his hands full Monday night with Andre Carter.

Beatty, making his second start, is not nervous about his assignment.

"I got my first start jitters behind me," Beatty said today, "and now I can go with the rest of the vets and perform."

Not to give him any new jitters, but the Giants need him to do that in a big way when he plays right tackle against the Redskins in an NFC East game that will be critical to their postseason aspirations.

Beatty, the 2009 second-round draft choice from Connecticut, will step in for Kareem McKenzie, who sprained the medial collateral ligament in his knee in the 45-38 loss to Philadelphia last Sunday. Tom Coughlin said Monday that the team's medical staff said McKenzie would be sidelined "a couple weeks." Although Coughlin pointed out then that McKenzie is traditionally a fast healer, Coughlin said today nothing that has happened since then has changed that prognosis.

So Beatty looks to step up and play well in a big game. He started and played the entire game against Arizona on Oct. 25, which McKenzie missed because of a groin injury, and played the entire second half last week against the Eagles.

"I think I did pretty well," Beatty said. "I had (right guard) Chris Snee helping me a lot, more than anyone should be in a game. So now I need to make sure that I know what I am doing and I am making calls out there and am participating in the actual call making and things along those lines."

"He is a good, young football player," Coughlin said. "We have asked him to play a number of spots. He has played left tackle, he has played tight end, right tackle and has done a good job. He is going to have to do another good job.

With the struggles of the Giants' defense, the offense is well aware of the added pressure it faces.

"We don't know what's going to happen with the defense," receiver Steve Smith said. "We just know we want to score every time. We feel that's what we need to do. We want to be the phase of the game that picks up everybody else."

They may need to, considering the Giants are giving up 25.4 points per game - the fifth-worst average in the league. But the way Eli Manning and his receivers are playing, they are also confident they can beat anyone in a shootout. They're averaging 26.2 points (eighth best in the NFL) and have scored 30 or more in three of the last four games.

On Monday night, they will face a Washington Redskinsteam that has the NFL's seventh-best defense. But with all the big-play weapons the Giants have, they don't feel like they can be consistently stopped.

"Absolutely. We feel like we should be scoring every time," Smith said. "We're disappointed when we don't."

"We have a lot of confidence in one another right now," added left tackle David Diehl. "Just looking at last week, we did so many good things and we still left some things on the field."

Most of the confidence comes from Manning, who is on pace for his first 4,000-yard season. But he gives credit to his unheralded receivers, who have turned the Giants' passing attack into a quick-strike machine. Manning has completed 17 passes of 20 yards or more in the last four games. The Giants (7-6) are among the NFL leaders in big passing plays - tied for third with 51 passes of 20 yards or more.

"I knew that's something we really wanted to improve on in the offseason," Manning said. "I said back then I think we're going to have some more big plays just because we have more speed and explosiveness at the receiver position than we have in the past. Some of it is individual efforts. It's not like we're just throwing the ball deep. Some of it's short passes and the guys are breaking tackles and making big plays."

My take: That offensive explosiveness, and the relative youth at the skill positions, is one reason to feel good about the future of this team. Regardless of what happens in the last three games.

Other notes

Redskins can relate to the sorrow of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Mathias Kiwanuka honored as Good Guy.
Shaun O'Hara to appeal fine.
Eli Manning transcript

(E-mail Ed at bigblueview@gmail.com)

Oakland Raiders Postgame Recap: Redskins 34, Raiders 13

Rated-R Superstar — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:32:23 -0000

Bruce Gradkowski tried to get his third win as a starter in the silver and black. [via cdn2.sbnation.com]

Fresh off of a win on the road as 15-point underdogs, the Oakland Raiders (4-8) took on the Washington Redskins (3-9) as underdogs once again. Trying to stay hot behind quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, the Raiders entered today's game 2-1 when he starts with wins over the Bengals and Steelers. Unfortunately, the game was blacked out locally. Banged up, Chris Cooley and Clinton Portis were among the many Redskins out for today's game. Dive in to see how the Raiders fared with the Redskins on a gloomy day at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. A bit of rain was in the air for this one.

Darren McFadden had a nice first quarter catching the ball. [via cdn1.sbnation.com]

First Quarter: A pathetic return by Gary Russell of 11 huge yards gave us the ball first. He did, however, make the only key play of the series before a sack by LaRon Landry forced the Raiders to punt the ball to the Redskins. Darren McFadden carried it twice on the opening series and basically went nowhere. Anyway, a 68-yard boot by Shane Lechler set up Washington at their own 20 for their opening drive. A five-yard run by Quinton Ganther was the only real positive play on the series. A sack by Trevor Scott, who has been on fire, and an incomplete pass by Jason Campbell forced a Hunter Smith punt. Johnnie Lee Higgins, who had some room on the return, managed to return it to his own 39 yard line. After Bruce Gradkowski hit Higgins for a nine-yard pass, Justin Fargas fumbled; however, Redskins cornerback Fred Smoot had one foot out of bounds on the recovery. It remained Oakland ball. Gradkowski then hit Zach Miller on a big play, but an offensive pass interference on Chaz Schilens brought it back almost to the original line of scrimmage of the drive. A timeout followed it up. The Raiders couldn't really amount anything after that. Another sack doomed a second consecutive drive and it was Lechler time again. A fair catch was called by Antwaan Randle El and the Redskins had it at their own 22. The defense made some nice plays, specifically Kirk Morrison and Chris Johnson, and a three-and-out forced the Redskins to punt. A big play opened up the next drive for the Raiders, as Gradkowski hit Darren McFadden on a slant for 43 huge yards. Unable to muster anything after that, a field goal by Sebastian Janikowski gave the Raiders a 3-0 lead with just over four minutes still to play in the opening quarter. Faced with a third down, Jason Campbell swung it out to Quinton Ganther on the left side. Busting through, Ganther picked up huge yardage to put Washington into not only Oakland territory, but also field goal range. Once again, the Redskins converted on third down. On the very next play, Fred Davis was hit for a touchdown. After whistled for a 15-yard penalty, the Redskins had to kick from their own 15. A 41-yard return by Gary Russell gave Oakland the ball at midfield. An acrobatic grab by McFadden at the 24 yard line capped a seemingly long first quarter.

Fred Davis found the end zone twice and celebrates with a teammate. [via cdn3.sbnation.com]

Second Quarter: Starting the second quarter, a stupid play call (a give to Gary Russell) cost the Raiders a yard. Zach Miller and Chaz Schilens each made grabs and the Raiders had a goal-to-go from the nine. After a miscue on the give to Justin Fargas, the Raiders hit Zach Miller on third down. He was short, however, but Tom Cable remained aggressive from last week. A fourth down carry and dive by Fargas gave the Raiders a touchdown as they had regained a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter. The rain got progressively worse at this point in the game, as noted by commentator Dick Stockton. Fred Davis, open in the secondary, caught a pass and it was for a good gain into Oakland territory. Back-to-back plays by the Raider defense stuffed Quinton Ganther in the backfield. Richard Seymour and Trevor Scott stopped the run and Kirk Morrison and Tommy Kelly blew the next play up on a screen in the backfield. Needing 12 yards on third down, an offsides penalty by Greg Ellis gave the Redskins five free yards. So, another offsides penalty hurt; however, it didn't hurt as much. Hiram Eugene made a great tackle on Randle El and Washington had to settle for a field goal. Graham Gano, just signed out of the UFL, connected on a 46-yard field goal. We were tied, 10-10, in a pretty evenly matched game with 7:27 left to go in the first half. After a three-and-out, a great 58-yard punt from Lechler set the Redskins up at their own 21. The Redskins didn't get far at all, and some good pressure by defensive linemen Matt Shaughnessy and Gerard Warren forced a punt. Jason Campbell was shaken up after the hit. A couple of stupid calls -- runs up the middle by McFadden and Russell -- brought up a long third down. Nearly intercepted by Reed Doughty on a pass intended for Oakland's Zach Miller, Doughy was flagged for illegal contact. It give the Raiders an automatic first down. On the very next play, an open Miller flat out dropped the ball. It was a good pass by Gradkowski, too, but Miller just let it slip through his hands. Welcome to the show Louis Murphy, as he pulled the Raiders to within two yards of the first down marker at the two-minute warning; however, on the next play, a catch of his was correctly called back on the booth review. The Raiders were forced to punt from midfield. A stupid penalty on the punt called against Hiram Eugene -- not stupid on Eugene's part but rather the referee's -- as Eugene was called for interference when he didn't even interfere. The bench was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty and so the Redskins had it at their own 40. Santana Moss made a 14-yard catch and the Redskins were threatening before the half. Next, a big play to Devin Thomas had Washington really in business. Two plays later, Fred Davis scored his second touchdown of the game to give Washington a 17-10 lead. (Damn, he's on my bench in a fantasy football league.) A holding penalty on the kickoff return set the Raiders up in bad position, and there was just seconds to go before halftime. A couple of runs by Gradkowski picked up some yards, but Oakland needed more with just 16 seconds to go without any timeouts remaining. Almost getting sack, Gradkowski flipped it out to Fargas in the flat and he ran out of bounds with less than 10 seconds to go. An incomplete pass on the next play basically made it impossible for a field goal try; however, Tom Cable decided to go for a field goal without running another play. A 66-yard field goal fell short, and Redskins safety Reed Doughty grabbed it and took off from his own end zone. Mario Henderson grabbed him and slammed Doughty to the ground to end the half. The Redskins had a 17-10 lead. For those of you keeping track, a total of 16 penalty flags were thrown. Yes, this was an ugly game.

After filling in for Bruce Gradkowski, JaMarcus Russell spent a ton of time on the ground. [via cdn1.sbnation.com]

Third Quarter: The Redskins started out with the ball at their own 30, and more importantly the lead. A pass interference committed by Tyvon Branch gave the Redskins a fresh set of downs. Michael Huff, who suffered a stinger in the first half, is still out with that injury and being replaced by Hiram Eugene. A couple of incomplete passes had Washington in a third and long situation. A rare blitz by the defense had Campbell sacked back at his own 26 by rookie safety Mike Mitchell. A punt followed that big play. The return by Higgins set the Raiders up in good field position, at their own 44. After going down with a knee injury just before the first half concluded, Gradkowski was out and unable to return. Yes, that means JaMarcus Russell was in -- and playing quarterback, too. Raiders fans everywhere are holding their respective breaths. Needing three years on third down, Russell called a timeout as Oakland was nearing field goal range. Still, they needed a first down if they even wanted to think about a pretty good try being at Washington's 38. A big play conversion to Higgins was followed up by a 10-yard loss on the sack. Ugh, Russell didn't get rid of the ball. Rookie Brian Orakpo brought him down. More stupid play-calling from Tom Cable, the reverse went nowhere. You've already called that play once, Tom. You can't fool the defense like that. An incomplete pass to Darren McFadden set up a 53-yard field goal try for Janikowski. Missing earlier from 66 yards out, this one was much more manageable and Sebastian knocked it through for his second of the day. The Washington lead was trimmed to 17-13 with just under nine minutes to play in the third quarter. The Raiders brought the heat some more on Campbell on the Redskins' next drive, as Stanford Routt nearly got to Campbell. By the way, Routt replaced by the injured Nnamdi Asomugha. Then, on second down, Matt Shaughnessy brought down Campbell for Oakland's third sack of the game. With the third down play coming up short, a good return by Higgins set up Russell and company in good field position just shy of midfield. A second down play resulting in a first down to Zach Miller had the Raiders in Washington territory; however, on the next play, McFadden slips on a run. He still managed to pick up six yards. A pitch that went backwards forced the Raiders to make a play on third down in order to keep the drive alive. Russell found Murphy and the Raiders moved the chains. It's a step forward and then a step backwards for Russell, apparently, as Andre Carter brings him down for a loss. A false start, which didn't occur under Gradkowski, moved the Raiders back five more yards. Another penalty and then another sack totally demolished the drive for the Raiders, and it became third down with 35 yards to go. Is anyone ready for Charlie Frye yet? The punt by Lechler hopped into the end zone, and Washington began their drive at their own 20 with the third quarter almost over with. Almost off of the field, Rock Cartwright made a play on third down for the Redskins and Washington's drive continued. A couple of runs by Quinton Ganther ended the third quarter. The Redskins had a 17-13 lead over three quarters.

Santana Moss and the Redskins ran away in the fourth quarter. [via cdn0.sbnation.com]

Fourth Quarter: Kicking off the fourth quarter was Washington in Oakland territory looking to add onto their four-point lead. Not surprisingly, the quarter begins with two penalties on the Raiders. Routt was called for pass interference -- which was a bad call as Santana Moss had slipped -- and then Howard was flagged for holding. A couple of plays later, the Oakland defense tried to get off the field with Washington tryign to convert a third down needing three yards. Of course, the Redskins picked up the first down with ease on a pass from Campbell to Malcolm Kelly. A touchdown basically kills any chance the Raiders have of winning this game, especially with Gradkowski shelved. An effective screen to Moss set up a touchdown run by Ganther, a Richmond native scoring the first time in his career, and Washington had taken a 24-13 lead with over 11 minutes to play in regulation. It was clearly a great drive by the Redskins. Chewing six minutes up and going 80 yards on 13 plays, you couldn't have asked for more if you were Jim Zorn. The Raiders had the ball back needing two touchdowns and a two-point conversion. In a shocking turn of events, Russell threw a pass that was picked off by LaRon Landry. Why am I still watching the game at this point? I don't know. Campbell to Moss goes for 30 yards, and the Redskins are a touchdown away from blowout city. Some plays later, Ganther's second touchdown of the day put Washington ahead by 31-13 score. Oh, yes, it was all over by then. Russell marched back out there and was sacked. We were all so very surprised. Luckily for us, Carter totally missed the fumble and Henderson pounced on it to keep possession. Blah, blah, blah, the Raiders had to punt without a first down gained; however, Randle El screwed up the punt return and dropped it. Tony Stewart fell on it and Oakland had the ball at midfield. On the very next play, Russell was sacked yet again and this time it was Lorenzo Alexander. That was the seventh sack of the game with five of them coming against Russell compared to only two when Gradkowski was in the game. God, this game couldn't end any sooner. I'll save the dramatics: Russell was sacked on fourth down. Getting Marcus Mason involved some in the fourth quarter, Washington marched down and kicked a field goal to extend their lead to 34-13. Terribly bad went to even worse as Zach Miller went down with an injury. After another useless drive that went nowhere led by the great JaMarcus Russell, the Redskins got the ball back and ran out the clock. Improving to 4-9 are the Redskins and falling to that same record are the Raiders by a 34-13 score.

Little Billy has some explaining to do. [via cdn2.sbnation.com]

The Report Card: I'll give grades to the pass offense, rush offense, pass defense, rush defense and special teams. Of course, you're welcome to give your own grades in the comments.

Pass Offense: D -- Obviously, things were going a lot smoother with Bruce Gradkowski back there instead of the totally inept and awful JaMarcus Russell. Still, we have to grade them both. Gradkowski was a little below average and Russell was awful, so I tried to find the middle ground.
Rush Offense: F -- The rushing offense was absolutely dreadful. On 24 carries, a 2.7 average just isn't going to cut it. Justin Fargas led the way with 21 yards and a touchdown, but that stuff is something that should be achieved in just one quarter and not one whole game.
Pass Defense: D+ -- Jason Campbell had almost a field day going 16-for-28 with 222 yards and a pair of touchdowns. They brought some heat, so that was a good thing but just about the only good thing.
Rush Defense: C -- It was a very average performance by the rush defense with the Redskins averaging around four yards per carry with a couple of rushing touchdowns.
Special Teams: B- -- Janikowski's only miss came from 66 yards. Shane Lechler averaged almost 52 yards per punt. Johnnie Lee Higgins was okay returning punts while Gary Russell was nothing special returning kicks. Overall, it was pretty decent and I guess I couldn't complain about the way special teams played. The coverage wasn't all that bad itself.

My Thoughts and Tidbits: It's quite simple, really. Once JaMarcus Russell came in for the injured Bruce Gradkowski, it all went to hell. Trailing 17-10 at the half, this game was clearly within reach all the way. Charlie Frye should start next week should Gradkowski be unable to go. Next up, we have the Denver Broncos who are 8-5 and leading the Wild Card race in the AFC. This was really rough in the second half. Enjoy your Sunday evening, guys, and try to put this one behind us.

Poll

Weekly Recap Poll: Who was the Oakland Raiders player of the game?

Previewing the Enemy: Washington Redskins

Rated-R Superstar — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:39:28 -0000

It's a Super Bowl XVIII rematch! [via prod.static.raiders.clubs.nfl.com]

Alright, it's not quite a rematch from Super Bowl XVIII when the Raiders smashed the Redskins en route to their third Super Bowl title in franchise history. Nonetheless, this Sunday, the Oakland Raiders (4-8) will look to put together a winning streak as the Washington Redskins (3-9) will be coming to town. Don't let that 3-9 record fool you. This Washington team is better than their record and it clearly showed after taking Dallas, Philadelphia and New Orleans to the wire. They don't lay down and will play hard. With the team 2-1 with Bruce Gradkowski starting, the Raiders look to come away with another hard-earned victory as they did last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers as 15-point underdogs.

Let's take a look at their schedule and see how they've fared so far.

Week 1: @ New York Giants -- L, 17-23
Week 2: St. Louis Rams -- W, 9-7
Week 3: @ Detroit Lions -- L, 14-19
Week 4: Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- W, 16-13
Week 5: @ Carolina Panthers -- L, 17-20
Week 6: Kansas City Chiefs -- L, 6-14
Week 7: Philadelphia Eagles -- L, 17-27
Week 8: Bye Week
Week 9: @ Atlanta Falcons -- L, 17-31
Week 10: Denver Broncos -- W, 27-17
Week 11: @ Dallas Cowboys -- L, 6-7
Week 12: @ Philadelphia Eagles -- L, 24-27
Week 13: New Orleans Saints -- L, 30-33 (F/OT)

Well, this team is certainly interesting. Sitting at 3-9, this team could easily be 6-6 or even better. We will have to bring our "A" game, of course, if we want to secure a victory on our home field this Sunday.

Let's check out the Redskin offense first.

Pass Offense Rank: 220.2 yards/game; 18th in NFL
Rush Offense Rank: 101.0 yards/game; 22nd in NFL
Total Offense Rank: 321.2 yards/game; 21st in NFL
Scoring Offense Rank: 16.7 points/game; 26th in NFL

With stars Chris Cooley and Clinton Portis out, others must step up for the Redskins. [via cache.daylife.com]

If you recall, the Redskins offense was the subject of some controversy or what not concerning head coach Jim Zorn. Well, he gave up his play-calling duties to assistant Sherman Lewis. Since then, the offense has performed better. Who is the leader of this Redskins offense? I really don't know to be honest with you. Let's look a little bit into their personnel.

Jason Campbell, QB: Many people questioned Campbell's status as the quarterback this season. He was even benched in favor of veteran Todd Collins earlier. To me, Campbell is actually a pretty solid quarterback. He isn't going to set the world on fire or anything, but he can still hurt you. Campbell is completing 66 percent of his passes this season even if they are "dinks and dunks" most of the time. With 15 turnovers and 15 touchdown passes, Campbell's ratio isn't all that great. He has been sacked three or more times in five games. Obviously, getting some pressure on him would be nice.

Rock Cartwright, HB: Rock is solid, just like a rock. (Ha, get it?) If you want him to be the running back, he can. If you want him to be the fullback, he can. He'll even run back kicks and run down there on punt returns. He is a threat out of the backfield to catch passes. A somewhat physical runner, Cartwright doesn't really stand out in terms of either his speed or his strength. Cartwright has stepped up for the injured Clinton Portis (concussion), who just put on injured reserve. Also on injured reserve is Portis' backup Ladell Betts, so the Redskins are thin at running back.

Quinton Ganther, HB: Ganther, just in his second year out of Utah, is someone I just don't know too much about. Essentially moving up from fourth on the depth chart to splitting time with Cartwright, Ganther was mildly successful against the Saints last Sunday with 46 yards on just 8 carries. The week before that against the Eagles, Ganther had 32 yards on just 5 carries. We may see more of him against the Raiders with him averaging 5.8 yards per carry over the past few weeks.

Santana Moss, WR: The pint-sized and speedy Moss is Washington's leader in receptions (49), yards (642) and touchdowns (3). He is what you would call the team's go-to-guy, but really the Redskins have a lot of guys they go to. Still, Moss provides that veteran presence and can't be overlooked. Maybe this would be one of the few times where I wouldn't mind Nnamdi Asomugha moving around from receiver to receiver, which he will at least a little bit.

Wide receiver Devin Thomas had two touchdowns last week against the Saints. [via a.espncdn.com]

Devin Thomas, WR: The second-year receiver out of Michigan State, Thomas is a young man seemingly improving with each game of late. He has even been prominent in the kick return game of the past two weeks. Still, he has shined brightly in the passing game over the course of those two same weeks. After a decent game against the Eagles, he broke out for 7 receptions, 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns last week against the Saints.

Antwaan Randle El, WR: The ex-Steeler is still in Washington. Randle El, who is very durable having missed only one game in his eight-year career, he is a dependable target for Campbell despite only averaging 3.3 receptions per game. I believe this is more in part to the number of targets the Redskins like to use. The team isn't confined to both Moss and Rande El as you will see here in a minute in this preview.

Fred Davis, TE: After Campbell's favorite target Chris Cooley went down for the year, someone had to step up. Unknown at the time to Washington, it'd be his replacement. Fred Davis. Since October 26, Davis is averaging 7.5 catches and 45.7 yards with finding the end zone three times, including two times in his last three games. As most tight ends are, he is a threat in the red zone and Campbell has no problem looking his way.

Let's shift gears to the Redskin defense now.

Pass Defense Rank: 190.2 yards/game; 5th in NFL
Rush Defense Rank: 121.8 yards/game; 24th in NFL
Total Defense Rank: 312.0 yards/game; 9th in NFL
Scoring Defense Rank: 19.8 points/game; 14th in NFL

Linebacker London Fletcher leads Washington's better-than-you-think defense. [via cdn.bleacherreport.com]

Defensive coordinator Greg Blache and his Washington Redskins actually have a pretty solid group defensively operating out of the 4-3. You may not think so because of their 3-9 record, but I'm sure people don't think highly of our defense since we're just 4-8. Anyway, the Redskins are particularly strong against the pass. Safety Reed Doughty has quietly had a good year and young LaRon Landry is solid at his spot as well. A pretty solid group of cornerbacks are headed by veteran Fred Smoot, who is in his ninth year out of Mississippi State. The leader of the defense is the man in the middle, London Fletcher, who leads the team with 109 tackles. Brian Orakpo, the 13th overall pick in the 2009 draft, plays on the outside along with veteran Rocky McIntosh. Defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth has been in and out of the lineup with injuries this season. He signed a monster contract in the offseason, but the Redskins' defense is only ranked 24th against the rush. His presence is desperately needed for Washington. Haynesworth is listed as questionable as of right now. At right defensive end, Andre Carter has nine sacks and deserves some Pro Bowl recognition for his great play. Again, this is a very solid defense and will do everything it can to keep their offense in this game late on the road.

Conclusion: The thing that sticks out defensively about the Redskins is their 24th-ranked rush defense. With Haynesworth questionable, he probably won't be playing on every down. Justin Fargas, Michael Bush and Darren McFadden should have success as long as head coach Tom Cable keeps giving them the rock. I believe of the first 28 plays against the Steelers, 18 of them were rushes. That is a similar ratio that I hope to see this week considering how strong Washington's pass defense is. Speaking of the pass, the breakout of Louis Murphy was something else, especially with Darrius Heyward-Bey out. It's nice to see someone step up at the receiver spot. Chaz Schilens even found the end zone for the first time in 2009 and Todd Watkins caught a key pass in the final drive. Johnnie Lee Higgins came through for us as well. Wide receivers against Pittsburgh caught 12 balls for 248 yards, both of which I'm sure were season-highs for our club. We're definitely going to need that against the Redskins' formidable pass defense against the previously mentioned Smoot and also Carlos Rogers and ex-Raider DeAngelo Hall. This may be a good test for Bruce Gradkowski as well, even though he did perform well against two really good defenses already in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. I think we're ready for this.

Feel free to leave your predictions or even your own thoughts and ideas about the Pittsburgh Steelers and how we can earn a win our fourth win of the season on Sunday.

*-All stats are through Tuesday, December 8, 2009.

Poll

Do you feel more confident in a win, less confident in a win or about the same in a win after reading this preview?

More confident

161 votes

Less confident

81 votes

About the same

128 votes

370 votes | Poll has closed

Hogs Haven Chats with Canal Street Chronicles

KevinE — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:00:17 -0000

I had a chance to chat with Dave, the lead editor of the Saints' SB Nation site, Canal Street Chronicles. Below is our transcript, which covers: the Saints ability to adjust to cold weather for the first time this year, the short week, how to stop Drew Brees, and Mark Brunell. I copied/pasted pretty much as is so if there's a few typos in there, keep in mind it was a back/forth IM:

Hogs Haven: Still partying from Monday night?

Canal St Chronicles: Haha. I think I've finally come down. I did buy my NFC Championship Game tix today. Pretty exciting.

Hogs Haven: Why would you pay money to see Eagles @ Vikings?

Canal St Chronicles: Ha! Funny.

Hogs Haven: So, I think the Skins can cover (with a chance for an upset)...one of my points is that the forecast for Sunday is a HIGH of 43 degrees....last time the Saints played in cold weather they lost to the Bears week 15 last year....you think cold weather will be an issue?

Canal St Chronicles: It's definitely a concern. The Saints are a Dome team and they don't do too well in poor conditions. This years team is different, however, and one reason I think it will affect the Saints less this Sunday is the presence of a great running game they can rely on. In years past, the offense has mostly centered around Drew Brees and cold weather doesn't lend itself to the aerial attack. Now the Saints have a cold-weather run game. Besides, mentally I think this team is incredibly focused right now and Sean Payton can get them all to believe they're really playing in Palm Springs if need be.

Hogs Haven: That's my next question, they certainly have been focused, but now the win over the Pats, plus the short week, plus travelling..only means 2 days of on-field practice...can they be 100% focused?

Canal St Chronicles: Yeah. That's not something I'm really worried about. The Saints are in uncharted territory here and I don't think anyone wants to be the guy responsible for screwing it up. The players are having fun out there but they are extremely focused. Payton comes from the Parcells/Belichick school of coaching. He's also focused heavily on keeping only players with good character.

Hogs Haven: So does that mean Payton told Reggie Bush to break up with kim Kardashian?

Canal St Chronicles: They're back together. Don't you read Perez Hilton. Geez.

Hogs Haven: which is why I guess reggie bush doesn't play anymore.

Canal St Chronicles: Oh man, you're gonna make me talk about Reggie, huh?

Hogs Haven: The question of the hour...how do we stop Drew Brees?

Canal St Chronicles: I would try to gameplan an incredibly aggressive pass rush.I tell this to bloggers every week:

Bring pressure early, often and always. Teams have got to bring constant pressure on Drew Brees. From all different angles. Confuse the hell out of him and always keep your hands up at the line. And lastly, do it for the full sixty minutes. Don't quit. That was exactly what wound up being the downfall of the 2007 Patriots but it took a while for teams to figure it out. Sooner or later some coach is actually going to listen to me and it's going to work. You watch.

Hogs Haven: Seriously, is anyone worried that Brunell is your only backup?

Canal St Chronicles: Nobody is really worried. And honestly, during his pre-season work Brunell has looked surprisingly competent.

Hogs Haven: Oh man, Hogs Haven is gonna love that quote. He couldn't throw the ball over 25 yards by the time he left...but he will forever be a hero for his miracle in Dallas on MNF.

Hogs Haven: Anything the Skins can exploit in your defense?

Canal St Chronicles: I think offenses can exploit the inside running game as you said earlier. The Saints did get back their starting defensive tackle, Sedrick Ellis, so they should play better from here on out. But the Skins will need to continue to attack the inside, which becomes tough if the team is playing from behind. You definitely don't want to get behind the Saints.

Hogs Haven: I haven't talked to a Lousiania native in awhile, how is the Katrina recovery? Is it in a "best it will ever get stage" or are things still progressing?

Canal St Chronicles: It's pretty good. I think the city will be better off in the long run. Of course there are still little reminders or issues that people are still dealing with but for the most part, it's now in the past.

What do you think? The best way to keep the Saints from running up the score is by keeping the offense on the field. Running Rock and Gainther up the middle will be very important.

One thing is clear, when I watch the game Sunday, the Redskins D-line better have their hands in the air every passing play. Drew Brees is not a tall guy, so Phillip Daniels, Hanyesworth, and Andre Carter have a lot of opportunities to tip some balls.

Pour Some Sugar On Me - The 10 Most Irreplaceable Washington Redskins Revisited

Sugar — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:00:14 -0000

At the beginning of the season, I made a list of the ten players (click here to check out original post as well as any comments you or others may have made) I named the Most Irreplaceable Redskins. I attempted to take into account depth at each position, and identify those players who were most central to the success of this year's team. I thought that with the season on ice, it would be a good time to break out the list and see what we (I) thought, and how it worked out. I asked the question, "Who can we least afford to lose to injury?" The list goes from #10 to #1 (as ranked in the preseason):

Ten Yard Fight - 10 Chances To Make One Good Point

10) Hunter Smith - Well, I think I nailed this one. Not only has he been a decent punter for us, he has chipped in on offense, accounting for two touchdowns this season. We might have lost the opener against the Giants, but when Hunter scored his touchdown, we were very much alive. And when he threw the touchdown pass to Mike Sellers against the Broncos a few weeks ago, it was the turning point in the game. Yes, I think his performance this season has been very much worthy of a spot on this list. Coincidentally, when he was out, we did not score any touchdowns from the punter position.

9) Derrick Dockery- Hmmmm...has he been spectacular? No. But he has been in the lineup every week. In fact, you rarely hear his name called, for good or bad. I struggle with what that should mean. You can say he has been our best lineman, but on this offensive line, that is hardly a compliment. And that is only true due to injuries. Coming into the season, here is what I said about Dockery: "Let's not mix words here--we brought in Dockery to be an upgrade, not to hold down the position until someone better comes along. He has to perform well and he has to perform well right away." Given the relative nightmare our line has been all season long, it is just too hard to consider anyone currently in uniform on that line to be irreplaceable. That said, Dockery has probably been our most solid player there.

8) Fred Davis- This preseason, all I envisioned was a stretch of games where Fred Davis took defenses by surprise and single-handedly saved our red zone offense. I always thought it would be in conjunction with Cooley, Portis and Moss though. I think Davis has turned out to be irreplaceable. His talent is undeniable and there is nobody else on the roster who could have stepped in to Cooley's shoes and done as well (Yoder included.) If he continues to progress the rest of this season and into next season, we should have two pretty solid receiving targets working the field from the tight end spot.

7) Brian Orakpo- I took some heat for putting the rookie in here. I mentioned that if he failed to dominate, we would get a steady diet of Michael Oher chants. Well, he leads all rookies in sacks and he has played hard all season. It is very refreshing to see a draft pick of ours come in and contribute at such a high level actually. Certainly irreplaceable for us.

6) Santana Moss- Well...not so irreplaceable this year, eh? We seem to lose him every year don't we? Either to injury or to invisibility. JC can't seem to get the ball to him over the course of a game in ways that change the outcome of the game. HE is by far our best receiver, but at this point in the season, we are finding ourselves all of a sudden capable of moving the ball through the air with any of our receiving options (to the extent we are at all capable on any given week.) The good news is that it would seem we are past the years when our passing game was a one-trick pony with Santana Moss dominating opposing secondaries. The bad news is that we may have wasted some of Santana's abilities by being unable to stretch the field with him successfully this year.

5) Jason Campbell - I said at the time that I felt he was easily our #1 most irreplaceable guy. But with both Todd Collins and Colt Brennan healthy at that point, I moved him down the list a little bit. JC has been a fighter for us this year. He has hung tough week in and week out. You could argue that we have gotten every scrap of ability and effort out of this player. While it is true that an upgrade at this position might have netted us an extra win or two, I doubt it is fair to say it would have meant playoffs. Our offense has too many other problems. Regardless of what happens next season, JC was irreplaceable for us this season.

4) Mike Sellers - I goofed on this one it would seem. On the strength of his lead blocking, I had him as an indispensable member of this offense. Then came the safety in Detroit, and the inability to punch in a few goal line carries early in the season when he just did not seem to get any kind of push into the end zone. Sellers has been a fan favorite in D.C. for a number of years so I am ready to chalk up this season as just a down year for Big Mike. But he has been far from irreplaceable this season.

3) Clinton Portis- We have had the chance to see this one put to the test. Ladell Betts proved to be up to the tack of replacing CP as it turns out. Maybe Ladell should have been the more irreplaceable guy? I think Portis was hurt right away this season and tried to work his way through it even though our rushing attack suffered. It is possible he will never be 100% healthy again in this league. But at that 100% level, I do think he is irreplaceable. Now, I find it hard to fathom we can get through this next draft without using a mid-round selection on a running back.

2) Chris Samuels- This was the most accurate pick on my list. Even when he was playing with a few nagging injuries, he was by far the best we had. Without him, we have shuffled old guys and new guys all over the place trying to find a mix that would somehow get us through the rest of the season. Levi Jones has played admirably well, but to say we have a replacement for Samuels is laughable. The only way we can replace #60 is at the top of the 1st round in an upcoming draft. And then it will still be a battle for the blue-chipper to fill those shoes.

1) Albert Haynesworth- At the end of last season, teams decided to run against us all day long. Remember that? It was awful. Enter Albert Haynesworth. His presence on our defensive line has made a huge impact. Andre Carter and Brian Orakpo are getting sacks. Linebackers are getting to the ball-carrier with more freedom. Our #1 ranked pass defense has a LOT to do with the push Haynesworth gets up front. The added pressure on the quarterback has been noticeable from day one. Without him on the field against the Cowgirls, our pass rush faded big-time in the 4th quarter. The debate about Haynesworth will always include his salary, but on the field, he is priceless and certainly irreplaceable.

I'll say I was right on with Hunter Smith, Brian Orakpo, Jason Campbell (only kill me on this one if you think Todd Collins could have done better), Chris Samuels and Albert Haynesworth. That is 50% and is not so good. Fred Davis and Derrick Dockery are close but because the offense has been so bad this year, it is too difficult to say that they are in fact irreplaceable.

Poll

Who has been the most irreplaceable Redskin this season?

Brian Orakpo

119 votes

Albert Haynesworth

136 votes

Hunter Smith

50 votes

Chris Samuels

115 votes

Jason Campbell

70 votes

490 votes | Poll has closed

Cowboys vs. Redskins: A Chat With Hogs Haven

Dave Halprin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:00:05 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

Jason Campbell and Jim Zorn try to get on the same page.

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This week, I got together for a little instant message chat with KevinE over at Hogs Haven to discuss the upcoming game against the Redskins. Since it was an IM conversation, I left the spellings and errors in the text so you can read it just how how it went down.

Blogging The Boys: So what's the story with Jim Zorn and Vinny Cerrato? Do you guys think Zorn will survive past this year?

Hogs Haven: if you had asked me last week I'd say Zorn had 0% chance, but there aren't any big names out there. And the way they stripped the play-calling from Zorn...it was a real turn-off for coaches (Holmgren publically stated his displeasure of the move)

As for Cerrato...no one knows. It certainly would win some popularity points for Snyder if he canned him. I think it depends on Cerrato's 3 2nd round picks from last year (THomas, Kelly, Davis)...if they show a lot of production the rest of the year, it'll prob be enough to save his job. Shanahan rejected Snyder's offer to come here as well...as did Cowher. So...its anyone's guess.

More after the jump...

BTB: What's the main problem on offense. Jason Campbell? The running game, the o-line? Why are they having so many problems scoring?

HH: Oline is a huge problem. They drafted ZERO this year after losing Chris Samuels & Randy Thomas to season-ending injuries last year. There's no depth there.

Portis certainly doesn't have that boost like he used to, which is why people are happy Betts is getting the starts. Play-calling was poor at times the first half the season too...the Skins have no problem moving the ball, and then Zorn would call some obscure plays on 3rd and goal...like a Portis half-back pass. Execution has also been another back-breaker...lots of dropped balls and missed blocks...but I'd say the lion's share w/o doubt is the Oline...Skins (before bringing in Levi Jones) had THREE undrafted free agents starting

BTB: What happened last week? Why did things get better?

HH: they ran the ball very effectively...Skins have never been able to do that all year

Joe Bugel tore the Oline a new ass at halftime vs the Falcons and ever since then they've been performing...creating holes and doing decent pass block

BTB: Is Betts a better fit for the offense right now, or would Portis have probably done just as well with the o-line playing better?

HH: That's been the debate all week...this was Levi Jones' 1st game at LT and he did well. But I really think Betts is a better fit. He runs hard and hits the hole. CP hit that 2000 rushing attempts plateau and it's showing. He's still a great RB tho and is invaluable in pass blocking

BTB: Things have been better on defense, you guys do pretty well in keeping the scoring down. What's been the successful components of the defense?

HH: Haynesworth. His force upfront has allowed Andre Carter and Brian Orakpo to have 1-1 coverage and they are reeking havoc in backfields. It also frees up London Fletcher on rushing plays. skins are on pace to have two 10-sack players...first time in 9 years and its been sorely missed in DC (they're gonna blow way past 10...each already have 7) (carter 8.0, Orakpo 7.0 to be exact)

BTB: So the pass rush has fueled the defensive success? How has the secondary played?

HH: depends...they're tackling has been atrocious. Big talk this week is Carlos Rogers getting benched last week after letting BMarshall blow by him on a double move

same move he got burned on by DeSean Jackson. they haven't announced if he's startnig or not, but they think he well. We lost our SS, Chris Horton, for the year which really hurts us. Reed Doughty is playing OK but has made some mistakes as well. It's upsetting Laron Landry, our FS, has 0 INTs.

BTB: Sounds like the big battle will be between the Redskins pass rush vs. the Cowboys pass protection. Do you expect them to target new RT Marc Colombo?

HH: definitely. there's not much targeting to do tho...Hayensworth demands all the attention. I hope Blache brings the corner blitzes which Romo seemed to have trouble with last week vs GB

BTB: what are your expectations for the game? Prediction?

HH: Skins seem to disappoint at all the wrong times, so call me delusional but I think the Skins can win this. The vets made it known to the young guys what this game means. WAS 26 DAL 24. If it wasn't for the loss of Hamlin and Columbo, I'd have picked DAL

BTB: Forgot to ask, where are you on the Jason Campbell issue?

HH: It's so tough given how bad this Oline is...he is getting sacked on 3-foot drops at some points. INEXCUSABLE. However, he's on pace to have back-to-back 3,000 yard seasons, which only 3 other legendary Redskins QBs have done in our franchise

Sentiment here is build up the Oline via the draft the next 2 years...keeping Campbell, then draft a stud QB once we get a line in here to protect him

Redskins vs Cowboys: Haynesworth & Corner Blitzing are the Keys to Victory

KevinE — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:19:16 -0000

Well, it's Cowboys week and if there's ever a time to stay medium, this is the week. Vegas opened the line with Cowboys as 13 point favorites, which America bold-heartedly disagrees with as the line has moved down to -11. In my weekly routine of combing over the opponent's offensive stats, the Cowboys are damn impressive. They average a 2^nd best rushing yards per carry (5.1), but only rank 24^th in the league in rushing attempts. Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett has been catching a LOT of heat this week in Big D for abandoning the run, so I expect the Skins D to face a lot of rushes early.

Their passing game is equally as scary with a league leading 11 passing plays that have gone for 40+ yards, while Romo has only given up a measly 6 INTs so far. November is Romo's month, 15-2 for his career, but alas....one of those losses was against the burgundy & gold.

Whichever team runs the ball well is going to win, and looking at the rushing statistics, it's clear Albert Hanyesworth is without doubt the key to this game. He was wearing a protective boot for his sprained ankle yesterday, but is expected to play. Special thanks to HH member PommyLee for putting the following graphs together.

This chart visualizes the power runs, which is the % success rate rushing the ball on 3^rd or 4^th down with under 2 yards to get the 1^st down. Dallas has a 100% success rate running right in short yardage situations while Stephon Heyer and the Redskins have a 0% success rate running the same way:

Even though the Cowboys have a lot of success running right in short yardage situations, their success is running the ball left and up the middle. This next chart shows the number of rushes for each team left, right, and up the middle. Just under half of the Cowgirls' big play rushes are to the left. Phillip Daniels has his work cut out for him as this chart shows:

PommyLee: Dallas has 5 negative yard plays running right which I assume must all be sweeps on early downs considering their 100% success in short yardage. Even though we have 0% success running right in short yardage we get some success with long runs running right and left

Moving over to the passing game, pressure is IMPERATIVE. The Cowgirls have allowed a 19^th worst 22 sacks. Green Bay deserves a lot of credit since they notched 5 sacks last week. Don Capers used a 3-4 scheme and blitzed relentlessly to major success:

"They have a good scheme, they throw a lot of guys around and they have good players who know how to (blitz) and it just made for confusion from time to time," Romo said

Romo has actually struggled against all the 3-4 defenses he's faced. In regards to pressure, Defensive Coordinator Greg Blache prefers to blitz the safeties, but he has changed that up this year. In the squeaker win over Tampa, Blache blitzed all the corners at least once with Tryon drawing the most praise:

"[Tryon] brings that mentality of special teams to defense," [Secondary Coach Jerry] Gray said. "[Now] you've brought in a guy who has reckless abandon to go and make plays. Justin could have blitzed and when the quarterback scrambled away, but he accelerated and didn't slow down until he got his hands on him. That's the mentality they teach on special teams. It carries over."

The Cowboys O-line is banged up, which the Redskins welcome, especially Andre Carter. Right Tackle Marc Columbo is likely gone for the year, and Doug Free will step in, who has never started a game before.

If the Skins show a 3-4 at times, it's imperative they get pressure with Haynesworth in the middle. The big man also takes away the rush the middle...if he can make it through this game without injury, that $100 million contract might just be worth it.

The VRR: Can the Cowboys Regain their Balance Against the Redskins?

Aaron Novinger — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:04:37 -0000

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

When the Cowboys host the Redskins this Sunday, many eyes will be watching how Jason Garrett divvies up his runs and passes.

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The first time the Cowboys hosted an NFC East rival in their new stadium, the offense featured a devastating rushing attack that mixed both power and speed. Marion Barber ran 18 times for 124 yards and a score. Felix Jones averaged 13.7 yards on seven carries and picked up a score of his own. Tashard Choice didn't have a big game, but you could tell the coaches were trying to get him involved. Typically, that's how many of us imagined the Dallas ground game producing for the rest of the year.

Much has changed since that Week Two game against the Giants. It all began with a strained quad, and then a sprained knee, a fractured thumb. But it was okay. Miles Austin saved the day, and then Tony Romo got hot. Their success has helped make up for the fact that the Cowboys no longer lead the league in rushing.

Choice has maintained his injury bug repellent, and the team is still ranked 8th in rushing - averaging 130 YPG. That's great, but the worry is that the rushing YPG is slipping every week. The worry is that the Dallas offense is growing unbalanced. The worry is that too many passing plays draw more hits on the quarterback, and can effectively lose the time of possession battle. Losing that can wear out a defense.

Shouldn't it be the Cowboys' offense doing that to opposing defenses this back half of the season?

More VRR after the jump.

Last season, in a loss to the Redskins, the Cowboys' RBs had 8 carries. Last week, in a loss against the Packers, they had 11. What does offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett, have to say about this?

Garrett said it was because of "game circumstance," mentioning that the Cowboys trailed by three scores with 10 minutes remaining in the game. But the Cowboys abandoned the run after the first quarter, when Marion Barber had four carries for 27 yards.

Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers told reporters after the game that Green Bay, which sacked Tony Romo five times, could blitz aggressively because the Cowboys were so one-dimensional.

"You don’t want to be one-dimensional in anything you do," said Garrett, whose offense has run pass plays 62.7 percent of the time this season, including sacks and Romo scrambles.

"You don’t want to just be an inside running team. You don’t just want to be an outside running team. You don’t just want to be a dropback team. You want to be able to move the quarterback, you want to be able to run the ball, play-action, drop back. "The more you can do, the harder it is on the defense. At the same time, you need to have an identity. Identity is important, too. You don’t want to be all things to all people, but you want to be good at a lot of different things."

Clarence Hill takes the opposite approach to the Cowboys' lack of rushing attempts: the running game has simply been ineffective.

Their running attempts and yards have a diminished dramatically since the start of the season. That is a more of a product of Marion Barber and Felix Jones being injured. Neither has had the same burst since returning to the lineup. Barber missed one game. Jones missed two. Barber has started to look more like his old self of late.

But Jones looks uncomfortable and tentative. He has not been a game-breaking threat. Consider that he has had only two runs longer than 10 yards the last four games since returning from the sprained knee and they were just 12 and 11 yards each. He has not had a run longer than four yards against the Eagles and Packers the past two weeks.

Jones needs to be game-breaking good for the Cowboys to be truly special on offense. He hasn’t been that lately.

Barber didn't get much of a chance to perform...apparently because of his thumb.

Running back Marion Barber saw his time limited against the Packers because of problems with a fractured left thumb that was causing him trouble on pass protection at Green Bay. Barber had four carries in the first half for 26 yards, but he carried it just one time for minus-1 yard in the second half. The Cowboys went with Tashard Choice because he could handle the blitz pickups.

"We use Marion because he's such a dominant blocker," coach Wade Phillips said, "but he was having problems so we took him out."

If Barber can't get the job done in pass protection, the coaches are more apt to go with Choice rather than Felix.

When Barber's broken left thumb prevented him from blocking effectively in the second half Sunday, the Cowboys turned to Choice to protect Romo.

"He is a better pass protector than Felix, and he picks up the blitzes better," Phillips said of Choice. Hamstring and toe injuries forced Jones to miss 10 games last season, time he could have used honing his blocking skills.

"He's just not as adept at it yet," Phillips said. "(Choice) knows his assignments well and does a good job of blocking."

We may have seen a decrease in handoffs, but we have seen an increase in the "Razorback" lately.

According to Stats & Information, the Cowboys are fifth in the league in terms of Wildcat plays with seven. Tashard Choice had a touchdown run out of the Wildcat against the Eagles in Week 8.

The Cowboys will need to run the ball against the Redskins. They are first in the league in pass defense, giving up an average of just 162.7 YPG.

Romo will be facing the top-ranked passing defense in the league as well as one of the NFL's most improved pass rushes. The Redskins had 24 sacks last season to tie for the third-worst mark in the league, and have already matched that total. Linebacker Brian Orakpo, the No. 13 overall draft pick, leads all rookies with seven sacks and veteran Andre Carter has eight. Last season, the Redskins failed to sack Romo.

"Last year I felt we had some QBs feel very comfortable in the pocket," coach Jim Zorn said. "And this year we are making quarterbacks uncomfortable in the pocket."

That pass rush could be even more potent with Doug Free expected to make his first career start Sunday at right tackle for Dallas in place of Mark Colombo, who had started 57 consecutive games. Colombo had surgery after he broke his left leg and suffered ligament damage in his ankle against Green Bay.

Look for DE Andre Carter and rookie Brian Orakpo to again spearhead the Redskins' pass rush.

Orakpo already set a club record for sacks in a season by a rookie with seven, three more than any other rookie in the league.

With 15 sacks between them, Carter and Orakpo rank as the No. 3 tandem in the league behind the Colts' Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis (17.5) and the Vikings' Jared Allen and Kevin Williams (17).

"That's what they drafted me for, to make big plays," Orakpo said. "[Andre's] a guy I've looked up to and admired. That's what keeps great pass rushers hungry and able to improve - it's competing. You don't ever want one guy doing all the workload."

Andre Gurode has no ill-feelings about the 2006 game when Albert Haynesworth stomped on his face. The violent injury necessitated 30 stitches along with plastic surgery.

"It's good that he moved passed it. I moved passed it," said Gurode, a Pro Bowl pick the past three seasons. "He is a great player."

Haynesworth calls Gurode "one of the best centers in the game. ... He has good movement. He is big. He is strong."

Gurode opted against filing criminal charges against Haynesworth, who publicly and privately apologized to Gurode in the days after the October 2006 game in Nashville. Now that they will be on the field together again, Gurode knows there will be plenty of reminders of what happened, from the questions being asked to the video replays sure to be on TV.

"I expected when he signed with the Redskins and we played them that it was going to be brought up," Gurode said. "It's something in the past and you can't let what happened in the past define who you are today."

Haynesworth (ankle) may be questionable for Sunday's game. RB Clinton Portis (concussion) will not play.

Bob Cohn asks if Portis' best football is behind him.

But a decline would not be unprecedented or unexpected because Portis' durability and ruggedness might be catching up to him. Going into the season, only four active runners had more career carries. All of them - Edgerrin James, LaDainian Tomlinson, Fred Taylor and Jamal Lewis - have seen better days.

You may have read earlier that Doug Free will get the start at RT for Marc Colombo. The new face on the first-team defense was also announced today. Alan Ball has been named the starter at FS for the injured Ken Hamlin.

Coach Phillips makes it sound like Ball can "ball".

"He's so aggressive," Phillips said. "I mean we've seen him on special teams and he's very aggressive. And he tackles well. He's not a big guy but he tackles well. It's a concern. Their running game is a concern because they have a strong running game. They had 174 yards last week against Denver, who we know can play the run pretty well."

Special teams dynamo, David Buehler, did not practice today because of a pinky toe injury. Todd Archer said that Buehler was "limping noticeably".

Some of the Cowboys have begun the holiday season by helping to serve Thanksgiving dinner at the Dallas Salvation Army homeless center.

SB Nation's power rankings dropped the Cowboys just two spots - from 7 to 9.

Where has Jason Witten gone this year? While Romo still targets him plenty, Witten's yards per catch are at a career low, and he's been a non-factor at the goal-line. With teams keying in on Miles Austin and Roy Williams generally hit-or-miss, the Cowboys will need more from Witten if they're going to develop some offensive consistency. (And losing RT Marc Colombo to injury won't help either)

Was It Over When the Germans Bombed Pearl Harbor? Redskins Defeat Broncos To Keep Season Hopes Alive

Sugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:51:24 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

Hunter Smith and Shaun Suisham have been two of the brightest spots on this team this season. They led the way again against the Broncos.

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Listen...at 3-6, I am not digging around for the keys to the bandwagon. In fact, as much as I want to talk about our strong finishes down the stretch in recent years, the sting of last season's 2-6 finish is still too painful. So I am going to do the best thing I can think of--enjoy the hell out of a home victory and lose myself a little in the euphoria.

There is certainly something to the fact that the Broncos are in a big-time rut right now. They brought in a raw, tentative Chris Simms in the second half and that was helpful to our defense ( to say the least). And for whatever reason, they decided not to throw it to Brandon Marshall on every play (huge mistake). For these reasons and others, I am going to refrain from overblowing the value of the win in NFL terms.

But for Washington fans and players alike, the value of this win is priceless. We have crammed a whole season's worth of drama, intrigue, and shenanigans into 9 weeks. The mounting losses this year have shifted attention to areas and topics away from the field. For better or worse, the win brings the focus of this city right back between the whistles. Despite any of those things I mentioned above with regard to this game, the Redskins actually played well enough to win the game. The game was not handed to them. The numbers don't lie--we dominated our opponent this week. Worthy of a second glance: two penalties, and zero turnovers.

Team Stat Comparison

1st Downs	14	22
Passing 1st downs	8	13
Rushing 1st downs	6	9
1st downs from Penalties	0	0
3rd down efficiency	5-12	8-16
4th down efficiency	0-2	1-2
Total Plays	56	70
Total Yards	305	388
Passing	185	214
Comp-Att	14-31	18-27
Yards per pass	6.0	7.9
Rushing	120	174
Rushing Attempts	22	40
Yards per rush	5.5	4.4
Red Zone (Made-Att)	0-1	2-4
Penalties	4-45	2-19
Turnovers	2	0
Fumbles lost	1	0
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Defensive / Special Teams TDs	0	0
Possession	24:17	35:43

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All week long, I kept saying, "I have a good feeling about this one." To most people who know me, that is like hearing Lindsay Lohan say, "I might have an STD." Of course I had a good feeling. But I found the more people I talked to, the more people I was hearing agree with me. Everyone bought into the "short week/cross country trip/struggling Broncos" argument. The Vegas line shifted towards the Redskins all week long. There was no place where the positive vibe was more apparent however, than FedEx Field. I was a little shocked to be honest. It was loud in there. I didn't think the place was particularly full, but the people who were in the seats came ready to yell and scream. (Though there was certainly some unrest after Brandon Marshall git his second TD of the day...seriously, how do you not just throw it to him on every play against us?)

On the field, Jason Campbell protected the ball. The offensive line played well and Ladell Betts reminded everyone why he has been considered one of the better long relievers in the game in recent history (whether he gets to go for a few more innings or not discussed below.) On defense, Carlos Rogers played himself onto the bench and the defensive line really did a good job of applying pressure as the game progressed. I always get a little giddy when I see Jarmon and Orakpo in the game together, but you know who played a pretty good game yesterday? Andre Carter. He had 7 tackles (5 solo), 2 tackles for a loss, and 1.5 sacks. He had 4 QB hits. Orakpo's stat line is equally impressive (6 tackles, 3 for a loss, and 1.5 sacks), but I found myself watching Carter on more plays than Orakpo. I really respected what Andre did yesterday. I even watched him after the last whistle. He was spent. He couldn't move from his spot, on one knee, for a good 3-4 minutes. I appreciated that even more since I had noted in the second half how hard he seemed to be playing. Haynesworth deserves a lot of credit for the success of our defensive line, but Orakpo and Carter are still out there earning their stats. For those who watched the broadcast yesterday or listened to Sonny and Sam, I am interested in hearing any commentary regarding our defensive ends.

We can't talk about this game without talking about Hunter Smith can we? We showed the fake, called a timeout and then came back out and ran the fake! I was looking for the crane it was going to take to hoist Zorn's balls back to the locker room. At the outset of the season, we identified Hunter Smith as one of our "Irreplaceable Players." Two touchdowns later, he has exceeded my expectations. The pass to Mike Sellers seemed to take an eternity to land in his arms, but when it did, one thought occurred to me: "This is our Lavar play." You know the one...the interception return for a touchdown against the Panthers when we were 0-5 under Marty Schottenheimer.

I still don't know how all this plays out in the offseason, but after that Hunter Smith TD pass, things were different. Holding the Broncos to a field goal before the end of the first half sealed it for me. Closing out the Broncos in the second half seemed like a foregone conclusion--aided immensely by the insertion of Chris Simms into their lineup. Everyone was that confident too, not just me.

I just re-read this thing as I look to wrap it up and get it out. I am wondering to myself if this article is begging to end with some kind of preposterous, open-ended question like, "Is this the win that propels this team to a run at the wild card?" All I can hear is the voice of Chris Rock, after he recounts the story of a dude who gets a G.E.D. and thinks now he can to college. "Slow down! Not so fast!"

Here is what this win does...it gets us to 3-6. The best thing about 3-6 is that it is not 2-7. The difference between the two means little to many of the onlookers from outside our little world here. But to us, it is huge. Enjoy it. We deserve it.

But get it out of your system quickly...Dallas Week begins today.

Poll

If Clinton Portis is cleared by doctors to play against Dallas, should Ladell Betts remain the starter?

Yes

521 votes

No

88 votes

609 votes | Poll has closed