SB Nation - Mike Sellers

Washington Redskins Defeat Oakland Raiders In Front of Hundreds Of Oakland Fans

Sugar — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:24:40 -0000

More photos » by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

Jim Zorn laughs after hearing Sherman Lewis tell the one about a priest, a rabbi, and Vinny Cerrato walking into a bar over his headset.

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Okay, so it may have been more than a few hundred, but at one point on the national feed I could hear individual people clapping. Before the game you knew it was two teams playing for nothing. By the end of the game it was clear one team was acting like a group playing for nothing and the other was playing the part of a group trying to keep the party going. This Redskins team has found something to be sure. When I watch these guys I think, "Wow...this looks like an actual NFL team...this looks like teams around the league that know what they're doing."

We can spend all day kicking each other in the nuts wondering where this level of play has been all year. It is an exercise in futility, though. Here are a few thoughts on that subject:

1) We were still employing this new offensive system with players Zorn inherited from an old regime with a different philosophy.Is there really anything to this? I spent some time yesterday at Comcast Studios and kicked the idea around with those folks and one thing we talked about specifically was the fact that we are getting it done now with guys who were brought in since Zorn arrived and not prior to his arrival. (FYI--this means Vinny gets some credit which kills me.) This is not to suggest that Clinton Portis, Mike Sellers, Chris Cooley, Chris Samuels, Randy Thomas, Ladell Betts, or even Jon Jansen are or were guys incapable of thriving in Zorn's offense. I think what it means is that all these guys coming on and contributing now have been brought up in this new system over the last two years--Devin Thomas, Fred Davis, Malcolm Kelly....well, it would be hard/unfair to put guys like Mike Williams, Quinton Ganther, Levi Jones, and even Derrick Dockery in here, but the idea is that our lineup now is full of guys brought in to support the new ideology. Time for all of us to put on our cups, because Cerrato is most likely sticking around to work our nuts like a collective group of heavy bags.

2) Sherman Lewis is having a very positive impact.I am done with trying to read into what his level of involvement during the week means and whether or not he can be effective as a coach if he only speaks to Jason Campbell via candy-gram. The numbers tell us that since Sherman Lewis came on board, we have done better. Period. I still think you don't assume Zorn is useless in all of this. He is the quarterbacks guru and our quarterback is playing great, so he deserves credit. I don't believe for a second that he isn't partly responsible for this turn-around.

3) Hiring Zorn, implementing his offense and drafting players to fit it was sold to us as a 2-3 year investment. We are right in the meat of that investment and it appears we are getting some returns. I find it troubling to think that things are going according to (their) plan and they are considering starting over.

The game yesterday to me came down to two players. If you saw me on Comcast's Post Game Live (video to come), you would have seen me:

A) give it to Chick Hernandez a little about his earring; and

B) talk about Brian Orakpo and Jason Campbell.

Ganther, Davis, Carter, Landry...they all contributed, but I thought that it was fitting to highlight our best offensive player and our best defensive player and then underline the lunacy regarding the potential for JC to be somewhere else next season.

Orakpo was a beast. He personally accounted for somewhere in the neighborhood of 50-75 negative yards for the Raiders. Four sacks did not even tell the story of his day...how crazy is that?

Campbell was once again on fire. He threw the ball so accurately on the run yesterday (for the most part), I wondered aloud why they didn't purposely move him around more often (picture Mark Rypien rolling and throwing bombs.)

In the comments today, I thought we would try something a little different. I will start a few comment threads with some questions and everyone is encouraged to ask their own questions raising separate issues. Let's all pull together to gain some "public" opinion on these topics so we can determine the direction of the posts this week.

Team Stat Comparison

1st Downs	21	15
Passing 1st downs	11	11
Rushing 1st downs	7	3
1st downs from Penalties	3	1
3rd down efficiency	5-12	4-15
4th down efficiency	0-0	1-3
Total Plays	58	66
Total Yards	295	227
Passing	195	162
Comp-Att	16-28	20-34
Yards per pass	7.0	4.8
Rushing	100	65
Rushing Attempts	27	24
Yards per rush	3.7	2.7
Red Zone (Made-Att)	4-4	1-2
Penalties	7-45	14-118
Turnovers	1	1
Fumbles lost	1	0
Interceptions thrown	0	1
Defensive / Special Teams TDs	0	0
Possession	27:53	32:07

New Orleans Saints' Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades @ Redskins

saints-nation — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:00:15 -0000

by Gerald Herbert - AP

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Brace yourselves because it isn't pretty. I know I sometimes get criticized for being too harsh in my grading of certain players, and if you're one of the people that generally complains about that you will not be happy with some of these grades. As always I'm interested and looking forward to your feedback. Below are the player grades for defense and special teams at Washington. The letter grade represents the player's performance in the game and the GPA represents the player's cumulative effort on the season.

Saints vs Redskins coverage

Saints vs Redskins recap

Saints vs Redskins boxscore

Will Smith: B- (2.86) Smith fought through constant double teams and struggled to put much pressure on Campbell. He was very helpful against the run and did a good job there, finishing with 4 tackles. He was able to hit Campbell hard twice as the ball was released, but he saved his grade mostly for his performance against the run.

Charles Grant: D (2.14) Charles Grant finished with 2 tackles, both coming late in the contest. Otherwise, he was utterly and completely invisible. On most running plays, he was either blown completely off the ball and out of the play, or he overpursued the edge leaving massive running lanes for the Redskins to take advantage of. He really had a horrible, horrible game and at one point I considered giving him an F. If he hadn't registered a tackle, I would have given it to him. Grant has been undisciplined in his play, lazy, and overall bad as of late. I'd rather Bobby McCray get more snaps at the position at this point.

Bobby McCray: B- (2.06) McCray's lone tackle was on a running play where he blew the Redskins up for a big loss. Once again he surprised me by playing the run better and I think that part of his game has come a long way. His pass rushing skills have suffered a little from that improvement, but I can deal. He did get upfield a couple of times and force a quick release, but the bottom line is Campbell was getting the ball out too fast to wide open targets to get much of a pass rush. McCray doesn't get nearly enough playing time, and based on Grant's recent performances I'd like to see him start at Atlanta. Who knows if that'll happen, but a man can hope.

Anthony Hargrove: C- (2.36) The love affair with Hargrove for most continues despite him struggling to do much of anything in games. I'd say at this point he's played 2-3 good games, but the guy is a defensive end to me. The switch to defensive tackle hasn't worked out that well and he hasn't played the run with any inspiration. He finished with 1 tackle and was seen knocked off the ball repeatedly.

Sedrick Ellis: B- (2.71) Ellis finished with 6 tackles, including 1 for a loss. He's slowly getting back to his pre-injury level of play. He did allow a few players to slip out of his grasp by not wrapping up properly and showing poor tackling technique, but the effort and pursuit was always there. The Redskins only rushed for 88 yards and a 3.5 average per carry, so while it would seem like everything the Redskins did worked, the Saints were actually very good against the run.

Remi Ayodele: B+ (2.24) BY FAR, in my opinion, Ayodele's best game as a Saint. For me this was his coming out party. I've been hard on this guy all season and I've constantly complained about how this guy can be in the mix, but now I understand why. He was pushing the pile constantly, FANTASTIC against the run, and came up big on several third and short plays. The Redskins had no answer for his push up front, and as the game wore on the Redskins essentially gave up on running the ball because it wasn't really working and the pass yardage was coming so easy. He finished with 6 tackles, including one for a loss, and anytime a player was in his grasp he wasn't getting away.

Scott Shanle: B- (2.67) I heard rumblings that some fans were unhappy with Shanle's play, but I actually thought he was ok. On one running play he absorbed a strong block, opened his shoulder and was able to stop a run for no gain dead in it's tracks. Impressive play there, and overall Shanle used the lanes Ayodele and Ellis provided him to be effective stopping the run. He finished with 4 tackles, but he did miss a tackle or two. The major liability, for me, came in his pass coverage. He did a poor job on Fred Davis. Suprising because Shanle usually does a good job covering but he just couldn't run with Davis. Shanle got good pressure on the Vilma interception blitzing, forcing a quick release and bad pass from Campbell.

Jonathan Vilma: B- (2.92) Vilma finished with 5 tackles, but I thought he had a mediocre game overall. He wasn't aggressive and shooting gaps like he normally does. As I screamed at the TV for the defense to make a play, every time I'd notice Vilma pursue a play and get blocked out of contention. He saved his grade with a BIG interception with about 30 seconds left in regulation. That pick stopped a Redskins drive that could have given them a shot at a game winning field goal.

Malcolm Jenkins: D (2.76) The good: he had 9 tackles and was able to knock Campbell down on a blitz from the edge. The bad: those 9 tackles were a product of him getting beat repeatedly, and he dropped the easiest interception he'll ever get which would have killed a Redskins drive late in the red zone. The ugly: he looked like a rookie that was completely lost out there. He took horrendous angles on ball carriers, he bit badly on any fakes and double moves, he was often beat deep, and the "lack of speed" that many pre-draft gurus warned teams about before selecting Jenkins was exposed BIG TIME. He still tackled well, and he's just learning so I don't feel like we should all take the sky is falling approach by any means. Jenkins is still a good young player that will only get better... but this was a really bad showing for him. Hopefully he'll learn from it.

Roman Harper: D (3.03) Harper played his worst game of the season, hands down. We all know he's usually terrific in the box in run support, and we all know he's somewhat of a liability in coverage (especially downfield). Well, in this game he was bad in the box, and he was laughable against the pass. ESPN currently claims he had 4 tackles, whereas NFL.com has him listed as having as 2 tackles. So I don't know which one is accurate. What I did see was that Harper missed a repeated amount of opportunities to tackle someone, and his help over the top on pass plays downfield was late and pathetic. He gets a D instead of a D- for saving a touchdown on a kick return by Devin Thomas.

Darren Sharper: C (3.09) Sharper finished with 5 tackles. His lack of speed was an issue. On Fred Davis' first touchdown he took a bad angle and was beat to the corner. He was late bringing help over the top, like Harper. That said, Sharper was many times the security blanket, and he at least did a good job of limiting the damage. I felt like there were a few plays that were just "bad" instead of "disastrous" because Sharper was there to end them. Give him credit for coming up with a HUGE stop on 3rd and short right before Shaun Suisham's miracle miss.

Troy Evans: D+ (1.55) Evans did finish with 5 tackles, but he was bad in pass coverage and bad in run defense. Twice I caught Sean Payton laying into him on the sidelines for missing assignments. He was third in line to play the position, but had to play with the starting unit once Scott Fujita was made inactive and Jo-Lonn Dunbar got injured early (looked like a hamstring pull). I hear Fujita may be out for a while after he had emergency surgery following a bursa sac rupture in his knee that caused a staph infection. I don't know if that means he's out for the year or what, but we're in MASSIVE trouble if we can't get Fujita back. Too bad, he was playing at a high level. Evans, however, was not. Hopefully Dunbar can get back on the field because he's a much more palatable option.

Pierson Prioleau: C- (2.50) He was ok in coverage, actually, except for one play where he played too far off his receiver and allowed a first down in front of him. He finished with 3 tackles. He'd get a better grade, but he came up with a real boneheaded facemask penalty late that gave the Redskins a chance to win the game.

Usama Young: B- (3.00) He got some reps again at corner in dime packages after McKenzie went out with an injury. His coverage was good and he handled himself fine. He didn't really have anything memorable to write about, but no mistakes either. His biggest play came on special teams when he recovered a fumble right before halftime to give the Saints good field position after they had been stopped down 17-10.

Mike McKenzie: D- (2.17) As good as he was last week, it was back down to earth for Mike McKenzie. McKenzie just couldn't seem to do anything right whatsoever. He was beat deep routinely. He blew just about every open field tackle he had a chance at making. He gave receivers way too much cushion, and yet they would still blow right past him. At one point he took a terrible angle, and Sharper made the tackle behind him and gave him a death stare and screamed letting him not it's not ok to mess up plays like that. At times he seemed disinterested in being out there. At one point he was beat deep, the receiver then fell down, and McKenzie didn't even bother hustling to touch him down. He did finished with 4 tackles, but probably could have had about 10-15 with the number of plays being run right at him. The injury he suffered in the game is unknown, but I was glad it took him out of the game. He flirted with an F for large portions of the game.

Chris McAlister: C+ (2.50) McAlister, like Jenkins and McKenzie, was getting beat routinely and did a poor job of tackling the screen receiver pass the Redskins ran all day. He gave a lot of cushion to his man as well, inciting the Redskins to continuously use that play. He finished with 3 tackles. McAlister, though, came up with arguably the biggest play of the game. He hit Mike Sellers and managed to jar the ball loose in overtime, and had the good sense to recover the fumble as the whistle was being blown and Sellers was called down. The replay showed the head referee that it was indeed a fumble (not sure about that call, but I'll take it), and McAlister single handedly got the Saints the ball in overtime. Ultimately, they would turn that turnover into the game winning 3 points.

Garrett Hartley: A- (3.67) Surprise move to see Sean Payton go with Hartley for this game instead of John Carney. Chris Berman on ESPN said at one point that Carney was hurt, but I think he's misinformed. I think this move was strictly performance based, though I could be wrong. Regardless, Hartley was excellent. All of his kicks were right down the middle. He was 4 for 5 on field goals with a long of 34 yards. His miss was a 58 yarder as time expired, so it's hard to blame him for that miss. Extra points might not be a big deal, either, but Carney has been shaky on that all season long and Hartley did tie the game at 30 with his PAT after Meachem's touchdown. He also hit the game winning 18 yarder, twice, as the first was called back by a Zorn timeout. I don't think there's any way Carney kicks next week and this could mean the end of the veteran's reunion run with the Saints. Hartley was impressive with his accuracy.

Thomas Morstead: C (3.00) Morstead's kickoff depth was much shorter than usual. To be expected given the weather and field temperatue. He did manage to get one about half way into the end zone in overtime, which was an important time to do so. His punts were largely poor, as he averaged 33.3 yards on 3 punts. He did manage to pin one inside the 20, though. One of his punts was so short, it hit an unsuspecting Redskins' blocker in the back, resulting in a turnover for the Saints. The punt was bad, but the end result was magnificent.

Courtney Roby: B+ (3.00) Roby was routinely getting past the 30 on kickoff returns, and almost broke one big on a couple of occassions. Per usual his returns were impressive. He also made a nice tackle on special teams as a gunner.

My Defensive Player of the Game: Remi Ayodele

My Special Teams Player of the Game: Garrett Hartley

Poll

Who Was Your Defensive Player of the Game @ Washington?

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

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.

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

Continue reading this post »

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

Broncos display a Team Effort in loss to Redskins

John Bena — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:44:49 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

about 1 month ago: Washington Redskins fullback Mike Sellers scores a touchdown with Denver Broncos cornerback Alphonso Smith wrapped around this feet during the second quarter of the NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009 in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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Football is the ultimate team game. Quarterbacks get way too much credit when thing go well and too much blame when the wheels come off. Perhaps there is no better example than the past three weeks. Kyle Orton was under the microscope so much this past week that many - including Woody Paige - were asking for Chris Simms to get his shot this weekend against the Redskins. Karma has a funny way of screwing with you.

The Broncos, behind Orton, scored on touchdown passes of 40 and 75 yards to Brandon Marshall. Orton was 11/18 for 193 yards in the first half. Then Kyle got hurt on the final play of the half, a nasty ankle twist that kept him out of the game. In came Simms and, well, most of you know the rest. Simms struggled mightily and the Broncos lost to the Redskins 27-17. The offense failed to score a single point and Simms could muster just 13 yards on 3/13 in the 2nd Half.

That would only tell part of the story. It is not the fault of Simms - not entirely - but it is an easy answer. The defense and special teams had their part in the loss as well.

We'll start with the defense. Right from the start, the Redskins were able to run the ball behind a patchwork offensive line and back-up running back Ladell Betts. Betts finished with 114 yards on 26 carries(4.4 ypc). As a team, the Redskins shredded the Broncos for 174 yards on 40 attempts. It's funny what a solid running game ca do for a quarterback. Behind efficient running running that kept the Redskins 'on schedule' Jason Campbell was able to play mistake-free football - 17/26, 193 yards, 1 TD.

For the Broncos, it was an odd game-plan to say the least, especially after Simms entered the game. After struggling to run the ball last week, the Broncos got the running game going today in a big way - 22 carries, 120 yards(5.5 ypc). Knowshon Moreno SHOULD have his first 100 yard day - playcalling kept him from getting it 0 as he ran 18 times for 97 yards(5.4) ypc. Josh McDaniels seemed to quick to go away from the run, especially with Simms at QB. To me, that was the difference - the Redskins dedicated themselves to running the ball, the Broncos did not. In a game that was close throughout, the Redskins doubled the Broncos run attempts for the game.

Then there is the Special Teams. Perhaps the play that turned the tide of the entire season for the Broncos - a fake FG that was so poorly played(twice) that the Redskins were able to run the play AFTER showing it and calling timeout. The final blame lies with the Head Coach, of course, but the Broncos should definitely be in the market for a Special Teams coach. The Redskins lined up for a 53-yard FG, and right before calling a time out showed their fake formation. After the time out, the 'Skins ran the play, with Hunter Smith throwing a TD pass to Mike Sellers. Smith had the time to roll all the way to his right and the arm strength to throw the ball back across to his left - quite athletic, but embarrassing that the Broncos let it happen. Denver led 14-7 at that point, and seemed in control. Now, with the game tied, the stage was set for what would happen next with Orton going down.

So where does that leave the Broncos? For one, we'll have to watch the scoreboard a bit closer. The Chargers and Eagles are playing as we speak and a San Diego win means the two teams would be tied when San Diego comes calling. The Broncos also need to find out the status of Orton for next Sunday, and fast.

As for karma? There is no time in the NFL for 'I told ya so's. Kyle Orton is the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos for a reason - unfortunately that reason was found out the hard way.

All is not lost, Broncos fans, far from it. The Broncos still control their destiny - whatever that may be,

Friday Night "Mights" - Washington Redskins vs. Denver Broncos

Sugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:53:22 -0000

More photos » by Pablo Martinez Monsivais - AP

Ladell Betts is poised to repeat his successful stretch run as starting running back for the Skins.

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It was pointed out last week that I should make the disclaimer about this article very clear on the front side. These predictions assume a Redskins victory. They are meant to provide at least some relief from the serious issues we have with our team. That said, I can honestly tell you that, "Yes, I do think we will win this Sunday." And here's how:

1) Ladell Betts will run for 150+ yards and 2 touchdowns. Inside the red zone, the bulk of our plays are going to be running plays. Rock Cartwright is going to get his share of carries this week (5-10 I am guessing) and we will lean on the new guy, Levi Jones, for better or worse. One thing that has seemed to work for this team in the past is having Ladell Betts take over as the starter down the stretch. I worry about our right guard situation, and find it laughable that we are calling it a "Battle" to see whether Chad Rinehart or Will Montgomery will start. But I think Mike Sellers and Todd Yoder will log some healthy blocking downs and enable Betts to move the chains.

2) Brian Orakpo, in addition to yet another sack, will also log an interception. I am tempted to say he runs it back for a score, but I think he outruns his blockers early in the run-back and gets tackled. I am extremely excited to see what he looks like with the ball in his hands. He is the kind of player you wish you could play at running back in Madden. Big, strong, fast...no way the first tackler brings him down.

3) Jason Campbell will have zero turnovers. This is going to be huge for us this weekend. The game is going to be a close one throughout, so ball protection is key. I don't see JC testing Champ Bailey regularly, which does not bode well for Santana Moss' stats, but I am hopeful that Fred Davis can be responsible for moving the chains in the passing game. He killed us last week with the botched tip that turned into a Falcons defensive touchdown (I know, it wasn't a great throw, but you don't initiate a tip drill like that.)

4) We will score on a trick play. Since I have the ability to see the future, I can tell you that it will be a double reverse handoff to Devin Thomas who will race into the end zone for a touchdown. The key to the play will be two amazing blocks. The first will be Jason Campbell giving up his body to give Thomas the edge. The second block will be Malcolm Kelly down field.

5) Shaun Suisham kicks the game-winning field goal. What a difference a year makes I guess. From the worst kicker (statistically) last season, to the one guy on offense we have been able to count on. He is one of only 5 kickers to have not missed yet this season, and among those kickers, he has the second most attempts--including a 48-yarder. I am putting the game on him this week.

I hate predicting the final score, but I'll go ahead and call it 24-23. No passing touchdowns by JC, but otherwise a solid day for the beleagured quarterback.

Here is what I am really hoping for: The Broncos travel cross-country on a short week this week and have next week's opponent--the San Diego Chargers--squarely in their sights. The lack of respect they probably have for our team will lead to a sloppy performance and leave just a big enough opening for our offense to score their season-high point total. Also, Kevin and I have both talked this week about the prospect of using the no-huddle to prevent the Broncos from shuffling their defensive personnel in the manner they prefer. If Sherm Lewis and Jim Zorn trust JC with the keys to the no-huddle, it might prove to be a huge factor.

Your bold predictions and cracks at me are now welcome.

Breaking Down the Key Plays in the Panthers' First Win

Ryan Basen — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:31:37 -0000

More photos » by Chuck Burton - AP

Washington Redskins' Clinton Portis (26) is tackled by Carolina Panthers' Thomas Davis (58) and Julius Peppers (90) for a safety in the first half Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

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This was ugly. The Panthers' first win of the 2009 season was so unsightly that ESPN did not air a single highlight from the game for the first THREE hours of SportsCenter Sunday night.

(Even the Browns-Bills game got a little ESPN love, although that may have been because that game was not just ugly but historically inept).

Sunday's win over Washington was a test of the Panthers' character, however, and probably one of their most fulfilling victories in the John Fox era. While the Redskins were self-destructing, Carolina's special teams and its beleaguered defense made a handful of big plays to secure the victory -- including four that spurred the second-half rally from a 15-point deficit. Here is an in-depth look at those key plays:

The situation: Washington ball, 2nd-and-8 at its own 3. 8:30 to play in the second quarter. 7-0 Washington.

Formations: Washington came out in an I-formation with a tight end on each side and a wideout split left. Carolina stacked nine players in the box, with a corner in press coverage.

What happened: Redskins tailback Cliinton Portis ran a stretch play right and was tackled in the end zone for a safety.

How it happened: Portis took the handoff and followed fullback Mike Sellers towards the edge. Defensive end Julius Peppers shed Washington tackle Stephon Heyer and closed in on Portis. Linebacker Thomas Davis lined up in the middle and shot a gap in the Washington line untouched, coming quickly behind Portis. Sellers continued to run wide, right past Peppers, likely expecting Heyer to block Peppers. Peppers appeared to miss Portis, but slowed him, and Davis cleaned him up.

Analysis: It's hard to understand why the Redskins ran wide this close to their goal line, especially with two backups on the offensive line. But give the Panthers credit for taking advantage and pulling within 7-2 just two plays after a deflating goal-line stand by Washington.

The situation: Washington kicking off from its own 30. 10 minutes left in the third quarter. 17-2 Washington.

Formations: Both teams lined up in ordinary kickoff formations.

What happened: Kenneth Moore returned the kickoff 55 yards to the Washington 40.

How it happened: Moore caught the kick in the right corner at his own 5, ran straight and then took steps to his left. When he got to the 14, he quickly veered right and sprinted through a hole near the sideline. Moore juked kicker Shaun Suisham at the 35 and sprinted down the sideline until Washington's Devin Thomas forced him to step out of bounds.

Analysis: A great play by Moore and two holds that were not called. When he got to the 14, Moore likely saw Sellers flying down the field unblocked to his left. He smartly veered to his right and flew through a hole that was created in part when a teammate tackled a Redskins at the 24. After Moore juked the kicker, another teammate appeared to hold Thomas for several yards as the Redskins receiver gave chase, allowing Moore to run for at least another 10 yards until Thomas knocked him out.

The old adage, of course, is you could call holding on every play in the NFL. So credit Moore and the Panthers for seizing the opportunity that jump started a comeback. Four plays later quarterback Jake Delhomme hit tight end Jeff King for a 17-yard touchdown. The extra point drew Carolina within 17-9 only 90 seconds after Porits had scored on a 1-yard run -- and maybe 89 seconds after thousands of Panthers fans had pondered heading for the exit (THIS time, I would not have blamed them).

As FOX analyst Brian Billick pointed out, "This (kickoff return) is what Carolina had to have."

The situation: 4th-and-3, Washington, at the Carolina 37. 2:30 to play in the third. 17-9 Washington.

Formations: Washington lined up with three receivers, including two on the right side and a tight end on the right. The Panthers stacked seven in the box, with the corners in press coverage.

What happened: Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell threw a slant pass for receiver Santana Moss, but a Panthers lineman knocked it down.

How it happened: After a quick dropback, Campbell fired to his left for Moss, who was split left and fired inside of the Panthers' corner. Center Casey Rabach blocked a Panthers tackle well, but the tackle (whom I could not identify from replays) jumped when Campbell threw and got a hand on the pass. The ball harmlessly fell incomplete.

Analysis: Davis got credit for batting this pass on the telecast, but the blitzing linebacker did not appear to touch it. Credit whichever Panther made this pay, because Moss was in good position to make the catch for the first down.

This play was huge, but just as their was a hero, there was also a goat -- or multiple goats. Washington had countered the King touchdown by moving 36 yards in seven plays for a first down at the Carolina 44. Then tight end Chris Cooley missed a block, leading to a 1-yard loss on a Ladell Betts run. Two players later Cambell hit receiver Antwaan Randle El for 12 yards on third-and-11, moving the ball to the Carolina 33. But the play was negated because left tackled D'Anthony Batiste lined up off the line of scrimmage.

A completion to tight end Fred Davis moved Washington to the 37, setting up the fourth-down play. With an 8-point lead, a defense playing well and a sputtering offense, Zorn could have tried to pin the Panthers deep on a punt. Instead he chose to go for it -- and then burned a timeout to call a play the Redskins had already used multiple times on the drive. You think the Panthers did not expect a slant pass? Check the replay. If Washington had called for Campbell to pump fake, Moss would likely have run wide open down the left sideline.

It's plays like these that make me think Zorn will get fired well before John Fox.

The situation: 4th-and-15, Carolina, at the Carolina 46. 10 minutes to play. 17-12 Washington.

Formations: The teams lined up in ordinary punt and punt return formations.

What happened: Panthers safety Quinton Teal pushed Washington's Byron Westbrook into punt returner Randle El, the ball struck Westbrook's foot and the Panthers recovered it at the Washington 13.

How it happened: Randle El had signalled for a fair catch, meaning no Panther could get too close to him. But the rulebook allows for the punt team to push opponents into the return man, as long as the opponent is engaged in a block. Westbrook and Teal were engaged when Teal shoved him into RandleEl, knocking both Redskins onto the ground. The ball struck Westbrook's heel and caromed towards the end zone, where Carolina recovered it.

Analysis: A great play by Teal and an alert play by his teammates who chased the loose ball. Two plays later the Panthers took the lead on a Jonathan Stewart run and added a 2-point conversion.

On the other side, Zorn burned a second timeout challenging the call because he thought what Teal did was against the rules. He did not challenge the the fumble, because it was clear the ball hit Westbrook.

The situation: Third-and-7, Washington, on the Washington 47. 6 minutes to play. 20-17 Carolina.

Formations: Washington lined up in the shotgun with three receivers (two to the right side), one back and a tight end on the left. The Panthers were in a 4-3 with their corners a couple yards off and safeties deep.

What happened: Campbell scrambled up the middle, but was tackled by defensive ends Tyler Brayton and Everette Brown for a 1-yard gain. Washington then punted.

How it happened: A Panthers tackle beat Washington guard Mike Williams with a quick rush up the middle, flushing Campbell up in the pocket. As Campbell ran, the tackle dove and got just enough of Campbell to make him stagger. Brayton and Brown were able to converge on Campbell and tackle him at the Washington 48.

Analysis: A great play by the tackle, whose identity was skewed by the lack of a good FOX replay. Campbell had a lot of space. Had the tackle not hit him, he likely would have scrambled for the first down and more.

The Panthers also caught a break when the Redskins made another mistake two players earlier. Thomas got open deep and Campbell hit him in stride with a bomb inside the Panthers 20. But Thomas dropped the ball for an incompletion. Even earlier in the drive, Washington burned its last timeout when Campbell could not engineer an audible and beat the play clock.

The Redskins punted after the Campbell scramble and the Panthers burned the final five-plus minutes of the game. They earned the victory. It was ugly, but give them credit. While the Redskins blew several chances in the second half, the Panthers were smart and opportunistic.

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

Can the Lions Beat the Redskins With Jon Jansen's O-Line Insight?

KevinE — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:32:22 -0000

"Ooo. I got one. What's 141 years old, costs $50 million dollars, and gets pushed over by the wind? ... The Redskins O-line!! hahaha"

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Teams picking up players to get an edge on opponent's strategy is nothing new. This week, the Redskins face a similar challenge in that disgruntled former Redskin, Jon Jansen, signed with the Lions this off-season. If anyone knows our offensive line the best, besides Bugel, it's Jon Jansen (and I'm including Zorn in this equation). Jansen has been an anchor with the Redskins for 10 years and battled through all the highs and lows. We're not fooling anyone that the offensive line is a patch job held together with duct tape and Elmer's glue, and Jansen knows it.

The reason the Redskins have destroyed the Lions so consistently is due to an effective running game. Let's take a quick look at the Skins versus Lions recent history:

QB JASON CAMPBELL is 2-0 vs. Det. with 126.3 passer rating. Has posted 2 highest rated games of career vs. Lions (127.4, 125.3) & aims for 3rd in row vs. Det. with 125+ rating. Team is 6-1 (.857) when he has 97+ rating. Has 1.2 INT pct. (7 INTs, 567 att.) since 2008, lowest in NFL...

RB CLINTON PORTIS has rushed for 345 yards (115 per game) in 3 career meetings. When Portis rushes for 100+ yards, his teams are 33-10 (.767). Averages 110.5 scrimmage yards per game & is 1 of only 5 players in NFL history to average 110+ per game.

FB MIKE SELLERS had career-high 2 TDs (1 rush, 1 rec.) vs. Det. (10/7/07)

WR SANTANA MOSS averages 15.1 yards per catch since entering NFL in 2001, highest among active WRs (min. 425 receptions). In last meeting, had 50-yard rec. TD & 80-yard PR-TD. Finished with 9 catches for 140 yards.

So, here are some things I expect Jon Jansen to say to his Detroit coaches:

"On running downs, stack the left side of the line and just put a corner back on Heyer. Stephon couldn't run over a school boy...even if he was running down hill."

"Passing plays...99% chance it's a screen or a dink-and-dunk to Cooley. Cover these guys and let them make the mistake."

"Campbell is not allowed to audible so trust what we've watched on tape this week."

Any other good ones you can think of?

Poll

Will the Redskins run for 100+ yards?

Yes

725 votes

No

291 votes

1016 votes | Poll has closed