GHH's Observations: The Good, The Bad and The 'Well Hell. We Got Ourselves a Football Team Again!' W3: Punch-up in Philly.

[RandyHolt]

Where do you stand on him overall man this early in his embryonic pro HC career?

 

Overall he gets a C grade. It's a small sample size so the jury is largely out. 

 

Off the field stuff, I am happy with. He appears a players coach which I think is best with the modern day player. Dominates pressers, etc. We have to grade him in wins and loses. 1-2 = Meh. And also, we have to look at him letting his assistants run the D and Teams.

 

Otherwise I break it down into games to look at his fav, the offense.

 

Game 1, I was not impressed with his play calling at all. We had some turnovers sure, but it should have created a greater urgency to score. Hurry up remains but a once or twice a game occurrence, but its better than nothing.

 

Game 2, he clearly adjusted, and I was very happy with his game plan.

 

Game 3, I am torn. The game was ripe to be won. Sure the offense did good, but it was not enough.

 

He is using more formations! 4 wide, even an empty backfield. Hardly innovative stuff, but it is warping us out of the stone age. Baby steps. I want to see more hurry up, especially now that he MUST learn that the offense is doing double duty to cover for our "special forces"

[Hersh]

Where do you stand on him overall man this early in his embryonic pro HC career?

 

Got to say I'm personally highly impressed by both some of the invention we've been crying out for on offense and the way he handles the ,media and doesn't shy away from anything., No excuses. We're bad, he says we're bad. But he doesn't go out to destroy his players in public whilst still letting it be known he's not happy. No doubt he does behind closed doors the way it should be. You really want to go out and lay your body on the line for a Coach that has your back like that on Sundays ya' know? And he seems a quick learner from his own mistakes.

 

All in all I've been pretty impressed with the way he's handled the step up to the big gig.

 

Hail.

 

There are some things I like about Gruden so far and some things that it seems he needs to work on. Just for clarification, does he call the plays?

 

I think he is doing a good job of getting better at creating a game plan. The first game of the season there were no down field plays and it's good to see him calling for more shots down the field. It's a good sign that he is learning. Also, his overall game plan yesterday of trying to control the ball was great. It's the best chance a team has against Philly.

 

Having said that, I don't love his clock management, but I'm hopeful he will improve. At the end of the game, running the ball before the two minute warning cost them valuable time and using the first time out with 1:52 left on the clock after an incompletion is just bad. It's almost fortunate that the Eagles got a first down after the turnover on downs or that would be getting a lot more scrutiny.

 

Overall, he seems like he learns and adjusts which are big positives.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

There are some things I like about Gruden so far and some things that it seems he needs to work on. Just for clarification, does he call the plays?

 

.....

 

Yup. Certainly in year one. Young McVay is on a 'watch and learn' learning curve as an OC but with an input into game planning as I understand it.

 

And yeah, clock management and use of timeouts is a glaring area he needs to improve on. But he's only 3 games in so he'll hopefully learn sooner rather than later just how valuable utilising both properly are.

 

Hail.

[KDawg]

I just don't see how you end up with Cousins being on the bad in this game at all. I understand the, "you're the starting quarterback now" talk, but I just don't see how you can put any of that game on his shoulders at all. He played fantastic. He's looking like a franchise quarterback through two games (one being prepped as a starter). I'm not going to say he's THE franchise QB yet, as it still remains to be seen, but he's looking phenomenal. I just can't put him in the bad.

 

I do agree that he has room for improvement, but then again, so does literally every player on the roster.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

I just don't see how you end up with Cousins being on the bad in this game at all. I understand the, "you're the starting quarterback now" talk, but I just don't see how you can put any of that game on his shoulders at all. He played fantastic. He's looking like a franchise quarterback through two games (one being prepped as a starter). I'm not going to say he's THE franchise QB yet, as it still remains to be seen, but he's looking phenomenal. I just can't put him in the bad.

 

I do agree that he has room for improvement, but then again, so does literally every player on the roster.

 

Objectivity. Shrugs.

 

If your going to rightly talk about all the great things he did, we'd be remiss to also not mention the costly bad.

 

Hail.

[NIKKI8]

One thing I don't think has mentioned in the bad or maybe it was and I just missed it but I wasn't impressed with Way's kickoffs yesterday. Maybe it's time to move on from Forbath. The new Eagles kicker looked fantastic. I'm not sure if their old kicker Alex Henrey has been claimed after being cut but If not I wouldn't mind seeing him brought in to try out. I can see why he lost his job to Parkey this year. The short kickoffs yesterday were a problem in my opinion.  

[Larry]

Agree with several of your observations, Gibbs.

Considering the score, one would think that both defenses laid really big eggs, but I don't think that's the case. I think both defenses came into the game with the intent of stopping the run, and making the QB beat them. And both defenses succeeded with their goal. We had two teams come into this game with a reputation for pounding the ball, and neither one was able to. (And it wasn't from lack of trying).

I think the high scores were because both QBs stepped up and delivered. And both of them made some really clutch throws, to achieve it.

And I'd also give a really big game ball to Garçon. Dude made some really clutch catches, in some really tight coverage.

[KDawg]

Objectivity. Shrugs.

 

If your going to rightly talk about all the great things he did, we'd be remiss to also not mention the costly bad.

 

Hail.

 

I'm not opposed to talking about the bad... but putting him in the bad category and talking about the bad are two entirely different things. *shrug*

[kleese]

My response to your points:

--Perfect analysis on KC. He had a great day, but not a perfect one. He clearly has an issue with floating the occasional pass. Floating balls is bad because it often leads to picks like the one he had yesterday. He did that last year as well. Seems to be more accurate going deep or towards the sideline. The middle distance routes in the middle of the field is where he seems to loft them sometimes. And it was disappointing to go nowhere on the last drive. Haven't heard the story on the 4th down play though---looked like KC threw it a bit early? Overall, he was very impressive.

--Like Gruden a lot through three games. No issues at all with play calling or overall preparedness of the team.

--I think you make the same mistake many fans make and only view the game through a B&G prism. That is a really good team we played. Quite possibly the best offense in the entire league. And their QB was superb in the game. If that is how our defense plays against the best of the best, then our defense is going to have a fine season. To echo others, not sure what you were missing on the pressure-- we got a good push most of the day and certainly later in the game. You blitz Philly, you will be watching Sproles and McCoy scamper. If the defense gives up the same yardage points to the Giants or other offenses less dangerous than Philly, then I'll be right with you on Haslett. But through three games I think he has done a good job.

--Staying on the "they pay the other guys too" theme, the Eagles were selling out to stop our run. They did the same thing we did--- took the approach of letting the QB beat them. Both QBs did it---but it wasn't easy. Lots of tough throws were made out there.

--No defending the special teams. Awful. And that falls on Gruden as well. He has to get it fixed.

My response to your points:

--Perfect analysis on KC. He had a great day, but not a perfect one. He clearly has an issue with floating the occasional pass. Floating balls is bad because it often leads to picks like the one he had yesterday. He did that last year as well. Seems to be more accurate going deep or towards the sideline. The middle distance routes in the middle of the field is where he seems to loft them sometimes. And it was disappointing to go nowhere on the last drive. Haven't heard the story on the 4th down play though---looked like KC threw it a bit early? Overall, he was very impressive.

--Like Gruden a lot through three games. No issues at all with play calling or overall preparedness of the team.

--I think you make the same mistake many fans make and only view the game through a B&G prism. That is a really good team we played. Quite possibly the best offense in the entire league. And their QB was superb in the game. If that is how our defense plays against the best of the best, then our defense is going to have a fine season. To echo others, not sure what you were missing on the pressure-- we got a good push most of the day and certainly later in the game. You blitz Philly, you will be watching Sproles and McCoy scamper. If the defense gives up the same yardage points to the Giants or other offenses less dangerous than Philly, then I'll be right with you on Haslett. But through three games I think he has done a good job.

--Staying on the "they pay the other guys too" theme, the Eagles were selling out to stop our run. They did the same thing we did--- took the approach of letting the QB beat them. Both QBs did it---but it wasn't easy. Lots of tough throws were made out there.

--No defending the special teams. Awful. And that falls on Gruden as well. He has to get it fixed.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

To clarify to a few response, I wasn't suggesting we should of outright blitzed the Eagles. That would be folly.

 

As I said, I liked the overall premise of Haslett's gameplan. But to me we got little pressure rushing 4 with no invention in how we did it until the injury forced his hand into a switch late and he played FAR too soft in the secondary. Particularly the first half.

 

It improved the second half markedly but overall that wasn't a good defensive showing at all yesterday for me regardless of the weapons Philly has at it's disposal.

 

Hail.

[drowland]

Where do you stand on him overall man this early in his embryonic pro HC career?

 

Got to say I'm personally highly impressed by both some of the invention we've been crying out for on offense and the way he handles the ,media and doesn't shy away from anything., No excuses. We're bad, he says we're bad. But he doesn't go out to destroy his players in public whilst still letting it be known he's not happy. No doubt he does behind closed doors the way it should be. You really want to go out and lay your body on the line for a Coach that has your back like that on Sundays ya' know? And he seems a quick learner from his own mistakes.

 

All in all I've been pretty impressed with the way he's handled the step up to the big gig.

 

Hail.

 

Overall I think Gruden's done ok so far.  His game management is probably the biggest opportunity I see right now.  He burns TOs.  The challenge on the Riley Cooper catch was a head stratcher.  it looked as clear as day to be a catch.  Don't know what the guys in the booth saw to advise him to challenge that play.  Wasted TO. 

[Long n Left]

One thing I don't think has mentioned in the bad or maybe it was and I just missed it but I wasn't impressed with Way's kickoffs yesterday. Maybe it's time to move on from Forbath. The new Eagles kicker looked fantastic. I'm not sure if their old kicker Alex Henrey has been claimed after being cut but If not I wouldn't mind seeing him brought in to try out. I can see why he lost his job to Parkey this year. The short kickoffs yesterday were a problem in my opinion.  

Could not agree more. Kills me to watch Graham Gano knocking footballs out of the endzone effortlessly, and make field goals from everywhere wearing a Panthers uniform. Thanks for choosing Cundiff Danny. Danny Smith, the gift that keeps on giving.

 

After Kai's (inexcusable) miss, I hope to see Hocker, Conner Barth, and any others worth a damn in there to take the job. Kai was money in 2012, but he's missed a couple gimmes in crucial moments. Also, he cant kick it through the endzone without pulling something.

[darrelgreenie]

Good:

Passing game was sharp.

Kirk was sharp most of the game.

DeSean is the real deal.

Bad:

Running game.

Kirk/offense not being able lead that last drive to win the game.

fUgly:

Special teams.

Penalties.

Coverage-especially middle of the field.

[kleese]

Good:

Passing game was sharp.

Kirk was sharp most of the game.

DeSean is the real deal.

Bad:

Running game.

Kirk/offense not being able lead that last drive to win the game.

fUgly:

Special teams.

Penalties.

Coverage-especially middle of the field.

I agree with all of that. One thing that is interesting to me.... Not just on ES but football fans in general:

No one ever criticizes the RB... Unless they fumble. Morris gets (rightly) lauded for being a workhorse most games, but if he has a bad day, the blame always falls to the OL. On Sunday, I didn't think Alfred played particularly well. If the answer is that the holes weren't there, then the RB is kind of obsolete anyway. I'm not saying the OL was doing a great job and Alfred blew it, but those two components are so dependent and I just find it interesting that no one ever faults the back in those situations when the running game has a bad day.

I had zero issues with Gruden's plan or the way he called the game, but that first down call on the last drive really bugged me. We had just been rolling the previous drive with Helu and at that point in the game it's too late to establish the run. Morris on the stretch hadn't worked all day. Kirk was sharp on previous drive. I would have much preferred a creative play in the passing game there. Even a quick screen or something. A four yard gain to DJax or something on first down could have made all the difference on that final drive. It was my only complaint with Jay on Sunday other than the special teams gaffes.

[Thekyle1591]

The good:

Cousins. Had an incredible game. Just incredible. No further explaination needed.

WRs. Dominating. Garcon and Jackson as well as Paul and Roberts took it too the Eagles who had their way with luck last week. Just dominated them. Garcon was excellent.

Oline. Yes, them. Gave up little to no pressure. Chester and Williams were both great, Williams in particular was perfect in pass pro and had a few great blocks in space in the run game and screen game. Much much much improvement and maybe, just maybe, the oline issues were a bit overblown against JJ watt?

Pass rush. When first watching, I was disappointed in the pass rush, but after going back and re watching, I realize I was completely wrong. Kerrigan, Rak, Hatcher and Baker combined for 8 hits and 17 (!!) hurries and a sack that was called back. Those 4 guys consistently beat their man and Kerrigan in particular beat both Gardner and Peters alike. Hatcher was embarrasing offensive linemen as usual. Only a mild injury for him, he will be good to go. Can only imagine how good they get when Cofield returns.

Bad:

Secondary. Merriweather in particular. Just pathetically bad.

Run offense. Morris was bottled up all day. It was a very poor performance on the ground.

Ugly:

Special teams. .............

Injuries. Really annoying. Only one that looks serious is Halls tho. Get well soon.

[darrelgreenie]

I agree with all of that. One thing that is interesting to me.... Not just on ES but football fans in general:

No one ever criticizes the RB... Unless they fumble. Morris gets (rightly) lauded for being a workhorse most games, but if he has a bad day, the blame always falls to the OL. On Sunday, I didn't think Alfred played particularly well. If the answer is that the holes weren't there, then the RB is kind of obsolete anyway. I'm not saying the OL was doing a great job and Alfred blew it, but those two components are so dependent and I just find it interesting that no one ever faults the back in those situations when the running game has a bad day.

^^I don't care to speak for anyone else. But if I think a RB has bad game, I'll say it.

I don't think Morris had a bad game. Imo Morris rarely has bad games. His vision and able to stay up after first contact almost always ensures a good grade from me.

[Larry]

--Staying on the "they pay the other guys too" theme, the Eagles were selling out to stop our run. They did the same thing we did--- took the approach of letting the QB beat them. Both QBs did it---but it wasn't easy. Lots of tough throws were made out there.

Agree with you. Both defenses committed to stopping the other guy's most reliable weapon. And both defenses SUCCEEDED.

[Long n Left]

Agree with you. Both defenses committed to stopping the other guy's most reliable weapon. And both defenses SUCCEEDED.

If "SUCCESS" in this league is giving up 30+ points, then Jim Haslett has a job for life!

[Larry]

If "SUCCESS" in this league is giving up 30+ points, then Jim Haslett has a job for life!

 

Our defense committed to shutting down their running game (and making their QB beat us with his arm.) 

 

How many times, last few years, do you figure McCoy has carried the ball 25 times, for 33 yards? 

 

How much money do you think you could have made, if, before the game, you had predicted that McCoy, Sproles, and Eartz, their TE, would have less than 100 yards combined? 

 

----------

 

And the Eagles did the same thing to us.  They were a lot more scared of Morris than they were of Kirk.  They committed to shutting down Morris.  And they succeeded, too, it was one of his worst days I remember. (And I've got no complaints about his day, either.  He fought like a mother, to get the few yards he got.) 

 

The score was so high, because both defenses said "I'm gonna shut down your running game, and make you beat me with your arm", and both QBs did it. 

[bedlamVR]

Shouldn't this be in ... yadda yadda yadda ...

 

I enjoy the write ups ...

 

I agree the defensive plan was sound i was worried about Sproles and McCoy having a field day against our D but in selling out against the run we forgot they could pass and our secondary cannot stop the pass ... The thing I hate about Haslett is his inability to make adjustments...

 

I think with the asinine things that have been said about other Redskins QBs it is hard not to be hard on Cousins our other 3rd year QB for small mistakes... it was an outstanding game for KC, but you don't come away from a game like, no win no cookie.... we should know as Redskins fans there isn't a good effort bowl... a loss is a loss and the QB had a key role in that loss . Not only did he not move the ball an inch from the Eagles 41 yard line on 3 passes. The interception before that turned out to be the difference in the game. The eagles could not move the ball but they got 3 points out of KCs mistake and three points won the game ... The offense went back down the field and scored kudos for that but still no win no cookie ...all round ...

 

As for the Baker ejection - it was a chippy and bad tempered game but still no excuse and belies a team that struggles with composure and discipline. There is no forgiving 92 for that and I really though Williams was going to get tossed as well because he should not be getting involved in that **** . He has the captains C and so far is doing less and less to deserve it - cost us 4 points in the Jacksonvile game and needs to represent himself better...

 

I finally have to disagree some point . I really don't think we have a good team, we have an improving team and I am impressed with Jay Gruden ( and Sean McVay) but I can see us in that 8-8 to 7-9 Territory, which is good improvement but we have simply no answer to the questions in the secondary  and i fear the texans uncovered a weakness, with a spread look we are forced to put the OLBs into coverage and the OLB is where a lot of the pass rush is generated and with no pass rush the secondary is ripe for the plucking ... it also doesn't help the Giants are all of a sudden finding form and would like nothing more than to roll their win over the texans to a divisional win and we are then looking at Seattle as a Monday night game to get the season back on track ... Monday nights have not been kind to us .

 

But I enjoyed the game to a point .. we need to finish and we failed.

[Larry]

Shouldn't this be in ... yadda yadda yadda ...

 The thing I hate about Haslett is his inability to make adjustments...

 

I seem to remember Philly moving the ball a whole lot better, first half, than they did in the second.

[TheItalianStallion]

Valid points, but I die inside a little bit every time I see someone type "should of" or "could of"......

[DC9]

I agree the defensive plan was sound i was worried about Sproles and McCoy having a field day against our D but in selling out against the run we forgot they could pass and our secondary cannot stop the pass ... The thing I hate about Haslett is his inability to make adjustments...

 

Actually we "had them right where we wanted them" so to speak.

 

When you enjoy a pass rush like we think we have and have a secondary like we think we have, you take your chances where you think you have the best chances to win.  We just weren't able to get to Foles like we thought we would be able to.

I finally have to disagree some point . I really don't think we have a good team, we have an improving team and I am impressed with Jay Gruden ( and Sean McVay) but I can see us in that 8-8 to 7-9 Territory, which is good improvement but we have simply no answer to the questions in the secondary  and i fear the texans uncovered a weakness, with a spread look we are forced to put the OLBs into coverage and the OLB is where a lot of the pass rush is generated and with no pass rush the secondary is ripe for the plucking ... it also doesn't help the Giants are all of a sudden finding form and would like nothing more than to roll their win over the texans to a divisional win and we are then looking at Seattle as a Monday night game to get the season back on track ... Monday nights have not been kind to us .

 

Most teams spread the ball out these days. 

 

7-9 to 9-7 is where I had us, too.  We'll know more in the next couple of weeks.

[Rocky21]

Great write up GHH.  Can't say I disagree with anything you wrote. 

 

As far as the playcalling goes, the jury is still out on Gruden at this point.  I'm not sure having your back up quarterback throw the ball 50 times on the road is a formula for success. 

[rick7423]

Great write up GHH.  Can't say I disagree with anything you wrote. 

 

As far as the playcalling goes, the jury is still out on Gruden at this point.  I'm not sure having your back up quarterback throw the ball 50 times on the road is a formula for success.

 

I agree, great writeup by GHH, again!

 

As for the highlighted section above: unless of course he is able to do so successfully, which he did for the most part.

 

I am almost surmising that Brandon Merriweather was hesitant in hitting and committing his last PF of his career. He looks to be walking on eggshells now.