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A Big Reason We're 1-3? Alfred Morris Isn't Getting The Ball


Diehard Otis

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Let's face facts here.  There are a number of reasons why The Redskins' record stands at 1-3 heading out of September.  And I think its fair to say that Turnovers and Injuries are two of the biggest culprits.

 

BUT...

 

I submit that another reason is we simply aren't playing to our Strength: namely, leaning on our Rushing Attack.  Alfred Morris has been criminally underused thus far, & it's not only frustrating - it is honestly an inadeqaute use of our Personnel. 

 

For instance, here are AlMo's number of carries, yards, touchdowns, and his averages in each game to date.

 

Week 1

14 attempts, 91 yards, 0 Touchdowns     (6.5yd avg)

 

Week 2

22 attempts, 85 yards, 2 Touchdowns     (3.86yd avg)

 

Week 3

23 attempts, 77 yards, 0 Touchdowns     (3.35yd avg)

 

Week 4

12 attempts, 63 yards, 1 Touchdown     (5.25yd avg)

 

Notice a trend?  In two of our three defeats, not only did 46 NOT touch the ball a minimum of 15 times (which in my opinion, should be the absolute minimum), he also was extremely effective when he did Rush with the Football. 

 

Now the question must be asked: Why, when your Rushing Attack is this effective, are you abandoning the Run?  It makes no sense to do this, particularly when the game is still in doubt.  It infuriates me that the only reason Morris HASN'T enjoyed a 100-yard game yet this season is because our Head Coach won't feed him the ball. 

 

There's plenty to crow about at this point, but why isn't anyone upset about this?  THIS is how this year's Washington Redskins will find success.  It is by establishing a sincere commitment to Rushing the Football.  And we actually have the Personnel to do it!

 

But we don't and we're 1-3.  Can anyone really be surprised, when the team doesn't play to its Strength?

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Game was getting out of hand early so it's tough to grind out yards and kill time when you want quick scores. But, I agree with the sentiment that we should be a running team since that's the team's strength. That's what Gruden kept saying all offseason and training camp only to abandon it for the pass.

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Game was getting out of hand early so it's tough to grind out yards and kill time when you want quick scores. But, I agree with the sentiment that we should be a running team since that's the team's strength. That's what Gruden kept saying all offseason and training camp only to abandon it for the pass.

Well, my only quibble is that in the 3rd Quarter before the cascade of Turnovers, we could have slowed the game down and still Run (and play action off of the Run) to take back control of the tempo.  We may have still lost, but it would not have spiraled outta control the way did, with Kirk throwing us out of the game.

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The game wasn't out of hand until the 4rd. We had a chance to make it 24-21, then we had a chance to make it 31-21 but all we did was pass pass pass when Cousins was already throwing it up for grabs. Cousins had 3 INTS, we ran the ball twice in the 3rd quarter. Makes sense.

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This is just one of many reasons for the 1-3 record, and I'd put it maybe #4 or #5 on the list,....further down actually,...

 

1. Horrible secorndary play

2. Turnovers

3. Bad overall O-line play

4. Bad special teams play

5. Injuries

6. Lack of depth at key positions

7. Lack of a consistent running game

8. QB flux

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I love when we run the ball; however, I think he gained 39 of those 63 yards on two plays, so the yards-per-carry is a little inflated.  The running game overall seems to have struggled the last 2 games, so I hope that gets straightened.  In my dream scenario Morris gets 20+ carries, Helu gets 10+ carries.

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I hope Jay has a 1981 Joe Gibbs type moment of clarity and starts running the hell out of the ball and we start winning game 20-17!

 

Thats what I've been thinking too because the Giants totally exposed his offense and Cousins went from looking like Brady to throwing it to the wrong team once we made the score 24-14. The Giants did get some pressure but they must have been running the same routes over and over because they were jumping them left and right.

This is just one of many reasons for the 1-3 record, and I'd put it maybe #4 or #5 on the list,....further down actually,...

 

1. Horrible secorndary play

2. Turnovers

3. Bad overall O-line play

4. Bad special teams play

5. Injuries

6. Lack of depth at key positions

7. Lack of a consistent running game

8. QB flux

 

You forgot RILEY on passing downs. Thats like 28 points right there.

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I love when we run the ball; however, I think he gained 39 of those 63 yards on two plays, so the yards-per-carry is a little inflated.  The running game overall seems to have struggled the last 2 games, so I hope that gets straightened.  In my dream scenario Morris gets 20+ carries, Helu gets 10+ carries.

That may be the case.  Fine.  But not every rush is going to gain 5 yards.  My beef is with the number of ATTEMPTS.  New York didn't stop Almo. 

 

Gruden did.

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This right here!!! In 81 we had the #1 offense in the NFL and was scoring points every week, but we were 0-5. That is when Joe Gibbs turned to his running game more and it was the greatest decision in Redskins history. They started to control the games from that point on, they owned the time of possession, and it opened up everything in the offense. 

 

They ended the season 8-8 and went on to win the Super Bowl the following season. I see the same thing going on right now with the Redskins and Gruden. He hasn't yet committed to the running game and it's a huge mistake, especially when you have 1 of the best RB's in the game. Until he commits to this, he won't control any of the games and will most likely continue to see his team lose each week.


That may be the case.  Fine.  But not every rush is going to gain 5 yards.  My beef is with the number of ATTEMPTS.  New York didn't stop Almo. 

 

Gruden did.

Exactly!!!

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I don't agree entirely. I think out of all the problems this team has, not running enough is not that high on the list for me. I would place the biggest problem on our team is Haslett, followed by Special teams play, followed by discipline (turnovers and penalties).

I cant see how Haslett was not fired last year. The guy has never had a stellar defense... yet we continue to pay him... for what exactly?

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Bengals fans complained that Gruden didn't run the ball enough in Cincy.  Last year the Bengals threw 55% of the time and ran it 45%.  This year under Hue Jackson it's reverse.  They've run it 54% of the time and are off to a 3-0 start.  The Redskins have thrown 58% of the time so far.  That's way too high. 

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I don't agree entirely. I think out of all the problems this team has, not running enough is not that high on the list for me. I would place the biggest problem on our team is Haslett, followed by Special teams play, followed by discipline (turnovers and penalties).

I cant see how Haslett was not fired last year. The guy has never had a stellar defense... yet we continue to pay him... for what exactly?

 

To be fair, there have been a ton of injuries on the defensive side of the ball.

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Bengals fans complained that Gruden didn't run the ball enough in Cincy.  Last year the Bengals threw 55% of the time and ran it 45%.  This year under Hue Jackson it's reverse.  They've run it 54% of the time and are off to a 3-0 start.  The Redskins have thrown 58% of the time so far.  That's way too high. 

And until our Head Coach realizes that, we will struggle.  Period. 

 

The Rushing Attack is the key to our Offense.  I'm tired of us trying to be who we aren't.  Let's just be that ugly, grind-it-out Play-Action Passing team that plays the Field Position game.  That is how The Washington Redskins are built to play.  Let's do that.

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Bengals fans complained that Gruden didn't run the ball enough in Cincy.  Last year the Bengals threw 55% of the time and ran it 45%.  This year under Hue Jackson it's reverse.  They've run it 54% of the time and are off to a 3-0 start.  The Redskins have thrown 58% of the time so far.  That's way too high. 

 

Was going to say this. Gruden's known to be one to just throw it most of the game. Pretty sure lots of people on here complained about that when we hired him, too.

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Eh....these numbers are always going to be skewed in a loss. The good backs on good teams, get a lot of their carries and yards in the 4th quarter. That's tough to do when you are down ten every week.

 

Generally, I think you pass to get the lead and run to win the game.

 

(Didn't the Steelers backup running back get a 100 yards in the 4th quarter on Sunday? I was in bed by then).

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To be fair, there have been a ton of injuries on the defensive side of the ball.

I am not judging him on this year alone.... what about every other year he has ever had a DC/HC positions?

 

Since 2001, out of 32 teams, his defenses have ranked (in PA) 27, 26, 14, 27, 28, 28, 31, 31, 21, 21, 22, 30, and this year so far 28.

 

I think we have great talent on this defense.

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I disagree....we really haven't run the ball well all year.....with the exception of the Houston game, I have no problem with the amount of runs #46 is getting.

 

Gruden probably doesn't really put time into the running game so the blocking has really gone downhill.

 

The line never gave Morris absolutely NOTHING like they have 1/2 the time this year.

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Bengals fans complained that Gruden didn't run the ball enough in Cincy.  Last year the Bengals threw 55% of the time and ran it 45%.  This year under Hue Jackson it's reverse.  They've run it 54% of the time and are off to a 3-0 start.  The Redskins have thrown 58% of the time so far.  That's way too high. 

 

The Bengals are annihiliating people the last two weeks.

 

In the first game, which was decided in the fourth quarter, they threw 38 times and ran 26 times.

 

In the last two blowouts, they've run the crap out of the ball. Against Atlanta, they were up 17 in the 4th. Against the Titans, they were up 26 in the 3rd.

 

I swear to God that nobody actually understand how football works. You get a lead and rack up carries in the 4th quarter. We ran the ball 42 times against the Jags because we were far ahead of them the entire second half. Redd got 8 carries that game after all.

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OMG.  I'm really not going to read a lot of this thread.

 

But this is ridiculous. Simply ridiculous.  

 

The reason that Morris is not getting the ball more is because the running game is completely sputtering, because every time he gets the ball, he has to break 5 tackles to get to the LOS.

 

He's a beast, and he generally does that, and every now and then he pops a big one. 

 

The 'Skins against Phily has the ball at the 41 with 2:20 to go and a chance to win or tie the game.  And they gave to Morris on the first play. And he got stuffed for 1 yard.  Which is basically what had been happening, minus a couple good runs, all day.

 

No, the reason that the 'Skins are losing has nothing to do with Morris not getting the ball.

 

Houston: ST debacles and 2 turnovers inside the 10 cost us the game

Phily: ST Debacles and lack of ability to close the door when they had the opportunity

Giants: 5 turnovers from the QB.

 

That's it.  That's all there is.

 

This Run Until You Drop thing might have worked for Lombardi in 1966. 

 

Goodness Gracious. 

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