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KDawg

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Blog Entries posted by KDawg

  1. KDawg
    Hello humanoids. @TK and I will be live from the Linc today.
     
    This blog is meant to be an interactive experience. That means we need you... the people... This isn't going to JUST be an info thread. You'll get that, of course... but witty banter will be bandied about like chocolate in Willy Wonka's factory. So what does this mean? Post. What can you post? Anything. Ask questions. Ask about the food, the Wooly Mammoth (where the rally was, and as @superozman would "it was lit ???"), ask about Theismann's hair (he's not here but ask anyways, I'm sure it's wonderful)... Ask about a specific player... Ask about anything. Literally. I'll even tell you what I ate for breakfast.
     
    Check back here for more...
     
    Some tidbits: 
     
    Scherff, according to a birdie, is likely to play.
     
    Reed is likely to play.
     
    Joe Barry had a sweet hoodie on last night at the hotel
     
    TK couldn't get his crowbar through security (not sure why he wanted me to relay this info... weird, right?)
     
    Philadelphia was a nightmare to drive in last night, but our Uber driver was badass. She had a Mike Tyson style tattoo and she drove with an aggressiveness that rivaled anyone. She bobbed and wove like Ali in his prime. Shout out to her.
     
    Follow me on the Twitter @KDawg_ES
     

     
    im not sure "in position" means what they think it means.
     
    11:39 AM: Sundberg is warming up. We're wearing white on burgundy. Love that look.
     
    11:42 AM: Inactives: Sudfield, Ross, Jones, Blackmon, Long, Lauvao, Lanier
     
    Sullivan starting at C, Kouandjio starting at LG, Ihenacho starting for Blackmon at safety.
     
    Noon: Way punting 55-60 yards from LOS in warm ups. Perfect spirals. WAY to Punt! Get it? Way to punt?
     
    12:05 PM: 
     
    TK found a ride while he takes pics. What's with the hoodie though, man?
     
    12:22 PM: The referees mic is working. File that under, "things you didn't know you cared about..." but I know you do and I have your backs.
     
    12:36 PM: Cousins needs just 356 yards to break the single season passing record that he owns. Has four games to do it. Needs around 1,200 for 5000. Would need to average ~300/game. Doable.
     
    12:50 PM: 
     
    its 10 minutes before kickoff. Where is everyone? Place looks like their trophy case.
     
    First D drive: Linebackers are concerning me. Slow to fill on run, too deep on passes. Tells me they are nervous about getting beat behind them.
     
    First O drive: second down draw an iffy ar best call. Probably had a tendency they were trying to bust and out thought ourselves. Crowder ran his route short of the chains.
     
    2nd O Drive: Eagles watching Crowder like a hawk. Need Garçon to keep coming through.
     
    End of the 1st quarter: Skins look sloppy and ill prepared. Eagles taking away Crowder and attacking Dunbar. Skins need to shore that up immediately.
     
    Defensive issues: Inside backers struggling to expand on flat routes. OLB/DEs rushing means someone has to get to flat. Safeties being run off. That's also why our ILBs are so deep on passes and hesitant to fill on run. ILB is a large issue.
     
    Touchdown Drive: Great job mixing it up and keeping the running game involved. Good play calling and execution there. Important. McCloughan, Santos et al should be proud of that one.
     
    Norman anticipated a short pass and got beat deep on a 3rd down play. It's what you get with him. Important to note, Kerrigan played man to man on TE to flats on the second third down attempt on that drive. Good adjustment.
     
    Halftime thoughts: Need to adjust coverage scheme. Part of the issue is cornerback being a barren wasteland of talent. We can't leave the flats open all game. LBs need to trust instincts and be more aggressive. Offense needs to keep Kelley involved and find Garcon. He is the x-factor for the O. They are more worried about Crowder and Jackson. He has to get targets. 
     
    Jackson TD: They had been setting that up all game long. Great play. Desean's burst is a huge asset to this offense.
     
    That TD to Garcon should have put Cousins over 4000 yards on the season.
     
    The personal foul on Sproles was a personal foul by rule. But in no way was it dirty. Hard football play that timed out wrong for Everett.
     
     
  2. KDawg
    Over 4,000 yards in consecutive seasons.
     
    That's how I'm going to start this article.
     
    Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins became the first man in team history to not only post two 4,000 yard seasons, but he also did that consecutively. That's quite the feat. Cousins only needs 122 yards to best his franchise record 4,155 yards on a season, and he's just 955 yards short of a 5,000 yard season. Obviously, that would be the first in team history. In order to do so, he'd need to average just shy of 320 yards per game. Daunting, but possible. 
     
    To be clear, Kirk couldn't do it without his weapons. Pierre Garcon has quietly turned in a pretty good season. He's posted 64 receptions and leads the team. Crowder leads the team in yards with just over 800 and possesses a team high 7 touchdowns. And that's not been mentioning the third down prowess of Jordan Reed and the deep ball threat of Desean Jackson. 
     
    So where's the controversy? Why am I coining this team escape artists?
     
    Because as good as this offense has been, the defense has been quite the opposite. The team lacks a true anchor to hold opposing offensive linemen at the line of scrimmage. The linebackers seem to be in a conflict. They don't want to get beat by anything crossing behind them, so they gain depth quickly, but that also leaves them much less aggressive in filling their running lanes. And I'm not sure this franchise has covered the flats much, if at all, this season.
     
    So who is to blame? The easy target is Barry. McCloughan is probably the next target. Gruden comes to mind. 
     
    But I'm not sure we can really be sure that any of them are to blame... 
     
    Barry is easy to blame, especially given the lack of flats coverage. But Joe Barry doesn't coach guys to break contain or let an opposing quarterback who is completely wrapped up escape the clutches of a defender. My question, though, is what say has he had over personnel? Has he had a ton? Some? None? To what level is he to blame, or not to blame, for the defensive maneuvers.
     
    McCloughan is another guy that's not all that easy to pin down. Can we really chastise a guy who has shored up the offense to the point that he has and not believe he's got the same plan for the defense coming down the road? Is he doing all the grocery shopping, or do the coaches have any say?
     
    I am not sure. I'm not in the film room breaking down countless hours of film and watching it ad nauseum. I'm not the one scouting the free agent wire and grading guys and pouring over every inch of game film I can get my hands on for hundreds of free agents. It would be irresponsible for me to blame anyone.
     
    But that doesn't change the feeling I get when watching this Washington Redskin team.
     
    We won yesterday. We all should have been elated. We're alive in the playoff race. But for some reason, it didn't feel like a win. It felt like an escape. It felt like we were beaten but somehow grasped victory from the jaws of defeat. And let's be honest, there's something to say for a team that does that as consistently as the Redskins do. They play with heart. Very rarely do they find themselves in a situation that they can't win the game in the waning moments. That is a testament to the team the guys mentioned above have put together. 
     
    But it's also a sign that improvements need to be made. I'm quite sure the front office brass knows that. There is a lack of talent, especially on the defensive side of the ball. But there is certainly no shortage of heart. That's where I hang my hat. The Redskins show up to play, and play with a sense of pride. That's not a hallmark of the recent tradition in regards to the franchise.
     
    There is an upward trend in many ways. So while there are holes, and heart palpitations, and frustration, there is also hope. There are good people leading the charge.
     
    But for the love of all that is good... Fix the defense. Please.
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