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  1. TSO
    SEATTLE - Welcome everyone to your Week 9 of the Regular Season coverage on Extremeskins, it's TSO here up in the Century Link Press Box along with the top guy himself, @TK - who will be providing us wondrous pics of the action from the sidelines. We're both geared up and ready to provide you the best damn Skins' coverage on the planet! 
     
         "Next man up!" 
       
         "Injuries are just an excuse!"
     
         "Good coaches overcome injuries!" 
     
         Sounds contagiously valiant, doesn't it? The go to phrases for fan machismo, if you will. But I'm here to say screw that, yeah right, and whatever.
     
         When your unquestionably elite starting LT is hurt, and the backup who can fill in for him admirably is as well, you've got a problem. When the guy who's started next to him for years now is also hurt, the guy with which ample amounts of chemistry has been built through experience, that just adds to it exponentially. But wait, there's more! The Center is out, too! Oh, the stud RG you drafted 4th overall a couple years ago? Yup, he's hurting. And the guy next to him? Two ankles.
     
       Yeah. It'd be enough to damage any positional unit's ability to succeed when its two best players are hurt. But when all the above is happening AND you even got those backups filling in getting hurt during the game on top of it... it's friggin ridiculous, suffice to say.    
     
       When your stud rookie Dlineman - who you just picked in the first round to bolster what was an absolute terrible unit the previous season - is out with a Lisfranc, and then the guy who has emerged next to him as another stud while both turning the unit around so much so that it elevated the entire defense (as is the prerogative of a good Dline) also gets hurt with a broken hand, well, that's a problem. Again, the two best players on the unit HURT. 
     
       When you lose your elite starting CB for a few games, and then also have your next best one starting on his opposite side getting hurt enough to miss at least one game (notice the trend here?), while the rookie Safety who has emerged can't stay on the field an entire game, and the vet Safety you just signed is also struggling with injuries, and one of the backups to those Safeties ends up on IR, and some of the backups to the aforementioned DBs are getting hurt during games, and... well, you get a run on sentence. 
     
      When arguably your best pass catcher on the team, who happens to play at TE, is hurting all season (granted, to no one's surprise), but then your third TE also gets hurt, while your top two outside WRs are struggling, and you're relying on your slot WR who ALSO just got hurt and isn't going to play now... welp, yay for that.
     
      Season ending injuries. Nagging injuries that are significant enough for guys to miss games and/or playing time during games. Injuries guys can play on but are hampering their ability to perform at their best. Freak injuries. Injuries one can play on but might lead to significant future damage. It's all there. All the time. At every. Single. Unit. 
     
      It isn't just an excuse to justify poor performances anymore, by the coaches or players. It's turned into THE story of the season, and absolutely justifiably so. Those who are unwilling to point to that while being lenient to all those involved in terms of criticism simply lack a shred of empathy in my mind. Frighteningly so.    
     
      What's so frustrating about it is that this was the roster, going into the season, that was unquestionably the best one we've had in decades. This was the year we could've witnessed a significant leap, and did for a few glorious weeks. A scrappy win against a Rams team with a solid roster from top to bottom. A dominant win against a Raiders team that was as dominant themselves as any team in the league at that point, in prime time. Taking it to the Chiefs, who were arguably the best team in the league at that point, up to the last minute - also in prime time but at their place. Only to have one injury after another occur (we lost both Allen and Norman that game, with a litany of others to immediately follow as disgustingly described above) and destroy the momentum being built right before our very eyes. The bye week after did next to nothing to save us. 
     
      So this game against a Seahawks team, looking like a contender (per the norm) and at their place where they rarely lose, is in the books already, right? All is lost, no point in suiting up, go home with our tails between our legs and save ourselves some embarrassment. 
     
      But that's the beauty of it, isn't it? When human arrogance dares to call something contingent as necessary, it gets humbled real fast and often. When that same arrogance blinds one to the realism of hope, and they fool themselves into believing that being realistic excludes being hopeful, well... hope prevails much more often than they're willing to give it credit for, to put it nicely.  
     
      So that's what I'm holding on to right now. And desperately so, because all indications point to a beating here. There's so much going against the team and for the Seahawks, even with them having some key injuries like Earl Thomas, as well. It's just not remotely as bad overall for them. 
     
       But I'm hoping a team filled with guys who want to prove themselves - in what they surely know is likely an extremely small window of opportunity for them to do so - play their hearts out and shock the world. A team that has played hard for a good group of coaches more often than not. A team going through the struggle together and for each other. Those are the type that often surprise and, God willing, we get quite the pleasant, season-defining, one here today.  
     
      Stay tuned for more coverage throughout the day from @TK and I, and Hail To The Redskins!       
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

                   
     
    1st Half Notes: 
     
     
    - Kelley and Perine out returning kicks. 
     
    - Brian Quick out there consistently. 
     
    - Doctson and Grant starting two WRs in base formation with Sprinkle and Davis as two TEs. 
     
    - DHall starting at Safety. 
     
    - Perine doesn't open up enough for handoff, paying too much attention to the blocking. Fumbles after a great pass from Kirk to Davis. 
     
    - Lanier in on third down nickel defense. Provides a nice rush and hit on Wilson. 
     
    - Arthur Jones playing mostly at LDE. 
     
    - Defense keeping us in it big time. Dline started strong getting consistent pressure on Wilson, then Seahawks started running more with success. Hood playing better than last week early on, but regressed a bit in the 2nd quarter. Surprised to even see Hood rushing the passer well. Lanier has shown up in a big way. Pass rush after pass rush. Really impressive stuff. Holds and false starts on the Seahawks Line also a product of the front's play. 
     
    - I have no idea how this offense is going to move the ball. No Oline to either run block well or pass block well. Kirk is freaking out. TEs can't run block as usual. RBs automatically have to make moves in the backfield.a Receivers not getting open against this secondary. It's just, ugh. That drive in the 2nd quarter featured some quicker throws to Davis and nice running. Seems like that's the only way at this point. 
     
    - Seahawks are a 2nd half team. We've got to come out firing, as crazy as that sounds right now. Love the defensive performance, and the offense seemed to have found something there in the 2nd quarter, notwithstanding the final drive. Hopefully they can maintain. 
     
    2nd Half Notes: 
     
    - Lanier continues his solid play with another good pass rush on the first drive and hasn't stopped since. Just relentless. He's caused a bunch of bad throws from Wilson single-handedly. It's been super impressive. 
     
    - Seahawks clearly going back to what they were successful with in the first half, rushing the ball. Our pass rush has been unstoppable though. 
     
    - As usual, just nothing you can do about Wilson scrambling and finding receivers outside of the play. Otherwise, constant pressure on him has forced errant throws. 
     
    - Started bootlegging Cousins more. Some limited success there. 
     
    - Cousins definitely had some bad throws this game, but he is also facing consistent pressure and going against one of the best secondaries in the game. Guys are just not getting open down the field. One clear poor throw to Davis on a wheel route in the third quarter.
     
    - Kendall Fuller displayed his closing speed a few times. One was a TD saving pass break up. 
     
    - Another bad snap from Roullier in the shotgun formation, this time high. Last week he had one low. 
     
    - They didn't score, but that 2 point conversion with Norman and Swearinger playing catch was fun to watch. So close, yet so far away. 
     
    - We had too many first downs that were losing yards, be it due to sacks, bad snaps, or TFLs. Can't recover against this defense like that. Was worried the Seahawks would take away the quick game that worked on that one drive in the first half and we wouldn't have an answer. We don't. People can claim injuries aren't an excuse, but they make you one dimensional as a play caller. It's not easy to be dynamic when your options are limited personnel-wise, and you've got guys who aren't in tune with every aspect of the offense on the field. 
     
    - It's okay to allow your defense to win you a game. It's actually allowed, last time I heard. Especially when you're in an environment like Seattle, against a team that plays consistently great defense, with an Oline ravaged by injuries. It's. OH. KAY. That won't stop many from making this some kind of treatise on Kirk or Jay, I know. Nothing will. But it needs to be said.  
     
    - Defense played valiantly. Can't complain about them, even with the final drive from the Seahawks. Seahawks only scored twice on the day, with an offense that had only one drive for a TD, and tough field position throughout. The pressure they applied on Wilson was amazing, suffice to say. 
     
    - Overall, I know this'll be an opportunity for people to pile on Jay and Kirk. But I'm not going to and I don't think anyone should. Kirk didn't play well. Yes. As is the case with so many QBs going up against this defense in their place. But that last drive was glorious. Two absolute strikes to Quick and Doctson with the Seahawks playing super aggressive. So many use phrases like "he's not a gamer" and "he's not clutch", yet, that's EXACTLY what he proved he is there.  
     
    - Huge opportunity for Dunbar to finish the game with an INT on Seahawks final drive. McClain does it for him with a huge sack on Wilson. Game over. HOPE IS ALIVE, THANK GOD!!!! 
     
     
     
     
     
                                                       
     
     
     
                                                       
     
     
                                                          
     
     
     
     
     
  2. TSO
    Landover, MD - Welcome all to the Extremeskins coverage of the second preseason game. I'm TSO in the Press box providing you with the best damn coverage I and Spaceman Spiff, who will be providing coverage from the sidelines, possibly can! 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    1999 Redskins go 10-6 and win the NFC East. The following season? Failure. 
     
     
     
    2005 Redskins go 10-6 and nab a wildcard spot. The following season? Disaster.
     
     
     
    2007 Redskins go 9-7 and sneak into the playoffs. The following season? Zorn. 
     
     
     
    2012 Redskins go 10-6, win the NFC East with their shiny new franchise QB. The following season? Epic collapse. 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    So now, here we are. The Redskins are coming off a season that saw a seismic shift occur within the Front Office, where a legitimate talent-evaluating GM was hired to take control of the scouting department and personnel. Gruden got the help he desperately needed and asked for from the Front Office. The Redskins went 9-7 and miraculously won the NFC East on the heels of a young group of draft picks and a ton of personnel hits in general.
     
     
     
    So, the following season? 
     
     
     
    We're going to find out if this is real. 
     
     
     
    Is it? Is our newly and properly structured Front Office as organized and professional as it seems? Is it real?
     
     
     
    Is our energetic and smart coaching staff as good for player development as they were last season? Is it real?
     
     
     
    Is Kirk Cousins the franchise QB we've been so desperately lacking? Is he for real?
     
     
     
    Are the young players truly developing into a core of consistent championship potential?  Are they for real?
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    It might just be the preseason, but these games play a role (albeit a small one) in teaching us who will rise to the occasion and who won't. Who will solidify their spot on the team and who will continue to remain a question. Who will be a part of the new reality we all hope is happening right before our eyes, a hope we continue to question is real?
     
     
     
    The hope that we're witnessing the rise of the Redskins as a perennial contender. 
     
     
     
    Let's start to find out together here on Extremeskins Gameday Coverage!  
     
     
     
     
     
     
       
     
     
     1st Quarter Analysis  
     
     
       
     
     
     
     
     
       
     
     
    Offensively, I think we finally saw the new Matt Jones (7 carries for 31 yards, 4.4 avg) we've heard about all offseason. Though the handoff gaffe was terrible, everything else was very pleasing to see. He had good vision, ran hard, and got whatever he could get on plays that the defense played well. Unfortunately, he got hurt and so his durability issues will, and should, come into question. Let's hope his left shoulder is okay.   
     
     
       
     
     
    Ryan Grant (3 for 3, 27 yards) and Jamison Crowder (3 of 4, 38 yards) also showed up well (well, on offense, Crowder's muffed punt was terrible to see but let's not forget this is his first live action of the year), but you really see why coaches love Grant. He's just very smooth and tough to cover.  
     
     
       
     
     
    Colt McCoy (7 of 9, 66 yards) looked great until the last play of the first drive, which was mind numbingly stupid. I actually think he was trying to throw it away. And that spin? Whoosh. That was fun to see.  
     
     
       
     
     
    As for the defense, the secondary keeps showing up. DHall was in on the first pass break up and Greg Toler had great coverage on the 3rd down.         
     
     
       
     
     
    I've noticed the last two games we've essentially never lined up in a 3-4. We basically have two Dlinemen inside (Reyes, Baker) and 2 OLB (Kerrigan, Preston).   
     
     
       
     
     
    The Oline looks totally different with Lauvao in terms of run-blocking. That is all.   
     
     
       
     
     
    Stay tuned for more after the half!     
     
     
       
     
     
     2nd Quarter Analysis  
     
     
       
     
     
     
     
     
       
     
     
    Dunbar was a busy bee. He gave up a bad pass against Decker on the first drive for Jets O in the 2nd. On their second drive, Dunbar makes up for it with a beautiful pass breakup. Their third drive, Dunbar gives up a 9 yard completion, but had tight coverage. Mixed bag, but certainly improved from last week's performance.   
     
     
       
     
     
    Reyes and Baker were struggling a bit on interior runs initially. 2nd drive for Jets O, Baker made a nice tackle on an interior run, so that was good. Baker also had with nice pressure causing incomplete pass on 3rd down.   
     
     
       
     
     
    Spaight has been extremely impressive to say the least. It's not just the caused fumble, he's the general of D. I've been watching him between breaks as well and he's constantly communicating with everyone, controlling the huddle. Doesn't look like a 2nd year player coming off of injury. He had a sick read on screen and tackle as well later on in the 2nd.  
     
     
       
     
     
    Jamison Crowder running more north-south on punts it seems.  
     
     
       
     
     
    Ross with a step, Colt throws deeper could've been big play on drive early in 2nd. Rashad Ross two nice plays on first TD drive. Super impressive 2nd TD from Rashad Ross, tackled head first but maintains possession, not easy for a small guy like him.    
     
     
       
     
     
    Safety on Spencer Long, hands seemed more on the shoulders lifting up the jersey right under the chin so it looked bad, nice play to Maurice Harris got nullified, a shame for a young guy like him. But Harris comes back and gets a 19 yard gain on a nice catch off play action.    
     
     
       
     
     
    Ihenacho on ensuing kickoff with nice tackle. Continues to show up on Special Teams.      
     
     
       
     
     
    Another Ryan Grant catch.    
     
     
       
     
     
    Golston veteran move on run with about 3:25 left in 2nd, just goes down to cause pile up and trips RB.   
     
     
       
     
     
    Blackmon savvy INT from Safety, don't know what Geno Smith was thinking, but Trail was close to applying pressure... could be Geno felt it.  
     
     
       
     
     
    Dashaun Phillips and Spaight nice zone trade off on drive late in 2nd quarter.  
     
     
       
     
     
    All in all, a very positive quarter for a lot of Redskins. Spaight (1 FF), Rashad Ross (4 on 5, 58 yards, 2 TD) and Colt McCoy (13 of 16, 159 yards, 2 TD) killed it.    
     
     
       
     
     
    Stay tuned for more!       
     
     
       
     
     
       
     
     
      3rd Quarter Analysis  
     
     
       
     
     
     
     
     
       
     
     
    Not a whole lot to see here, but I was excited about Stephen Paea coming on back to back plays to start the 3rd quarter off. He got good penetration on run and then a sack on the next play.  Then, Paea on the ensuing drive again penetrates nicely on back to back plays with solid rushes. He's a player I was hoping would improve from last game and I discussed that in length here:    
     
     
       
     
     
    Speaking of players I noticed, Anthony Lanier seems to have moved up on the depth chart as he was often playing with 2nd team in the 3rd quarter if my eyes didn't deceive me. 
    Reiter continues to impress. On run play where Marshall went for about 9 yards with slightly under 3 minutes left in the 3rd, he gets his first block accomplished and then passes him off and lands his second block, opening up a nice lane up.    
     
    Stay tuned for the 4th Quarter update!    
     
     4th Quarter Analysis
     
    Again, not much to discuss other than the obvious (Sudfeld with an awesome drive to win the game)... but here are a couple things I thought were interesting. 
    Fuller gives up long pass play to start the 4th but then recovers with three nice plays. He breaks up two passes and then makes the tackle on a 3rd and 2 to stop the Jets drive and force a FG.  
    Garvin continues to make plays, with a nice pass break up and then a pressure that resulted in an errant throw to force a Jets punt. Recovers fumble caused by Deshazor Everett on Jets drive that was moving easily by hustling.  As mentioned in my previous blog, he's been impressive. 
    Anthony Lanier with the sack to finish the game, love that guy!  
     
    Final impressions:
    So today's game clearly didn't go a long way in determining if this Redskins' resurgence is for real (or as much as any preseason game possibly could), considering many of the players who will play a massive role in said resurgence didn't play, but we did get to see who might potentially add their hats to the discussion. 
    And who are those guys?
    Aside from the obvious answers in Rashad Ross, Ryan Grant, Colt McCoy, Matt Jones and Martrell Spaight who absolutely killed it, there were guys like Anthony Lanier (check out the exclusive interview) who seemed to play a bigger role today on the Dline after showing up really well last week.
    Stephen Paea improved significantly upon his performance last week as well, often finding his way in the backfield of the opposition. Other players who improved from last week were Keith Marshall, Will Blackmon, and Morgan Moses. 
    Reiter continued to impress as did Maurice Harris who continues to be used with the second stringers, making him an interesting roster decision to follow considering how much depth there is at his position. 
    Unfortunately, there are some guys who continue to be questions moving forward and are nowhere near a "yes" on the "is it real" scale. Kuandjio continues to be a mixed bag who has a tough time finding any consistency as does Quinton Dunbar, though he had a lot more positive happen than last week. Fuller had himself a mixed bag of a game as well, but his rookie status makes it much more forgiving. 
    So as we move forward and into the third preseason game where we're expected to get a much closer glimpse of the team's "is it real" factor, let's hope to see continued improvement from the players we need to play significant roles in this resurgence... that is, if it's real this time. 
     
     
     Click here for ES Exclusive Game Photos ~ courtsey of Spaceman Spiff





     
    EXCLUSIVE ES AUDIO CONTENT 
     
     
     
       
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  3. TSO
    Welp, we've made it.           The regular season is finally upon us and we've just entered the first game week, so naturally we fans are feeling the nerves kick in and are ready to start freaking out, jump off ledges, and kill each other and everyone around us.     Look around ES a little and tell me I'm lying?         Now, I can understand people's concerns about this offseason, but I think they're missing the forest for the trees. I sincerely believe those who are frustrated about things, to the point of calling this offseason a failure (or even perceiving it as Scot not doing enough this go around), were assuming we were one or two position groups being solidified away from being a Super Bowl contender.         Yet, Scot has repeatedly stated we need about 10 more "reds" (eg solid players) to be "there", and that was even after this year's draft. Some of us, on either side of this debate, are assuming Scot doesn't think Dline or RB is a weakness, but that's a faulty assumption. That's simply a misunderstanding about how BPA really works, and not just regarding the draft but in an organizational approach to personnel altogether.        A major point of contention has been our 2016 draft and how many of them (or lack thereof) made the roster. There are two ways to look at it:
   1) It just wasn't a very good draft or,
 2) Our depth has gotten a lot better and we can't afford to just hold on to guys because they were draft picks.         Of course, this is ignoring the fact that two draft picks (Steven Daniels and Keith Marshall) went on IR, and if you're simply writing them off this guy might have something to say about it:         So, here's the thing. There are signs all over the place showing us that this is the right way of doing things. Maybe none more evident than the team keeping someone like Lanier on the roster, which says a lot more than what it seems to on the surface.        Remember, I've been big on Lanier since the first preseason game, as well as the ones after that. Few are bigger fans of his:          But, if I'm being honest here, he's nowhere near ready to be anything other than maaaaybe a situational pass rusher on the line. Which is why I felt he would likely get cut and placed on the Practice Squad. Even posted about this very thing a few days ago. I, like many others, assumed we needed bodies on the Dline that could contribute immediately and was expecting Jenkins to make the team over him.        However, what he IS, is young and full of potential, thus making him the BPA over others who may have been safer or more short-term fixes. That's great and indicates a focus on the long term outlook of the team, even if it's at the expense of the present. Maybe we would've been stronger at Dline right now with someone else, but is our organization better off in the future?        They could've kept Jenkins on the Dline or kept Mack Brown on the roster, but instead they kept a guy like Lanier who needs time to develop but is filled with promise. Another example? They could've kept Ioannidis on the roster simply because it's an area of concern and he's a draft pick, but then a guy like Everett - who is the better player and a young guy as well - is likely to get cut. 
Even though he plays at a position of strength, we kept him.         This is what BPA is all about. This is how you build a strong roster that can consistently contend over time. You take the better player over perceived need. You go into the season with only 6 Dlinemen and 3 RBs because others playing different positions were better. It's as simple as that.        It's the correct approach. Yes, you're going to have clear weak areas and it might cost you games, but then you're going to have clear strengths because there's less of a chance at missing on guys or having guys go elsewhere and be successful because they can actually play - which should win you games. Aside from the obvious benefit to our depth (shouldn't we, for instance, feel good about Safety for the first time in years with DHall, Bruton, Blackmon, Ihenacho and Everett there?), you get the added bonus of eventually being so rich at one or two positions you can swing trades.        Oh, and, guess what? We got a boatload of draft picks we're starting to stockpile to do just that, as well. To get that we gave up an entire round this year. Again, short term loss for long term gain.     
        Although it didn't work out in the end, we've already seen the truth of this statement in action with the Stork trade. Moving back from the ledge, yet?
        Eventually, those weak areas will naturally be addressed just by the law of averages. It's extremely unlikely that things will fall, two off seasons in a row, where BPA in the draft isn't at those weak positions or guys in Free Agency are way too overpriced to address it there.         But it requires patience. We need to go back and see what Scot's said all offseason. Like here:              To think we're all on top of these weaknesses and he's just missing the boat here in terms of addressing them is laughable, and I'm not someone who won't criticize him if necessary. Heck, I'm still concerned about his past/family issues while most consider it a nonissue.         He could've went all out and addressed every area of concern on the roster, but then we'd have likely reached in the draft for a lesser talent and/or overspent in FA. Look at what the Giants paid average players to fix their Dline this offseason. Do we then miss out on Norman when he unexpectedly became available? Ryan 
Kelly, the center out of Alabama, was taken a few picks earlier than ours in the first round. If we wanted him, it would've cost us significant draft resources to move up ahead of Indy. What players are lost in the process, then, and can we afford to give them up for one Center?        That is what an anxious, impulsive man does when running an organization. That is the exact problem we've seen for so long from Dan and Vinny. It is the very essence of the fan-fueled, emotional "quick fix" philosophy that has been absolutely devastating to the organization. I'm not being lazy here and talking about the age old criticism of Dan trying to "buy" a championship... I'm talking about the obsession of attacking every weak area during the offseason while assuming everything else will remain as is.         I mean, come on, we as Redskins fans should know better at this point. How often did we have an offseason where it seemed like we totally addressed all the areas of weakness/concern, assuming our previous strengths will remain as such, only to find out we reached/overspent on those players we thought would solve things while suddenly and unexpectedly watching our assumed strengths become gaping holes in the process?       Then what does the team do the following offseason? Rinse and repeat.         We've seen it a million times, haven't we? And in all our desperation to immediately become a contender, we set ourselves back because we had a roster filled with those misses who not only played poorly, but also cost us valuable development time for better players. Or we just cut those better players altogether.         This is the difference in philosophy that has us keeping guys like Lanier and Everett on the roster.         As of now, and due to our current philosophy, we may have three elite positions on the team at QB, WR and DB. And that doesn't look like it'll change anytime soon. You can't ignore the fact that not addressing other spots or perceived areas of weakness has allowed us that.        Calling this bad in any way is simply ridiculous to me, and I think it just comes from the nervousness occurring within us as the season approaches and knowing we've got some weak spots at key areas. If we can't see past the 2016 season, well, we don't have a solid grasp of where this roster is at. Fortunately, for the first time in forever we've got some adults in charge who do.         I'm sorry to sound a little harsh here, but get used to the fact that we might be further from an elite team than we'd like to think as fans (naturally), and that our way of thinking could easily set us back from getting there sooner.         Now, that doesn't mean we have to ignore any bad move that's made or assume Scot and the FO have been perfect and have had everything go as planned. I'd bet, if they were being honest, they'd admit they were wrong in this or that case; and/or didn't see this or that coming; and/or thought the draft would fall like this instead of that... but that also doesn't mean they did poorly, or that things suddenly aren't going in the right direction and we took a step back. Actually, no need to bet on it:     
         Not to sound all preachy, but we should be happy and satisfied that we've got a group of guys in charge who have a plan; can adjust in the right way (and not panic) when things don't go accordingly; and are properly assessing the roster's state, therefore avoiding the wishful, faulty, thinking that causes teams to give up too much of their future while assuming they're close enough to contend. 
        I know this may be too much to ask but can we, as fans, take their lead and be as patient as them when/if we lose this season?          Because, as hard as it will be at the time, it'll be the right thing to do. No homer, just the truth.      
  4. TSO
    Landover, MD -  Hello ES and welcome all to the Extremeskins Coverage of the third preseason game of the 2016 season. I'm TSO in the press box at FedEx Field along with Spaceman Spiff, here to provide you with the best damn coverage we possible can!
    Last week I talked about the burden that undoubtedly weighs on every Redskins fan's mind... that fear that lingers knowing that, after every successful season in the last how many years, the team followed it up with utter failure. The paranoia that something terrible is right around the corner. The Redskins "curse", if you will. 
    But then the very real hope that all of the signs - and there are many legitimate ones - point to it being different this time, right? They're steeped in rationale and logic, and we've seen the fruits of it already with an NFC East division title under our belts. That hope is forcing us to remove those fears, doubts and paranoid attitudes, leaving us to remain more curious than anything else. Wondering if this time, you guessed it... is it real?
    Last week against the Jets we had an insightful, albeit "preseasonal" and therefore half-baked, tour into the answers we're seeking. We saw young, unheralded guys like Anthony Lanier II and Martrell Spaight continue to rise. We saw Colt McCoy continue to solidify why he's a great backup to have, one very few teams have the luxury of. We saw the Oline pick it up in the running game against the elite Defensive Line/Front of the Jets, with Matt Jones reeling off numerous runs that proved not only his improvement, but also why the team hasn't hesitated to trust him with the starting job. We saw the guys who no one talks about at WR, like Ryan Grant, Maurice Harris, and Rashad Ross, show why it's arguable we have the best and deepest WR corps in the NFL.
    But that was week 2 of the preseason. Week 3 is an entirely different animal, as everyone knows it's considered the "dress rehearsal" for the season. This game also brings with it an extra layer of intrigue due to the surprise Coach Gruden laid on all of us, as well as the players, that many of the usual starters would be getting the night off last week, all the while acknowledging the importance these snaps tonight will have for everyone to prepare for the Steelers on Monday Night.     
    So are we going to keep getting positive affirmations regarding the "is it real" question? Or are those fears and doubts going to be allowed to creep in? Stay tuned here on the Extremeskins Coverage Blog to find out with us!
     
       
     
       
     
     Some Pregame warm-up notes -
    *Trent Williams is such a great leader (see video below, try to pay attention to how he roams the entire roster). He's involved with every position group, talking to them, getting them hyped, etc... Ihenacho caught a nice pass one-handed and Trent was right there like "yeaaaaaaaah". In the video, you can see Kendall Thompson engage him. It's fun to watch him simply being a Redskin through and through.
    *Speaking of Olinemen, Leribeus just false started during a simple warm up routine.  
    *TJ Thorpe can dance. 
    *It's oddly very enjoyable watching Gruden and Scot McCloughan together. Somehow every smile, every laugh they have together warms the heart. It's incredibly lame.      
     
     Ziggy Hood starting for Baker. Dline gets nice pressure, Ziggy Hood cleaned up for sack. First drive solid pressure from Dline overall. Kerrigan hurt, though. Doesn't look good the way he's talking on the sidelines with other players. :/ 
    First Redskins drive, Bills getting good interior pressure, Lichtensteiger with the hold as well. 
    2nd drive for the Bills, after INT, no pressure from front and they were able to run on them. Not a good look, but secondary came through. Norman, blanket coverage in the redzone, fun to see him make a play in a Skins jersey for the first time. 
    Reed, Grant and Garcon drops on Redskins 2nd drive, followed by a Hopkins miss. Team, outside of secondary and flashes from the Dline, in general seems off.
    Norman with nice pass break up again on 3rd down of Bills 3rd drive. He's on fire. 
    Redskins 3rd drive, Trent with a slight limp after first play. Continued to go backwards on running play, then screen to DJax, then it was just a penalty-fest. Pretty ugly.  
    Bills 4th drive... Preston Smith beasting on 1st down run play with TFL of 5 yards. DHall with a terrible personal foul that gives the Bills a first down, nullifying the previous loss. Bills running the ball easily up the middle it seems, it's a problem.   
     Will Compton with a TFL as the Bills continue their 4th drive, he's had quite a few this preseason.  DHall follows up with a great tackle in the open field to bring the TE down, hurting him in the process. At least the D is holding the Bills to FGs. 
    Redskins 1st drive of 2nd quarter, Lichtensteiger, Long and Trent Williams with great blocks on 2nd down, allowing Robert Kelly to get outside for 9 yards. 
    Bills 2nd drive in 2nd quarter, 2nd down Ziggy Hood with excellent penetration and TFL of 4 yards. Trent Murphy almost gets home on 3rd down, nice speed pass rush. Once again, Norman with the blanket coverage. 
    Redskins 2nd drive, Oline pass blocking well while run blocking is an issue, as usual. Lichtensteiger with another hold.
    My man Ryan Grant with a sick cut for the TD run after an excellently timed pass by Cousins.
    Bills 3rd drive, interestingly Paea and Ioannidis out there with some of the 1s. Ioannidis gets immediate pressure causing an incompletion on first down. Followed up by Ricky Jean Francois sack forcing the Bills into a 3rd and 17. Dline making some noise! 
    Redskins 3rd drive, yet another hold on Lichtenstieger that cost Reed a nice catch and run. Ridiculous, that's 3 holds on him. Ryan Grant continues to be hot and cold, drops easy pass behind the LOS on 2nd and 10. After roughing the passer call, Lauvao with a great block on running play, opening a huge path for Robert Kelley. Run blocking has picked up in general, it seems. Good to see, but could be due to Bills bringing in lesser guys on their line.     
    Bills 4th drive, Will Blackmon with the caused fumble... on the same play Trent Murphy actually had another nice rush almost getting home.
    Coming off the turnover, Redskins score via Kirk to Garcon after seemingly being unable to get the snap off. Check out how it looked from the press box: 
    Bills come back with a nice FG drive of their own, mainly off of an EJ Manuel run that should've been a sack in the backfield, though I missed who got the pressure on him and whiffed. Stay tuned for more analysis by the Extremeskins Coverage Blog! 
     
     
        So, some notable stats to start off. Cousins finished 12 of 23 for 188 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT for a QB Rating of 101.1. Not too shabby after a shaky start. Desean Jackson was 4 on 5 for 56 yards. Vernon Davis was 3 on 3 targets for 42 yards. J Reed was 2 on 4 targets for 28 yards and a TD. Garcon was 2 on 4 targets for 24 yards and a TD. Ryan Grant was 1 on 4 targets for 38 yards and a TD (as of the 1st half).  
    Not much to talk about during the 2nd half, but here were some notes: 
     Redskins 1st drive of 3rd quarter, Ty Nsekhe with a great block to seal edge and allow Mack Brown a big gain. Second string Oline doing some solid work opening holes for Brown in general. Though they definitely seemed to lose something once Long went out with an ankle injury and Reiter came in. Long is a nice presence for the run game when he's under center. 
    On Bills 2nd drive, Stephen Paea with nice penetration and a TFL. Ricky Jean Francois continues to consistently penetrate. Corey Crawford with a vicious thrown down of the RB after Ihenacho got a hold of him, then Crawford follows it up with a nice pass rush on 3rd down which caused Manuel to escape the pocket and throw an incompletion.   
    Interestingly, it looks like Garvin has moved up the depth chart as he's playing next to Spaight with the backups.
    Speaking of Garvin, on the 4th down play of the Bills 3rd drive, he showed a bit of his weakness in the running game as he was easily blocked on the second level by a Bills' Guard, allowing the run for the first.   
    Redskins offense just isn't moving the ball after their first drive of the half (which still came away with no points). Backup Oline seems to be pass blocking well enough, but not many open options for McCoy, who seems a bit off himself. 
    On the first down of Bills 4th drive, Garvin does a good job using his speed to get in position to tackle the RB, but he can't finish and allows the RB to get outside for a nice gain. My man Lanier finally showed up with a nice TFL on the Bills RB.
    Redskins 4th drive of the half, Oline not getting much push for Mack Brown. Kouandjio with a holding penalty on top of it. This has been quite the utterly boring second half. 
    Lanier with a deflected pass on the Bills final drive. Kendall Fuller follows with a big pass break up in the endzone, followed by another pass breakup by Mariel Cooper! 
    Last two plays were fun, Wakefield with a sack followed by a Kendall Fuller INT to seal the deal, Redskins win! 
    At least the final drive was a little bit exciting, pretty dull 2nd half overall. Going to head down to the locker room now, see you all in a bit. 
     
     
     
    EXCLUSIVE ES AUDIO CONTENT 
     
  5. TSO
    Hello ES, 
     
    It's your friendly neighborhood TSO here and I'll be providing ES press box Gameday coverage for the next two preseason home games. Now, now, let's stop with the applause and all calm down.  
     
     

     
    So, I've re-watched the first preseason game against the Falcons numerous times and I came away with some performances I thought were more intriguing to follow than others, with an eye on how they respond in the following games. Will those who disappointed improve upon the issues they showed? Will those who impressed continue to do so? Will we see changes in the depth chart and playing time in the upcoming games based on their performances? 
    Let's start with the disappointments. 
     
    First up: 

    Stephen Paea, 90. 
    Interestingly enough, Gruden today was asked about Paea and some are interpreting his response as a negative towards Paea. I can see why. Frankly, Paea was a disappointment to watch after hearing about his improvements (namely, his health) all offseason. Though he wasn't necessarily a liability when he was in, he seemed to consistently be a non-factor, which is unfortunate considering most of the time he played was against the second and third-stringers of the Falcons.
    Let's take a look at some of those snaps... 
     
    The following (at LDE) shows what was pretty much his issue this game. His legs. Seems to be very tentative and stuck in molasses:
        
    Here (at LDE), he gets pushed off the ball and is simply a non-factor:
     
    Here, again at LDE, not getting any penetration on his rush:
     
    Here, at RDE, same deal, a non-factor with his rush: 
     
    Now, it wasn't all bad. Unfortunately, the good all came in the 2nd half against lesser players. Still, you can see the upper body strength everyone talks about when he gets his hands directly on a guy and is able to use his arms fully. Here (at RDE), he puts his guy on the ground with ease: 
     
    Here (at RDE), he shows quick hands and is able to generate a solid rush. Unfortunately, he was a bit late and was actually flagged for hitting the QB (ticky tacky call, though). His speed just isn't where you want it to be, though: 
      
    His best play of the game here. He's lined up (at RDE) directly in front of the Tackle (4 tech) and destroys him, causing the RB to lose yards:
     
     
    Basically, his legs are an issue, his upper body strength isn't. Doesn't bode well for pass rushing, but this was his first game back after his turf toe injury and maybe he was hesitant versus just not having it. Still, it's disappointing because we've been hearing from him that he's "100 percent" for the last few months and the team seemed optimistic regarding his resurgence. 
    Hopefully we see some improvement versus the Jets on Friday and/or moving forward. But, if we don't, not all is loss because his strength can still be an asset, especially in short yardage/goal line situations lined up at the zero, two, or four technique (directly in front of his guy) where he can just out-muscle them to disrupt gaps.
     
    Next up: 

        Arie Kuandjio, 74.
    Now, Kuandjio was a guy many fans hoped, all offseason, would compete for a starting job at LG. Had that not been the case, his game against the Falcons wouldn't have been a disappointment, just more of a standard preseason affair where nothing necessarily stood out and there are things to work on for a young prospect. Alas, high expectations often leads to disappointment if they aren't met immediately.
    Let's take a look at some of the issues. 
    Here, we see where that old scouting report (you know, phone booth Guard and all) on him comes in play. He gets out in space and just doesn't have the juice to get to his Linebacker: 
     
    This ones a little funny, he lets his guy get under him quickly and gets some bad whiplash in the process, only to end up on the ground: 
     
    Most of his tape was just "meh", not necessarily bad but nothing that stood out. This was about the only play where he did something impressive as he rides his guy right off the screen:
     
    It'll certainly be interesting to see how Kuandjio responds the next few games, as he seemed to really have high expectations for himself this year and the first game didn't bear much fruit for him. 
     
    Next up:
     
      Niles Paul, 84 
     
    This might be a little unfair considering how fast he's come back from a devastating ankle injury, but we've been hearing how far along he is all offseason so a little bit more was expected. Unfortunately, the plays he was in to start the game were all pretty poor and the one catch he had ended up in a hyper-extended knee. 
    Let's take a look.
     
    Here he is at FB pretty much failing at his block. He gets his head way too low and thrusts too early, gaining no leverage and making it easy on the defender to avoid him, screwing Matt Jones over in the process: 
     
    Here, he's lined up as the outside TE on the right. He does a good job initially getting to his block, but fails at holding it long enough and gets pushed back. His guy makes the tackle:
     
    Here, again lined up at TE to the right side, he runs his route a bit tentatively and is in an awkward position to make the catch. Probably was unsure about sitting in the zone or continuing the route, but then to top it off he fails to make the catch:
     
    Here, he's the FB and, again, does a good job getting to his block but his guy overpowers him with ease and lays a solid enough hit on Marshall to disrupt the play: 
     
     
    So, yeah, not very good from Niles. Hopefully his knee is okay and he can take a step against the Jets. 
     
    So now with the disappointments all out of the way, let's have some fun, shall we? We've heard about guys like Ziggy Hood, Su'a Cravens, and Ricky Jean-Francois having good games, but I wanted to focus on some who were a bit more unheralded who did. I'll be keeping an eye on these guys moving forward. 
     
    First up: 

    Kendall Reyes, 97
     
    Reyes hasn't had much fanfare nor expectations placed on him. Most assumed he'd be solid depth or just an okay starter at best. Judging by his first preseason game, I think we may be in for a pleasant surprise. 
    Let's see why. 
     
    Here, Reyes (at RDE) gets a good jump on the ball and almost immediately penetrates into the backfield: 
     
    Here, he's lined up as the Nose and gets a solid push initially, though he lets up a bit early because he assumes the QB is about to pass and wants to get his hands up. Should've continued, but a solid job nonetheless: 
     
    Here, at RDE again, he gets an excellent bull rush and shows his strength: 
     
    Here, he does everything right except make the tackle:
     
    Here, again at RDE, he shows good awareness on the draw and still gets a decent angle on the ball carrier though the Center is focused solely on riding him out of the play: 
      
     
     
    All in all, a very solid performance. All of his other snaps showed a guy who won't get moved off the ball easily, either. I'm looking forward to seeing how he looks against the Jets and if he can continue to build off of his performance.
     
    Next up: 

    Anthony Lanier, 72 
    This guys tape was, by far, the most fun to watch. Though it was against the bottom of the barrel in terms of personnel for the Falcons, the guy was extremely disruptive on pretty much every play he was in. He played like a maniac, to say the least.
    Let's take a look.
     
    Here he's lined up as the RDE and is in on the tackle with Terrence Garvin (who actually deserves a spot here himself, Garvin played well), causing a fumble. The next clip after this one will show just how much he laid out for the hit:
      
     
    Here, at RDE, penetration and tackle: 
     
    Here, at RDE, he gets immediate penetration but then savagely rips off the RBs helmet. Ugly play on his part and, though you appreciate the effort, he's got to be better than that moving forward: 
     
    Here, again, penetration and the tackle: 
     
    Here, just runs down the play and combines for the tackle with Fields: 
     
     
    Suffice to say, just a boatload of fun to watch. Can't wait to see what he does moving forward. 
     
    Next up: 

    Carlos Fields, 59
     
    He's generated a little bit of buzz, but mostly written off as a likely cut, he showed up and was in on pretty much every play he was a part of. He was extremely physical and didn't hesitate to throw his body around against the Falcons, making some fun plays to watch in the process. 
    Let's take a look. 
    Here, you might think there's nothing special about this play, but he takes on a big FB who gained some steam while he was pretty much stationary and handles it extremely well. When you look at it at first glance, the FB should've laid him out but Fields physicality is displayed: 
     
    Here, he and Garvin (see what I mean about Garvin?) combine for a nice tackle, but notice how Fields (right ILB) sifts through the traffic nicely (and listen to that pop from Garvin while you're at it): 
     
    This was probably his best play, look at him hustle through the traffic to make the play (left ILB): 
     
    This play was the same one already posted for Lanier, but pay attention to Fields here instead (middle):
     
     
    Good stuff from the young man and it'll be interesting to see how he follows it up for sure. 
     
     
    Welp, that does it. Aside from the more commonly known and intriguing players to follow the next few preseason games, I hope this added some onto your radar. Will Paea, Paul and Kuandjio improve? Will Reyes continue to show up? Are guys like Lanier, Fields, and Garvin moving up the depth chart? Stay tuned right here on the ES coverage blog to find out!       
  6. TSO
    VICTORY!!!
     
     
     Welcome everyone to your week 6 ExtremeSkins coverage, I'm TSO here in the pressbox with my man Spaceman Spiff (who will be covering the team on the sidelines) ready to provide you the best damn coverage on the planet!  
     
          This isn't your one year old baby brother's NFC Least now, is it?
        At 3-2, the Redskins find themselves holding third place in the division, looking up at the Eagles and Cowboys. The Cowboys have won 4 straight, starting with their win against the Skins in week 2. The Eagles had won 3 straight, only to fall to Detroit last week after coming off of their bye in a tight game. The Giants started off strong at 2-0, but have lost 3 straight starting with a Skins loss in week 3. Suffice to say, the first month and a half of the regular season has seen a division heavily lauded as the worst in the NFL last year suddenly look like the finest. 
         Going into the year, the Eagles looked to be rebuilding as they got rid of many players from the Chip Kelly era. They traded Bradford away, the safer bet at QB, and decided to get their rookie QB reps right away. And while many recognized they had a lot of solid pieces on defense, few expected them to play well in all three phases of the game. They've been disciplined, balanced and seemingly well-coached. And while it seemed like they were riding an easy schedule to start the season, they've got a big win against a dominant team in the Steelers showing this might not just be a fluke. 
         Meanwhile the Skins are winning games they shouldn't be winning. After a terrible start to the season that saw them humiliated against the Steelers and then dropping a game that included too many missed opportunities to the Cowboys, they've reeled off three straight wins to claw their way back into the picture. The wins have come in all shapes and sizes, with the only consistency between them being the resiliency of the team. 
        Today, they're going to need that.
        Many expected a loss in New York, as has been so often the case in recent history. The Skins just don't win there. But, they did.
        And while many thought it should be an easy win against the lowly Browns at home, there were equally as many saying it'd be "so Redskins" to lose that game. For almost the entire 2nd and 3rd quarters, it seemed that way, too. You could hear the collective "here we go, again" coming out of Redskin fan's mouths. But, again, they showed their resiliency and came out with the win.
       Going against the Ravens in Baltimore? Ahh, forget it! The Skins never win there! They'll run all over our porous defense and they'll be able to stifle our offense with their number one ranked defense. But... yup, the Skins pulled out yet another scrappy win, this time doing it unlike any other game this year; defensively. 
        So, three straight wins and yet it feels like they're supposed to lose this game. Why? We fans have been so battered we simply expect the worse at this point. When other teams win close games against us, it's because "...that's what winners do, they just find a way". When we do the same, welp, it's just luck. This team has continuously shown us that they're fighters. They won't lay down. Penalties? Missed Opportunities? Injuries? They overcome.          
        Now, they need to overcome the Eagles.
        Offensively, Carson Wentz is playing as well as anyone can expect a rookie QB to play. What's worse, he seems to favor attacking the intermediate middle of the field, which is arguably the area with our greatest deficiency personnel-wise. But that's not all... they're also an excellent rushing offense, which we all know has been our biggest weakness thus far. We're going to need great games from our ILB and Safety corps. In particular; Will Compton, Mason Foster, Blackmon and Ihenacho. With Su'a Cravens out, look for Terrence Garvin to play a significant role. Let's hope we see more of this: 
     
           Defensively, the Eagles are playing extremely well under their new coordinator Jim Schwartz. In reality, it all starts up front with the Eagles, specifically right in the middle with their DTs Fletcher Cox and Bennie Logan. Their outstanding play has made it easy on everyone else, furthermore, now that Chip Kelly's gone and their defense is playing a normal amount of snaps per game, everyone has benefited.
     
         If our Oline, particularly Long, Sherff and Lauvao can handle Cox and Logan, it'll go a long way in allowing our offense to excel. Matt Jones/Kelley/Thompson and Kirk Cousins having good games will be the key, but our WR corps should have more of a chance to shine now, as well. Losing Reed is big, but the depth at TE has been said to be excellent with Vernon Davis and Niles Paul backing him up, so we'll learn quite a bit regarding just how accurate that claim is today.  
        The Lions have put out some good stuff on tape to emulate against their defense, so hopefully we see things like this: 
         
           Suffice to say, this is a huge game. It's got season-long implications. Though fans should be satisfied with the three game-winning streak, as it's not often Redskin fans have been treated to such delights, the wins have been generally ugly and have allowed the doubts to remain. A win today will give fans something to really celebrate, will put the Redskins right up top of the division with the Cowboys, and everything in their hands moving forward. A loss? Well, this is a Redskin fan blog, I'd rather not discuss that.  
    Stay tuned here for more updates and exclusive content, only on the ES Coverage Blog! 
     
    Announcement of Inactives
     
    The Redskins declared the following players as inactive:
    o   No. 2 QB Nate Sudfeld
    o   No. 18 WR Josh Doctson
    o   No. 35 CB Dashaun Phillips
    o   No. 36 S Su’a Cravens
    o   No. 60 OL Vinston Painter
    o   No. 72 DE Anthony Lanier II
    o   No. 86 TE Jordan Reed
     
    No. 85 Vernon Davis is expected to start in place of Reed at tight end.
     
    The Eagles declared the following players as inactive:
    o   No. 16 WR Bryce Treggs
    o   No. 21 CB Leodis McKelvin
    o   No. 37 CB C.J. Smith
    o   No. 51 DE Steven Means
    o   No. 68 C/G Josh Andrews
    o   No. 69 G Dillon Gordon
    o   No. 73 G Isaac Seumalo
     
    Pregame Tweets
     
     
    BATTLE OF THE TRENCHES
    Decided to focus on the trenches since I know most of you will be watching the ball. Here's what I saw: 
    Oline 1st Half
    1st drive for the O. First snap, Logan (or Cox?) does a good job pushing Long back into Cousins forcing incompletion. Second snap, not much push from the Oline on the left side, Eagles stop Thompson for one yard gain. 3rd down, Oline does a great job pass blocking all around, Long getting pushed back a little bit but holds up enough to give Cousins space to complete pass for first down. 2nd snap after that, Nsekhe (we seem to be using him as a 3rd TE initially) does a good job holding the edge at first, but then loses his block, costing Matt Jones only a two yard gain.   
    2nd drive. Morgan Moses holds on first snap, lost his block either way. Second snap, Oline does a good job pass blocking, Cousins probably could've held onto it longer. 3rd snap, Sherff loses his block against Cox, stopping a Thompson draw play. 
    3rd drive. Excellent pass protection off of Play Action, big play to DJax. 2nd snap, Lauvao does an excellent job getting to 2nd level and shielding off LBer, 16 yard gain for Matt Jones. Great pass protection all around on ensuing snap, though Long and Lauvao got pushed back a little, TD to Crowder!  
    4th drive. Eagles Dline does an excellent job moving inside right before the snap and stuffing Matt Jones. Next two plays, Oline does a great job pass blocking in general. Again, a little push on the inside with Lauvao, but still good. Excellent run blocking on the ensuing snap, huge gain for Ryan Kelley. Next snap, Long does a great job getting to the 2nd level, allowing Kelley another good gain. Next snap, Trent Williams with an absolute sick block pulling on the left edge for Thompson to get a big gain.  Snap after the next one, Eagles overload and stop the run, not necessarily the Oline's fault, though Long and Lauvao got pushed back. Next snap, Morgan Moses almost pushed back right into Cousins, but he got rid of it quickly for a TD to Vernon Davis! 
    5th drive. 2nd snap, Lauvao does a great job one on one with Cox, holds his ground. 3rd down, Oline does a great job all around pass blocking. After the loss on the end around that shouldn't have been, Oline does another great job pass blocking, allows Kirk to extend the play for a first to Crowder. 
    6th Drive. Left side of Trent and Lauvao do a good job run blocking, Matt Jones for a gain of 3. Next snap, another good job on the left side, especially Lauvao, helping Matt Jones to a gain of 22. Ensuing snap, Eagles are able to penetrate this time on the left side, but Kelley does a great job flipping the field and gains 5. Next play after 2 min warning, left side getting pushed back a little now, Thompson does a good job anyway for gain of 5. 3rd down, left side (Trent and Lauvao) both get shoved back into Cousins, who completes to Garcon for big conversion. Ensuing play, Oline does a good job pass blocking, Moses eventually loses his block. Final play of this drive, Oline (left side, once again, including Niles Paul) does a great job sealing the edge, Matt Jones walks in for a TD.
    Oline 2nd Half
    1st Drive. Long gets pushed back into Matt Jones, 4 yard loss. Ensuing snap, Oline does a good job pass blocking, Trent eventually gives up a pressure but Cousins throws it away. 3rd down, Sherff does a great job riding out his guy, Cousins steps up for big conversion to Garcon. Next play, Long does a great job getting out on screen, but doesn't finish well. Play after that, Long does a great job pulling on a toss to Thompson and holds his block long enough to allow Thompson to get outside. Play after the next snap, Oline does a good job run blocking again, Eagles have no answer except to cheat with LBers., Crowder gets an illegal block in the back. Ensuing play, Fletcher Cox beats Long (I think?) coming off a stunt, gets pressure on Cousins who completes to Garcon. Next snap, Long snaps it high, Sherff pulls and gets no push, ending in a no gainer. Play after the next, Sherff loses on a nice spin move, gives up a pressure, forcing us to settle for FG.     
    2nd drive. 3rd snap, nice job run blocking on the right side by Long, Sherff and Moses. Ensuing play, Oline does a good job overall pass blocking, but Moses gets slightly beat by the edge rush, still, Cousins gets it off on time for a nice gain to Thompson.
     3rd drive. 1st snap, great job all around run blocking from the Oline, especially Long and Lauvao to open a hole for Matt Jones, who gets the first and more. Play after the next, Morgan Moses does an awesome job pulling and getting an edge block to spring Thompson on a toss, showed great speed for a big guy.  After a couple penalties, Oline does a great job run blocking but Matt Jones bounces outside unnecessarily. Play after the next snap, Long gives up immediate pressure, Cousins sees it and panics, throws early to Garcon on the outside, incomplete.  
    4th drive. Left side doesn't get any push, Kelley for only one yard behind Lauvao and Trent. Next play, Sherff and Long pushed back into Cousins, but hold their blocks enough. 3rd down, Cox pushes Long back into Cousins, who escapes the pocket but can't find anyone. Tough three plays at a bad time, 3 and out.  
    5th and final drive. Oline does a great job on 3rd down opening up a gaping hole for Matt, specifically Sherff and Moses. Way to finish a great game overall!! 
    Dline 1st Half
    1st drive against the D. RJF, Hood and Baker are the starting Dline. Hood at RDE. First snap, sack by Kerrigan and Blackmon! Second and third snaps, Eagles get to the edge too easily, Baker and Hood penetrate but straight up the field and give up gaps, been a problem in our one-gap defense for a long time, they need to recognize when Oline going horizontally. 4th snap right after that, RJF does a great job on the edge, forces RB to lose a yard. Another Kerrigan sack on the next snap! Nice start for the front.    
    2nd drive. Baker does a great job after play action with immediate pressure, forcing Wentz to throw inaccurately. Next snap, Hood does a great job, as does Kerrigan, beating his man immediately and getting a TFL. 3rd down, Baker and Kerrigan stunting, do a great job getting pressure on Wentz who does well to get the ball off, but incomplete out of bounds. 
    3rd Drive. Jenkins out there with Hood and RJF. First snap, RJF in the middle, lot of space there for Matthews, but Foster cleans up. Still, a 4 yard gain, Eagles won up front. 2nd snap, better penetration from the front, but they still gain 3 yards. Jenkins with the tackle. Trent Murphy with a terrible neutral zone infraction. Snap right after that, Kerrigan getting a ton of attention, both RG and RT went to block him. Snap after that, 4 yard run from Matthews... but Dline did a good job not getting pushed back. 3rd down, front gets very good pressure all around.   
    4th drive. Ioannidis in the middle, does a good job, but run goes to the right for 5 yards. After the 2nd snap that went to Matthews for the 1st, Kerrigan talking a lot to the Dline right now during TV timeout. Next snap, bootleg, entire front got fooled. Kerrigan with immediate pressure, another snack on the ensuing snap. Just destroying their RT. 3rd down, Kerrigan stunts to the middle, gets pressure again. We're very exotic in terms of blitzing today, a bit surprising considering Wentz came into the game having some of the best numbers against the blitz in the league.  
    Dline 2nd Half
    1st drive. Baker, Hood and RJF come out to start again. Murphy out there with Kerrigan. 1st snap, RJF up the field quick and forces Sproles to cut, but he gets past LOS anyway for a 7 yard gain. Play after the next one, Kerrigan once again with the quick pressure, but Wentz gets it off for a big gain. Next play, Eagles Oline handles our front and convert a third and short. Next play, Chris Baker does a great job shielding off his block, finding the RB and making a tackle for no gain. 3rd down, they get great pressure on Wentz again who makes an awesome play... but it gets called back for illegal block in the back. 
    2nd drive. Jenkins, Ioannidis and RJF out there to start. Preston Smith and Trent Murphy outside. Kerrigan getting a breather, hopefully the Eagles don't take advantage as he's been absolutely killing it. 1st snap, Dline does a decent job not getting pushed back, but no penetration either allowing a 5 yard gain. Next snap, Ioannidis gets double teamed and destroyed, Matthews gets the 1st. Next play, Ioannidis takes a bad angle to rush, gets washed out of the play easy. Not good back to back from Iaonnidis, who's had a good game thus far. Ensuing play, no one gets pressure, Wentz goes deep for huge play on 3rd and 20 to Matthews. Play after the next, Hood does a great job reading Wentz and deflecting the pass.   
    3rd drive. Only two linemen, Jenkins and RJF out there. And, of course, 22 yard gain for Matthews. Ensuing play, they do a great job and make me eat my words  . Especially RJF, forcing Matthews back inside and Jenkins also generating a holding call. Next two plays, they're getting pressure but Wentz finding guys in the middle of defense. Next play, Dline does a good job penetrating but Sproles makes it to the edge for another first down. Ensuing play, not a good pass rush from Hood, Baker, Kerrigan and Smith, but Ertz drops the pass. Eagles settle for FG.    
    4th drive. On 3rd play, Murphy does an awesome job spinning and getting to Wentz, forcing an inaccurate pass. Next play, Hood and Kerrigan do a good job winning their matchups and stopping the run. Huge 3rd down, Baker does a great job and gets quick pressure, but Wentz makes him miss and hits Matthews for a huge conversion. Next play, RJF gets held so embarrassingly bad and STILL sacks Wentz. Huge play, but what the refs? No call!?
    Big 3rd down and 15. My man Preston Smith with the initial pressure and sack off an inside stunt! Murphy with the assist! Love to see our two young'ns finish the game that way! 
    Post game Audio
    Photos (by Spaceman Spiff)
     
  7. TSO
    So, last week I went through the Falcons game and came up with a few players I thought were intriguing to keep our eyes on as we moved forward through the preseason (with a ton of video to boot, probably too much as that page is/was a bummer to load ); either because they had disappointing outings and we hoped to see improvements from them, or because they looked surprisingly good and we hoped to see the continuation of that level of play. I intentionally focused on players who weren't being talked about a whole lot that week so as to avoid any media redundancy.   
    The disappointments I honed in on against the Falcons were Stephen Paea, Arie Kuandjio and Niles Paul. The impressive performances came from Kendall Reyes, Anthony Lanier (before the rest of the world started noticing him), Carlos Fields, and a special guest appearance from Terrence Garvin.
     
    So how did these guys do against the Jets? And were there any other performances to add to the current list of Extremeskins Coverage intrigue? Let's find out, shall we (with a little less video for the sake of our browsers, mmkay)?     
     

    Stephen Paea, 90
     
    Watching the game in the pressbox at FedEx field, I made it a point to focus in on Paea with my cheap Walmart-purchased binoculars (hey, it was last minute, Spaceman Spiff said I'd probably need them) when he came into the game. From what I saw, he was much improved, however, we must keep in mind that he came in about five minutes into the 2nd half, which means he was playing against lesser talent (and may further indicate a demotion on the depth chart). That being said, last week against the Falcons, he seemed to be moving in slow motion and the only positive he showed really was with his arm strength.
    Against the Jets, however, it was a different story. He moved very well and was a lot more explosive off the snap, to say the least. Let's take a look at a couple of examples.
     
    Here, he's lined up at RDE and you can see him move laterally well while penetrating, putting himself in the perfect position to make the tackle: 

     
    Here, again at RDE, he shows good lateral quickness another time by cutting to his left to find the open lane to the QB, then he puts on the jets to get the sack:

     
    Suffice to say, much better from Stephen Paea. 
     
     

        Arie Kuandjio, 74
     
    Unfortunately, the same can't be said about Arie Kuandjio, who continued to disappoint. Most of his plays aren't necessarily a negative, but they're plays where he can't be considered as having had a positive impact. He often is either out of position or generally not involved when he otherwise should be. But then there's bad as well. 
    Here, at LG, his guy gets underneath and is able to push him back, who then winds up making the tackle on Keith Marshall:

     
    Here, again at LG, is the play I believe John Keim was talking about a couple days ago when he mentioned Kuandjio getting pushed to the ground: 

     
     
    Yeah, let's hope we get a better showing from him against the Bills. 
     
     
      Niles Paul, 84 
        
    Good news for Niles, though, he definitely looked better overall. He did whiff on his first play, but then seemed to make up for it with better blocking in general. Let's take a look.
    Here, lined up at FB and motioned to the left, is the aforementioned whiff:  

     
    Here, lined up on the outside to the left at TE, you'll see him get a solid block on #21 of the Jets and maintain it throughout the play:

     
    Here, lined up as the outside TE on the right side, you'll see him execute a perfect block: 
     

     
    Overall, a better showing from Niles Paul. 
     

    Kendall Reyes, 97
     
    Kendall Reyes continued to impress for the most part. Nothing spectacular, just solid, and I get the sense that we'll be hearing that a lot when it comes to his play throughout the season.
     
    Here, at RDE, he gets some decent pressure on the QB and flushes him outside of the pocket:

     

    Anthony Lanier II, 72 
     
    By far, the most interesting aspect of Lanier's game was how much earlier he was put into the rotation than in the Falcons game, which may indicate he's moving up the depth chart a little. I asked him about it after the game and he seemed to agree. As for his performance, it wasn't as enjoyable to watch as the film against the Falcons (that's not to say he played poorly or regressed, just nothing splashy), but he certainly had his moments. Here are a few examples. 
     
     Here, at RDE, he gets quick interior penetration: 

     
    Here, lined up at LDE, he gets a near sack after beating #64 of the Jets handedly (gotta love the way he lays out there):

     
     
    Here, lined up at RDE, of course is his end of game sack. This one's all about his hustle and awareness: 

     
     
     

       Terrence Garvin, 52
     
    All Garvin has done these past two games is make plays, so I'm putting him here instead of Fields. Last week against the Falcons, he was in on a bunch of plays along with Fields and Lanier, so I didn't give him his own spot and just mentioned his play secondarily. I don't know if it's the weaker competition or not, but he's really impressive out there. Let's take a look at some of the plays he made against the Jets. 
     
    Here, lined up on the right side at ILB, you have to love his back pedal and then quick reaction to break up the pass: 

     
    Here, again lined up on the right side at ILB, he shows his speed as he slices his way through to apply quick pressure on the QB, causing the incompletion: 

     
    He was also in on a fumble recovery (right place, right time, so no need for a video really), but it just shows his hustle. He's really flying around out there and is fun to watch. 
     
    Well, that does it for now. We'll see how these guys look on Friday against the Bills as well as their spots in the rotation. Will they improve, stay the same or regress? Will we see them higher on the depth chart, the same, or lower? I might do a part 2 of this if I have the time and add some others to the list. Hope you all enjoyed it, see you around on the board!
  8. TSO
    Journey to Fed Ex through the eyes of the Press (Matt Jones and Jordan Reed sighting at the end of first video!): 
     
     
     Welcome everyone to your week 4 of the regular season ExtremeSkins coverage, I'm TSO here in the pressbox with my man Murf (who will be covering the team on the sidelines) ready to provide you the best damn coverage we can! 
    Oh, the entangled web the NFL can weave.
    When some random guy named RG3 who no one really knows that well moved on this offseason and signed with the Browns, many around the NFL, let alone Redskins Nation, had this game circled on their calendar. What excitement! What thrill! What adventure lays in wonder with such an intriguing matchup?
    Alas, it was not meant to be. As he is unfortunately wont to do, RG3 got hurt.

    The Browns are a total mess at the QB position and so that part of the game has lost quite its luster. 
    But, fear not! The battle of the QBs wasn't the only intertwining aspect these two teams have for us today. 
    How about Hue Jackson and Jay Gruden? Two Cincinnati Bengals ex-offensive coordinators wanting to strut their stuff against each other. After Gruden accepted the Redskins head coaching gig and left the Bengals, Hue Jackson was elevated to offensive coordinator from his running backs' coach position to replace him. There was plenty of talk during that offseason about how Hue was going to take their offense to the next level, some of it fairly interpreted as being critical of Gruden. Yet, in the end, the Bengals offense regressed under Hue, going from 6th in points scored under Gruden in 2013 to 15th overall under Hue in 2014 as well as going from 10th in total yards to 15th.   
    Oh, and that's not even getting into the Hue Jackson/Redskins connection, where he was the team's RBs coach under both Schottenheimer and Spurrier in 2001-2002. 
    Coaching histories not doing it for you?
    How about recent Redskin castoffs coming back for revenge? Both Stephen Paea and Austin Reiter were cut recently, the former before the season began, the latter after the first game of the year to make space for Cullen Jenkins. Both are starting for the Browns today and definitely looking to prove the team made a mistake in letting them go. If you've followed along here on the ES Coverage blog, you'd know Stephen Paea was a player we focused on during the preseason. The first game against Atlanta, he was subpar at best. But he seemed to improve as each game went on, albeit against lesser competition. It wasn't necessarily a surprise to see him released, but it was disappointing considering the offseason talk about him being fully healthy and ready to play at a high level. Were the improvements during the preseason enough, or was the team right to let him go?
    As for Reiter, that one particularly stings because of the need the Redskins ended up having at Center with Kory Lichtensteiger out for the year. Reiter would've been backing up Long, either way, but they wouldn't have been forced to sign John Sullivan off the streets. That's certainly a set back in the Scot McCloughan era of trying to build through the draft, generating legit angst among the fanbase by losing a draft pick who seemed to be developing.
    Still bored?
    Alright, alright. How about  just plain old football talk? This matchup certainly entices, as the Browns come in with the league's 4th best rushing attack while the Redskins have the league's 9th worst rushing defense. 
    Sounds horrifying, right? And it is, but then you factor in that the Redskins boast the league's second best passing attack and is going against the Browns' 9th worst passing defense.
    So, in the end, I believe this game boils down to the Redskins stopping Isaiah Crowell on the ground more than anything else. I know many are focusing on the threat of Terrelle Pryor, but I really think it's all about the Browns rushing attack today. An X factor coming out of the backfield, as well, could be Duke Johnson, as we've seen pass-catching backs like Vereen have success against us already. If they can't stop those guys out of the backfield, they're going to struggle enough to where any offensive advantage they have will be washed out and it could end up in a terrible loss against a desperate 0-3 Browns. Let's hope Ricky Jean-Francois, Chris Baker, Ziggy Hood, Cullen Jenkins, Will Compton, Mason Foster and even David Bruton, Jr. put on their big boy pants on today because we're going to need some interior run-stuffing more than ever.         
    Cool little nugget: For the first time in forever, with Arie Kouandjio starting, the Redskins now boast an Offensive Line entirely comprised of their own draft picks!
    Stay tuned for more tweets, notes and general updates right here on the ES Coverage blog.... and let's go Skins, HTTR! 
     
    Murf's Take
    What could have been? Months ago, when the NFL released the 2016 schedule, the Washington Redskins vs. Cleveland Browns match-up had so much potential. It wasn't viewed as two perennial doormats trying to claw their way towards respectability or even a .500 record. No, it was the return of Robert Griffin III.
     
    Had anyone with sense been calling the shots, this would have been the season opening matchup. Put two troubled franchises on primetime television and let the rest of the football loving world sit back and watch as the Heisman Trophy winner had a chance for redemption at the expense of the team who traded a bounty for him, watched him routinely get injured and, ultimately, allowed him to leave. America loves drama and that was as juicy of a storyline as either of these two teams is likely to be involved in all season long.
     
    But alas, it was not meant to be. Griffin did what Griffin does (namely, put himself in harm's way when he didn't have to) and now he's on the shelf, so the 1-2 Redskins will host the 0-3 Browns in a game that no one outside of friends, loved ones and diehards will want to see a single snap from.
     
    Without the appeal of RGIII vs. the Redskins, we're left with some pretty basic subplots for this afternoon's contest. Can Kirk Cousins and the passing attack finally work through their red zone struggles? Can Matt Jones finally show he's capable of being a workhorse back (and will the coaching staff stick with the ground game long enough to get him going)?
     
    On defense, can anyone on the defensive line other than Chris Baker get to the quarterback? Can the linebackers -- specifically Ryan Kerrigan pass rushing and Will Compton in coverage -- become more involved (because neither did much to stand out last week in New York)? How will the secondary handle the rash of injuries?
     
    In short, there are plenty of questions in need of answers as Jay Gruen's squad looks to build off of last week's victory over the Giants.
     
    As always, I'll be down on the sidelines during the game -- capturing photos of all the action. Some of the names and faces I'll be paying attention to today include Jordan Reed (can he be the guy to help the Redskins score touchdowns, rather than settle for field goal attempts?), Kendall Fuller (does he make the most out of his opportunity) and Arie Kouandjio (or whoever steps into the offensive line).
     
    - murf      PRE-GAME TWEETS
     
    ANNOUNCEMENT OF INACTIVES
     
    LANDOVER, Md. – The Washington Redskins have announced the following inactives and lineup changes for today’s game against the Cleveland Browns:
     
    The Redskins declared the following players as inactive: 
    o   No. 2 QB Nate Sudfeld    
    o   No. 18 WR Josh Doctson
    o   No. 26 CB Bashaud Breeland
    o   No. 35 CB Dashaun Phillips
    o   No. 60 OL Vinston Painter
    o   No. 72 DE Anthony Lanier II
    o   No. 77 G Shawn Lauvao
     
    No. 47 Quinton Dunbar is expected to start in place of Breeland at cornerback.
    No. 74 Arie Kouandjio is expected to start in place of Lauvao at left guard.
     
    The Browns declared the following players as inactive:
    o   No. 13 QB Josh McCown
    o   No. 19 WR Corey Coleman
    o   No. 22 DB Tramon Williams Sr.
    o   No. 24 DB Ibraheim Campbell
    o   No. 74 OL Cameron Erving
    o   No. 87 TE Seth DeValve
    o   No. 94 DL Carl Nassib
     
    No. 30 Derrick Kindred is expected to start in place of Campbell at strong safety.
    No. 77 John Greco is expected to start in place of No. 78 Alvin Bailey at right guard.
    No. 62 Austin Reiter is expected to start in place of Greco at center.
     
    On Saturday, the Browns signed No. 57 LB Cam Johnson to their active roster from Arizona’s practice squad and placed No. 44 LB Nate Orchard on their Reserve/Injured list. Johnson is 6-4, 268 pounds and in his third NFL season out of Virginia.
     
    1st Half Analysis
        Spencer Long with a sick pull and block after the holding penalty by Vernon Davis on the first drive, springing Thompson for a big gain on 2nd and 15.
    Preston Smith with a great play setting the edge against Pryor on the Browns' first drive. 
    Kirk Cousins sharp, decisive on the first drive of the game.  12 plays, 75 yards and took about 7 minutes. That's the offense we've been looking for. 2nd drive, same thing, just smooth sailing. 3rd drive with a terrible INT, didn't see the cover 2 guy on the outside flow towards the inside.    
    Defense seems intent on stopping the run that first drive. After that, they got hurt with Browns going to heavy formations.  
    2nd drive for the Defense, starts with Blackmon and Ihenacho both in the lineup along with Bruton. Browns in heavy formation, 1 WR... allow huge gain to Crowell. 
    David Bruton got absolutely leveled on one running play by an Olineman on the 2nd drive for the Browns. Ouch. 
    I'm not a big Joe Barry basher, but the defense lining up offsides is ridiculous. Guys shouldn't be doing that under your watch this consistently, period. 
    Pryor is killing Norman. He's got  few huge 3rd down conversions as well as a TD against him in coverage, though the TD was a great throw by Kessler. :/ 
    Trent Williams pancakes someone on the Skins 4th drive, then shows off his guns to the guy. 
    Speaking of Trent's, Trent Murphy continues his solid play. Been in their backfield all day.  
    At first glance, it looked like we were going to blow these guys out but, as many have said, the Browns are a scrappy bunch and managed to fight their way back with some great plays. Our offense came out real hot, but Kirk's INT really cost us as it gave the Browns great field position and they immediately tied the game. Browns get the ball first to come out of the half, let's hope the defense can can get a turnover or hold them on the first drive to allow our offense to take control of the game back.    
      Wanted to focus on some new faces, so first Kouandjio:   Kouandjio opens with a nice block on the 2nd play of the 1st drive. He gave up quick pressure on the next pass play, but Cousins got it out quick to Reed so it didn't matter. Kouandjio with a killer penalty, holding right after the Redskins got into the redzone on the first drive. Vernon Davis was also called for holding on the same play.     2nd drive, Kouandjio handling Shelton for the most part in pass pro. On rushing play in the red zone, Kouandjio pulls and does a decent job, but you can see his lack of athleticism. Matt Jones finished nicely, though. He then gets pushed back real badly on 1st and goal, costing a Matt Jones run. Great job pass blocking from Arie on the 3rd and goal, allowing Cousins to step up, extend the play, and find Reed for the TD!    4th drive, Kouandjio does a good job blocking for Matt Jones, who gets a 6 yard rush on 2nd down. After big play to Reed, Kouandjio loses initially to Shelton but does a great job recovering. Kouandjio doing a good job run blocking this drive in general. Got to the second level on one run pretty well.    
     
    2nd Half:
    1st drive, Kouandjio does a good job in pass protection on the first snap, allowing Cousins to extend play and find Vernon Davis for an 8 yard gain. On that strip sack Kouandjio also got pushed back pretty badly by Shelton, but it was Trent and Thompson who messed that one up. Kouandjio follows that up with a hold on 3rd down. He got beat by the Browns' DT, wasn't Shelton. Bad series for him.
     
    2nd drive, Kouandjio got beat again and almost got Cousins hit in the end zone on the first play of the drive. Kouandjio doing a good job run blocking on the following series. On deep ball to DJax that generated pass interference, he does a good job pass blocking. Following play, big run for Matt Jones, does a good job clearing space. Same on the next play... Oline in general killing it here. Finishes with a good pass block on the Kirk TD throw to Thompson!  
     
    3rd drive, Kouandjio does a nice job pass blocking on the first 2nd down where Cousins took that terrible sack for no reason. 
    4th drive, Kouandjio getting pushed back a little bit on the first snap, costing Jones a one yard loss. Kouandjio with a good block on the Jones outside run that almost resulted in a TD.        
     
    Now, Fuller: 
    1st drive, Fuller gives up first pass to Hawkins for a 7 yard gain.  Fuller and Dunbar combine to make the tackle on Barnidge, short of the 1st on 3rd down and forcing a punt. 
    2nd drive against the D, Fuller does a good job on Hawkins in the slot on 2nd down, but defense gives up first to Pryor. On the 3rd down following that sequence, Fuller gives up a bit too much space to Hawkins who got slightly open... but Pryor gets the 1st anyway against Norman as Kessler wasn't looking that way. 
    4th drive against the D, Fuller does a good job against Hawkins on 1st down, but Kessler extends play and hits Barnidge for a 1st. Fuller is shutting Hawkins down this drive, but Kessler keeps finding others.    
     
    2nd Half 
    1st drive of 2nd half, Fuller continues to do a good job on Hawkins in the slot, though on the first 3rd down of the drive he let Hawkins get behind him.   
    2nd drive, mostly heavy formations from the Browns so no Fuller. On their second 3rd down of the drive they had Hawkins basically run a go route up the seam to clear out space for Barnidge. Fuller is step for step with him, but that's the 3rd or 4th time they've done that and it's worked every time. Frustrating. Anyway, back to Fuller. He's handling Hawkins.
    Final Drive of the game (Browns almost exclusively went jumbo/heavy formations after that 2nd drive, so Fuller wasn't on the field until now), he continues to shut down Hawkins. There were some times where Hawkins got slightly open, but nothing egregious. Kessler hardly looked his way this entire game.    
     
    Other 2nd half notes:  
    This defense is ridiculous. Only way they stop anyone is with a turnover in the redzone. Happened again on the 2nd Browns' drive of the 2nd half, with Compton forcing the fumble. Ziggy Hood then does it on the Browns' ensuing drive. I mean, better than not doing it, I guess.  
    If only whatever we're doing, coaching-wise, in terms of teaching fumbles could be extended to everything else we'd be golden. 
    Norman redeems himself with huge INT!
    AWESOME ES EXCLUSIVE AUDIO
    GAMEDAY PHOTOS BY MURF
    Final Analysis (TSO)
    Going into this game, the run defense was a major concern against the Browns excellent rushing attack and that ended up being the case, to say the least. Fortunately, the defense came through with three huge turnovers. At this point, it seems like we can consider this the defense's M.O. Give up crazy chunks of yardage on the ground, then force a fumble or nab an INT. Not sure that's what you want out of your D, but it could certainly worse. Offensive teams that are more disciplined are likely going to destroy this defense if it remains the same, as we've already seen with the Steelers.  
    Offensively, can't ask for much more than that. Outside of one bad INT and a couple of unnecessary sacks, Cousins was sharp and decisive throughout the whole game, taking advantage of the weak Browns passing D like a good QB should. We finally got to see Reed have a big game, again, which was refreshing. He finishes with 73 yards and 2 TDs. Matt Jones kept getting better as the game wore on, showing us what so few of us still believed he can do. The Oline was excellent throughout, and it was good to see both Spencer Long and Kouandjio play well.   
    It was nice to see the new guys, Arie Kouandjio and Kendall Fuller, play really well today. Seeing draft picks continue to contribute is simply awesome, and something us Redskin fans need to stop and appreciate. We've went for so long almost expecting nothing from our drafts. Don't forget that. Smile some.    
    Oh, and how about Trent Murphy? He just looks real good out there, completely different now that he's going forward more often than not.  
    All in all, the game went almost completely as expected. It initially had the makings of a blowout, but the Browns are better than that and have proven that thus far this season. They fought back and, for a moment, looked like they were going to win this game... but the defense saved themselves from total humiliation, forced some turnovers, and the offense capitalized at the end. 
    We've got a tough matchup against the Ravens next week. The defense will need to perform better, and the offense is going to have a tougher time moving the ball against their defense... so if this same exact team shows up against the Ravens it will likely not end up favorably for our beloved Burgundy and Gold. Hopefully they have a great week in practice, and continue to improve as they have thus far this season. 
     
  9. TSO
    Landover, MD -   Greetings to all my fellow ES'ers and ES'ettes! It's your neighborhood friendly TSO up here in the Press Box at FedEx Field along with the greatest photographer in the universe (verified fact, he has a plaque stating such), my man @Spaceman Spiff. We're here to provide you the best Redskins' coverage you'll find on the planet and, perhaps, in the universe - though I must admit Planet X5567 from the Controria Quadrant does a pretty good job of it themselves. Sorry for that, news of an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie in the making clearly has me overly geeked out.  
     
        Anywho, does this feel like just another preseason game to you? Not if you're as hardcore as we folk here on ES are. We had talk of Jay's "soft" approach to Training Camp, of which arguably cost us big time last year when the team came out and laid a massive goose egg against the Steelers during the season opener, all week where some felt last week's game against the Ravens was another indication of such an approach. Jay himself, to his credit, admitted during his presser on Wednesday:
     
     
    Also, this: 
     
     
     
      Not to mention the anxiousness that exists within the fanbase to see our Defense show signs of real, identifiable legitimacy - if it exists at all - where every gaffe is honed in on and nitpicked to death. I'll also be continuing my intense focus on the Dline that started with last week's game here.
     
       Then there are the players we haven't seen yet due to injuries. Of course, that starts first and foremost with none other than Josh Docston. We've seen such a minimal amount of live snaps from our 2016 1st rounder it's cut a deep gash in our fan souls. He's a game time decision so we'll find out soon enough if we'll be given some much needed healing. Preston Smith should be playing today along with Jamison Crowder, who will both look to get their first snaps of the preseason. And don't forget some of the young'ns who finally started practicing this week which leads me to the final proof of this game's heightened meaning...
     
        The still strong and remaining excitement regarding the potential of this year's draft picks. Whether it's our early picks in Allen and Anderson (another game time decision) or the later round guys like Sprinkle, Harvey-Clemons and Holsey... every player has buzz surrounding them. And as alluded to above, our mid-round guys in Fabian Moreau and Montae Nicholson should finally be getting some snaps for us to dig into.    
     
    So, yeah, suffice to say I'm certainly excited. Preseason or not, I can't wait to see what goes down! 
     
    Stay tuned for more tweets, notes, player interviews and general coverage all throughout the day, pre-game and post-game! 
     

     
     
    As usual when I do this, I'll be focusing in on the trenches (well, mostly) since everyone will be following the ball. Got the binoculars ready to go.   
     
    1st Quarter Notes
     
    -Shawn Lauvao driven back on first snap for offense. No gain for Rob Kelley. 
     
    - Moreau, first snap in the NFL, causes fumble on punt return! 
     
    - Ty Nsekhe gives up pressure to Matthews on following snap, 4th offensive snap of the game. 
     
    - Oline holding up well outside of those two gaffes. 
     
    -  McGee, Hood and McClain starting on the Line, nice pressure first snap from all of them. 
     
    - Nothing much from any of the DLinemen the next two snaps. Allen and Ioannidis were in the nickel defense on 3rd down.  
     
    -  McGee, Hood and McClain again on following play after penalty. McGee with a nice run stop. Gets off his man, makes tackle.
     
    - Next play, Hood pushed back, allowing 5 yard gain from RB. 
     
    - Allen over pursues, leaves gap on run play following a few quick plays from Rodgers. 
     
    - Ioannidis follows with a good run stop.
     
    - Ioannidis with a good pass rush on following 3rd down. Rodgers does Rodgers' things and runs for a first. 
     
    - Terrell McClain with a good rush on 2nd and 6. 
     
    - Hood and McClain are the linemen in near the goal line. Do a nice job on 1st and goal after penalty to allow Foster to get the run stop. 
     
    - Zach Brown played that well on the TD, just a good throw and good catch by Rodgers and Bennett. 
     
    - Nsekhe and Sherff struggle on pass off, Sherff gives up pressure on second snap of ensuing offensive drive.    
     
    - Fabian Moreau again doing a great job on the punt, first guy there and finishes the tackle. 
     
    - McGee, Hood and McClain your starting linemen. 
     
    - Sack was mostly Preston Smith, but McGee does a good job getting immediate push. 
     
    - Allen and Ioannidis in. Allen with great awareness on screen. Sniffs it out immediately and gets in on tackle. Ioannidis did well to get immediate pressure on QB, but he was essentially allowed a free release since it was a screen. 
     
    - Not much of a rush on following 3rd down from Allen or Ioannidis. 
     
    - Offense back out. Moses is in. 
     
    - Just no movement from Lauvao on run play, Moses pulling inside also nothing. 
     
    - Following 3rd and 1, Moses and Sherff do nice job getting some push to allow Kelley to get the first.    

     
    2nd Quarter Notes
     
    - Oline doing well first two plays of 2nd quarter. 
     
    - 1st down after penalty by Packers on 3rd down, Lauvao pulling but finds no one. Kelley still got a couple yards. 
     
    - Ensuing 3rd down, Oline all do a good job in pass protection. 
     
    - Lauvao pulls again on 4th down, not finding anyone. Surprised they didn't get the first, though. Seemed like it was enough. 
     
    -  Ioannidis, Francis and Hood in now at Dline.
     
    - Francis pushed back on the first play, run picks up a chunk.  
     
    -  McGee and McClain in the nickel. Nothing much from either. 
     
    - Same on the next play near the goal line. 
     
    -  I'm dying right now, some Packer's media in front of me all excited, fist bumping after every TD. Probably some fan bloggers, it's annoying though. 
     
    - Offense back out. 
     
    - Oline does a great job on 2nd down. As clean a pocket as all night.
     
    - Again, on 3rd down, nice job. Kirk with a dime. Finally. 
     
    - Lauvao on following play with zero push, but Trent gets it. Kelley with decent gain.
     
    - Thus far, the Oline really looks exactly the same as last year. Good at pass protection, but just no push in the running game. Frustrating. 
     
    -  Lanier and Taylor out on the DLine now. Both do a good job on first down run. Pick up of 4 not their fault.
     
    - Following play, Phil Taylor destroys his guy and gets into the QBs face quickly, great pass rush. 
     
    - Following play on 3rd down, both are stymied and don't generate any rush.
     
    - Following play, Lanier with a decent rush, but took a while to get off his guy.
     
    - Play after the next, 3rd down, Phil Taylor with a great rush, beats his guy immediately, and finishes with the sack. He just looks the part. 
     
    - Offense back out. 
     
    - Following big play to Vernon down the sideline, Lauvao gives up pressure. 
     
    - Following 1st down pass to Doctson, Lauvao gives up another pressure.
     
    - 1st and Goal, no push upfront on run play. Thompson loses two yards.  
     
    - 2nd and Goal, do a good job in pass protection.
     
    - 4th and Goal, good pass pro, TD.
     
    Half Time Analysis
     
       Welp, another frustrating preseason outing so far, but thankfully the first team offense scored their first TD of the preseason at the very end. 
     
       My major takeaways regarding the lines are:
     
    1) The Oline seems to be exactly the same as last year. Strong in pass pro and unable to get any push in the run game. They're still too high, too often, and Lauvao is a liability.
     
    2) As for the Dline, it was also a bit disappointing in comparison to last week when they played much better, but they weren't necessarily a negative. Phil Taylor looks great. Everyone else was just... meh. 
     
        As for the game, it was nice to see Fabian Moreau out there making plays on Special Teams. He looks the part, and even the bomb he gave up wasn't necessarily bad coverage on his end. Seeing Spaight get that big hit in the backfield was sweet. Montae Nicholson looked good, as well. Breeland struggled against Nelson, which is becoming a pattern for him at this point. The TD Zach Brown gave up was simply a great throw and catch from Rodgers to Bennett, and otherwise he looked good out there along with Foster. Compton actually had a nice play blowing up an OLineman.  
     
        Kirk was on and off, as was the entire first team offense. Not sure what is going on with them, but they've always got one or two guys failing. It was great to see Doctson out there towards the end, and he should've had a TD, but the moment he came free Kirk looked the other way, panicking in the red zone. But, yeah, can't help but get excited by Doctson. 
     
       Alrighty, let's see what happens the following half. Hopefully we get to see better overall play from the second teamers. 

     
    3rd Quarter Notes
     
    - Lanier and Mbu the Dlinemen 
     
    - 2nd down, Lanier with a great pass rush, generates the hold! 
     
    - 3rd down, Mbu with a great pass rush, spinning his way to a sack. He had a terrible game last week, so this is good to see. 
     
    - Your 2nd Team Oline: Nsekhe, Kalis, Roullier, Catalina, and Painter. 
     
    - They do a good job on first down run to the left. Perine gains 4.
     
    - 2nd down run, Catalina doesn't get the push you'd like, but everyone else does a good job. 
     
    - 3rd down, they do a decent job in pass rush. Nsekhe and Catalina pushed back a little bit, but maintain. 
     
    - Middle of the line does a great job getting push on ensuing run. 
     
    - Ensuing throw, Catalina gives up a pressure. 
     
    - 3rd down, Painter lost on the outside, but McCoy gets it off quick. 
     
    - Lanier, Francis and Taylor out at Dline now. 
     
    - 3rd down, Lanier with a nice pass rush.
     
    - These guys in front of me are actually flipping out about the way the Packers are playing right now. What the!?  
     
    - 1st down, Roullier, I believe, falls down and gives up a pressure. May not have been him, happened fast. 
     
    - 2nd down, they do a good job run blocking except Catalina who ends up on the floor.
     
    - 3rd down, good job all around. Big run by Perine to the outside. 
     
    - Following play, Catalina gets no push, everyone else does but only slightly so. No gain from Perine. 
     
    - 3rd down, Kalis loses his one on one, but McCoy throws quick to Paul for a TD. 
     
    - Francis and Mbu are your Dlinemen. 
     
    - Mbu looks really good today... beat his man right away, but run was away from him.
     
    - Aaaand then he follows it up with good penetration, playing a role in the near sack fumble.     
              
    - Offense back on. Bootleg, but Roullier doesn't seem to find his target, who almost gets McCoy. 
     
    - Next play, great double team from Painter and Catalina, good push in general from the rest. Perine for a nice gain. 
     
    - Next play, most get push, Roullier does a great job getting to the second level. 
     
    - Following play, good pass pro from the entire Line. 
      
    - Few plays later, last play of the 3rd quarter, Line does another great job in pass pro. 

     
    4th Quarter Notes
     
    - Mbu, Francis and Lanier are your Dlinemen.
     
    - 2nd down, all three get pushed back slightly. Not very good, but only a gain of 3 for the rush. 
     
    - 3rd down and short, again all three get pushed back. 
     
    - Following 2nd down, Francis with a good run stop. Maintains leverage, sheds, makes tackle on run to the outside right. 
     
    - Same OLine out, but Sudfeld and Matt Jones in.
     
    - 2nd down, good push from all except Roullier, who gets pushed back slightly. 
     
    - Mbu and Banks are your Dlinemen. 
     
    - 2nd down, Banks beats his man for a nice rush, but QB gets it off quickly. 
     
    - 3rd down, no pass rush from either.
     
    - Not much from either of them the next few snaps, as well. TD Green Bay.  
     
    - 3rd string Oline in now. Not much to note here. 
     
    - Lanier, Pipkins and Banks in on the Dline.
     
    - Few plays into the drive, Lanier beats his man soundly but running back too far outside of him to affect play.
     
    - 3rd down with about 2:40 on the clock, zero rush from the Dline. 
     
    - Offense back out. Kuandjio just got beat badly, Sudfeld hit hard but gets the ball out and Davis makes a great play on it.    
      
    - Play after the roughing penalty, Kling just did a crap job on the speed rush. Sudfeld sacked. 
     
    - 2nd and 17, good pass pro from all involved. 
     
    - Good pass pro again on the following 3rd down.

     
     
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  10. TSO
    Alrighty fellow ESers, I'll be doing the ES coverage up in the press box at FedEx for the next two preseason games with my main man @Spaceman Spiff taking awesome pics of the action as usual! 
     
    As I did last year, I'll be focusing on players (or in this case entire positions) that have intrigued us all offseason. I'll go through what I saw in the previous games and, as we journey through the preseason, who improved or regressed along the way. 
     
    And what has intrigued us all more than the Dline this offseason? 
     
    So, first, a quick primer as to how I've approached this. I've uploaded a bunch of videos I took of the Dline's snaps to twitter since that seems to be the easiest method to embed stuff here. 
     
    The videos I took are essentially snaps that I thought either had a clear win or a clear loss by any single Dlineman or more. I judged wins/losses more off of the initial movement generated, or ground given up, from the player so as to keep it as basic as possible and avoid schematic context. The snaps that occurred where neither a win nor a loss necessarily occurred (player did nothing impactful either way) were omitted in this count. However, that only happened on a few occasions, the majority of snaps held some intrigue for us. 
     
    At the end of this, I'm going to compile the number of wins and losses for each player, and then I'll continue to do this throughout the next two preseason games. Click on the videos to see the line of text detailing said wins/losses. 
     
    Shall we begin? 
     
     
     
     
    (Apologies for the small text size of the chart, wanted it to fit properly in a mobile format, as well)
     
     
     Player                    Wins     Losses    Snaps Accounted For*
     
    63 Brandon Banks      1              1                         2
     
    69 AJ Francis              7               1                         8
     
    72 Anthony Lanier      8              1                         11
     
    73 Ondre Pipkins        1                1                         2
     
    78 Joey Mbu               0                8                        11
     
    90 Ziggy Hood            0                3                          6
     
    92 Stacy McGee         5                2                          7
     
    95 Jonathan Allen      2                 0                        5
     
    97 Terrell McClain      2                 0                        2
     
    98 Matt Ioannidis        3                 1                       4
     
    99 Phil Taylor             5                 0                        5
     
     
    *Total snaps accounted for is just a tally of snaps where a win/loss occurred on the Dline, and not a total snap count. That being said, the number somewhat reflects total snap counts since the majority of snaps had a win/loss occur.  
     
     
    So what did I learn from this? Let's go down the list. 
     
    -Brandon Banks didn't play many snaps, only coming in towards the end of the game (along with Pipkins). So his competition was weak, as well. He had 1 (slight) win and 1 loss, while the 2 snaps accounted for were pretty much all that he did. 
     
    -AJ Francis had a great game, tallying 7 wins to only 1 loss. He played early on and often, but mostly after the Ravens' first-stringers came off the field. That was out of 11 snaps accounted for, so only 3 of those snaps were ones where he wasn't impactful either way (again, that doesn't include other snaps where no Dlineman won or loss, but it shouldn't be much more than that). 
     
    -Anthony Lanier also had an excellent game, tallying 8 wins and only 1 loss. His 1 loss came after a snap in which you could see he was clearly tired after the whistle, so it was almost expected. He played a lot, but like Francis came in after the 1st stringers for the Ravens went off the field. That was out of 11 snaps accounted for, so 3 of those snaps were ones that were neither negative nor positive along with those unaccounted for. 
     
    -Ondre Pipkins, as mentioned above, came into the game late with Banks and didn't have many snaps overall. Like Banks, he had 1 win and 1 loss, though his win was certainly a better one. 
     
    - Joey Mbu didn't perform well at all. It's surprising considering he opened up TC as the guy getting the most reps with the first team at NT and had a decent amount of buzz surrounding him all offseason. But you can totally see why he lost ground to both Taylor and Francis. He ended up with 8 losses and a whopping 0 wins out of the 11 snaps accounted for. He played a significant chunk of the game, but like Lanier and Francis it was mostly against the Ravens 2nd and 3rd teams.
     
    - Ziggy Hood also had a poor game. 3 losses to 0 wins on 6 snaps accounted for. He played mostly against the first team of the Ravens. With Hood, there was a decent amount of snaps he played more than what was accounted for, but that only means he did nothing impactful (negative or positive) in any of them including the other 3 that were. Let's see how it goes the rest of the preseason, but overall he had more plays than not that neither were positive nor negative, and he had 3 clear losses. 
     
    - Stacy McGee had a solid outing, winning 5 snaps and losing on 2 out of the 7 snaps accounted for. He got a decent amount of time in against the first team, as well. His wins weren't necessarily big time ones, but he was a net positive overall
     
    - Jonathan Allen was an interesting case. The consensus opinion was that he had a good game, and I agree with that to a degree, but his plays mostly came against the 2nd team of the Ravens. He got a decent amount of snaps against their first team, but those neither ended up as wins or losses. Either way, he had 2 wins and 0 losses overall on the 5 snaps I accounted for (so you can see he had a bunch of plays where he was more inconsequential than not). Not too shabby for his first outing as a pro, either way, and he got himself one of the better "wins" of the night with a sack. He shows great awareness for a rookie, as well, which is why he's always around the ball.      
     
    - Terrell McClain had a solid outing. Which was a surprise because after the game it seemed like most were down on him. He didn't play against the first team of the Ravens, but he finished with 2 wins and 0 losses on the 2 snaps I accounted for with him in. One of his wins was one of the better ones of the entire night.
     
    -  Matt Ioaniddis had a good outing, with 3 wins and 1 loss on the 4 snaps I accounted for with him in. He got a significant amount of reps against the first team Ravens as well as their 2nd team, and the good news is that 2 of his wins came against their first team. 
     
    - Finally, Phil Taylor came in with a solid performance. He mostly played against the first team of the Ravens and finished with 5 wins and 0 losses in the 5 snaps he was accounted for. 4 wins against their first team. We might just have a Nose Tackle ladies and gentlemen. 
     
     
    In summary, Hood and Mbu were the only two who clearly had bad games. Not enough for either Banks or Pipkins to go off on. The rest played really well, with Lanier and Francis having the two best individual performance (granted, against 2nd and 3rd stringers). I'm genuinely excited about the prospects of this Dline moving forward. Can't wait to continue focusing on them the next couple of weeks and finding out where they all go from here!   
  12. TSO
    VICTORY!!!!

     
     Welcome everyone to your Preseason Week 3 coverage on Extremeskins, it's TSO here in the Press Box with my man @Spaceman Spiff, who will be providing his usual assortment of magnificent pics from the sidelines, ready to provide you the best damn coverage on the planet! 
     
        So here we are, as usual, placing way too much emphasis on a preseason game. We just can't help ourselves, can we? Especially not when the team has come out looking uninterested, flat, emotionally disconnected, or whatever amatuer psychobabble we find fitting to describe something we probably shouldn't. 
     
        Alas, that won't stop us!
     
        It's been pretty frustrating to see the offense sputter as much as it has. And while there are legitimate reasons for some of it (like the lack of practice time with Reed and Crowder - who are arguably the most important pass catchers on the team - as well as Doctson pulling his hamstring after starting out camp on fire), some of it has seemingly been inexplicable (like the generally poor play from the Oline as a unit, and specifically Brandon Sherff who's more often a massive positive than not). 
     
        The defense, on the other hand, has generally looked okay. Not great, by any means, and definitely not after Rodgers did what Rodgers does to people... but "looking great" is not something that truly matters during the preseason, anyway.
     
         We've seen solid play from Dlinemen like Anthony Lanier II, AJ Francis, Stacy McGee (outside of his two brain farts that resulted in penalties that gave both the Ravens and Packers first downs during otherwise stalled drives) and our beloved first rounder Jonathan Allen, while we've seen excellent play from Phil Taylor Sr. (who's just been an absolute wonderful surprise) and Matt Ioannidis (who seems primed to take a significant leap from his rookie year). We've all been relieved to see both Foster and Brown starting at ILB the last couple weeks. The secondary hasn't been tested so much, but they didn't look too good against Rodgers (specifically Breeland going up against Nelson), so hopefully we get a better showing there.
     
        In the end, I think it's safe to say we're all just looking for that spark. That glimpse into the potential of this roster and what they can do as a team. It's been too disappointing of a preseason to really feel good about anything, but there is no doubt that this roster has talent. Arguably more than it ever has during Snyder's tenure as owner and maybe even before that. But they need to start getting in sync; the players we've become accustomed to watching perform at a high level need to start, well, performing at a high level; the coaches need to show the fans they've got a motivated team with positional units working in concert with each other; and it'd be nice if some of the new pieces stepped up and showed us why they were added to the team or what the hype is all about (perhaps none more important than Chase Roullier, who will be starting for an injured Spencer Long at Center). 
     
       It's time.
     
       I don't feel like we can afford another ugly outing. The anxieties about Gruden's methodology during the offseason will be hard to not view as legitimate. The concern that it'll leak into the season, as it arguably did last year, will be overwhelming. They need to show up today and send out some good vibes. Stay tuned here on the ES Coverage Blog as well as the ES Gameday Thread and let's find out if they do together! 
     
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    Half Time Analysis
     
    Alright. So, terrible first quarter, better second quarter.
     
    It was really nice to see us finally get our running game going for the first time this preseason. Kelley and Perine both looked sharp once the offense got going a bit in the 2nd quarter. Roullier has looked really good out there. Sherff started out looking terrible again, but then really picked it up in the 2nd quarter. Can say that about the entire Oline, really. It's been frustrating to watch Pryor have as many drops as he's had, but fortunately he also picked it up with a great catch. Kirk has been inaccurate, consistently pressured, and just generally looking out of sync with his receivers, but again, he picked it up. The pick six was just woeful, though it seemed to light a fire since after that the offense started moving the ball.
     
    Defensively, they looked good after that pathetic first drive. Our Dline hasn't looked good, but hasn't looked bad, either. Seeing Taylor go down was depressing, especially since he's been having the best preseason on the line. Hood is still an issue, but he had some good plays. Allen looks like he has looked... flashing potential but definitely not really impactful yet. A rookie, basically. Ioannidis didn't look as good as he has in the previous two games, but not bad. McGee had a nice rush, and McClain was just okay. Both Francis and Mbu looked good. The secondary is a little scary right now. That first drive was just horrendous, everyone off, no tight coverage, easy completions galore. Frustrating crap. But they picked up a bit, as well, and it was great seeing Norman make some impact plays. 
     
    Alright, be back after the game with our usual locker room interviews and awesome pics from Spaceman Spiff, see you then!   
     

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