Wyvern

I'm concerned,even more so with Barton on IR, that the Washington's linebacking duo /trio will be a major weakness that the Eagles and future opponents will exploit. While many disliked Barton, I thought he was getting settled to the demanding role Del Rio had assigned him, which probably contributed to those low PFF scores he was getting. (I also wonder if Davis' roles and performances was a contributing factor.) From the limited game film I saw, Barton was tasked with a lot of responsibilities to allow Davis to do the things he could do best -- rush the passer and stay somewhat close to his primary receiver responsibility. Now' maybe Mayo can fill in for Barton, at least on the meat-grinder duties of the primary LB runstopper, but even Barton was way better in coverage than Mayo. And if you replace Mayo with Hudson, opponents may simply be inclined to audible to a running play to take advantage of the size/weight impact vs Hudson. And Putting the full trio out at linebacker may not work, because the Washington secondary often needs the five 'DB-like' folks in the secondary, especially against teams with a decent multiple threats in the receiving/TE corps. Moreover, Washington's getting very thin at LB, and I hope there are no more injuries at that position. That makes me nervous if Washington decides to have Hudson take on more of the meat grinding responsibilities. BTW, if Barton is on IR, when is the soonest he can actually play again?

SIP, Thanks for the injury information. Fortunately, if necessary, I think Charles can be replaced. IMHO I feel Stromberg and/or Paul can do about as well as Charles. As for MLB, Washington is already thin at LB, so not having Barton available could create problems. Mayo has the scheme knowledge, but can't cover the territory Barton was asked to cover. From what I saw in the games, I strongly feel that Barton (yes, I know folks revile his performance) had to also be covering for some of Jamin Davis' shortcomings. So Barton's absence will be noted because he was asked to cover all the traditional LB'er duties, to free up Davis to use his speed to handle short-zone coverage, or pass rushing the QB, or spying the mobile QBs that Washington faced. I'm not sure Mayo will be able to do that tough task as well. (In this weird scheme, Barton wound up with lot of responsibility and territory and had to be the primary on covering multiple gaps, while Davis figured out that the play was a run instead of a pass, or QB-scramble.) As I recall, Mayo is a poor replacement for Barton, at least speedwise, and there will be little help from Davis who I've observed is not a good tackler, and actually whiffs alot! (I'll grant that Davis is okay at entangling QBs and WRs, but he's not that good bringing down RBs. Look at the game-film and you'll see who was really diving into the tackling pile..and PFF stats aside ... that was usually was Curl or Barton, but not Davis who'd ventually lope in the end, tand over the pile, and maybe rack up credit for an assist.) To be clear, I wasn't a big fan of signing Barton, but it bothers me to see how he gets vilified while everyone thinks Davis is doing so great. We need the linebackers, but I'm hoping they can trade the supposedly valuable Davis at some point -- from what I see in the game-videos, he really doesn't give 100%

I am stunned that Washington lost this game. I could see New York getting 14-16 points, especially with Giant-friendly ref calls in NY ... But where was the Washington offense? Even with the turnovers, Washington could only muster 14 points?

We still have the Patriots game!

I'm going wishful this week -- Washington STOMPS the Giants, because for one weekend, both the Washington offense AND defense have good games. However Slye misses a field goal and an extra point so ES'ers go back to screaming for Ron to cut Cheeseman.again. Washington 30 , New York 16 ( Giants get 6 points set up by questionable ref calls)

It's a win, but it was about as satisfying as a tie. Washington showed it still has problems to fix, and was lucky that Atlanta had major QB problems today. One good thing, this gives Washington's defensive backfield more time to get used to the new players and coordinating better.

I was never a Cody Barton fan, but I think that selected quartet of clips showing him failing, cannot be all blamed on him. Some of those were 'team failures.' 1. In clip 1, I think Barton's assignment was to body check the TE, and clog up any end run that the Bears seemed setting up to go around their right side. That makes some sense considering how the Bears looked to be running wide, but the RB decides to cutback more inside. I noted there was a safety who cautiously moves up into where Barton had been, but doesn't seem to want to try to slip by a Bear's O-lineman to do so, which leaves Burton's original spot open. In the end, the scrum on the Bears right end, did slow things up for Young to make the tackle, and just about where Barton could have made it, if he'd not gone after the TE. 2. In clip 2, Barton gets hit almost immediately by an free-moving guard, who moved through the gap between Allen engaging the center, and Young going outside the tackle. Its an undisguised run, but for some reason, Jamin Davis dawdles outside in space, then belatedly drifts over to cover the runner's lane, but whiffs on the tackle. In the end Barton assists on the tackle while Davis is still loping over to get his touch on the pile. 3. In clip 3, Barton faces the combined weight and force of both an unblocked center plus the on-rushing RB, and naturally is getting pushed back until Ste.Juste joins the melee. In the end, it took a lot of defenders to stop the forward movement. Meanwhile, Davis misses his chance to tackle that runner through a gap behind the center, and again winds up loping over later just in time to hover over the tackle pile. 4. Clip 4 is on Barton, but I've seen so many of these hard-to-defend plays involving a range of TE mesh/slant quick passes just in front of the linebacker. Its a hard pass to defend, but I don't think the safety behind Barton reacted to what was happening either, which might have helped. Bottom line -- I don't know what Del Rio had schemed for these plays, especially on those goal-to-go situations when he replaces Davis with some DB-- but I dont think you can put all the blame on the middle linebacker, when Barton's supposed to be just one of a duo/trio of Del Rio's mixed linebacker/safety grouping. To be clear, I have not been happy with Barton's coverage skills, and I'm uncertain how,well he's handling the defensive scheme adjustments, or how well the safeties, "buffalo nickels",_quasi-linebackers, etc are handling their responsibilities. But if you just want to look at linebackers to blame, I recommend you also take a hard look at Davis too. Old "Yellow Shoes 52" is easy to follow on the replays; and you probably see the times he's whiffed on a lot of tackles, was slow to run into any scrum, and often the only one standing up over the pile. Davis is decent at rushing the passer, and possesses the talent to cover a lot of ground quickly, but he's not maximizing that talent on run plays. .

Before the season started, I suspected this would be a kind of "trap game" for Washington, after they had dominated Chicago the week before. In my mind, Washington would come in overconfident and lose by a narrow margin to a scrappy Atlanta team's ball-control running game. At this point, I expect Washington is taking this game very seriously -- and Atlanta will face a highly motivated Washington team, seeking to re-right their season. That said, Atlanta (except for Ridder) matches up well against Washington and is well coached. The game is going to come down to how well Howell is protected to keep running his short-to-medium passes, and how quickly the Washington defense can get off the field. I see this more like a low-scoring game, not too many explosive plays (unless a DB slips before tackling.). If it gets down to kicking, I get worried about Slye. "Prediction" --- My heart says Washington 27, Atlanta 19 ... but my head says Atlanta 23 Washington 20 --- assuming turnovers, penalties, and good special teams play are evenly spread.

I'm going to disagree about Jamin Davis being this great talent at linebacker. Frankly, rushing the passer is about the only thing he does well. He seems to be clueless in coverage, often stranded in space indecisively. I've seen him miss tackles that that were makeable and were his primary responsibility. I don't see much determination from him, he often likes to lope to where other teammates are trying to bring an opponent down, because he assumes the tackle will be made (and sometimes isnt) Bottom line: he's at best a part-time player, and maybe just a role player, because he doesn't play hard enough to leverage his supposed speed.

I think it might be difficult to predict what caliber of Bears team Washington will be facing. If the Bears think the contest they're playing this week is for keeping their coach in place (and by extension the jobs of some of the players currently on that coach's roster), they might play above their normal level, and surprise Washington. However the Bears coaching staff seems a little dysfunctional and may have already lost the locker room. Meanwhile, Washington might take this game more lightly than they should. Against the Eagles, they were trying to prove they aren't THAT team that looked dismal versus the Bills. And now the media has been talking them up a bit ... they might start believing their news-clippings and come into the game with the same over-confident mindset they had coming out of preseason and playin versus a poorly regarded Cardinals team. I suspect Washington will win, but not look that sharp. Chicago's defensive talent just isn't very good and won't be able prevent Washington's offense from exceeding whatever number of points, Washington's defense gives up to Fields' impromptu runs and the passes he completes to Kmet, and to whoever Forbes is covering. I just hope Washington doesn't up too many turnovers and give the Bears some cheap points. Washington 31 Chicago 27

Thanks MartinC!

Eagles mascot before the game. Eagles mascot after the game

Archie Bunker

All logic aside, I really to want to predict a Washington win over Philadelphia. It's probably more like I just cannot bring myself to type out a prediction where the Eagles score more points than Washington -- it pains my fingers to do so. Meanwhile, my head just sneers at my heart, for clinging to such a slender hope, and believing in such cliches like, ..."On any given Sunday..." Arrghh! .....Aww heck ....Washington somehow surprises everyone -- including me -- and steals a win from an uber-powerful Eagles squad. 23-20. 👃

Maybe some more awareness training is needed for the offensive line. Three guys just standing there before Sam has to scramble into another sack?

"Growing pains" seem to imply that Washington and its fans are going to have to expect more 'bumps in the road' during Washington's development of Howell as the starting QB, and leader to the team's execution of Bieniemy's gameplan. That makes me wonder on how well Washington's W-L record will look at Howell, Bieniemy, and company get up to NFL speed and "crafty-ness." I expect Washington will struggle for a 9-8 record, unless Howell, Bieniemy, and company are all quick learners, and can work together. Next week will be a good test of lessons learned.

The comparison is a fair one. Folks have to remember, that besides Gibbs version 2, not many quality coaches and players, were willing to come work for Snyder. And after Mike Shanahan, no one promising was willing to risk wrecking their career to try working for Dan, especially after things started to surface about all the issues of trying to work with Snyder's front office cronies. I suspect it took a lot to lure Rivera to the Washington franchise, and in some areas he stabilized things and improved the reputation of the franchise as much as can be expected with Snyder still as an owner. Rivera, had a good reputation as a solid, high character coach and inspired trust and loyalty. But I never got the sense that Rivera was some dynamic, creative genius -- rather the "slow and steadily improving" type of manager and coach who was willing to try coping with Snyder's reluctance to make any costly improvements. I don't think the addition of Meyhew helped, but what high-quality GM was willing to derail their career to work for Snyder?

Yes. I didn't think it would come down to a 51-yarder, but Slye has the leg for it.

Looks like Washington avoids an embarrassing shut-out.

It's GARBAGE TIME!! But who knows, maybe Washington finds the winning lottery ticket in the garbage. .... Stay tuned!

Still waiting on the Broncos weekly injury report, but ("intangibles" aside) I think this is a game in which the Washington offense can muster enough points for a win. I'll post again later with a my final prediction and anticipated score.

Looks like Jason Peters is no longer an option for Washington's O-line concerns. ... In Saahdiq we trust?

Curious, with the microscope on shortfalls in Barton's performance, I wonder why those same critics aren't also looking critically at Jamin Davis' performance in week one. Frankly, I was not that impressed with Jamin Davis performances -- on quite a few plays. Perhaps others were more impressed by Davis, but out of several of his several "under-performances" that I observed, I especially recall one play late in the first quarter, (appx. 2 minutes left) where he looked lost on coverage assignments on a Cards' receiver who easily got wide open and then caught the pass for a big gain, (not sure if it counted, because there was some non-related flag on the play). Check it out. That receiver was open because Jamin didn't even try to cover him, or even get into the passing lane. Davis seemed almost frozen with indecision. I also saw scenarios where Davis seemed to have troubles shaking blocks, or being the initiating factor in bringing the rusher down. (He followed up on a few tackles but generally the runner was essentially already being taken down.). Okay, I'll grant that Davis can occasionally be a good surprise rusher/Blitzer, but he still looks tentative on his coverage or closing running gap responsibilities. I didn't see much of that speed he supposedly has.

I was confident Washington would win this game. The Cardinals offense simply wasn't explosive or consistent enough to move the ball against a stout defense with a dangerous D-line. Essentially, Washington's offensive miscues kept Arizona in this game. Regardless, it's a win, and -on the plus side-- a win that won't allow Washington to be overconfident when they travel out to Denver. They know they have to up their game going forward. I'm curious to see if the Washington offense can function adequately against some of the highly-ranked defenses on its schedule. Mindful, he has to learn from today's mistakes, I still tip my hat to Howell as a 'tough-as-nails' QB. However that Offensive line better improve quickly, or Howell may not last the season.

Cardinal D-line is below average, so I think Washington (and Howell) will have time for the receiving corps to get open. I just can't see a way that Arizona can even stay close in this matchup. This is a 'cakewalk' of a win for Washington!