bubba9497 Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Capital gains http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=cr-rt_2005_redskins&prov=yhoo&type=lgns LANDOVER, Md. – After his Washington Redskins beat Pittsburgh 17-10 on Friday, Joe Gibbs went to the podium and cleared out some cobwebs in his vocabulary. "Crisp," he said. "Sharp," he pointed out. "Good," he added. Surely, Gibbs had seen a thick layer of dust collect on such upbeat diction. But there he was, re-circulating all sorts of positive language after Washington's first preseason win. He even used the word "proud" three times in the first 90 seconds of his postgame speech. After his team showed some grit against the Steelers, why not? It had been a long time since he'd seen so many glimmers of light from his offense – a unit which spent last season looking like a hugging circle in Passive Aggressive Anonymous. "There will be a lot of good things we can point towards," Gibbs said. "… It's still preseason, but obviously we needed a good lift." Gibbs finally got a boost from his first-team offense, as it pieced together two solid first-half scoring drives against Pittsburgh's No. 1 defense. The Redskins' offense won't be confused with Indianapolis', but it did produce the building block that the team sorely needed since the start of training camp. With a group that's healthy and looking a little more dynamic than last year's 30th-ranked unit, the Redskins believe their offense is ready to pull itself out of the league basement. A rise to the middle of the pack in the passing game would be a huge accomplishment. It's looking possible, especially with offseason acquisitions David Patten and Santana Moss starting to fit Gibbs' downfield ideology better than last season's possession duo of Laveranues Coles and Rod Gardner. While both Patten and Moss bring more speed, they aren't necessarily being relied upon to simply stretch the field. In fact, Moss has looked most dangerous on intermediate routes when he can use his otherworldly quickness to gain yards after the catch. Perhaps the best thing the offense had going for it Friday was the offensive line, which has been inconsistent during the preseason. Without a doubt, there is significant talent there, especially among tackles Chris Samuels and Jon Jansen, guard Randy Thomas and center Casey Rabach. The line held its own against Pittsburgh's front seven, which seemed to suffer from the absence of injured linebacker Joey Porter. The O-line opened nice holes for Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts, who are likely to fare far better than last season now that some zone-blocking schemes are being worked into Washington's repertoire. Portis is especially grateful, and he's hoping a more wide-open passing game will give him the room to resurrect the monster numbers he put up in Denver. Pittsburgh pressured quarterback Patrick Ramsey a handful of times on Friday, but his line kept him from being sacked – a trend that would help eliminate foolish turnovers in the passing game. "We haven't completely cut them out," Portis said of the turnovers. "… We want to get rid of that. I think if we get rid of that, we've got some great building blocks. You've got Santana, you've got David, you've got [H-back] Chris Cooley. Those guys play great, and they're getting open for Patrick. Going into the season, we need that to happen. If we can get that to happen, it's going to be hard for people to stick eight or nine into the box [against the run]." Still, the overall development of the offense has been maddeningly slow, and Friday's postgame atmosphere resembled less of a celebration than a collective sigh of relief – particularly from Ramsey, who went into the game with backup Mark Brunell once again appearing very capable of being the starter. In the first two preseason games after throwing one touchdown and three interceptions, Ramsey looked like the rattled QB who never seemed to have Gibbs' full confidence last season. Friday's game didn't start much better. Late in the first quarter, he failed to connect with wide receiver James Thrash and threw an interception that Steelers safety Troy Polamalu returned 34 yards for a touchdown. That mistake was typical of Ramsey last year – a mixture of botched communication and poor decision-making – and, like last year, it elicited boos from the home crowd at FedEx Field. Rather than compound his mistake with another failed series, Ramsey began to plant seeds of encouragement. Teaming with Portis and Betts, he drove the Redskins 63 yards for a field goal at the end of the half, and he ended up throwing for 141 yards on 12-of-19 passing. "He needed it," Jansen said of Ramsey's follow-up drive. "I think we all needed it. Not just to see Patrick overcome [the interception], but to see us all overcome it. We could have gone into the tank." "We didn't do that last year," Portis said. "This year, it's a different swagger. Patrick came in the huddle [after the turnover] saying, 'Let's go guys, let's put some points up.' We got three points out of the next drive. … It was still a building block. Last year, after a turnover, we would have gone backwards." It sounds like a small victory, but it's precisely what Washington was looking for, especially after a 24-17 loss to Cincinnati on Aug. 19 when Gibbs said the Redskins were "their own worst enemy" and lamented a pair of costly interceptions by Ramsey. That made Friday the preseason's most pivotal moment for the 'Skins. They needed to not only see better decision-making and mental toughness from Ramsey, but they also needed to walk out with a win. "No doubt," Moss said when asked if a win was a must. "You need that for confidence alone. I needed that for myself. You can't just keep going out there and showing signs of things. … I couldn't even tell you all of the things this team needs. We need a lot. "Really, we need to go out there and win games." No one needed it more than the Redskins' offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 A rise to the middle of the pack in the passing game would be a huge accomplishment. It's looking possible, especially with offseason acquisitions David Patten and Santana Moss starting to fit Gibbs' downfield ideology better than last season's possession duo of Laveranues Coles and Rod Gardner. While both Patten and Moss bring more speed, they aren't necessarily being relied upon to simply stretch the field. In fact, Moss has looked most dangerous on intermediate routes when he can use his otherworldly quickness to gain yards after the catch. Where's that fainting emoticon again??... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luca Brasi Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 "Perhaps the best thing the offense had going for it Friday was the offensive line, which has been inconsistent during the preseason." Where do these idiots get their information from? I thought this was going to be a decent read until I get to this part. There is simply no way possible that anyone could summarize the O-Line's preseason performance as anything but oustanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bounty Hunter #21 Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 I hope the offensive line can play like that every sunday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldog Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 this article was right on the money in pointing out that improving an offensive unit and especially a unit being led by a young quarterback with limited experience is a challenging and time consuming process. it is not going to happen overnight. Gibbs has been in this situation a few times before and knows that Ramsey if he is to make it will need to meet and defeat these kinds of adversities along the way (ie the early INT return for a TD). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheREALJBird Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 "Perhaps the best thing the offense had going for it Friday was the offensive line, which has been inconsistent during the preseason."Where do these idiots get their information from? I thought this was going to be a decent read until I get to this part. There is simply no way possible that anyone could summarize the O-Line's preseason performance as anything but oustanding. Yea im with you on this one...our O line hads been ridicolous so far, nobody can touch us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chef8181 Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 The line is looking like the best we've had since the Hogs. Solid blocking, no sacks, and best of all no stupid penalties. I know it's preseason but after watching the game Fri I am fired up for this season to start!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba9497 Posted August 29, 2005 Author Share Posted August 29, 2005 1 sack over 3 games.... inconsistent :laugh: 4.0 ypc over 3 games.... inconsistent :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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