Wilbon Thinks Smashmouth is the Answer

[Oldfan]

In his column this morning, Michael Wilbon opined that the Skins should have been committed to running the football all year long as they did against the Rams. There are three arguments against this idea:

1) We don't play against the Rams every week;

2) We have been trying to establish our power rushing game since the 2004 preseason without consistent success;

3) The advantage of putting your QB under center is play-action passing. The formation almost dictates the pursuit of a balance between pass and run.

On the other hand, our passing offense appeared mediocre against an injury-depleted secondary that was already part of one of the worst defenses in the NFL. Since the Giants game, Santana has been double-teamed and we haven't come up with a response.

If we play a pat hand with our offense, we will need to be very lucky. We had better try something new and different if we are going to win our last four.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

We are down to one wide receiver and weren't a good passing team to start with.

[Henry]

If we play a pat hand with our offense, we will need to be very lucky. We had better try something new and different if we are going to win our last four.

Agreed. I think our defense, with Griffin back, is going to need to shoulder the load the rest of the way. We TRIED smashmouth against the Chargers and it backfired in the fourth quarter. Against the Cowboys and Giants we're going to have to get more creative.

[RedskinzOwnU]

Well, i'd really like to see some more playaction. We've barely seen it all season, it could really help our receiver(s).

[TheLongshot]

One could say that we've been trying to play smashmouth all season long, but we don't really have the personell to do it.

Really, it worked this week because we faced a very poor rush defense.

I still think this team needs to be able to throw the ball to win. Against a good team, we can't really live on the running game alone.

Jason

[SkinsHokieFan]

It is going to be very tough NOT to do smashmouth now

Santana is going to be tripled covered unless Farris or Brown show something

If I were a DC I seriously would be licking my chops at playing this offense right now, because its clear if you stop Moss you can stop this O

The o-line is gonna have to man up and create some holes because that is really how we are gonna have to get it done now

[Fred Jones]

We need some balance. I disagree with Wilbon because teams will just stack the line like they did last year. I agree with Henry that we need to be creative with the last three games. The team needs to know when to pass and when to run. SD is just great against the run. Against the Giants and Pukes the skins need to find a way to run. Both teams, especiallys the Giants, have a very good pass rush, and we can't let them just tee off.

[TheGreek1973]

I still like to see more passing on 1st down of the play action pass. Next week we face a very average front 4 in Arizona so I would love to play action in running situations. Don't forget we have Cooley and if Royal can continue to hold on to the ball we can really confuse them by throwing the ball to Cooley/Royal and Portis out of the back field on play action.

As for running please Gibbs MORE of the outside running for both Portis and the Rock.

[stevenaa]

I'd like to see more bootlegs, playaction and sweeping outside running plays.

[feeshta]

I think smash mouth is PART of the answer, the other part is less predictable play calling.

I like the idea of the fake wide receiver screen. That play scares people when it's Moss getting the ball, it could be a good misdirection play. It may be that Coach is saving that one for when we really need it though. I would love to see us burn the boys with it, the turn around and throw the screen and catch them wondering if it's for real.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

For the record, I don't think we are built to be a smashmouth team. But are options in the passing game are so limited right now, we might have to become one.

[Skeletor The Invincible]

Uh, haven't we been trying to be a smashmouth team for two years?

We've failed miserably.

It worked against the Rams because they have a crappy defense.

//

We need to find balance. Find other ways to get Moss involved. Don't say to yourself, 'Hey, Santana is double-covered, there is no way you can get him the ball.'

Bullcrap! Find other ways.

Oh, and use more Betts/Cartwright.

[Oldfan]

I still like to see more passing on 1st down of the play action pass.

At an absolute minimum, this should be done, I think. On another thread, a poster logged 42 runs in 58 first-down plays which is 72%...much too predictable.

[Cskin]

I'm of the opinion that our offense changes week to week based on the opponent. Against the Rams we know we could run on them.... so the gameplan was built around the running game.

Against Dallas this year... nothing worked. We tried to run on them with marginal success.... and the passing game didn't open up until 3:00 minutes left in the game. We're going to have to throw at Dallas, run at Dallas, and play-action off of play segments in order to keep Dallas on their heels instead of pinning their ears back and crushing us with their 3-4 blitzing defense.

Additionally, I noticed against Philly that we ran alot of mis-direction plays... for no other reason than to check Johnson's blitzing and get Trotter moving in the wrong direction. This worked well.... and I thought our offense was it's most impressive and rhythmic against the Eagles.

Finally.... I think our offense is at it's best when it's objective is movement and misdirection, which places defenses on their heels and allows for running plays to Portis and passing to the flats with Cooley.

[RabidFan]

We need some plays where the receiver goes over the middle from one side of the feel to the next....Holt did this successfully many times and we hit Moss on some earlier this season but I haven't seen it lately. We also should send Portis out down the middle deep more often like Garner would do for the Raiders. Stretch the field boys so the run game can flourish. The Rams were stacking the line a lot yesterday and I didn't see Brunell audible to a pass play much...but what do i know?

[Jumbo]

I'm of the opinion that our offense changes week to week based on the opponent. Against the Rams we know we could run on them.... so the gameplan was built around the running game.

Against Dallas this year... nothing worked. We tried to run on them with marginal success.... and the passing game didn't open up until 3:00 minutes left in the game. We're going to have to throw at Dallas, run at Dallas, and play-action off of play segments in order to keep Dallas on their heels instead of pinning their ears back and crushing us with their 3-4 blitzing defense.

Additionally, I noticed against Philly that we ran alot of mis-direction plays... for no other reason than to check Johnson's blitzing and get Trotter moving in the wrong direction. This worked well.... and I thought our offense was it's most impressive and rhythmic against the Eagles.

Finally.... I think our offense is at it's best when it's objective is movement and misdirection, which places defenses on their heels and allows for running plays to Portis and passing to the flats with Cooley.

I basically agree with this. In Gibbs I, Joe was certainly identified with ball control and power-running, largely based on his perfection of the counter-trey which occurred during a time in the league and on the team when all the pieces were in all the right places at the right time. But over the years and his 3 SB's, Joe derived a great deal of his ball control simply by having a varied and often creative offense for most of his time in DC. Misdirection and movement were also hallmarks of a Gibbs I offense.

It was not just power-running, though of course that's a key element, but no more so than having an effective air game. Remember one of his biggest influencers was Coryell. Joe always had key roles played by his QB's far beyond just handing the ball off, and the quality of receivers over the years and their significance to his winning history is something we all know.

He won with big backs and scat backs, with big receivers and small ones, with receivers whose strength was precision routes and sure hands, and with speed demons who were tough as nails (like Moss). And of course he did it with 3 different QB's and always a tough defense.

My point being Gibbs accomplished what he did by getting the most out of his talent and by superior game-planning for each opponent more than having some monotheistic strategic belief in just a power-running game. Remember how famous he was for half-time adjustments? You guys know by now I'm far from being any kind of Redskin basher, but I think along with the overall mess he inherited, it's getting his quick-adjustment and effectively creative "legs" back that is still a work-in-progress for Joe and it shows. I think it's even understandable.

And so I also agree with everything Oldfan said. Given our current personnel and ability level, it's going to be how well he uses those previous skills of adjustment and creativity that will win against our opponents after AZ. And my prediction is that next year these close games will slide into the W column. We need personnel improvement for sure in some key areas, but our biggest weapon still being sharpened is that brain behind those glasses.

[FBChick]

I'm sorry guys... but this year we have NOT tried to be a smash mouth team. We have been relying on the pass and the shotgun way too much, especially on third down conversions.

I will give you that we run almost every single first down, and that needs to change a bit, but this year we have been far from smash mouth, which is why things went bad quickly once our WR started dropping like flies.

Last year we tried to be a smash mouth team, but didn't have the personnel. This year I think Gibbs started relying too much on Moss and didn't do a great job of developing a run game. Now he needs to find a better rotation of the backs to keep the defenses on their heels, let the lines creep back in, then hit Moss or Cooley for big gaines. That is the how this team will keep groups like the Giants and Cowboys on their heels!

[Oldfan]

Last year we tried to be a smash mouth team, but didn't have the personnel. This year I think Gibbs started relying too much on Moss and didn't do a great job of developing a run game. Now he needs to find a better rotation of the backs to keep the defenses on their heels, let the lines creep back in, then hit Moss or Cooley for big gaines. That is the how this team will keep groups like the Giants and Cowboys on their heels!

What do you mean by a "better rotation of the backs?" Portis and Betts were shuffling in and out until Betts was injured.

What are you suggesting that would be different than what they've been doing?