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Gregg Easterbrook: How Philly telegraphed Redskins 3rd and short and negated Cooley

ArmchairRedskin

By ArmchairRedskin
in The Stadium

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ArmchairRedskin

ArmchairRedskin

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http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9140954

Sweet 'N' Sour Team: Mark Brunell sure looked like his old self by firing beautiful, deep passes to Santana Moss and James Thrash, plus running on third-and-8 for a late conversion that nearly iced the Skins' playoff invitation. But Washington keeps rolling Brunell left (he's left-handed) on short-yardage downs, and it's fooling no one.

Philadelphia leading 17-7, Washington had third-and-1 on the Nesharim 6; Brunell play faked and rolled left, fooling no one, incompletion. Philadelphia leading 20-17, Washington facing third-and-3, Brunell play faked and rolled left, fooling no one, incompletion. Washington leading 24-20 with 3:25 remaining, facing third-and-3, Brunell play faked and rolled left, fooling no one, incompletion. All three plays were designed to go to H-back Chris Cooley, and all three times Eagles defenders, knowing what was coming, swarmed over Cooley.

Memo to Redskins coaches: Everybody in the free world expects Brunell to play fake and roll left on short-yardage downs. This was the single-most predictable action in the NFL this season, and Washington needs to fix the problem before the playoffs commence.

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SkinsGuy

SkinsGuy

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Good thing for the coaches that they have Easterbrook's columns out there.

I mean, what do they know? They've only went 10-6, made it to the playoffs, and have won FIVE STRAIGHT.

Maybe Coach Gibbs can keep a cell phone with him on the sideline and can contact Easterbrook and get his opinion on what plays he should call. :rolleyes:

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nace14

nace14

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To be fair, though, it was 1st and goal at the 4 yard line.

yes, but we have a left handed qb. it isn't a question of whether or not we are going to do it, it is a question of when we are going to do it, and you know what...we won the game, and we are in the playoffs. so apparently it is working out.

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Byner21

Byner21

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I believe that as fans, we sometimes ignore the fact that many plays are setups for future plays, so even if a play looks like a failure, it may be the piece that makes the TD happen two quarters later.

Besides, sometimes it's better to just let the other team know what you're gonna do and then do it.

Easterbrook is probably a genius, but I think he's doesn't get a few things that coaches do successfully. He knows more than me though. :)

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joelvincent

joelvincent

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Denver runs the bootleg constantly. I think its more predictable than the Redskins doing it. Its about execution.

DEN is what? 12-4 this year (I think)? We need to be cleaner with it, establish the run first, and give Brunell more options than Cooley. (When Sellers was an option he was wide open)...

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Darth Tater

Darth Tater

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Its may be telegraphed, but you can only stop it by cheating to it: you'd need to roll your safety, your play-side backer and your mike. We get that action and Portis will pop the middle and get 6. Most teams would rather give you the easy first-down (and you still may mess up) for 4,5,6 yards (and now you still need to execute on the next couple of plays) than a 50 yard TD. I was just thinking, you'd probably end up running the risk of letting Moss get open on a deep post (or flag since I'm not sure where he'd be lined up) or the FB on a skinny post. In any case, he was open several times on that play and it was our failure to execute, nothing about the Eagles. I would like to see a team cheat to cover it and hit Moss on a deep route or have Portis pop it through where the Mike and SS would have been.

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Ghost of

Ghost of

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This is unfettered BS. No one "in the free world" knows that Joe Gibbs is going to PASS on 3rd and short because his overwhelming inclination is to run in that situation.

Tampa game (not so many 3rd and shorts)

3-2-WAS33 (4:03) M.Brunell pass to C.Cooley to WAS 42 for 9 yards

STL

3-2-STL49 (13:00) (Shotgun) M.Brunell pass incomplete to S.Moss (C.Ivy).

3-4-STL4 (5:54) M.Brunell pass to C.Cooley for 4 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

ARI

3-2-ARI20 (8:09) M.Brunell pass intended for C.Cooley INTERCEPTED by A.Rolle at ARZ 13. A.Rolle to ARZ 42 for 29 yards (M.Brunell).

3-1-ARI35 (4:41) M.Brunell pass to S.Moss to ARZ 25 for 10 yards (D.Macklin).

3-2-WAS24 (11:38) (Shotgun) M.Brunell FUMBLES (Aborted) at WAS 21, recovered by WAS-J.Jansen at WAS 24. J.Jansen to WAS 24 for no gain (K.Dansby).

3-1-WAS42 (8:12) M.Brunell pass incomplete to C.Cooley

DAL

3-2-DAL2 (9:46) M.Brunell pass to C.Cooley for 2 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

3-2-WAS46 (10:42) M.Brunell pass to C.Cooley pushed ob at 50 for 4 yards (K.Davis).

DEN

3-4-DEN38 (5:28) M.Brunell pass incomplete to C.Cooley.

3-2-DEN20 (7:40) M.Brunell pass incomplete to C.Portis.

I won't go on. (and yes, MOST 3rd and 1s are runs)

Suffice to say, I've witnessed plenty of third and short passes and while it may be overstatement to say that we all know Gibbs 'always' throws on rollouts to Cooley, once you see a playfake and rollout, as a defensive coach you can tell they're going to Cooley in that situation.

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http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9140954

Sweet 'N' Sour Team: Mark Brunell sure looked like his old self by firing beautiful, deep passes to Santana Moss and James Thrash, plus running on third-and-8 for a late conversion that nearly iced the Skins' playoff invitation. But Washington keeps rolling Brunell left (he's left-handed) on short-yardage downs, and it's fooling no one.

Philadelphia leading 17-7, Washington had third-and-1 on the Nesharim 6; Brunell play faked and rolled left, fooling no one, incompletion. Philadelphia leading 20-17, Washington facing third-and-3, Brunell play faked and rolled left, fooling no one, incompletion. Washington leading 24-20 with 3:25 remaining, facing third-and-3, Brunell play faked and rolled left, fooling no one, incompletion. All three plays were designed to go to H-back Chris Cooley, and all three times Eagles defenders, knowing what was coming, swarmed over Cooley.

Memo to Redskins coaches: Everybody in the free world expects Brunell to play fake and roll left on short-yardage downs. This was the single-most predictable action in the NFL this season, and Washington needs to fix the problem before the playoffs commence.

Who won the game???

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Darth Tater

Darth Tater

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HailSkins81,

I'd think that'd probably work since the DE would also have to cheat into the passing lane for Cooley which with the Mike rolling out of the middle would leave that passing lane open. So it seems, you'd read the DE and the Mike, if they cheated, hit Portis and if not, hit Cooley.

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