Things i saw yesterday - potential huge problems

[SkinsFTW]

who's going to lead block? - a goal line package you got 7 guys pinched very tight on the line of scrimmage and two more on the ends looking for boot-legs and leaking TE's. - you HAVE to have a lead blocker in that situation.

Sellers wouldn't need a lead blocker. Who was the lead blocker for Riggins when he scored 24TD's in 1983? Nobody and he was 50 pounds lighter.

[Tweezy]

I agree with a lot of BLC's comments. I mean, I would sure like to have seen Sellers get a carry on second down at the goal line instead of a pass to him, he isn't Larry Centers. Secondly, if like some of you said, he needs to be blocking, then why is he blocking for Ladell Betts, and not Clinton Portis. Why isn't our feature back in the game when the game is on the line. I don't see the Chargers putting Michael Turner in when they need a big play. Our defense gave the offense multiple opportunities yesterday and they didn't move the ball. I can say that the feeling in my stomach isn't as sick as it was yesterday, but it is hard to lose games that you have a chance to be in. I really get the feeling that our team is right there, and that it is going to start clicking real soon, but we just need that "something" to put us over the top. We better get it straight before we start playing teams like New England and Dallas, if not it could get ugly.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

i get the feeling that we are an ordinary 7-9 to 9-7 team. were never going to kill anybody, and i doubt we'll really get killed this season. i have a bad feeling every game is going to give me an heartattack, and that every game is going to come down to the last minute. we arent strong enough on offense (yet) to put a hurting on teams, and were not dominant enough on defense to trust our team to get critical stops. its gonna be a long season with a ton of close games. hopefully we can squeak some of them out and come out with a winning record to build confidence for the future.

[Brotherz]

:applause: I agree 100% with everything you said here BLC! But I wanted to add something I saw too. Did you guys see the defense move pre-snap, Eli see it, change the play and pick us apart almost every third down situation. Eli would stay under center or in shotgun and watch our secondary, suddenly you'd see Landry creeping up (trying to time snap), Eli sees it, he clearly stops to change the protection and the play, Landry backs up. . . ball is snapped, Landry blitzes just like he showed pre-snap, the protection gobbles him up and Eli throws directly where landry was. Later on the draw play to make it first and goal before they tied it, the entire secondary started back peddling into coverage pre-snap again and then returned to set, Eli sees it, changes the play to a draw, snaps the ball and the defense runs backwards into the very pass coverage they showed before Eli changed the play and the draw goes for 8 and a first and goal!!! I was amazed!!! How in the world did they not see that this was happening and checking off after Eli?

[Brotherz]

Oh, also, any of us (including myself) who so drank the koolaide that they believed we could lose two starters on our offensive line and not notice was really fooling themselves. Our season is in jeopardy because our line is mediocre at best due to these injuries. We couldnt run it, we couldnt pass protect, we couldn't move the chains. I imagine that same exact game with Dockery, Jansen and Randy and we win by two touchdowns.

[SkinsFTW]

but why though? why do we come out, slay for 2 quarters, then go into hibernation with our defense? what does it accomplish? it doesnt look like much. its like we find a defense thats working, make it work like crazy for a half, then completely give up on it and go into this prevent mode for no reason at all. its like dr. jeckyl and mr hyde.

It's all part of the play not to lose mindset. Gibbs has no faith in Campbell to kill a team when it's down. I guess a 3 and out is preferred over a 40-50 yard pass INT. :whoknows: Thats part of the reason I think he disliked Ramsey. Thats one thing Ramsey could do well. He wasn't the sideline dink and dunker play safe all game guy though. :2cents:

I think Williams must think that prevent D forces the team to go the length of the field and burn the clock because he also knows that Gibbs is going to curl up in a ball with the playcalling so he doesn't want major mistakes either. Problem with that defense is that they ALWAYS drive and almost always get 7 points. We rarely get an Int with a 10 yard cushion. Last year should have proven this.

You don't spend 4 1st rounders on DB's to tell them to back off 10-15 yards on every down. You could do that with Walt Harris and 3 other random turds if you have 4 Top 10 pick DLmen and actually get to the QB all day long. Look at the Colts, Pats, Chargers Defenses.

The problem with the Defense is the same as with the offense. Idiocy, IMO.

We have receivers who are short, fast, deep threat guys, right? So we use them on 5-10 yard BS. A receiving TE/average at best blocker, who is kept in to block most of the time. A QB with a cannon arm with short game issues, he's running the Brunell dink and dunk. Top 5 RB not being used unless its a first down with 8 men in the box.

I really don't know what they are thinking. The problem I have with it is that this is the same crap that didn't work in 2004-2006 when they tried it so why keep beating their heads on the same wall?

Gibbs was a near perfect 2nd half coach his first time, winning around 90% of the games he led at the half. His 2nd time around he's barely over 50% in the same games. Thats Norv Turnerish.

The field goal on first down in Game 1 says quite a bit about the team and the coaching staff.

[SkinsFTW]

i have a bad feeling every game is going to give me an heartattack, and that every game is going to come down to the last minute.

We're the Arizona Cardinals! We also let teams off the hook. :laugh: :laugh:

[Hemlock]

I don't think we can put the blame on the D. Those guys were hamstrung by a flacid Offense for almost the entire second half.

[paredskinsfan]

i get the feeling that we are an ordinary 7-9 to 9-7 team. were never going to kill anybody, and i doubt we'll really get killed this season. i have a bad feeling every game is going to give me an heartattack, and that every game is going to come down to the last minute. we arent strong enough on offense (yet) to put a hurting on teams, and were not dominant enough on defense to trust our team to get critical stops. its gonna be a long season with a ton of close games. hopefully we can squeak some of them out and come out with a winning record to build confidence for the future.

If we play the pats like we did the giants they WILL kill us. But I am happy to be 2-1 right now. Obviously 3-0 would be better but 1-2 or 0-3 would suck. Let's just wait and see what happens after the bye. I see a more agressive team agianst detriot.

[elkabong82]

The team has started to show signs of agreesiveness, and hopefully that will continue to develop.

Cooley disappeared because the coaches don't trust the right side of the line just yet, and rightfully so. I believe this is also why the playcalling became so limited in the second half. JC was seeing a lot of pressure in the second half of the game, and it wasn't until the end that the throws and the receivers were in synch. The players themselves said it, we had no rythm. Once that side of the o-line starts to gel a little more (and thankfully we have 2 weeks to work on it) the play calling will hopefully expand. There was a reason almost every run play was to the left.

And while it is no guarantee that CP or Sellers would have gotten the ball in, I do fault that on the coaches. There was plenty of time to get players in, and there was no need to rush the last 2 plays like they did. I still don't understand why the offense didn't wait to snap the ball until there was 2 seconds on the clock. Hopefully our coaches have learned just which running back should get the carries in the redzone.

I agree this team hasn't fully established it's identity, but we do have a defense with new starters at DT, LB, SS, and CB at times. The offense has a new QB and establishing an identity there is a work in progress. It sucks we lost, but the Giants aren't as terrible as many of us thought (they did go head to head with Dallas until Eli went out), and we have to be patient right now. The good thing is, this team is capable of being a winner and is never truly out of a game. The offense and defense have shown that they should continue to improve, rather than regress.

[21 always]

Team Had no heart in the last half! No killer instinct,, and Gibbs got a brain freeze in the last quarter.... Throw the ball deep more then twice a game .. and stop playing like youre scared or lucky to be there .. PLAY LIKE YOUR IN YOUR HOME FIELD WITH A PACK CROWD CHEERING FOR YOU, AND YOUR AN NFL TEAM THAT WANTS TO SCORE INSTEAD OF PLAYING TI SAFE FOR THE DAMM PAST 4 YEARS!!!

[SkinsFTW]

JC was seeing a lot of pressure in the second half of the game, and it wasn't until the end that the throws and the receivers were in synch.

That happens when the other team knows EXACTLY what every play call is going to be. Run on first ALWAYS. Then Pass on 2nd and 3rd. :applause: :applause: :applause:

[Veretax]

obviously everyone is pissed about yesterdays embarrassing defeat as we all should be, but weve still got a ton of games to play but if were going to win, we need an identity, and right now we do not have one. here are some huge questions that have now officially reared their ugly heads:

is portis a 25 carry back anymore? the guy is scoring touchdowns, getting a good average on the ground, and so far his carries have been 17/17/14. isnt this supposed to be a smashmouth football team? arent we supposed to be pounding the rock with our proven stud running back? why is portis not running the ball more? its a known fact that when portis puts up 100 yards, we usually win, yet were not giving him the ball. whats up?

can we put the ladel betts issue to rest? the guy has looked horrendous through three games running the ball, and he failed yet again yesterday when the game was on his shoulders. 30 carries, 82 yards, 0 touchdowns. why is portis not getting these carries? if portis is still not 100% id like to know as would all of us, but its hard to argue that portis isnt 100% when hes averaging almost 5 yards a carry and has scored 3 times.

I think your being a bit hard on Betts. Betts has played well in relief up until that last series against NY. When we were rotating them in and out in the second half in phily betts did well. The issue here is the types of runs we've been doing. Betts was running a sweep play that frankly would only work with Portis in there on that last series. they are different styles of backs, and when we use them correctly both can get yardage. The issue was the play called. I do agree that portis was looking awesome up until that fumble and last series :/

why in gods name do we have mike sellers, a 280+ pound fullback, NOT GETTING THE BALL AT THE 1 YARD LINE???? seriously, this might have been the worst call in the past 3 years. we need 1 friggin yard on 3 attempts, and we have one of the biggest FBs in the game, and were running sweeps to our weak nonsweeping backup RB. horrendous. sellers was involved in running in the past 2 games, yet the one time his presence was the most important, he wasnt utilized. somebody screwed up, and we got an L.

He dropped a few passes, and I think the reason was, we expected to get in on that third down play. We didn't think we'd get the ball off in time, but why not give it to the full back if your gonna run? Well we hadn't tried it all game, so we had no clue if it would work. I agree though we misused sellars yesterday.

i remember us signing this guy, big TE, i cant remember his name, (rhymes with GOOLEY i think) to a big contract extension, yet for some reason, hes invisible out there. he has 6 catches for 54 yards in 3 games. im glad hes getting TDs, but hes not supposed to be a TD machine, hes supposed to be a 3rd down conversion chains mover, and for some reason he isnt being used at ALL??? where is chris cooley? why isnt he getting the ball? isnt al saunders our offensive coordinator? i thought his offense was built around running the ball up peoples faces and throwing to the tight end a lot? im not seeing that at all.

I think he was kept back in pass protection much of the second half (will have to review my tape to be certain of that, but I agree not even a sniff cooleys way in the second half :/

I agree with the rest of what you said, our playmakers never had their numbers called or didn't make plays when they were called, Except for Portis and ARE the whole game after that first half.

[McMetal]

The offense has not improved one iota since Game 1.

No reason to think they will improve over the next two weeks.

This crappy 16-17 points a game is as good as it is likely to get. Gibbs said as much yesterday in the postgame.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

I think your being a bit hard on Betts. Betts has played well in relief up until that last series against NY. When we were rotating them in and out in the second half in phily betts did well. The issue here is the types of runs we've been doing. Betts was running a sweep play that frankly would only work with Portis in there on that last series. they are different styles of backs, and when we use them correctly both can get yardage. The issue was the play called. I do agree that portis was looking awesome up until that fumble and last series :/.

how am i being hard on betts? hes looked plain bad. his averages over his three games have been

3.5

2.3

1.3

thats just bad. his longest carry was 13 yards yesterday, and he ended up with 9 total yards, which means he was getting negative yards on most plays. but i agree that betts shouldnt be running those plays. those plays are designed for speed backs like portis who can get to that edge. betts isnt that guy.

He dropped a few passes, and I think the reason was, we expected to get in on that third down play. We didn't think we'd get the ball off in time, but why not give it to the full back if your gonna run? Well we hadn't tried it all game, so we had no clue if it would work. I agree though we misused sellars yesterday..

sellers had 2 carries against miami, 4 against philly, 0 yesterday. he had been gaining positive yards in the previous games, and we decided not to use him when we needed 2 friggin yards. unacceptable. arent we a smashmouth team? isnt a 285 pound freight train of a human being a good idea to gain 2 yards? i would assume so, our coaches obviously thought sweeps to a slow backup running back would be a better idea, not to mention twice in a row.

I think he was kept back in pass protection much of the second half (will have to review my tape to be certain of that, but I agree not even a sniff cooleys way in the second half :/.

unacceptable. he should be our go to guy, if theres guys rushing in, that means theres guys uncovered. campbell needs to read that and make them pay. we didnt, and they never relented in their pressure.

I agree with the rest of what you said, our playmakers never had their numbers called or didn't make plays when they were called, Except for Portis and ARE the whole game after that first half.

yup. very sad day.

[flexxskins]

I don't know for sure, but he could be kept in to block a lot. Plus, he's no secret anymore. - Teams game plan for him.

Then alter the plays to where a RB has to stay in and block. Because IMO Cooley is just as good, if not better than Shockey and Manning found Shockey on just about every third down situation that they had yesterday.

I agree with your points, but IMO "huge" problem are something that we can't overcome. There are no huge problems right now. A huge problem would be a lack of talent on offense or defense. No, this is simply a stubborn old coach that coaches scared.

No, you are correct, there are no huge problems. Right now there seem to be a lot of little problems like BLC mentioned. But, IMO they all add up to one big problem.

I don't know how many of you watched Dallas play last night, but the bottomline to me bringing them into this whole thing is...they are playing on a whole different level than we are right now. With our exsisting problems that have been mentioned in this thread, there is no possible way that we could beat Dallas or anyone else who is playing just as good right now. I absolutely hate thinking that way and I sure as hell hate saying that BS.

You are exactly right...Gibbs' playing calling is fearful and playing not to lose...I am so tired of watching the skins lose games this way...Unless there is a philosophical shift very soon, Snyder is going to have to kick the obstinate grandpa out of the house, the defense is great if they dont have to be on the field for a whole half...

I'm sorry, but if Al Saunders is doing the play calling, how could Gibbs' play calling be "fearful and playing not to lose?"