Jason Campbell....UNLEASHED

[Touchdown Redskins]

It seems like the coaches aren't letting anyone get into a rhythm. They target Cooley left and right in the first half, then don't get him involved in the second half. Our splitting of carries and playcalling is so bad that neither Betts or CP gets a rhythm, and JC can't get into a rhythm either. Rhythm is crucial for RBs and especially important for QBs, but it doesn't like the coaches let them develop it.

[Bang]

I would put more faith in your argument if we didn't run left two times in a row with similar results on the last drive of the game, and got stuffed at the goal line.

Right because as we all know, two plays are indicative of a whole half.

My argument is simple.

Any coach worth a damn is going to try to go after two backups on the right side.

And any coach worth a damn is going to try to shore it up once they try it.

Here's a thought.. we ran left BECAUSE that is where the strength of our line is!

We COULD run behind two backups, one of whom is trying to block the best playmaker they have on defense, Strahan, or run behind pro bowler Samuels and 13 yr vet Pete Kendall.

Hmm.

I wonder which one seems the better option?

~Bang

[Oldfan]

Oh yeah , I don't recall that one pass was sent to Cooley or Yoder or Lloyd or even Thrash the entire second half. Could it be that if you show your opponent a pattern of throwing to 1 or 2 guys exclusively that it might be easier to plan for and shut down. Yes , it is and we have seen the results of it last Sunday.

I'm not saying that it was the best strategy, but the reason we didn't see Cooley or Yoder catching passes is that they were busy shoring up our pass protection.

I sorta understand putting just two guys out in the pattern, but it seems to be the same two guys -- which make defending pretty simple.

[Oldfan]

We are 24th in the NFL in pass attempts and 7th in rush attempts. So, no, I don't think we can say that Jason has been "unleashed."

[csnow03]

I found this article that shows Campbell is helping the Redskins win an additional 1.3 games. This number should increase as he matures.

http://www.bbnflstats.com/2007/09/qb-wins-added-week-3.html

[S.T.real,lights,out]

How many of those passes were over 10 yards. How many times did they run portis on a very predictable running down. The point that people are trying to make is we need to mix the play calls up. If we throw on first down and get nothing we can't run portis up the middle for a gain of two and expect JC to be able to get 8 yards on 3rd down when the D is ready for a pass. I dont think we are not unleashing him its more like were handcuffing him by the way the coaches are calling the games.

[Heisenberg]

How many of those passes were over 10 yards. How many times did they run portis on a very predictable running down. The point that people are trying to make is we need to mix the play calls up. If we throw on first down and get nothing we can't run portis up the middle for a gain of two and expect JC to be able to get 8 yards on 3rd down when the D is ready for a pass. I dont think we are not unleashing him its more like were handcuffing him by the way the coaches are calling the games.

I agree with this viewpoint. The way the plays are called don't make too much sense to me. Noone on this board is qualified to be an NFL coach but that doesn't mean we can't have opinions.

I also found it interesting what CP said yesterday. I am one who took issue with calling a play action pass on a 3rd and 11 where the Giants knew we had to pass because at this point the game was basically on the line. Portis said the play was there but that there was pressure that caused Campbell to not have enough time. The pressure was a direct result of the fact that the play action gave the defense extra time to get pressure.

[RedlightG20]

Some of you guys are making good points. QBs and RBs need to be able to get in a rhythm. Though I'm not sure of Portis is shooting himself in the foot with this, because when he's tired he just trots off the field and on comes Betts. Yeah, you may need a break but you're not giving yourself a chance to get in a rhythm. He may be getting too liberal about taking himself out of the game when he doesn't "really" need to.

We also tend to put in our better blocking WRs in on running plays (ie Thrash, Lloyd, maybe Caldwell now??). Sure it makes sense to do that, but it seems like we're just telling their defense what is coming. We need better blocking out of our 1 and 2 WRs to help cloak our playcalling when Moss and ARE are in fact on the field during running plays.

Sometimes I think we should randomly throw in a no-huddle, 2-minute drill once or twice during the game early in the halves. Three-step drops, quick slants and bubble screens to Moss. Let JC get in a rhythm early. Move the ball. Tire out the D. On those single-back plays when JC is under center and does his 7-9 step drops, we're just asking for him getting knocked down. Feels like we're putting too much emphasis in each play, when they should be out there just playing pitch and catch.

[dieselfan44]

We've just got to be more versatile in our play calling. Everyone knows that Gibbs will always have a run first, pound it between the tackles team. Therefore they know what to expect and game plan around what they figure that we will do. You can have the best backs in the league to run the ball but with eight in the box its going to be a tough road to hoe. We have the QB to throw the ball deep and the speed at WR to cause the defense to stay honest. I think Gibbs should go back and look at the plays that were designed for Rypien/Clark/Sanders/Monk and try to install some of those same things for JC/Moss/ANT/Caldwell/Cooley....The talent is there..just have to use it

[Schoolmaster]

Its not the pass-run ratio so much. Its the opening the field factor. We dont stretch the field. Yeah, we might throw deep to Moss or ARE once a half, but not enough for safeties to take the deep threat too seriously.

Campbell has an arm. We want him to use it.

That's right. AND we need to use more of the WRs we have in the arsenal - keep guys fresh. These guys are making millions of dollars... make them earn it. Even if you don't throw it to them, make the corners and safeties run down the field every play....

[Schoolmaster]

It seems like the coaches aren't letting anyone get into a rhythm. They target Cooley left and right in the first half, then don't get him involved in the second half. Our splitting of carries and playcalling is so bad that neither Betts or CP gets a rhythm, and JC can't get into a rhythm either. Rhythm is crucial for RBs and especially important for QBs, but it doesn't like the coaches let them develop it.

True. I think it comes down to the fact that the QUARTERBACK should have a major say in the play calling because he is actually IN THE GAME. I think what you will see in the Detroit game for the first time is JC doing AUDIBLES. The Skins are at home against a poor defense. JC has to be able to change the play at the line of scrimmage. He is the one that has to gauge what is the best option for his offensive team at that particular moment. He has done some of this in the past, but, he will have to get better at it before the Skins can have any consistent success on offense.

[corrupt3d]

I was curiously browsing around here and notice the trend of opinion that seems to think that Campbell is being held back by our coaches similar to how Obi Wan was screwing over Anakin.

I stopped reading right there, and deemed this the greatest thread on the board.

[FFskinsfan72]

::walks up to Gibbs:: - ::waves two fingers using Jedi mind trick:: "you will unleash #17 during next game"

[RODAN1054]

I am sure JC would like to go futher down field people but he cant when everones rushing him, as was the case Sunday

[DCsportsfan53]

Well, the problem for me wasn't the run/pass ratio. The problem to me was that, in the second half, we COMPLETELY abandoned any idea of a deep passing game. We stopped running deep routes, were running all short crosses, button hooks and flat routes. We stayed primarily in our 1 and 2 WR sets, not putting speed on the field. We didn't vary up our first down playcalling, it was all runs or short little flats screens. Basically, we stopped making aggressive play calls, allowed the defense to continue packing the box and creeping the secondary up and by the time we tried to make them pay for it, they already had the lead, were expecting us to go downfield and were waiting for it.

That was the problem for me. It's one thing to throw it more than you pass it but the route combinations we were using were all short and weren't designed to challenge the defense and back them out of what they were doing.....which was packing 8 and 9 in the box, stuffing the run and jumping our short patterns. A play action deep shot or a double move in there somewhere would've been awfully nice, not to mention getting a few WRs on the field to spread them out and force them to show their matchups would've been nice, too.

Granted, the flip side to that is the OL wasn't giving great protection, it was decent, but I don't know how much confidence they were inspiring in terms of calling some downfield routes. Still, you'd like to at least see us run some clear out decoys down the field but we were content to play a Mark Brunell-esque short passing game plan with a high degree of predictability in our first down play calls. That's where I thought the coaching staff let of the gas, let the Giants (who's offense has been quite good so far this year, btw) back into the game and failed to truly turn the game over to Campbell and allow him to do something with the ball.

[HailSkinz1]

I think many of you are starting to understand that it's the coaching staff on this team making the decisions on what play to run, not the QB. This offense looks NO different under JC than it did under the much maligned Mark Brunell. I've been trying to get this point across now for over a year.

It was not Brunell's decision to hit the short stuff game in and game out just as it's not JC's decision now. Those are the plays that are called.

Unfortunately, JC has not proven he can throw the ball deep accurately. In fact he's missed several wide open receivers already this year. If he starts to hit those, maybe the coaching staff will open it up a little.

But right now, we are playing right into the defenses hands - they stack the box which also takes away the short passing game and dare the Redskins to go deep. When we do go deep, we don't make them pay enough.

I'm afraid the problem on this team right now is more coaching and less players (and this doesn't even take into account our horrible game mismanagment). Our offense would look the same if we had the Colts or Patriots starters playing under this coaching staff.

Yeah, I know that's blasphemous - but it's also reality.

Hail,

H

[Veretax]

You know its funny that everyone thinks Strahan is so GREAT as a DE, they were saying on TV all game, that the Giants were running at Carter because of his speed, why didn't we do that to Strahan?

[thelarkascend1ng]

In Episode 2 Anakin wanted to take down Dooku by himself and got electricuted and his arm cut off...had he just listened to Obi Wan, he wouldn't have had to put a metal claw on Padme's back during love time.

...

Let's give it some time...I don't think Campbell will fall into hot lava.

yESSSSSSSS

[Cringer Eats You]

I'd love to see JC take some more shots down the field. You always hear what an arm this kid has, but don't get many chances to see it very often. When you play a beaten secondary you have to test them.

[isle-hawg]

I wish we would start running 3 WR sets that seemed like the base formation for us during Gibbs I. The 3 WR set keep the D from stuffing 8 - 9 guys in the box and worked so well to support a balanced O during Gibbs I, I can't help but wonder why we do not use it during Gibbs II?

[Redskins4ever]

I was curiously browsing around here and notice the trend of opinion that seems to think that Campbell is being held back by our coaches similar to how Obi Wan was screwing over Anakin.

So I browsed the nfl.com play by play page to see if I can recall what I think I saw last Sunday.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/playbyplay?game_id=29240&displayPage=tab_play_by_play&season=2007&week=REG3

Now if I am reading right, there were 37 pass plays called, and 21 run plays called the entire game. The ratio is 22 to 19 in favor of passing if you don't want to count the last two drives when we were behind.

So what is it exactly we need to do to "unleash" Campbell? Should our ratio be more 70-30% in favor of passing similar to the Eagles?

And also, I notice most of our stalled shorter drives involved runs by Portis. Who would of absolutely positively scored had he been in the game on the last two plays according to some.

Hey, I love Star Wars too, but this is the National Football League we're talking about here. Saunders offense is a timing offense, geared towards getting the football down the field. Campbell has already been unleashed. If you're saying the Redskins should put five wideouts on the field and let Jason gun it down, then that's not smart football. You need a running game too.

Jason isn't being held back. He's on time with his development. The Lions game will only be his 12th start for goodness sakes!!

[Pittman4Two]

Good point KevinthePRF.

However, as I believe most of your Redskinned bretheren would agree, there needs to be an adequate running game to take the pressure off the unleashed one (Jason Campbell).

Look at your fellow NFC Eastern rival, the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles. They both have decent to above average running games that take the pressure off Romo sits to pee and McNabb. Teams will tend to be more focused on a consistence running affair rather than dropping off more competetors in coverage.

This takes time. I would advise more patience on your end as this rose has yet to bloom as others have.

Thanks.

[Redskins4ever]

Pressure has been taken off Jason's shoulders. Portis has 227 yards rushing in three games and a 4.7 yd average. Not exactly averaging 100 yds a game so far, but it's sufficient enough to balance out the passing and running games. Jason has thrown it more than the Redskins have ran it. He's been unleashed.

[SnyderMustGo]

The guy should probably be more than 50% accurate before we unleash him.

Otherwise, he will just be a drive-killing, interception-throwing, and fumbling machine.

[Ty Garcia]

i think they should let Jason just make some plays and stop holding his hand!