Tired of being the Underdog

[Mooka]

It's all too familiar with the Redskins. We play very well, when we're under the radar, when we're the underdog. We here it from our coach, the players, Portis, etc. We don't need anyone on our bandwagon, we want to go unnoticed. F That Nonsense!

We go into Philly on Monday Night with no one expecting us to win and we come out with the victory. Then we face a Giants team with question marks all over the board, we play solid, take a 14pt lead. Then we're on the road to 3-0, 2-0 in the division, being a very good team, balanced on offense and defense.... uh oh. We blow it.

Then after the bye we have a number one passing offense coming into town. I hear it everywhere, don't take the Lions lightly, we're gonna have to play great, game could go either way. We shut down that offense, put pressure on Kitna all day and smash the Lions. Now we're sailing high, looking at a tough game @GB. We come out with sustained drives, dominate the clock, shut down Brett Favre and the #1 passing offense once again. We come into the half looking at being 4-1, beating one of the best teams in NFC on the road, being a very good football team, uh oh.... we come out flat and blow it again. Don't take any of the opportunities to put the Pack away, and then it becomes way too late. The O-Line gets injured and we have no chance of a comeback.

Who else is sick of being the underdog? Whatever happens against ARZ next week we're going into Foxboro after that as the underdog. God forbid we actually beat the Patriots. Who knows how bad we'll look against the Jets after that.

For once, it would be very nice to watch the Redskins play with some consistency. Not only play well when we're under the radar.

[Jofizz]

Redskins and consistency don't go in the same sentence.

[Bacon]

The only game where we didn't play consistently was the Giants game, and that was because of poor play calling. You'll have a point when we actually do play poorly against the Jets, but until then, you're just attempting to be negative for the sake of it. Fumbles happen sometimes, and that's one of the surface reasons of our loss. That, and we played a good football team, which must contribute to that somewhat.

[Leonard Washington]

Redskins and consistency don't go in the same sentence.

consistently inconsistent? :laugh:

[Mooka]

The only game where we didn't play consistently was the Giants game, and that was because of poor play calling. You'll have a point when we actually do play poorly against the Jets, but until then, you're just attempting to be negative for the sake of it. Fumbles happen sometimes, and that's one of the surface reasons of our loss. That, and we played a good football team, which must contribute to that somewhat.

You don't notice a trend that both losses came after statement wins @PHI and a rout of DET?

[Bacon]

You don't notice a trend that both losses came after statement wins @PHI and a rout of DET?

Sounds like it could be the beginning of a trend; possible evidence of one occurring in the near future, but I would hardly say we're an entirely inconsistent team. Here's what an inconsistent team would do:

Vs. Rams (L 32-10)

@ Packers (W 44-3)

@ Cowboys (L 23-6)

Bye

Vs Colts (W 55-38)

Vs Lions (L 20-7)

And so on. We've only lost one game we should have won, and have hardly "stunned" anyone. The Eagles clearly suck this year, except nobody knew it then.

[Om]

This seems off the mark to me. This game wasn't about not being prepared or looking ahead or getting fat and happy. This one was about a few isolated ****ty plays by individuals and some injuries.

The Skins came out flying and dominated play on both sides of the ball. But for 6 dropped passes, two essentially unforced fumbles, two groin pulls and one hamstring, the Skins walk away winners and we're all dancing in the streets.

I'm all for "the big picture" analysis, but this isn't the place for it. The cause of this loss was not big picture, it was execution by a couple of players and some unbelievably bad luck with injuries that took away our offensive strength.

[Mooka]

I didn't mean this as a reason why we lost on Sunday.

At 3-2 we're a decent team right now. It seems that every opportunity we've had to jump up to the higher echelon we fall flat.

[Tastes Like Chicken]

We were one play away from having Campbell snap it to himself, and our #1 WR couldn't catch a cold... We'll be back to normal against the Cards, and then we shall defeat the Patriots in their house.

[illone]

The Skins just seem to be the type of team that plays up/down to their competition.

Especially on the road.

The team has yet to really become a solid road team, sans a nice run in 2005 when they won a few games in a row. Even then, the team had to have their backs up against it in order to dig deep for that particular run. Take that run away and the team is below average, and gives more games away then it controls.

If anything, we can hope the team defends home field more times than not and squeaks into the playoffs in 2007.

Looking ahead to the future, this era of NFL football is going to be remembered as the Pats/Colts era. Those two teams are going to battle it out for the next four to five years, maybe more. The Redskins just aren't close to challenging either of those teams, and neither is anyone else in the NFC for that matter.

Just like the Cowboys/49ers battled it out in the early 90's is the same way this current era will be remembered for the Colts/Pats.

Face it people, we're the AFC of the 90's. Come to grips with that and it makes the pain of losing much easier.

[bulldog]

I don't think it is the injuries and I don't think it is the competition, at least not directly.

The Redskins are a team with a fragile psyche. This is a team that does not handle GAME adversity very well. A few negative plays or a strong rush by another team in the second half and this team backs away from the challenge. It gets rattled easily, especially on offense.

When this club needed a long drive to ice the Giants game, the offense crumbled under the pressure. The playcalling was unimaginative and conservative to the point of not providing NY with any credible threat to defend.

Against the Packers, the Redskins needed to take that 14-7 lead and start eating up the clock and prevent the Packers from getting in the kind of rhythm necessary to come back and do anything of consequence.

But once again in the clutch, Portis and Moss fumbled the ball away and put the team in a hole.

These are the 'stars' the team is depending on to support and surround Jason Campbell, and so far in 2007 these players have done more to undo good performances by Jason than augment them.

The Redskins best receivers have been Cooley and Randle El.

McCardell has shown that he belongs on the field A LOT more with the game on the line and a chance to continue drives with possession receptions to convert first downs.

Why McCardell was kept under wraps until later in the second half is beyond me.

He has made 850 catches in the NFL, most of them slants and crosses and the deep outs that the other receivers don't seem adept atr converting.

He isn't going to blow by defenders for an 80 yard touchdown, but that is not what this team needs right now, it needs receivers that are RELIABLE in crunch time.

I would rather have a healthy McCardell and a healthy Ladell Betts in the game than Moss and Portis at 75%.

After watching 5 games this season, I don't think it takes a genius to figure out that both Moss and Portis are struggling physically and that is resulting in poor execution.

As a result the coaching staff that is so honed in on using #26 and #89, can't seem to develop a game plan on the go to take advantage of the skills of any of the other players on the roster, outside of Cooley who was already part of the game plan before the execution on offense started to go south.

[Mooka]

He isn't going to blow by defenders for an 80 yard touchdown, but that is not what this team needs right now, it needs receivers that are RELIABLE in crunch time.

I agree. I'm not even sure that pass later in the game was to him, but he was aware and stretched out to extend the drive.

That was definitely a clutch catch. We had none of that from the other WR's yesterday.

[MONTEY]

I don't think it is the injuries and I don't think it is the competition, at least not directly.

The Redskins are a team with a fragile psyche. This is a team that does not handle GAME adversity very well. A few negative plays or a strong rush by another team in the second half and this team backs away from the challenge. It gets rattled easily, especially on offense.

When this club needed a long drive to ice the Giants game, the offense crumbled under the pressure. The playcalling was unimaginative and conservative to the point of not providing NY with any credible threat to defend.

Against the Packers, the Redskins needed to take that 14-7 lead and start eating up the clock and prevent the Packers from getting in the kind of rhythm necessary to come back and do anything of consequence.

But once again in the clutch, Portis and Moss fumbled the ball away and put the team in a hole.

These are the 'stars' the team is depending on to support and surround Jason Campbell, and so far in 2007 these players have done more to undo good performances by Jason than augment them.

The Redskins best receivers have been Cooley and Randle El.

McCardell has shown that he belongs on the field A LOT more with the game on the line and a chance to continue drives with possession receptions to convert first downs.

Why McCardell was kept under wraps until later in the second half is beyond me.

He has made 850 catches in the NFL, most of them slants and crosses and the deep outs that the other receivers don't seem adept atr converting.

He isn't going to blow by defenders for an 80 yard touchdown, but that is not what this team needs right now, it needs receivers that are RELIABLE in crunch time.

I would rather have a healthy McCardell and a healthy Ladell Betts in the game than Moss and Portis at 75%.

After watching 5 games this season, I don't think it takes a genius to figure out that both Moss and Portis are struggling physically and that is resulting in poor execution.

As a result the coaching staff that is so honed in on using #26 and #89, can't seem to develop a game plan on the go to take advantage of the skills of any of the other players on the roster, outside of Cooley who was already part of the game plan before the execution on offense started to go south.

That's very depressing. And true. Cant figure it out. Its been said that all a team has to do is hang around, especially in the 4th quarter, smack us in the mouth and they will beat us. All the time it seems. Sad.