A Closer Look at the Game Against the Rams

[TSO]

Alright guys, I've had some time on my hands so I've decided to do this again for you. For those who don't know or missed these threads previously you can do a tag search and input "submitted1 analysis"to view the other "closer looks". Let's get started:

1- Chris Cooley is our best receiver. :obvious:I know, I know, captain obvious... but here's the thing. It has been repeatedly stated that Cooley practices like he plays, which makes it easier for Jason to get a feel for him. You can just see that chemistry out on the field, and I think the coaches are adjusting to that by featuring him much more. It has to be embarrassing for the other Wideouts to see him take their spot out wide, which he did on numerous occasions today. He caught a nice slant from that position for a first down on 2nd and 2 during the second drive of the game. This is telling from the standpoint that the coaches felt comfortable putting him there and not anyone else to make that kind of a catch, a staple in the WCO and the type of catch we brought in Malcolm and Devin for. Chris Cooley lined up to the outside flanker position on a couple of other occasions after that.

I think this says a lot about where they're at right now in terms of growth. I also think that Zorn is sending a message by doing so, and it should make them feel a bit ashamed that a TE needs to make that kind of a play. Also, credit goes to Zorn for showing that he'll line Cooley out there, and that he's an actual threat there, and not just a decoy like most teams place their TE out wide for. Hopefully it'll open some things up for Malcolm who seemed to take Cooley's place inside or closer to the line in the slot.

Another thing that separates Cooley from the rest of our receivers is his ability to improvise and find an open space for Campbell to throw it to when the play breaks on. Everyone else, including Moss, seem to just slow down and wonder what's going to happen next. Cooley tries to help Campbell out, and it's the reason why he's our leading receiver so far this year. Almost every time the play broke down and Campbell had to improvise, Cooley was the guy who helped out. I always hear about how Ben Roethlisberger does this and that in comparison to Campbell, but one thing Roethlisberger has is guys who are willing to improvise for him and find some space for him to throw the ball to them. Right now, we only have one guy who does... and maybe Randle El (probably something he learned during his Steeler days).

That being said, I truly believe both Malcolm and Devin will be good with the potential of being great WRs in this league, it's just unfortunate that they're following the traditional pattern of growth at the WR position in the NFL. We really need to be patient with both of these guys, they're getting more involved and are improving as the weeks go by, especially Malcolm.

2- Malcolm's knees look good. Matt Terl, the official Redskins blogger, loves to always point out how that whenever Malcolm takes a hit or gets tackled, he cringes in a state of worry that something bad will happen to his knees. I think a lot of us feel that way, but maybe we shouldn't from here on out. On the first pass to Kelly during the first drive of the game, a 3rd and 9, Campbell was looking for either Cooley or Randle El down the middle and when nothing was there he quickly tossed it to Kelly who was wide open underneath and had some room to run towards the sideline. Unfortunately, the Rams Safety and CB converged pretty quickly at the marker and Kelly tried his best to make a play by leaving his feet and stretching the ball out to get the first, and when he did this he took a direct blow to his knees. Yes, a direct blow and a good one at that, causing his legs to snap upwards. Talk about cringing. Kelly got up, hoping he got the first, disappointed he didn't, and showed absolutely no signs of pain or limping.

That was real nice to see.

Also, anyone else have a goofy little grin on their face when Malcolm Kelly caught that pass on a 2nd and 10 towards the end of the first half while coming across underneath, proceeded to shed a tackler, and ran for about 10 yards to get the first? Or how about that 2nd and 15 in the 4th he caught for a first? He looks like a man amongst boys out there.

Yay.

3- Portis is off to another slow start. But a slow start for Portis is a good start for a lot of other RBs. For whatever reason, Portis seems to always have trouble making plays the first couple of games during a season. I know most will attribute that to his dislike for preseason play, or if your McD5, because he's an awful human being who deserves to be lasered to death by the Death Star :saber:, but I think it has more to do with his mental progressions. He seems unsure and hesitant behind the LOS just a tad bit, and if he makes his cuts just a split second earlier more often he'll get more yards and not have a LBer knocking him from his side as soon as he cuts. He's thinking too much, and he's not trusting the great vision he possesses, but it seems like that's the issue more on stretch plays than anything else. Which leads me to my next observation.

4- We blocked well up the gut, even to the right. First play we did so was during the second drive on a first down at our 43 yard line. Mike Sellers makes a great lead block, but the hole was created by Thomas and Heyer. Of course, Casey almost ruined the play since his guy got to that hole quickly after Randy stopped helping him and moved to the LBer, but Portis was fast enough to get by before the hole was clogged. We gained about 12 on that play. The next play right after that was a draw to Portis, and had he followed Mike Sellers out to the left side it would've been a huge play. Both Rabach and Dockery combined to get a good push up the middle, Randy and Samuels funneled their guys up field correctly, Heyer kept his man in check, but Portis ran too quickly up the middle and allowed the Rams LBer and Safety to combine on the tackle. The following one was on the same drive, up the gut towards the left. Dock, Rabach, and Thomas all coverge on the entire middle of the Rams defense, Samuels again funnels his guy up the field correctly, and Mike Sellers makes another good block on the outside LBer and Portis shows much more patience cutting it to the inside for another 12 yard gain.

We've got to be more balanced than we are and use these plays more often instead of the usual heavy dosage of stretch plays. That being said, as we got closer to the goal line we couldn't run whether it was up the gut or a stretch play, period. The Rams were heavily blitzing up the middle when we had run-type formations, and when we ran the shovel pass to Portis we were in a 3 WR 1 TE formation and the Rams played soft, the play was actually there and the Oline blocked well but Portis ran into Rabach and for some reason decided to slowly cut back in when he had a ton of space outside to run.

I was happy to see Zorn call more of these type of runs as the game went on, as well as call more draws and pump fake draws once we established our passing game as a major threat.

5- Oline pass-blocked really well. That being said, Jason did make them look good on a couple of occasions where he made a quick throw or ran the ball when he was about to get hit due to a missed block. Overall though, they gave Jason time against the Rams Dline as they should have.

6- Red zone woes obviously continue. We've been hearing this for quite some time now from the players, but guys need to just make plays down in the redzone. That's not what happened. Whether it was Devin Thomas dropping a ball (though he did a good job finding a hole in the Rams zone and sitting in it after being knocked around a bit), Sellers dropping a ball, Portis making the wrong cut, or just poor blocking up front, guys need to not let down there.

I don't think it's all on the play calling of Zorn as everyone has made it out to be. That's an over reaction to say the least. Yes, it's foolish to change the way you call plays when what got you down to the redzone was Campbells arm, but at the same time there were some plays to be made and the players failed to execute.

Campbell, whenever he was given the chance to throw it, was making the right decisions down there. He's the only guy making plays down in the redzone right now so I think it's imperative that Zorn forgets about balance and just gives him the ball. He'll make enough plays and it'll put the defense on their heels which will open up the running lanes down there for the rest of the season. Campbell was the guy moving us up and down the field, let him be the guy who finishes the job.

7- Cornelius Griffin took advantage of his one on one situations. This is the Haynesworth effect we've been hearing about so much. Against the Giants, their Guards are so good they were able to handle our other DTs one on one at least most of the time, though we'll still made a few plays on them, but that can't be said about the majority of other teams and it showed on Sunday. Griffin almost always beat his guy when he was one on one, and it was fun to watch. He made a living in the Rams backfield. Kedric also showed why he gets more playing time than Anthony Montgomery.

8- Was I right about Rocky or what? Here's what I said in the first "closer look" thread I ever made about the Ravens preseason game:

I'm going out on a limb here, but I have a good feeling that Rocky Mcintosh is going to have a breakout season for us. I don't know if it was just me, but he looked faster and just more intense overall.

He really didn't make any plays in that game against the Ravens... it was just a feeling I got watching him move around.

Here's one reply to that statement of mine:

Rocky in my opinion has done nothing to distinguish himself yet. no pass rushing skills, not great at hitting and causing fumbles, not an impact players, not sniffing the pro bowl or pro bowl alternate yet. When you are drafted at the beginning of the 2nd round you should be getting better and start at least sniffing. I haven't seen it yet but I hope he can step it up, although he is a bit light for a weakside linebacker. I still think he needs to be at 240 something if he is going to play the run, because he sure can't blitz and get to the QB.

... so can I get a cookie, or a pat on the back, lol? :adoration

Rocky should've had that forced fumble on his stat sheet, but unfortunately that nit picky "roughing the passer" call negated what would've been a stellar game on paper. He also should've had a sack on Bulger, when he came off the edge on a 3rd and 16 at the beginning of the 2nd Quarter like a lightning bolt, but Bulger flicked the ball to Steven Jackson out of desperation while Rocky was throwing him down. Oh well, we'll just have to know what we have in Rocky ourselves.

9- Orakpo is looking much more comfortable at LBer, and was back to his preseason form when rushing the passer. I know, no sacks, but he was right there on Bulger a bunch of times beginning with that "roughing the passer" call. He did it again on the second play after that call, where he came off the edge quickly and forced Bulger to step right into Daniels and Griffin. He also knocked the snot out of Bulger on that 3rd and 10 at the end of the game.

10- Our secondary can do so much better. This one is on coaching, and our DBs just not trusting the Dline enough. We're getting pressure, and QBs are throwing quicker, rhythm-based throws more than anything else to negate the pressure, yet our guys are not taking advantage and jumping routes more often. I'm not of the school that is anti-cushion like most around here. I like the fact our Dbs play backed off and make it hard on WRs to get past them on deep routes, but they've got to anticipate better. For example, on the play I just mentioned about Orakpo coming off the edge and Daniels getting in the face of Bulger who is stepping up into him, Rogers should've been able to pick the ball had he anticipated the route just a second earlier. Bulger could not step into the throw and threw what was a flutter ball... if we're an elite defense who has players feeding off of each other we pick that off for a TD, but it ended up just being an incomplete pass. We're just not there yet. You see Rogers' and Landry's disappointment right after that play. They knew what should've happened. I think it's an effect of the coaching these guys get, and our coaches have got to let our secondary play more loosely.

There has got to be some times and situations where we should go into a more aggressive defense in the secondary and jump some routes. I'm not saying to do it all the time, but we've got to find some way of being more aggressive without giving up the big play as we have. We'll be susceptible to deep routes if the QB has time, but I believe we'll make more plays than lose. I think we don't do this enough due to the distrust our coaches have in our Dbs actually making the play, which is a bit understandable from all the previous drops and missed opportunities we've seen from our DBs.

Also, I know that DeAngelo Hall is getting a ton of criticism around here (only some of it warranted, like his hesitance in tackling), but Carlos Rogers regressed since last week. That is not saying he played poorly, just that he didn't play as well as he did against the Giants. He seemed to get caught sleeping a couple of times, especially on the drive towards the end of the 3rd Quarter by the Rams. DeAngelo made a nice play on an important 3rd and 2 early in the 4th quarter, stopping the Rams from making the first and potentially getting into field goal range.

11- Because Rufus T Firefly called me out on not having an 11. There you go man.

12- Wait, Randle El had a nice punt return? He finally showed some nice north-south type of running on 15 yard punt return early in the 2nd Quarter. He didn't get much of a chance on other punt returns, as they were fair catches (and should've been).

13- Jason Cambell, surprise surprise, looked almost unstoppable in shotgun and in the hurry up offense. We first ran the hurry up offense on our first drive in the 2nd Quarter. First play, Campbell in shotgun, takes the snap, looks towards Devin outside on the right, nothing there, comes back to Sellers up the middle and throws a quick strike right on the money for a first down. Next play, in shotgun, goes to Malcolm Kelly coming across the middle for about 6 yards. Next play, in shotgun again, Campbell to Portis for about 6 and the first down. Next play, still in shotgun, screen pass to Portis that was sniffed out by the Rams so he throws it into the ground. Next play, in shotgun again, to Cooley for about 8 yards. Next play, 3rd and 2, Campbell under center for the first time during the drive (makes sense, 3rd and 2 we shouldn't let the Rams D think pass and line up in the shotgun), he runs up the gut to the left for 12 yards. He could've threw it to Portis in the flats who had a LBer that was a ways off of him in coverage so he probably would've got the first (not much more though), but this was the better decision since we got 12 yards.

Here's where it gets interesting. 1st and 10 Campbell lines up under center and hands it off to Mason for about 3 yards to the right (Mason looks great when he makes his cut, really). 2nd and 7, same thing, Mason for 2 yards but to the left. 3rd and 5, Campbell back in shotgun, false start against Dock (boy, I missed hearing "false start #66", how bout you guys?). 3rd and 10, Campbell again in shotgun, takes the snap, pump fakes, throws a strike that gets tipped at the line, but due to the velocity on the ball still makes its way 20 yards down the field to Moss, first and goal at the 8 yard line. Awesomeness.

Notice the pattern? Campbell in shotgun equals offensive fireworks. Campbell under center handing the ball off equals good, but sometimes sputtering offense. Once we reached the 8 yard line here, for instance, we ran the ball for a loss of 2 yards with Campbell under center. 2nd and 10 Campbell back in the shotgun, perfect pass to Mike Sellers for a TD, but Sellers drops it.

More Campbell in shotgun. More Campbell in hurry up. More points.

One more thing about Campbell... on a 3rd and 9 towards the end of the 2nd Quarter, he takes the snap in a shotgun formation, steps up real nicely in the pocket, has nowhere to throw it to so decides to run, then finds Cooley in the middle for about 19 yards and the first. What was impressive about this throw wasn't the improvisation, or the fact that he stepped up nicely, or took off while still looking down the field... it was the fact that the throw was beautifully thrown on target across his body. Look at the play again and you'll see what I mean. That was an elite throw.

14- The Rams had one big play, and we can thank Horton for it. Horton took a bad angle and just flat out missed Steven Jackson when he had a chance at him in the backfield. Otherwise, Horton played as good as he has been and you just gotta love his intensity. We all know the play he had at the end there... it's great to see us actually make that play there instead of end up with broken hearts.

15- Haynesworth is awesome. That is all. Okay, want reasoning other than the usual "amazing push" he gets? Take a look at the 2nd and Goal play for the Rams where they hand it off to Steven Jackson to their right side... Haynesworth plays this so beautifully it's just unbelievable how nimble he is on his feet. The Rams right side is opposite to where Haynesworth is lined up, Steven Jackson is a fast man and got off tackle to the right quickly, yet Haynesworth is somehow there helping on the tackle. Ridiculous.

16- Moss lined up in the slot a lot more this game. Unfortunately, he didn't do much there. One catch he had in the slot was the one where he fumbled the ball (you know, I don't blame him that much there, seeing as his head was getting pulled back by Atogwe who was pulling his face mask as he was going down... that should've also been called). I noticed another time where he just gave up on the route after being pressed, but Campbell found Randle El instead. I was not happy with his effort there, and he was the first read. I think Moss needs to get his head straight, he just seems like he's not there. I honestly wonder if his family life is alright.

Alright, my hands hurt now. I'll leave it at this. We're a good team, guys. We had a good game, and dictated its flow pretty much the entire time. It's getting incredibly frustrating that we just can't seem to put it together on the scoreboard to prove it though, but I believe that it's coming. The coaches aren't happy about it, the players aren't happy about it, and obviously the fans aren't. Against the Giants, we saw where the issues were, and we fixed those things against the Rams. We did not come out and do the same thing, especially on offense. We put Campbell in shotgun more and ran the hurry up offense twice. We went deep to Malcolm and Devin, and played more aggressively in general. Our secondary played up close a lot more than before, and we're still causing turnovers which is great. This is a team that has proven already they can fix what needs to be fixed, at least to a much higher degree than I've previously seen.

We need to get more INTs, we need to let Campbell throw in the red zone more (actually, whatever works in the redzone, I don't care, just score baby), and we absolutely need to start making those big TD plays deep. We never have those highlight plays and once we do, we'll be as good an offense as we need to be. Hopefully, we can actually improve on those things instead of just saying we will as usual. They've already proven they can take progress in practice to the field. Let's hope we get the same thing week 2 to week 3 as we did week 1 to week 2.

[Rufus T Firefly]

Nice post, no major disagreements (though I mainly skimmed a lot of it).

Just 2 things:

1. I don't see a number 11.

2. ARE had a nice return, but his first fair catch was ridiculous. There was no one within 10 yards of him.

[BigMike21]

Randle El had that great return but also that horrible fair catch.

[TSO]

Nice post, no major disagreements (though I mainly skimmed a lot of it.

Just 2 things:

1. I don't see a number 11.

2. ARE had a nice return, but his first fair catch was ridiculous. There was no one within 10 yards of him.

1- Fixed it just for you.

2- I didn't notice to be honest. Maybe I forwarded it to the next play there too quickly using my DVR. As you could imagine, doing this gives me an itchy "fast-forward" thumb.

[Rufus T Firefly]

1- Fixed it just for you.

2- I didn't notice to be honest. Maybe I forwarded it to the next play there too quickly using my DVR. As you could imagine, doing this gives me an itchy "fast-forward" thumb.

1. LOL. Nice fix.

2. Yeah, I've DVR'd games and I do the same. If you get a chance, watch it (I'm pretty sure it was the first one). It was ludacrisp, as Mike Tyson would say.

[TSO]

1. LOL. Nice fix.

2. Yeah, I've DVR'd games and I do the same. If you get a chance, watch it (I'm pretty sure it was the first one). It was ludacrisp, as Mike Tyson would say.

Definitely, soon as I got some time I'll check it out again.

[Birdlives]

Always awesome, as usual. Keep going man.

[TSO]

Always awesome, as usual. Keep going man.

Appreciated, as always.

Though I'm worried it's going to get buried in like 5 minutes. I mean, we've got "Zorn: 'I'm not worried about losing my job' " on the front page for crying out loud! How can I compete with that in this swarm of rage that is ES, lol? :doh:

:hysterical:

[Pwyl]

Always awesome, as usual. Keep going man.

My thoughts too. Maybe a mod will see this and /sticky it for a couple of days

[herb mul-key]

thanks a ton...I hope this season is a catalyst for the team to pull together...us vs everybody! I have a feeling JC and company are ready to rock! I think the Lions better look out...they might be meeting a buzzsaw!

[Braxford]

Nice thread. Great Points. Moss does need to get his head in the game.

[Oldfan]

Super job with this thread!

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Great post. A joy to read.

[Nomadskin11]

Fantastic Job Submitted.

Rational, intelligent, and unbiased IMO.

I agree with all of your points, and would add two more.

A) Part of Portis' slow start is a penchant for running into his blockers. I saw him do it several times and it is extremely frustrating. I think this is related to your point about his indecisiveness. Strangely enough, I think he could use some of what JC's been improving; see the play in front of you, make a quick decision, and GO.

That's probably a big part of why the stretch plays aren't working. They require a quick decision; Portis used to be elite at that.

As an addendum to your points about shotgun, no huddle, etc and redzone, I think our only choice at this point is to GIVE JASON THE KEYS in the redzone. He's been very confident between the 20's; let's just get it over with and see what we got.

Great job again, and thanks for your hard work!!

nomad

[HA1LV1CT0RY]

Great read, good writeup, I agreed with everything. HTTR

[Duckus]

Posts like this are why I still come to this board. Very nicely done. I have many doubts about this team, but you have made some great points.

[SauzzBozz]

i dig the thread. thank you much for sharing

[Outlaw Torn]

Great Job man. Very Appreciated.

[Skinz4Life12]

reallllllllly good thread. nice analysis and very well thought out. A+

[mfelty05]

i would like to see kelly stay on the field when we are in the red zone and not see moss out wide. someone tall like kelly needs to be out wide.

[TSO]

i would like to see kelly stay on the field when we are in the red zone and not see moss out wide. someone tall like kelly needs to be out wide.

He was there a bunch of times... we just ran the ball or called a shovel pass, lol. Yeah, we really need to call a fade there soon.

[DGREENHULK]

Great thread. Our defense is getting better every week I can see them becoming a force on that side of the ball and again the offense will improve week to week...we hope...Zorn needs to get agressive and not play not to lose but play to win and win big....

[lashondajones]

Submitted, I have no problem with Rocky having a good game once in a while, but the thread in question about Rocky clearly states that he needs to step up. That doesn not mean rarely, and that is what we have seen so far. Patting yourself on the back for predicting Rocky is stepping up is fine, but come back EACH WEEK for 3 more games IN-A-ROW and do it. Cause having a great game every 4th or 5th game is not what I call stepping up. Lets talk after the Detroit game, Tampa game, and Carolina game.

[TSO]

Submitted, I have no problem with Rocky having a good game once in a while, but the thread in question about Rocky clearly states that he needs to step up. That doesn not mean rarely, and that is what we have seen so far. Patting yourself on the back for predicting Rocky is stepping up is fine, but come back EACH WEEK for 3 more games IN-A-ROW and do it. Cause having a great game every 4th or 5th game is not what I call stepping up. Lets talk after the Detroit game, Tampa game, and Carolina game.

He made plays against the Giants as well. Remember, he drops back in coverage a lot so if you don't hear about him on passing plays that usually means good things.

I was patting myself on the back in jest, really. Who knows what he'll do, but so far he's making me feel like I wasn't seeing things. He looks good, period.

[littleskins]

Great analogy, but on the Horton play it was more that Big Al fell on him while he was makimg the tackle..I would have let go too...