Schefter: QB production separate Skins from NFC East

[TheItalianStallion]

hes got more YPG than ryan, hasselbeck, and palmer. this is true.

by the way, did anyone catch the GB/BAL game last night? i really hope someday we can get a QB like rodgers in here. dude is just so good and so accurate. itd be awesome to look forward to seeing that every sunday.

'Fraid not. Btw, did you see the protection he had against Detroit on Thanksgiving? It was GREAT, though granted, an Oline providing great protection against the Lions isn't saying much.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

Sorry, when you give up 400 yds passing & at least two blown coverages for 14 pts, you're going to get a broadside or two. They had a two score lead the last two games & lost. How "vaunted" is this defense? I remember everybody saying "if this Offense can get 21 points, we're a playoff team." Well the offense has reared its head, what's the defense's excuse? That's the trouble with stats: they give you a false sense of what your eyes can see. Hell, they couldn't stop Delhomme in a bad year, a shot Larry Johnson, or rookie Matt Stafford when they HAD to, & they get a break? Not here.

the saints have scored the following points:

45 - DET

48 - PHI

27 - BUF

24 - NYJ

48 - NYG

46 - MIA

35 - ATL

30 - CAR

28 - STL

38 - TAM

38 - NWE

33 - WSH

only 4 teams allowed less points against the saints than we did this year. by your rationale, every defense in the league has let their team down by playing the saints.

so theres two scenarios:

1. every defense in the league sucks

2. the saints have one of the best offenses (if not THE best offense) of all time.

they are currently on pace to tie the patriots single season record of 589 points. they are at 440 points, pats record was 589. 38 points a game (and theyre averaging 37) gets them over.

our defense isnt bad. the saints offense is literally just that good.

[PapaRora]

You mean the McNabb who is constantly booed for his lack luster performances by Eagles fans ...

and the Romo sits to pee who is under constant criticism for not having his head fully in the game and choking under pressure?

Well, at least we know what we need to shoot for to compete in the East.

Agreed with BkSkinsFan. This author is a faggott.

Tony Romo sits to pee sucked until emergence of Miles Austin.

McNabb has DeSean Jackson.

Campbell had Thomas step up this last week, and look what happened. 367 yards, 3 td, 1 int. BAM!

With confidence, I think Campbell will be leading us to game winning drives like Brees. And the way hes playing right now, that confidence is just around the corner. Big test for him this week against the raiders -- theyre also having an impressive 2nd half of this season. Man they werent lying when they called Raiders our western half.

Showdown: Al Davis vs. Daniel Snyder.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

It happened with under 4:30 to go.The other poster asked for "game-winning or tying drives." His criteria, not mine.Again, I'm not the one who set the bar.More arbitrary criteria.He led us on a FG late in the 4th that proved to be the game-winner, as we had 23 points prior to the FG, which wouldn't have been enough, provided that Dallas still managed to score a TD when they got the ball back."Game-winning or tying drives."See above.Some, yes. Others, no.

again, the original question implied it was in crunch time, so you can have the two OT wins, even though they werent impressive on campbells part, more from portis/betts.

i was wrong about the campbell pass in the CAR game, the game log has the times backwards so there had been 10+ elapsed, not left. that was an awesome play, one of campbells few shining moments. and it was almost 4 years ago lol.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

'Fraid not. Btw, did you see the protection he had against Detroit on Thanksgiving? It was GREAT, though granted, an Oline providing great protection against the Lions isn't saying much.

he doesnt need protection, thats the whole point. he throws slants so fast you couldnt get to him if you tried.

dude is so accurate and precise. if only we'd picked at #24 instead of #25.........

[boobiemiles]

JC has a chance to throw for 3500 yards, and 20 tds. He has gotten better every season he has been here. Outside of McNabb, each QB listed sat behind a proven veteran. Plus each front office is stable, unlike ours. Do skins fans really think JC wouldn't be a top 10 qb if Gibbs stayed one more year? Pay attention please. 3500 yards, and 20 TDS. Yes it can and will be done. Then where do you stand? Are we as a fan base really willing to wait and see if a Notre Dame product, or the next hot rookie can become Dan Marino over night? When does the nonesense stop, and the logic begin. Invest in the trenches, control the clock, run the ball to close the game. This is football, not nanotechnology. We are 1 year away. Stay on course, maintain. Winning comes to those that can stand adversity. We have crumbled infront of it.

[zCommander]

Thank you. We lost the Cowboys game 7-6. I wish people would stop talking about JC and these 3 great games. 6 points does not qualify as a good game.

Jason Campbell's career record is 19-29. He's had 6 300 yard games in 48 tries. Sorry, but that's just not good enough. Having two games a year like that will never win us a championship.

Agreed. And on Sunday it was his 3rd time throwing 3 TD in a game since the 2007 season. That does not speak volume in my book.

[Mooka]

Schefter is just wrong...

Your analysis is heavily one sided.

The game against Dallas was a grudge match, a defensive struggle. Campbell made more plays and also outplayed Romo sits to pee throughout the entirety of the game. He put the Redskins in position to have a 12 - 0 lead. Unfortunately, we missed a few field goals. Dallas got the ball on their final possession and completely dominated our defense on their way to taking the lead. Yea you can blame Campbell for only leading up to 6 points, but he had us in a position to win, and in control of the game for over 58 minutes.

Philadelphia was the same story. Campbell made several key plays, escaping pressure and hitting guys, to put us in position to win the ball game. We were up by 8 points, and had full control of the game with 7 minutes left in the game. That's when Philly got the ball back, drove 90 yards and scored on our defense, converting a 2 point conversion and snatching all momentum from our team.

Tony Romo sits to pee had nothing to do with dominating our defense? He passed on every down in the drive.

McNabb didn't complete 2 deep bombs against our defense on those 2 drives?

[gorebd82]

When JC leads our offense we don't top 17 points the majority of the time. He just doesn't lead a dynamic offense. Why are we bent on settling for less.

Ok, maybe I'd buy that he's a game manager except that he turns the ball over constantly. This season he has 15 TDs, 12 INTs and 3 fumbles that the other team has recovered. For his career, Campbell has 50 TDs in 48 games. He also has 35 picks and 12 fumbles lost. 47 turnovers in 48 games!?!? He's fumbled 31 times in those 48 games. He basically will have a TD and a turnover every game.

Come on. Please stop trying to defend this. I really don't dislike Campbell, but I'm being forced to point out his flaws because so many people try to excuse them. Let's just move on.

[TheItalianStallion]

he doesnt need protection, thats the whole point. he throws slants so fast you couldnt get to him if you tried.

Sometimes, yes; he'll throw the ball after only 1 or 2 steps in his dropback. Other times he's like Big Ben-lite in that he'll hold onto the ball for a long time, trying to make a play, though not to the degree that Ben does.

Just looked at the highlights, and it seemed like Rodgers had pretty good protection against BAL.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

Sometimes, yes; he'll throw the ball after only 1 or 2 steps in his dropback. Other times he's like Big Ben-lite in that he'll hold onto the ball for a long time, trying to make a play, though not to the degree that Ben does.

Just looked at the highlights, and it seemed like Rodgers had pretty good protection against BAL.

i was shocked that baltimore didnt send the dogs on him. but at the same time i wasnt. hes one of the best at reading the blitz, picking it up, and killing it. he made a couple great hard count fakes last night, the ravens showed their hand, and he killed them.

and one of his picks was a total fluke off of drivers foot. his other was a dreadful jason campbell pass 10 yards over jennings head lol.

[WSHRedskins3ATLBraves3]

Schefter is absolutely wrong. We are very far off.

The personnel, scheme and culture of this team need to be fixed.

[Duncan]

Everything else like what?

The 3 consecutive games where we've had leads late in the fourth quarter only for our defense to choke each and everytime under pressure and to force Campbell to single handedly save the day?

Don't franchise QBs often make a play and single handedly save the day? JC never does.

[loren]

Don't franchise QBs often make a play and single handedly save the day? JC never does.

I do believe Campbell has earned his reputation for shrinking in key situations. But as far as Sunday goes, what more did you want him to do?

He led the team to a TD on the last drive of the first half (not counting the kneel down). Brees threw on INT.

After Brees led his team to a FG to bring the Saints to within a TD, Campbell led a clutch drive marching his team down the field, running off the clock, and giving them a chance to go up two scores with under two minutes to go. Unfortunately his coach didn't give hiim one chance to score the TD (not his fault) and his kicker missed the kick (not his fault). His defense then gave up an inexcusable clutch TD by Brees (not his fault), forcing him to have to come out and try to win a game that should already been won. He threw a pick (his fault), and Brees also failed to lead a second "clutch drive" that could have won HIS team the game in regulation.

Getting the ball in OT, Campbell only had a chance for two pass attempts, because his FB fumbled the second one (not his fault).

What more was Campbell supposed to do yesterday? Kick the field goal? Reapply Sellers' stickum? How many times did he have to march up and down the field?

[tr1]

Schefter is one of the boyz!

Can't understand how he missed the o-line situation...while mentioning the coaching, play calling and qb.

I'm guessing he has no clue as to how many players we have on IR.

[DieselPwr44]

Schefter is one of the boyz!

Can't understand how he missed the o-line situation...while mentioning the coaching, play calling and qb.

I'm guessing he has no clue as to how many players we have on IR.

Yeah, that whole reporting injuries on Countdown EVERY Sunday, how could he not know?

[mnb123]

Schefter is one of the boyz!

Can't understand how he missed the o-line situation...while mentioning the coaching, play calling and qb.

I'm guessing he has no clue as to how many players we have on IR.

You seem to praise everyone in the media who says even moderately good things about JC (Troy Aikman), then trash the vast majority who say that he isn't good (Rodney Harrison, Charlie Casserly, Michael Strahan, etc, etc) as if the former were complete experts on the subject, and the later are bumbling morons who don't know anything about football.

[Mahons21]

He only posts in accordance with his agenda.

[HailfrmDEN]

I agree with a lot of what people are saying. But Campbell has not had many games with time to throw the ball. Almost every down he is playing frogger. I think the pickups of levi jones and big mike could turn out to be good once they get into real football shape. those guys are fat. Before we were goin three and out. The last three games there has been improvement. The only change i think ive seen is better play on oline. And as result of that campbell looks better. Even after all these dropped passes he still has a good comp%. I think what schefter was saying is someone needs apply that ablity down the field and not always use the short passing game.

[loren]

You seem to praise everyone in the media who says even moderately good things about JC (Troy Aikman), then trash the vast majority who say that he isn't good (Rodney Harrison, Charlie Casserly, Michael Strahan, etc, etc) as if the former were complete experts on the subject, and the later are bumbling morons who don't know anything about football.

Didn't Michael Strahan say Campbell was a threat that the Giants had to game plan for when he was there, and he disagreed with Harrison?

[Mercuryrising]

carolina - a TD with over 10 minutes left is not a game winning drive.

miami - a 58 yard drive in OT that consisted of 2 passing plays, for 12 yards. you can have this if youd like, but that was portis and betts grinding down a 1-15 dolphins team.

NYJ - lol, campbell threw one pass in overtime, a short pass to cooley (probably a screen) for 17 yards, the rest were runs, and a field goal. but again, if youd like to call this campbell leading a game winning drive, well the bar continues to sink.

NO - closest hes ever gotten. a TD bomb with 3+ minutes left in the 4th quarter.

dallas - we never trailed in this game ever. there was no comeback.

STL - nice drive with tons of running to put us up with over 3 minutes to go, but we lost.

SF - his TD rush got us to a tie. and we lost

do these examples impress you from a QB standpoint?

So freaking ridiculous....

You asked and he provided, and now you discount them with all kinds of asides: "We ran the ball in that dirve, the passes were not bombs, Campbell did not play defense and stop the other team from scoring back, We were ahead most of the game so even though the drive won the game I won't count it...."

In your spirit: I won't count the Favre comeback with SF because he just chucked the ball and Sydney Rice made a great diving catch, and he had Peterson running wild, and if his OL didn't block for him he wouldn't have even made it to the last play, and if J Allen wasn't a beast they would have been down by 14 and it wouldn't have mattered.... blah, blah, blah.....

[TheItalianStallion]

Well, first of all, I don't consider a scoring drive in the first half of the 4th quarter the same thing. It's nice, but not the same thing. To me, that removes Carolina and New Orleans from your list. I don't understand the @Dallas mention since we were winning by 9 points in that game until the very end.

The winning TDs in the Carolina & NO games came in the final 4:00. The @ Dallas, he led us on a FG drive that took us from 23-27 to 26-17, which proved to be the game-winning score; they managed to score a late TD, meaning that we'd have lost without the FG.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

So freaking ridiculous....

You asked and he provided, and now you discount them with all kinds of asides: "We ran the ball in that dirve, the passes were not bombs, Campbell did not play defense and stop the other team from scoring back, We were ahead most of the game so even though the drive won the game I won't count it...."

In your spirit: I won't count the Favre comeback with SF because he just chucked the ball and Sydney Rice made a great diving catch, and he had Peterson running wild, and if his OL didn't block for him he wouldn't have even made it to the last play, and if J Allen wasn't a beast they would have been down by 14 and it wouldn't have mattered.... blah, blah, blah.....

youre right, jason campbell is the master of comebacks. when hes got the ball inthe 4th quarter i feel completely confident hes gonna lead us to glory. hes done it so many times, i mean IS listed so many impressive performances.

and favre didnt throw the TD to rice.

[laurent]

JC has a chance to throw for 3500 yards, and 20 tds. He has gotten better every season he has been here. Outside of McNabb, each QB listed sat behind a proven veteran. Plus each front office is stable, unlike ours. Do skins fans really think JC wouldn't be a top 10 qb if Gibbs stayed one more year? Pay attention please. 3500 yards, and 20 TDS. Yes it can and will be done. Then where do you stand? Are we as a fan base really willing to wait and see if a Notre Dame product, or the next hot rookie can become Dan Marino over night? When does the nonesense stop, and the logic begin. Invest in the trenches, control the clock, run the ball to close the game. This is football, not nanotechnology. We are 1 year away. Stay on course, maintain. Winning comes to those that can stand adversity. We have crumbled infront of it.

That's pretty much where I'm with that.

Too many fans here discount just how long it takes rookie QBs to adjust to the NFL. There's the rare occasion where the rooks are productive from day one, but that's the exception rather than the rule.

Look around the league. You have heralded QBs like Flacco and Schaub struggling, and then you have guys like Stafford that are taking their lumps and are getting beaten to a pulp in the process. I watch the Lions regularly, and for as many positive plays Stafford has made, he's made just as many, if not more mistakes to cost his team dearly.

This team has a defense that's the top of the class of the NFC East and easily in the top 10 in the league.

The offense is coming on, and Campbell has shown that given the proper protection he can be extremely productive.

I don't understand where all this anger and hate is coming from. Do Washington fans really think that the QB is to blame for all that ills this team.

For the past month I've seen Campbell do all of the things that in years past, I've faulted him for.

He's made the tough throws on third down, he's started going through his progressions and has found guys open for big plays. He's starting to develop more of a touch in the deep game.

I mean, from a QB perspective I look at what Campbell has done and I'm thinking that the guys yelling for his head are clearly insane.

This team is close, real close. We're not the Lions, we're not the Cleveland Browns. We don't need a wrecking ball, and that's what bringing a rookie signal caller means.

To me, what this team needs right now is continuity, faith, and injection of talent at the OL, possibly a new starting tail back and patience.

Take a look at this list for some perspective, Campbell isn't nearly as bad as people are making him out to be. In fact, for a guy that's playing behind an OL that's been shuffled, re-shuffled, shuffled again, and then re-assembled for good measure JC is doing a pretty good job.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/passing/sort/quarterbackRating

[Newera]

:secret: Adam, it's been the OL... duh

and play calling.... duh

since Sherm started calling plays, and Buges has gotten some stability the past couple weeks from the OL.... look at the Campbell and the offense's production

Until He makes plays to win games, I'm not sold. Close is not good enough. He has to start pulling out these games. Jason's game are always close. However, we end up losing most of them.