Fourth down and the mindset of a winner

[Kelvin Bryant]

Middle of the fourth quarter... eight points down... fourth and two. Grossman looks to his right and sees the Cardinal corner momentarily plant his feet. He also sees Gaffney open for an easy first down. Grossman ignores Gaffney and makes the higher-risk throw the read requires, into the corner of the end zone. The pass is on target. Moss makes the catch, and the Skins are on their way to a rare comeback win.

One reason such comebacks have been rare is that the aggressive mentality they require has long been absent. We've all seen the results of "playing not to lose." But these coaches are telling their players that they *expect* them to make tough plays under pressure. More importantly, they are backing up those words with their decisions. Here's another example: this team doesn't change what it's doing when a starter goes down. The next guy is expected to step in and do the job.

They also don't mess around with these calls. No time-out, no discussion on the sidelines about what to do, and no pause in the flow of the game that lets the defense get ready. They did the same thing last week on fourth-and-five against the Giants. Just go to the line and execute the play. In all probability, this week's decision had already been made when Kyle called for a run on 3rd and five.

The same thing is happening on the other side of the ball. After the touchdown and failed conversion, the Skins have to have a stop. And Haslett also takes the aggressive option. Blitz. Blitz. Blitz. Punt.

Success under pressure requires confidence, and confidence starts at the top. Two games into the new season, Mike, Kyle and Jim are already on the record - this team and these players can win when the chips are down, and they will be given every opportunity to prove it.

Not every gamble is going to succeed, but it's the right way to instill the mindset of a winner.

Hail.

[DCsportsfan53]

I agree 100%, great post. This attitude, confidence and courage has been missing from this team for so, so long. Add to it that we are proving, so far, to be one of the most disciplined, best coached, best conditioned teams in the league and you finally have a situation where the front office and coaches are no longer doing things that prevent the players on the field from being successful. It's about ****ing time.

[Silencer6091]

That play speaks TONS...but thats Gunslinger Rex for you.

[Dan T.]

Good post, KB. It's iffy to be talking about something as ethereal as team confidence, but if such a thing exists, then success on those types of high risk/high reward plays can surely build a reservoir of it.

[Kelvin Bryant]

That play speaks TONS...but thats Gunslinger Rex for you.

Yeah, but it *isn't* just Gunslinger Rex saying "eff it, I'm going deep."

This is Rex playing within Kyle's offense, making the decision the system dictates. It's an aggressive system, and right now it's racking up first downs like a pinball machine. Once they work out a few kinks, this team is going to drop a lot of points on somebody.

[SkinsNoles21]

Awesome post. I whole-heartedly agree ... Grossman has long been known for having the balls to go for the big play ... now, he's older, more mature, in a better system ... and it's going to work in his favor more often than not.

[S.T.real,lights,out]

Yeah, but it *isn't* just Gunslinger Rex saying "eff it, I'm going deep."

This is Rex playing within Kyle's offense, making the decision the system dictates. It's an aggressive system, and right now it's racking up first downs like a pinball machine. Once they work out a few kinks, this team is going to drop a lot of points on somebody.

I sure hope so. It seems like the plays are there Rex just needs a tad more time and to make a few more throws.

[Henry]

The call to go for it on fourth down and the throw in the end zone are both genius moves if they work, and idiocy if they fail.

I remember the beginning of the Zorn era when he'd go for it on fourth down we called him gutsy. By the end of his second year he was just crazy.

[Hitman21ST]

Great post KB, I wholeheartedly agree.

The Skins have come a long way in a good direction from Zorn's "stay medium" approach, and I couldn't be happier.

[Kelvin Bryant]

The call to go for it on fourth down and the throw in the end zone are both genius moves if they work, and idiocy if they fail.

I remember the beginning of the Zorn era when he'd go for it on fourth down we called him gutsy. By the end of his second year he was just crazy.

Time will tell. Zorn lost the confidence of his players, and vice-versa. Quite the opposite seems to be happening here.

[Darth Tater]

Yeah, but it *isn't* just Gunslinger Rex saying "eff it, I'm going deep."

This is Rex playing within Kyle's offense, making the decision the system dictates. It's an aggressive system, and right now it's racking up first downs like a pinball machine. Once they work out a few kinks, this team is going to drop a lot of points on somebody.

Yep, I was a bit surprised at first by going deep when the underneath was open but then someone said (Kyle, I think) that the first option was Santana Moss and unless that was covered, that was were Rex was supposed to go. My guess is that Kyle figured they'd try to stop anything underneath and sent Santana deep with that as the primary option, Of course, they also failed to cover one of the under routes.

[Redskins Diehard]

The call to go for it on fourth down and the throw in the end zone are both genius moves if they work, and idiocy if they fail.

I remember the beginning of the Zorn era when he'd go for it on fourth down we called him gutsy. By the end of his second year he was just crazy.

Exactly what I was thinking.

[Rocky21]

The head coach in his post game presser said that that is basic football. You always go for the win when you have the chance. You gotta like that kind of mind set, right?

[Commander -JB-]

Jason Campbell doesn't throw that pass in the corner of the end zone to Moss. Period.

[authentic]

The aggressiveness starts from the top down. I love coach Gibbs, but in the past you could tell that we played scared. Always scared to take a risk. Scared to fumble, Scared to get the ball picked off. Now we have coaches who want to go for your throat. Right now i can't say that we have all the playmakers in the mode of NE, NO, GB...etc. But you can tell for sure that the plays are called to keep defenses on thier feet. We dare opposing defenses to stack the box, we dare them to double team WRs. We actually have a coaching staff that are willing to exploit matchups instead of calling plays to set up 3rd and short. I like what i'm seeing.

[HailGreen28]

"#### it, I'm going deep!!!!!"

It worked, so love Kyle's playcalling. And love how Rex's play and throw was solid. Anyone else feel a lot better seeing Rex throw that ball in there, than Beck or Candle in the same position?

[CapsSkins]

The call to go for it on fourth down and the throw in the end zone are both genius moves if they work, and idiocy if they fail.

I remember the beginning of the Zorn era when he'd go for it on fourth down we called him gutsy. By the end of his second year he was just crazy.

Only if you are irrational. Decisions shouldn't be judged by the result; bad decisions can yield good results and good decisions can yield bad results. The call to go for it on 4th down was made after 2nd down, not after third. We were down by 8 and probably were going to get the ball back one more time with limited time remaining, therefore the choice is the following:

Option 1) Three down territory. You have one down to get the first. Otherwise you take 3, hope your D makes a stop, and hope you can get in the endzone with limited time when you get the ball back. You have to pass on third down and the defense knows it.

Option 2) Four down territory. You have two downs to get the first. You can use your effective running game and run on 3rd, which the defense won't expect. However, if you fail to get the first, your D has to make a stop and you need to get the ball back, get in the endzone AND get the two-point conversion.

Not a slam-dunk decision. However, our running game was effective all game long, we have two chances to go 5 yards, in case of failure we'll have to score a TD on the next drive anyway, and Kyle had probably seen something that made him confident in his 4th down play-call. It was a good decision regardless of the result it ended up yielding.

[addicted]

The game was awesome

It was a character builder

It's a statement game for all of us

Let the chicken littles point to the mistakes

Let them shout to the heavens how we threw two INT's in the red zone

Let them have a say

And listen to me

What I saw out there was an offense overcome adversity

And show a heart that's long been missing

We were down, we had given ourselves reasons to lose

Red zone INT's, check

Missed Field Goals, check

Long bomb TD's against us, check

We could have folded up and died but Rex didn't let that happen

He stood up and made plays when it matters

3 scoring drives in the 4th quarter

He did the damn thing and we won

Simply amazing for this team!!!

[Silent Majority]

:applause::applause:

Hail to the OP, and a great observation.

[Saqs]

The head coach in his post game presser said that that is basic football. You always go for the win when you have the chance. You gotta like that kind of mind set, right?

Shanny is a gambling man for sure,

[emor09]

**** it, I'm going deep

[gaskinsfan]

Grossman and the offense seem to be a good fit. Also Hightower and especially Helu. Defense takes chances, puts pressure on the QB. Can't wait to see how we are with Landry out there. Team has come together and is working hard. Easy team to watch and root for. I hope they go far...

[Mahons21]

Great post, I couldn't agree more. These Redskins don't care what anyone thinks or pre-conceived notions, they expect to win week in and week out no matter who they're playing. I can't remember the last time that was the case for the Washington Redskins.

The direction this team appears to be heading in is very refreshing.

[SkinsFTW]

I was waiting to see if anyone would start a thread about the 4th down play because I was about to.

I was going to start a poll to see how many thought that this was the wrong call. I know the next time we do this and it fails the negative reaction will be huge, of course.

The opponent would only have to run the ball and burn the clock since we'd have to score twice in under 3 minutes. The difference between getting a surprise td and kicking a FG later is worth the risk. They could have settled for 3 but would have had to score a td with time expiring later, if they even got that chance. The TD stole momentum and put the Cards on their heels and amped up our defense. The Cards came out throwing instead of trying to run the clock out.

When this play happened the first thing that I thought of was that this was a Belichick style playcall. Usually Belichick calls something like this and somehow it works and everybody says "only the Patriots", When he fails he still gets blasted by the media but the players believe in what they do and they know that the failure is on them. Him even having to make that kind of call is because they had already failed his gameplan enough for him to have to make such a call. The team believes that they should be successful. The gameplan isn't questioned. They don't fail many of those 4th down calls. Compare that to a Norv Turner 4th down playcall, haha.

Shanahan was supposedly hanging out with Belichick during the season he wasn't coaching. I wonder if this type of call, and the 4th down against the Giants too, came from the ideas he got from Belichick. I just don't remember Shanahan doing anything like this when he coached in Denver, maybe he did. I didn't watch many Broncos games but this seems like something we'd have seen in highlights before if he had.

Anyway, all the mistakes we made in the game are erased by one gutsy call like this one. Seems to be a 180 degree turn from how the team felt about things under Gibbs 2 and Zorn in the not too distant past. During those games we'd get a 3-7 point lead and hold on desperately wishing the game to be over and 3/4's of the time we'd lose. The team didn't believe in what they were being told to do. But that's just my opinion. I might have misread how these guys are playing in comparison.

[Rabsuz]

One of the most glaring underlooked point in last game has to do with Rex Grossman. He came into the game, threw 2 picks almost back to back on drives which, maybe 3 years ago would have shattered his confidence and would result in a 50 QB rating game aka bad rex. But after his 2 interceptions he did something he hasn't done in his entire career, he came onto the field with just as much confidence in his throwing as if he had never thrown those picks, he got right back up and pulled himself out of the gutter, which was Rex's most glaring problem in Chicago.

I think Rex may have gained a lot more confidence than he had in Chicago, and that translates to more consistent play, Rex is a mental QB who will play better if he's feeling confident and will play horribly if he has no confidence in his throws or hesitates to throw.

I would have made this a stand alone topic but I really don't know how to format titles and stuff like that. But I think Rex may have eliminated his worst problem of his career and embraced the mindset of a winner, whether this is from, experience, coaching, teammates, fan support, or a combination of all 4 is anyones guess right now.

Thoughts on this?