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Es Coverage - Redskins Verses Steelers

JimmiJo

By JimmiJo
in The Stadium

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JimmiJo

JimmiJo

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ES Coverage - Redskins verses Steelers

 

8/19/2013

 

 

Ok, here we go.

 

Greeting everyone, welcome to The Washington Redskins verses the Pittsburgh Steelers. My name is JimmiJo and I will be bringing you tonight's action along with my partner, Hitman21ST.

 

It's his first time covering and we've sent him to the sidelines to get some photos. We figured he would really enjoy the action up close. Plus, if he gets demolished by guys flying off the field we won't lose one of our veterans coverage guys.

 

It's been like forever since I've covered for ES. I couldn't be happier to be back helping out. Sorry for coming on so late - a snafu with the credentials, pretty sure some dude named Murf was to blame. I tried to give them my best; "don't you know who I am?" look, but they were unimpressed - until I mentioned "TK." Got right in after that.

 

Really interested to see a couple things tonight:

 

1. Will the starting offense be as effective? Going to key on Kirk Cousins and the run game.

2. Will the starting defense be as bad against the run? I'm pretty sure I threw up in my mouth a time or two last week.

 

So here's the deal. I'm here to be your eyes and ears. You are here to share your thoughts on the game. In the interest of time, the best way to follow in-game is on twitter @Skinscast.

 

Enjoy!

 

P.S. The crotchety old man in me is kicking stuff and cussing because they went and upgraded the site and I can't find anything. Damn whippersnappers...

 

8:22PM - Have to give Ryan Kerrigan big love on the pick-six. Read it all the way.

 

Half

 

Never I thought I'd write this, but the game got better after the Rexcannon entered. Grossman is red hot right now, going 7-9 for 101 yards and a TD. His rating is something like 673 right now. I think.

 

Obviously the big news is Kirk Cousins and his foot. That could be a big freaking deal if it is a serious sprain. Last week reassured us that there was good insurance if Robert Griffin III is not ready for week one. Now we will have to wait and see on both.

 

The other big news is Ryan Kerrigan and big plays of defense in general. The defense is the reason the score is what it is.

 

JimmiJo

 

There was good things and not so good things. First the good:

 

There was a significant improvement in defensive pressure and run defense this week. Run defense specifically was an area of concern after last week but the team did a much better job in containment, holding the Steelers to under 100 yards on the ground and no super-explosive plays. Best of all, they pressured Pittsburgh’s quarterbacks, registering four sacks. There were two forced fumbles, both recovered.

 

Of course the biggest play was Ryan Kerrigan’s interception and return for touchdown of Ben Roethlisberger’s screen pass. It was great to interview a guy happy to have made such a big play. This is not Kerrigan’s first rodeo in terms of pick-six, and some would say he is making it a habit. But it was nice to see a guy just happy to make a play to help his team. Kerrigan said on the sidelines that London Fletcher called out “screen” prior to the play. Fletcher told me after the game that you can’t coach the way Kerrigan times his jumps to be able to tip and catch the ball.

 

Not sure who gets the credit, but Kerrigan wound up with the play of the game tonight.

 

So now the bad. Was less than impressed with the offense. Even before Kirk Cousins went out the offense was doing very little. I don’t know if this is a testament to Pittsburgh’s defense, or more a reflection of a unit that could not get going. For the record he went 2-for-3 for 19 yards. But that makes the outing look better than it felt.

 

The Redskins’ first two series with Cousins resulted in a four-and-out and three-and-out. The third drive they started to get some things going but then Cousins got hurt and the Rex Grossman show took over.

 

Grossman was hot for a minute there and almost tricked me into believing we were going to see the good Rex tonight. And for a while he was. Grossman finished 10-of-16 for 133 yards, a touchdown and a pick. But it was the pick that annoyed the hell out of me (don’t they all). Washington was marching in for what looked to be a scoring drive when he turned it over.

 

Pat White came in a made it exciting at times. The run-option was working to open some things up and the second highlight of the night came off of it when Roy Helu ran one in from 30 yards out. On the play he showed why he should make the team. I tweeted at the time he is the fastest guy in the backfield and can catch (1-1 for 14 yards). For me he has to be your third-down back.

 

By far the biggest concern following tonight are the injuries. The most concerning is Cousins’ foot. The team says sprained foot, but this is what they said of Phillip Thomas last week. Barry Cofield injured his hand. Keiland Williams his knee. Aldrick Robinson with a leg. Chris Thompson and Leonard Hankerson with a knee.

 

Folks after suggested none are too serious, but if only one is it will be a real shame for a preseason game.

 

Well folks, already had my say earlier. Gonna get out of here and let Hitman21ST say a few words.

Audio and pics coming later.

 

Thanks!

 

Hitman21ST

 

Monday Night Football. What a first experience as a for real credentialed member of the press. Lot of plusses, some minuses. I left home at 11, expecting to arrive around 4. I actually got here at 2:30, so I got to explore the parking lot and gaze in awe. 4:00 rolled around and I joined up with the ES Tailgate until my partner in crime arrived. I kicked some tail at cornhole and had a very good time with Pez, Huly, and the bunch.


JimmiJo arrives and we make our way towards FedEx Field. Arriving at the credentials desk, we discover that for whatever reason our names weren’t entered, so we wait around for someone to come and recognize us to let us in. We get in, I get the media vest for taking pictures, and head up to the press box to drop off my gear.


Now comes the time that just about everyone dreams of: I get to go on the field and take photos. Got some good pictures of warmups, offense and defense. The hardest part was finding good spots on the field to take the pictures. I think I walked a couple miles after all was said and done (note to self: get in better shape for next time). The camera was a good one, but really frustrating at times. I got a blurry picture of Kerrigan’s pick six, but wasn’t able to get a series of photos. I felt good about my positioning though and can at least somewhat make out the player and play. Same thing with the Hankerson touchdown. Perfectly lined up, and when I click to take the picture, the camera gives me the “battery depleted” message. Color me VERY frustrated. I got most of the sequence of turnovers. By the end of the first half, I would say I got about 20-25 decent pics. Not bad, but I’m really critical of myself and think I could have (and should have) done better. Lesson learned.


I head back up to the press box at half time to get the batteries switched out, only to have the camera spazz out again and not start up for the rest of the game. I head back down anyway hopefully to get it figured out during the second half, but ended up using my phone and grabbing pictures of players on the sideline. Frustrating, but I still think I got some good shots. I felt proud that I got what I did, but left a lot out on the field.


Onto the locker room and interviews. That was a monster in and of itself. I started out following JimmieJo around, just sticking my recorder and getting soundbites. We got Orakpo, Kerrigan, Golston, and Moss before I ventured out on my own. I started out with Trent Williams and asked him a couple questions, then moved on to Niles Paul. I was looking for Hankerson, but he had already given an interview and made his way out. JimmieJo and I then went and got a couple questions out of Helu. It was a little intimidating to start out, to be completely honest, but I got into the groove and made my way from there.


So, what did I learn? To start out, get to the credentials desk as soon as possible to get in as early as possible. I missed some warmups, but I wasn’t too concerned. Next, being on the field is a completely different experience than in the stands. You have to watch out for cheerleaders, other photographers, and all the cameras. Oh yeah, not to mention staying out of the way of Sundberg and Rocca. I could feel the long snaps whizzing behind me I was so close, and I almost ended up getting punted. Next point: I never really got an appreciation for just how big the players are until I was a couple feet away. I’m 6’0, 205, and I felt absolutely dwarfed by London Fletcher, let along Kerrigan, Orakpo, and Stephen Bowen. Even the smaller guys seemed huge. It’s a different perspective on the field too. You really get a feel for the action and almost get into it. When you’re a new guy like me, you just need to pray that you get a good angle on a play for a photo. I felt awesome about the Kerrigan and Hank touchdowns, until the camera gave out. The last thing I learned was put new batteries in the camera beforehand, so as to avoid any possible problems during the game. I’m not going to harp on that, though, because it’s JimmieJo’s camera and without it I would be a fish out of water.


So here I am at 12:37 in the AM typing this up. I had a blast, more so than I can put in just this space. I hope that at least some of the photos come out well and I’m able to do this again. TK, thanks a bunch for the opportunity, hope I didn’t disappoint. JimmiJo, thanks for the camera, I couldn’t have done what I did without it.


Oh yeah, my recorder doesn’t have a way to upload the audio to the computer, so I’ll be transcribing the audio (what hasn’t been posted yet).


 

https://soundcloud.com/extremeskins/davis-wma

 

https://soundcloud.com/extremeskins/fletcher-wma

 

https://soundcloud.com/extremeskins/golston-wma

 

https://soundcloud.com/extremeskins/gomes-wma

 

https://soundcloud.com/extremeskins/helu-wma

 

https://soundcloud.com/extremeskins/kerrigan-wma

 

https://soundcloud.com/extremeskins/moss-wma

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/extremeskins/with/9556361440/'>Click HERE for the ES PreSeason PhotoStream

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