Week 1: Michael Vick Vs. Robert Griffin Ill

[Gigantor]

Some of you guys are dreaming.

 

We have Amerson and possibly Doughty/Rambo in the secondary. I'm a Skins fan, but DJax will SMOKE Amerson and McCoy will SMOKE Rambo. Plus they have a new offense nobody has seen yet, it's a big advantage. Vick will have a very good day.

 

We can win by running Morris and keeping the ball to ourselves.

[mistertim]

Some of you guys are dreaming.

 

We have Amerson and possibly Doughty/Rambo in the secondary. I'm a Skins fan, but DJax will SMOKE Amerson and McCoy will SMOKE Rambo. Plus they have a new offense nobody has seen yet, it's a big advantage. Vick will have a very good day.

 

We can win by running Morris and keeping the ball to ourselves.

I think the "new offense" thing is a push. Yes it will be new for us but its also still pretty new for them. Takes a while for guys to get used to a new offense, especially when its a big change from what they've been doing for years. They'll probably catch us off guard a few times but they'll also likely have a few miscues as well that could end up in our favor. 

 

And I'm guessing that Wilson and DHall will be the starting CBs with Amerson being more of a nickle CB or a sub. And yeah, he might get smoked once, but one thing about DJax that I've noticed is if a bigger, stronger CB can get his hands on him and disrupt his routes it can affect DJax's game quite a bit. Amerson will just need to play smart and not bite on double moves. 

 

If McCoy gets to our single high FS then that means the DL and LBs screwed up and got smoked way before Rambo would have a chance to get smoked. Think the CJ run in preseason. Yeah, Rambo got his ankles broken but the DL and LBs were completely out of position. Besides, tackling a guy like McCoy in the open field with a head of steam and plenty of room to cut isn't much better than having to do it with CJ. Either way, Rambo's tackling has gotten better. We'll see.

[TheDiplomat]

Amerson hasn't been in the slot all preseason. I'm sure if Philly trots out 3 or more WR's (which I'm sure they will do a lot) Hall/Wilson/Biggers would cover the slots or inside receivers. Amerson will be on the outside all game when he's in there and definitely could be a big key/detriment to our pass defense. 

 

I also agree though that I hope we play a lot of press on Djax. Giving him a free release and allowing him to reach top speed within seconds of the snap is not in our best interest. Jack his **** up at the line and chase if you have to w/ Safety help over the top. Trusting our pass rush to get to Vick and force a fast or pressured throw every down. 

 

The eagles best plays will come from McCoy screens/draws and Jason Avant on 3rd down, as always. DJax has that one highlight catch vs us on Monday night years back, but most of their damage has come from McCoy/Avant. 

 

Djax's yardage totals in his career games against us 

 

2008

8

14

 

2009

69

41

 

2010

19

98

 

2011

46

86

 

2012

5

[MWAI]

this is an exciting game on paper. THAT is why it is the FIRST Monday Night Game. The last Monday Night game with the Eagles and Redskins, Vick destroyed Shanahan. Look for Shanahan to attempt to erase that memory and the sting of a whopping big loss at the hand of Vick.

 

I don't expect RG3 to run much but perhaps we will see ONE read option run early in the game just to see the tempo. If Griffin can pull off a 10-12 yard run early, then there will not be any need to run it the rest of the game because the threat will always be there. Of course that's just one posslble strategy. I expect the Redskins to run a bit...but I REALLY believe that we are going to see a passing offense Monday. The Eagles are probably preparing for the read option so much, they are skipping over the possiblity of 4 wide receiver sets and 2 tight end passing schemes. I think we get pass happy for that first game because the Eagles secondary is HORRIBLE.

[MartinC]

Conversing with a another fan on this, and we weren't sure of the answer. Is it plausible to believe that RG is healthier NOW than he was week 17 last year? 

 

Yes - he is much healthier now than he was at the end of last season - that was the point of the surgery and the long and intensive rehab process. With all the scans and MRIs they will have done on the knee its as sound as it can be because if it was still not fully healed he would not be playing. There is going to be some rust though - practice is just different to a game and it might be we start a little slowly on offense as a result.

Some of you guys are dreaming.

 

We have Amerson and possibly Doughty/Rambo in the secondary. I'm a Skins fan, but DJax will SMOKE Amerson and McCoy will SMOKE Rambo. Plus they have a new offense nobody has seen yet, it's a big advantage. Vick will have a very good day.

 

We can win by running Morris and keeping the ball to ourselves.

 

Well if McCoy is 1 on 1 with Rambo something has gone very wrong up front. If Amerson is locked up 1 on 1 with Jackson something has gone very wrong with the game planning or defensive adjustments.

 

Agree us establishing our run is the blueprint though - something like the gameplan from the second Dallas game.

[HogsGoHard]

I'm just patiently waiting for the game. We have had months to talk, discuss and gossip. Let's just line up and play ball. I think we have a big day on offense running and passing. I think RG3 will run once early and his only other runs come from avoiding a blitz etc. We jump out 17-0 and the Eagles get it together to make it a game. 31-24

[Diehard Otis]

Home Field will be the difference maker.

Robert will be alittle rusty with the recievers, but will rely on heavy attempts to Garcon.

Morris will be a beast, and Helu will show them some moves.

But Vick and the up tempo offense will give our secondary fits, and I am afraid it may keep our pass rush off balance.

 

I am thinking Kai with a field goal gets us a win.

 

I'm on board with this view.  I won't fall into the trap of taking the Eagles lightly...after all, it is a Division game.  This one's a biggie right outta the chute, but Washington holds serve at home.  I have no idea which QB will be statistically better.

[pjfootballer]

Some of you guys are dreaming.

 

We have Amerson and possibly Doughty/Rambo in the secondary. I'm a Skins fan, but DJax will SMOKE Amerson and McCoy will SMOKE Rambo. Plus they have a new offense nobody has seen yet, it's a big advantage. Vick will have a very good day.

 

We can win by running Morris and keeping the ball to ourselves.

So you are saying Wilson, Hall, Biggers, Merriweather and Pugh won't play?  I keep seeing this "two rookie" thing in here, but Amerson will not start and I'm sure they'll try and put Rambo in good situations and Pugh will play some FS.  Come on, it isn't "that" dire a situation.  Madoodoo is gone.

[End2round2sanders]

We've only beaten Vick once in his entire career. Last year we had no business beating N.O. in their crib in the opener. Can't look past Vick, it'll be a fun game, that's probably the only thing I can guarantee.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Amerson hasn't been in the slot all preseason. I'm sure if Philly trots out 3 or more WR's (which I'm sure they will do a lot) Hall/Wilson/Biggers would cover the slots or inside receivers. Amerson will be on the outside all game when he's in there and definitely could be a big key/detriment to our pass defense. 

 

I also agree though that I hope we play a lot of press on Djax. Giving him a free release and allowing him to reach top speed within seconds of the snap is not in our best interest. Jack his **** up at the line and chase if you have to w/ Safety help over the top. Trusting our pass rush to get to Vick and force a fast or pressured throw every down. 

 

The eagles best plays will come from McCoy screens/draws and Jason Avant on 3rd down, as always. DJax has that one highlight catch vs us on Monday night years back, but most of their damage has come from McCoy/Avant. 

 

Djax's yardage totals in his career games against us 

 

2008

8

14

 

2009

69

41

 

2010

19

98

 

2011

46

86

 

2012

5

 

I had no idea he had been that contained in his games against us. That's kind of shocking but now that I stop to remember the games it does make sense. 

 

I don't want that to change though so I would love to manhandle him on the line. It will throw the timing of the Kelly offense off too and make him a non factor on a lot of plays especially since I don't think their OL will hold up long against our rush. 

[NoCalMike]

What I find interesting is that people are basing their fear of Vick on a 7 game run he had in 2010, in a season where the starting QB went down, he came in as the backup and teams weren't prepared for him. Also, Andy Reid was able to really reign in Vick from being Vick for the most part.

 

Since then, in 2011 & 2012, he reverted back to the Vick of pre-2010 where a few spectacular plays were mixed in with a ton of turnovers, an injury-risk nearly every single game, and very inconsistent play from the pocket.

 

Outside of 7 games in 2010, Vick has not been a very good QB. And now we are seeing quotes about how much he thinks he will be a "threat" again, how he is embracing running  and "not worrying" anymore.  Dude is what 33 now?  His body isn't going to respond to taking hits like it might have at 25.

 

If our defense breaks down on certain plays with flat out busted coverages sure Vick may catch them napping on individual isolated plays, but people need to stop being hung up on how he looked for a tiny stretch of games and concentrate on what his overall resume tells us.

 

Also, lets get real about looking at past games versus the Eagles or Vick himself.  None of the teams that lost to Vick have much at all to do with the 2013 Redskins.  Those were medicore 'Skins teams.  It wasn't like Vick was marching his troops into battle with a playoff contender and beating them.  They were 6-10(or worse) type teams he was beating. Anything you can say about Vick beating the 'Skins those seasons, you can say about ANY QB during that tenure.

[pjfootballer]

Play up close and bust their WRs in the chops.  Don't let them get off the line easy.  Vick will fold when he can't find an open guy.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Conversing with a another fan on this, and we weren't sure of the answer. Is it plausible to believe that RG is healthier NOW than he was week 17 last year? 

 

I know in week 17 he had only been diagnosed with the acl strain at the time, but we all saw how hobbled he was. Is this the RG we should expect week 1 or a smoother looking one?

 

Also, if he is healthier now, why in the holy heck are so many mediots picking against the skins in the division? We won WITH RG hobbled last year vs. the eagles/cowboys/& seattle until he tweaked the acl. What gives?

 

He is probably a hundred times healthier than he was in week 17. He was pretty dang hobbled at that point with his LCL sprain/strain (cant remember which) plus the brace. We saw how poorly he moved during the Philly and Dallas games at the end of the year. 

 

He actually said he feels better NOW than he did BEFORE the Ravens game last season which is almost hard to believe. Seeing him sprint fully late Spring early Summer looked far beyond anything he was capable of post Ravens last year.

 

Either way, don't expect what you see on the field Monday to look anything at all similar to the Philly and Dallas games last season when he was clearly limping around and grimacing constantly. He is 100% and the knee is in no pain or damage at all, otherwise, he wouldn't be playing. 

 

I have no idea why the media is pushing the injury. I guess because it is news and there is still uncertainty surrounding how he will play and how we will use him. Griffin just has to go out and show him then you might see some second guessing of those predictions.

heck just seeing him in warmups this preseason you can see the difference clearly. Get excited. 

What I find interesting is that people are basing their fear of Vick on a 7 game run he had in 2010, in a season where the starting QB went down, he came in as the backup and teams weren't prepared for him. Also, Andy Reid was able to really reign in Vick from being Vick for the most part.

 

Since then, in 2011 & 2012, he reverted back to the Vick of pre-2010 where a few spectacular plays were mixed in with a ton of turnovers, an injury-risk nearly every single game, and very inconsistent play from the pocket.

 

Outside of 7 games in 2010, Vick has not been a very good QB. And now we are seeing quotes about how much he thinks he will be a "threat" again, how he is embracing running  and "not worrying" anymore.  Dude is what 33 now?  His body isn't going to respond to taking hits like it might have at 25.

 

It definitely seems like he has retreated back to his career norm rather than the fact that actually changed and become a good and dependable pocket passer. 

 

I still think he can be dangerous under Kelly but we will see what happens. It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks but I guess if you distract a person with a bunch of other things, that old dog can still be effective doing the basics lol. 

 

Ok, that last sentence was a mess. Just ignore it...

[NoCalMike]

The year the 'Skins had McNabb I seem to remember them shutting down Macklin/Jackson pretty decently in the first game playing press coverage, being smaller WRs they had success jamming them at the line, disrupting their timing.

 

Not sure why but something spooked Haslett into playing softer coverage in the MNF Massacre game.

Usually after this kind of surgery once you are back to 100% whatever got repaired IS stronger indeed.  It just remains to be seen if RGIII is at that point Week 1.

 

I have no doubt he is 100% and ready, but because it is his first game back you might see the coaches use the first drive or two to do what they did last season in the N'awlins game and throw a bunch of screen passes early in the game to develop confidence and a rythym.

He is probably a hundred times healthier than he was in week 17. He was pretty dang hobbled at that point with his LCL sprain/strain (cant remember which) plus the brace. We saw how poorly he moved during the Philly and Dallas games at the end of the year. 

 

He actually said he feels better NOW than he did BEFORE the Ravens game last season which is almost hard to believe. Seeing him sprint fully late Spring early Summer looked far beyond anything he was capable of post Ravens last year.

 

Either way, don't expect what you see on the field Monday to look anything at all similar to the Philly and Dallas games last season when he was clearly limping around and grimacing constantly. He is 100% and the knee is in no pain or damage at all, otherwise, he wouldn't be playing. 

 

I have no idea why the media is pushing the injury. I guess because it is news and there is still uncertainty surrounding how he will play and how we will use him. Griffin just has to go out and show him then you might see some second guessing of those predictions.

heck just seeing him in warmups this preseason you can see the difference clearly. Get excited. 

 

It definitely seems like he has retreated back to his career norm rather than the fact that actually changed and become a good and dependable pocket passer. 

 

I still think he can be dangerous under Kelly but we will see what happens. It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks but I guess if you distract a person with a bunch of other things, that old dog can still be effective doing the basics lol. 

 

Ok, that last sentence was a mess. Just ignore it...

 

I'm not discounting the fact that Vick, still being Vick means he is going to make spectacular looking plays from time to time. That is a given. Where my doubts lie, is whether he can be a consistently good QB going up against a good team that is taking it to his team. Can he be trusted to make good decisions from the pocket on plays he isn't able to take off running due to solid containment. We can look at a solid 7 game run in 2010 vs. The rest of his career for a better breakdown.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

I'm not discounting the fact that Vick, still being Vick means he is going to make spectacular looking plays from time to time. That is a given. Where my doubts lie, is whether he can be a consistently good QB going up against a good team that is taking it to his team. Can he be trusted to make good decisions from the pocket on plays he isn't able to take off running due to solid containment. We can look at a solid 7 game run in 2010 vs. The rest of his career for a better breakdown.

 

We agree completely. 

[Son of Gadsden]

I personally think Robert's first play will be a 10 yard gain on the ground, just to send a message to the league.

 

I can't say I hope it happens, but I think that is what will happen.

 

Shanahan is a big fan of headgames, as we all know...and you want to talk about morale, that would just about do it.

[KingxEagles]

i see

[RandyHolt]

You will see.

[NoCalMike]

I see a bad moon rising..

[FuriousD]

One thing that struck me watching Haslett's presser is how confident he seemed.  Not over confident but just confident.  Reporters tried asking about Chip's new offense every which way but the answers all seemed to boil down to "yeah, we've done our homework".

 

Whether it was watching all the Oregon tape - practicing uptempo defense since OTA's - live-fire experience in pre-season against Buffalo - negating substitution problems with extended time in the base defense and finally London Fletcher's ability to call all the plays should there be any communication problems. 

 

Now obviously, the Skins players will still have to make plays and limit mistakes and we do have a couple of rookies on the back end but,... I'll take that over year-1 of a major rebuild like the Eagles defense will be working through!  And this is the crux of the match-up under discussion:

 

The Redskins established offense verses the Eagles brand new 3-4 rebuild or

The Redskins established defense verses the Eagles brand new offense

 

I know which side of the fence I would rather be on...

[MartinC]

Play up close and bust their WRs in the chops.  Don't let them get off the line easy.  Vick will fold when he can't find an open guy.

 

To be fair if receivers are not open thats a problem for most QBs   I think the lack of depth and quality at receiver outside of Jackson is the achilles heel of the Eagles offense. They are going to have to lean on running it with McCoy and also getting McCoy involved in the passing game. Defensively I would make them try to beat me some other way than via McCoy and Jackson. 

 

If Vick feels he has to make plays and starts holding the ball trying to extend plays thats when he starts making mistakes and forcing things.

I personally think Robert's first play will be a 10 yard gain on the ground, just to send a message to the league.

 

I can't say I hope it happens, but I think that is what will happen.

 

Shanahan is a big fan of headgames, as we all know...and you want to talk about morale, that would just about do it.

 

Personally I would settle for a bubble screen to Garcon after a hand off to Albert ......

[Gurgeh]

A link via Keim:

 

"If Vick gets good protection and gets off to a good start, maybe he can be OK. But he's always going to struggle when somebody's right in his face. At this point in his career, he is what he is. He's never going to get a clean picture of what he's looking at. The spacing Chip uses in his spread offense is going to help Mike...

 

"From what I saw of DeSean in the preseason, it looks like he's interested in playing football again, which is good. And Kelly will find ways to maximize his talent. He'll catch at least 3-4 balls a game on bubble screens. But the problem is, outside of DeSean, who else is a threat? I saw the Jacksonville game. They played a single-high safety against the Eagles the whole game. That's what teams are going to do against them until they prove they can throw the ball deep and sting them."

 

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/20130906_A_scout_s_Eagle_eye.html

[SauzzBozz]

RG3!! I feel for Vick, hes going to have Kerrigan and Orakpo on him all night!

[darrelgreenie]

Keim mentions the spacing will help Vick and McCoy but the spacing will always create space for receivers to get open.

They might not have name receivers but they have 2 good TE in Celek and the rookie Ertz. And I'm curious to see that racist dude.

They must think he can play or else they would have just cut him.

[Renegade7]

I've been waiting since Griffin got drafted for this game. I was talking with my dad the other day, and in all honesty, I feel Vick was about 10 years too early in grand scheme of NFL history. Atlanta Vick in todays read-option era is terrifying, its what he was born to do.

Having said that, its good to see a more mature Vick vs Griffin. He's still enough of an athlete that we are not going to just shut them down, but we have more weapons and talent on both sides of the ball. We should win, but I expect to be entertained : )