ES Coverage & Game Day Thread - Cowboys at #Redskins

[Reaper Skins]

 

I thought that all of that stuff was controlled by the NFL, not the team?  I know the headsets are (something that we learned because of the Patriots/Steelers issues early in the year)  

 

I haven't read anything (on vacation), but do we know if it was the 'Skins stadium personnel responsible, or the NFL gear?

If that's the case then its even more shady and embarrassing.......

[50yrSKINSfan]

I'm all for kicking it through the endzone, but whatever happened to actually covering a kick?

Agreed. The special teams are better than last year but you have to cover kick offs. I don't blame D JAX for trying to create something on the punt return and HE DID NOT FUMBLE. His butt hit the ground before the ball came out and WHAT HAPPENED TO "THE GROUND CANNOT CAUSE A FUMBLE"? How about Gruden not changelling that fumble that was not a fumble.

They pulled the rg3 defense on cousins. Blitz the **** out of him early, throw him off and the rest of the game is theirs

And I honestly couldn't believe just how much pressure they were able to get through our offensive line

Plus we had a rook RB who prob has no experience in picking up a blitzer and KC did not make any adjustments.

[Veretax]

I'm sorry guys, my go to bed early so they could win this one while I slept plan didn't work :/

 

I'll take the blame. I've lost my sleeping mojo.

[RedBeast]

We need more talent, just not enough on this team. That, coupled with starters out with injuries, just leaves us too short. OL was a sieve, no running game, just too many mistakes. They outplayed and out-planned us.

Knew it was going to be a tough game, and the remaining 4 will be also. Hard loss to stomach.

[NoVaSkins21]

2 main culprits for the loss;  Jackson for obvious reasons and Hopkins for missing a FG that he should have made.  I knew that miss was going to come back and haunt them.  

[JSSkinz]

What a ****ty day to be a Skins fan.

[RandyHolt]

Pinning the loss on Hopkins seems wrong. It's the first kick inside 50 he missed all year. That was not a gimme, and he just barely missed it.

 

What about dogging McVay or the offense for failing to capitalize on the turnovers proper? I think the play calling left a lot to be desired. The run game has stunk, for months. Yet we run into that wall over and over.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

Pinning the loss on Hopkins seem wrong. It's the first kick inside 50 he missed all year. That was not a gimme, and he just barely missed it.

What about dogging McVay or the offense for failing to capitalize on the turnovers proper? I think the play calling left a lot to be desired. The run game has stunk, for months. Yet we run into that wall over and over.

I'm more so mad about him kicking the last KO so short. Set up that big return

[zoony]

They were keying on the run every single first down. We should have run play action every single first down of the game. Every one

[Wildbunny]

Agreed. The special teams are better than last year but you have to cover kick offs. I don't blame D JAX for trying to create something on the punt return and HE DID NOT FUMBLE. His butt hit the ground before the ball came out and WHAT HAPPENED TO "THE GROUND CANNOT CAUSE A FUMBLE"? How about Gruden not changelling that fumble that was not a fumble.

Plus we had a rook RB who prob has no experience in picking up a blitzer and KC did not make any adjustments.

 

1 - Ground can cause a fumble.

2 - Every TO is already reviewed by the refs, and it was. Why should he ask for a review for something they have already asked for and lose a TO in the process?

 

They were keying on the run every single first down. We should have run play action every single first down of the game. Every one

 

Just did a quick research on the play by play.

Out of 20 1st and 10 situations we were in, we ran 13 times and pass 7 times.

 

Problem is not about running on 1st or not, it's about running being not effective. To have some succes, we need to have 6 or 7 guys on the Line. Which is basically saying to the D: "We're gonna run" each time you send in an extra blocker or two. (Compton and/or NSheke). But if we don't do it, we're having no success, due to our OL being a WIP.

If we were gaining 4 yards each time we run, nobody would complain about it.

 

There's nothing more joyful than telegraphing the play you're gonna play, and have success doing it, knowing the defense planned for it, and failed miserably at defending it. Just like old 50 gut.

[TheItalianStallion]

What a frustrating game. Where are the RB screens and the slants? They're blitz killers! And yes, I think we should've run more PA. All-around team loss.

[RandyHolt]

I'm more so mad about him kicking the last KO so short. Set up that big return

 

Bah I was pissed too, but you'd think we can deal with a kick 2 yds deep not costing us the game. 

 

I kind of miss the old squib kick.... lucky whitehead was schooling us much of the night and maybe there is still a place for it. 

[MorrisFan46]

Really liked what Joe Barry has done. D was the only reason we were in that game. Hats off

[Skinsinparadise]

I posted this somewhere else but probably belongs better here.  Jay is now saying he will throw more on first, if so cool, but why telegraph it in advance?  

 

 

http://www.csnmidatlantic.com/redskinsblog/gruden-%E2%80%9Cwe-have-look-what-we%E2%80%99re-doing%E2%80%9D-running-game

 

In seven of their last eight games they have averaged less than three yards per carry. While there is something to be said for sticking with what you believe in, there comes a point where you have to give up and try something different. 

It appears that Jay Gruden has come to that point.

“We have to look at what we’re doing . . . It hasn’t been pretty for . . . seven out of the last eight,” said Gruden. 

MORE REDSKINS: PAEA NOT EXPECTED TO MISS TOO MUCH TIME  

“I think we’re probably going to have to err on the side of throwing the ball,” said Gruden. “If that means throwing quickly, throwing screens on the running downs, try to get in positive down and distances, to throw it on first down, second and five, and maybe try to get in some pass situations, maybe throw some draws in there. 

“We have to look at what we’re doing.”

Last night’s game against the Cowboys was a good example of the Redskins having the desire to run the ball but not the ability to do so. They called 34 passes and 26 runs. That’s good play calling balance. But they averaged just 2.8 yards per rushing attempt. For sticking with the running game to make sense, a team has to average at least four yards per carry, maybe 4.5. It just wasn’t working. 

“We have to execute better, obviously, but we also have to look at when we’re calling plays and how we’re calling plays, put our guys in better positions to succeed, get the ball into our playmakers’ hands, figure out who those guys are and get them the ball,” said Gruden.

For the past two months Jordan Reed, DeSean Jackson, Jamison Crowder, and Matt Jones (the pass catcher) have proven to be more productive playmakers than Alfred Morris and Matt Jones (the ball carrier). The play calling has not reflected that reality. It looks like Gruden will consider shaking up what plays get run in order to take advantage of their

[RandyHolt]

Rewatching... after the first fumble we get the ball on their 40. 

 

Go with 7 OL.

 

Dallas was ripe for play action from that run heavy look. Sure enough we ran Morris twice left for a net 3, and then went deep to DeSean, overthrow.

 

I would like to see going deep on first down in similar situations going forward. We haven't been able to run, for months now. Its ok to pass 3 or 4 times in a row. Yes, when not losing. 

 

Worried about the blitz? Run the traditional west coast offense ft short passes.   

 

We cannot run and its high time to try to help out via play calling, and not being so predictable. 

[Wyvern]

RandyHolt... Do you think the heavy emphasis on the run was due to Callahan wanting to show the Cowboys that he was able to build a power running game here in Washington, as well?

As I recall, Callahan has some input in the play-calling, and Dallas personnel and schemes were somewhat familiar to him.

[Wyvern]

I posted this somewhere else but probably belongs better here.  Jay is now saying he will throw more on first, if so cool, but why telegraph it in advance?

Maybe Gruden is just trying to "set up the run" by first "setting up the pass" .... In the press.

Nahh, I don't think he's that clever.

[Skinsinparadise]

Maybe Gruden is just trying to "set up the run" by first "setting up the pass" .... In the press.

Nahh, I don't think he's that clever.

 

I wonder.  But yeah I am not saying it to kick Jay but if that's indeed the plan and Jay is OK telling the world in advance, I'd presume that playing the cloak and dagger game Shanny-Gibbs style isn't something he puts much stock in. 

[Hogs 1991]

One thing that has been lost on these last two games has been our inability to convert turnovers into points. Turnovers are hard to come by as it is, and for us to not turn these turnovers into TDs is terrible. Last week we scored 0 points off of three INTS. This week we only scored two field goals on three fumble recoveries. That is 6 pts. scored off of 6 turnovers the past two weeks. That is a point a turnover the past two weeks. That is unacceptable !

[moondog]

Lots of things went wrong here...these two definately contruibuted but weren't the reasen for this debacle..1 st down play calling, awful calls from the refs, ****poor play by the offense in general,,plus.....you just knew it was gonna happen..........

 

Like I said, what you're saying accounts for about 2% of it. There were some atrocious calls, yes. Our playcalling was somewhat conservative, yes. But Kirk had some open downfield throws, albeit under pressure and barely missed...probably had a few more he didn't see or have time to throw. Dallas' defense is incredibly underrated because of their record but they are among the best in the league. Regardless, the offense mustering 9 points til the end of the game despite being +3 in turnovers was awful. 

 

Everything you said was absolutely a factor but the bottom line is an easy missed field goal and DJax not giving our clutch QB a chance at the end are undeniably the biggest contributors to the loss. 

Its a total offense and special teams loss. We got turnovers and did nothing with it. We missed a field goal and then the DJax thing.

 

So...we agree? The "missed field goal then the DJax thing" was exactly what I said deserved almost all the blame. See above post about the other stuff. It was a factor and you're absolutely right. But at the end of the day it was a slugfest against a strong defense that we almost assuredly would have won had Hopkins and/or DJax not blown simple, typically automatic plays. 

 

Just ask yourself this: If DJax just goes out at the 30 yard line, how confident are you that Kirk is able to drive the team 35-40 yards for a field goal attempt that Hopkins has proven he's about 90% on? I'd say very confident. Kirk's done it all year, especially when we switch to being a pass first/only offense as needed. Would have been ugly to win 12-9 but a win is a win and we just blew it. 

[Peregrine]

That was an absolute disaster of a game.  For me, this says Gruden needs to be fired more than anything else in the last couple of years.  All that time to prepare, playing at home, against a terrible Dallas team, and despite them also BEING terrible he coaches one of the worst games Ive seen.  It was painful to watch.  The offensive playcalling was atrocious and continues to drive me up a wall.  Halfway through the game I found myself starting to think it would be better if we lost it, missed the playoffs, and Gruden got canned.

 

1. Why does Captain Kirk continue to run plays when its clear the play is going to be stuffed?  Is he unable to count?  Again and again when they overload the side we plan to run to he still runs the play.

 

2. Whenever we split out 3 receivers they went into a nickel.  EVERY time.  That mean it was much easier to run on them, and we did so with a lot of success out of the nickel.  But inexplicable late in the game we kept going back to stacking the line and they would drop 9 in the box.  And we got stuffed EVERY time.  Do they not watch the same game we do?

 

3. The Cowboys ran the same corner blitz like 5 times, and multiple times in a row.  Inexplicable we made no adjustments for it, and we never looked to through to Crowder wide open in the slot as a hot read.

 

4. We rarely threw over the middle of the field, which was bizare considering they were frequently blitzing, and it was wide open in that area.  

 

5. Despite the fact they blitzed so frequently, and we have Matt "Screen Pass King" Jones, we didnt attempt more than 1 RB Screen all night.

 

Just plain terrible.

[Skinsinparadise]

They pulled the rg3 defense on cousins. Blitz the **** out of him early, throw him off and the rest of the game is theirs

And I honestly couldn't believe just how much pressure they were able to get through our offensive line

 

Was just thinking, I know Callahan is untouchable and doesn't get criticized but a couple of hits his way from me.

 

1.  Apparently, the allergy to D. Young/full back is driven by Callahan -- couple of reporters have said, Callahan just doesn't like playing with a full back and prefers multiple TEs.  Ok, fine but shouldn't he be flexible with changing circumstances? they don't have even 1 average blocking TE on the roster.

 

2.  If you all recall, one of Haz's shining moments was against Dallas last year where he blitzed the heck out of Dallas with stunts coming from the inside.  Dallas took a page from that same playbook last Sunday.  Garrett was asked before the game whether Callahan knowing the Dallas personnel would give him an advantage -- his response is maybe so but them knowing Callahan equalizes that.   I didn't think much of it at the time but the Redskins O line was just as confused as Dallas' O line was last year -- maybe Garrett knows that Callahan doesn't prep much for it? 

[RandyHolt]

RandyHolt... Do you think the heavy emphasis on the run was due to Callahan wanting to show the Cowboys that he was able to build a power running game here in Washington, as well?

As I recall, Callahan has some input in the play-calling, and Dallas personnel and schemes were somewhat familiar to him.

I forgot about the Callahan revenge factor.

 

Very possibly he really wanted to find our ground game.

 

You are right, we were told he would have a hand in crafting the playbook and play calling perhaps, but I wonder this far into the year how much input he has. It may well be McVay all the way now. 

 

I feel like at this point, when we get a run for 5 or more yards is like a blind squirrel finding a nut.

[TouchdownSkin]

This game was soul crushing to me. I am so sick of our dink and dunk play calling ...... throw the damn ball farther than 5 yards. Good grief. And DJax --- please clean out your locker.

[Napredskins1]

I was on the phone with a friend as we were about to kick the FG that was missed. I told him that he was going to miss it because the ball was on the right hash mark and Hopkins draws the ball in and it looked like a weird angle coming in from that side the way he kicks the ball and sure enough he did.