Field Notes from the Debacle

[bulldog]

what do you say after 27-0?

the Redskins were not ready to play today, turned the ball over, executed poorly and were summarily dispatched by the Cowboys.

there is no doubt if you compare notes with people who go to the games there is a near consensus that programs headed in the right direction rarely suffer a defeat like this at HOME to a division rival, even a dominant one playing at the top of its game, which Dallas is not

this was not the '85 Bears that blew into town yesterday, but rather a team that had gone 3-4 in its past seven games and had shown vulnerabilities in establishing a presence on the ground (3.2 average before today) and in the passing game where Quincy Carter had imitated an interception machine in recent weeks.

but the Redskins were the cure all for them today.

The Cowboys have some quality people on defense, especially the back seven, but the front four is manageable.

To put up the kind of pathetic offensive numbers this team did almost takes a concerted effort to do so.

Hasselbeck's day to me was one of the worst I have seen from a qb in a Redskins uniform since say Shuler's rookie season or the Jeff Hostetler start against the Giants back in '97.

I knew the team was in trouble when Dallas scored on its first possession. On a day where points are at a premium because of the weather, to give up an immediate touchdown is almost like going down by 14 points instead of 7.

This was only compounded later by Spurrier's refusal to use the ground game to effect.

Both teams were having trouble stopping the run early, only Dallas however kept taking advantage of that to effect throughout the game.

If it wasn't Troy Hambrick running over and around the Redskins it was Quincy Carter finding enough holes to do what he has done against Washington the past TWO YEARS, run the quarterback draw :mad:

You would think with all the available film on Carter vs. the Skins that eventually the defense would be ready for #17 squeezing the middle of the field..................

But back to the main point here. On a day where Rock Cartwright started out with 65 yards in a little less than 2 quarters of action, you can ask yourself why Spurrier chose to keep going back to the pass?

The Redskins twice threw the ball down the field on 3rd and less than 3 yards!

On defense, the Redskins were and are just pathetic.

On a day where the Cowboys all but conceded the pass due to the weather, the Redskins failed to fence in a runner in Hambrick that looks distinctly mediocre against other NFL competition.

In fact Hambrick is a player you can point to that Parcells is almost sure to try and replace in the offseason, at least in the starter's role.

And he made the fantasy league numbers today with 189 yards.

I thought this team had turned a psychological corner by rallying around Hasselbeck the past 3 games, even as the team was 1-2.

But as so often has happened under Spurrier in his two seasons in Washington the erratic and schizophrenic nature of his teams has reared to surprise fans, media and the opposition.

Wins are rarely followed up with another win to gather momentum.

Poor losses to division rivals are rarely (well, in fact never) followed up with convincing, get pride back efforts.

Where do we go from here?

Into an offseason where there is sure to be movement. We know that for a fact.

Things will never be boring around DC with Snyder in charge. We might not get to another Super Bowl any time soon, but we won't go to sleep.

The papers will always be full of 'savior' players we can go get to turn around the fortunes of the franchise.

And we will continue to lose lesser known but valuable players who help other teams win.

Tonight I am watching the Saints game and see Walter Rasby blocking for Deuce McCalister, a back putting up pro bowl numbers on the ground.

We tossed Rasby aside because we didn't need a tight end who blocked right? :laugh:

Who needed that when you are going to feature a Rams passing attack with guys like Faulk, Holt and Bruce out there?

The only problem is that Spurrier has not yet created a situation here where the strengths of his erstwhile quarterback Patrick Ramsey are accentuated, not his weaknesses, ie a lack of mobility and general inexperience.

We also don't yet have a Faulk or a Holt.

We have Coles and he roughly correlates to a Bruce I suppose. So we have one building block.

But boy did we pay for him, eh?

Can't afford to lay that much on the table to find our own versions of Faulk and Holt.............

The Redskins are going to have to depend on the draft at some point to find some of these gems.

After all Bruce and Holt came to the Rams via the draft.

Oh, we also have to figure out what is going on with the Arrington, Samuels and Bailey contracts

The first two are due ungodly amounts for 2004 and Bailey seems as if he wants out of town to begin with.

Who could blame him?

Playing here must not be much fun. Because WATCHING this team play isn't much fun.

We don't win key games at home. We don't win division games at all for the most part. And we ignore what strengths we do have in particular games in running the ball to continue to pass when the personnel situation indicates our talent is limited right now to do so.

[inmate running the asylum]

Gee Bulldog is back. :jump: Where ya been Bulldog? :laugh:

[Skeletor The Invincible]

nice post.

I particularly agree with your assertion that we abandoned the run far too early despite the fact that it was the only thing that was working.

[bulldog]

snow, sleet and rain used to be Redskin weather because we relied on our offensive line and running game to wear down opponents in the fourth quarter at home.

today we took the ball OUT of the hands of our one asset, Cartwright on the ground, and put the ball in the air on a day when nobody was going to make a living throwing the football.

Just ask Parcells.

He had Carter hand off and run the quarterback draw without passing on two consecutive drives in the game!

And the Skins still let them drive the field. Amazing.

[th869]

The running game was working!! Why not keep it up

[MikeB]

Two more casual observations that don't speak well of our Skins:

1 Marvin is doing quite well in Cincinatti

2 While we struggled to beat the G-men last week, everyone else seems to have a very easy go at it.

[bulldog]

the redskins are 5-9, nothing comes easy for this team. why should it surprise you that we struggle to beat a team that is 4-10? :laugh:

we are both down there in the gutter of the East.

[Die Hard]

Brilliant post Bulldog.

But don't EVER, EVER compare Spurrier's system with that of Martz. The only thing they appear to have in common is an afffinity of passing the football.

The gameplanning, design and personnel aren't even in the same universe.

Just to give you an idea about Martz's playcalling. I watched a Rams game 2 weeks ago. The Rams ran a play to Torry Holt that he dropped. The commentator noted that he saw Martz gesture that he noticed a favorable matchup with Isaac Bruce; he was in single coverage with the nickleback corner. Martz had the offense rush back to the line of scrimmage and call the exact same play.... this time to Bruce.

A 30-yard TD play ensued. In the exact same situation..... would you expect that kind of coaching from Spurrier? You are shaking your head right now I bet.

Even Norv Turner knew how to take advantage of a superior matchup between his WR and a CB.

This team plain sucks. And the blame lies on Spurrier.

Jimmy Johnson right now. JJ would win with this team. There's not a single doubt in my mind.