Red Zone offense just sickening......

[NoCalMike]

I have never seen a more horrible example of play calling inside the 5 yard line than today....2nd and 1...now even if Davis can only get 1/2-yard per down, that still equals a 1st down....There was NO NEED to gun it to the end zone when a first down was 3 feet away.....ARGGHHH...oh and what the hell was up with that Pass interference that didn't get called...ya know the Jersey grab/hold.....hmmmm last tim I checked that is pass interference...anyways......This was just another game that we lost for the stupidest reasons...and I just hope and pray that the coaches have had their last helping of Tony Banks.....

-Mike

[Guest fuji869]

You can not expect to be a playoff caliber team if you keep walking away with 0 points in the Redzone. Yesterday it was deja vu from the Eagles game when once again the Skins Drive inside the 5 with the game on the line walk away with a BIG FAT GOOSE EGG!!!!

I blame last weeks interception in the end zone on Tony Banks, but this week I blame on cr@ppy play calling. If you are a team that has a smash mouth running back like Stephen Davis why the heck to you abandon the run on 3rd and 1 w/ over 1 minute and a half on the clock, and you can pick up the first down with getting a TD???

As long as I live I will never understand that play calling in that situation (OK I might be going a little overboard there).

[National Defense]

but it pretty much summed all our frustrations for this season, eh?

whatever--i'm still going to new orleans--look for us, we've got a block of 18 reskins fans who will still be yelling our damn fool heads off (this will not have anything to do with the fact that you can buy drive through drinks in nola)

[Guest fuji869]

Hey National Defense, represent the Redskins Fans proudly and have fun during the game and after on Bourbon Street.

[ by fuji869 on December 24, 2001.]

[bulldog]

one play that should be in the playbook is the fade route to Westbrook in the corner of the end zone, but for some reason the Redskins refuse to run it or do so with Gardner who just lacks the body control to come down with the ball.

KiJana Carter is also underutilized in the red zone. He is a good change of pace back and should be used more as a slot receiver to get mismatches on the safety and linebackers.

The offense's hesitation and lack of execution in the red zone is directly linked to Banks' lack of self-confidence in crunch time.

For all his off the field comments and bravado about "knowing the score" and "having to perform in clutch situations" he just doesn't follow through on Sundays.

Teams are on to him. Stop Davis and cover Gardner down the field off the playaction fake and you stop the Redskins.

The better teams can defend two options. That is why the Redskins are 0-2 at home in their past 2 contests against teams that will be in the playoffs.

[GURU]

I've seen Banks throw fades to Gardner in the end zone several times, including against Philly. He's never even come close enough for Gardner to make a play on the ball. I think it's irrelavent to whom the fade pass it thrown to, Banks hasn't any touch on the ball. That's one of his biggest problems--rocket arm, no touch.

The lack of misdirection running plays are frustrating, too. Teams are constantly stacking the middle, and it's tough to make yardage against that. I'm thinking specifically of the 2nd-and-one inside the five-yard-line yesterday. The next play was a bootleg, which has become all too predictable. I knew it was coming, so you know the Bears did, too, and they covered the tight end perfectly. Davis is effective on pitches, but with the speed of the Bears linebackers, that would be a tough play with so little room. What I might have done is go with a two tight end lineup to sell the run and line up Westbrook or Gardner in the slot to the left. With the blocking, I would sell another run by Davis off tackle to the left, fake a handoff to Davis, and then hand off or pitch the ball to the slot receiver who's now running full speed to the right behind the QB. A speedy receiver running to the right just might score if all the defenders start off towards the other side.

The predictability of the play calling is certainly frustrating, but, like Bulldog says, it has a lot to do with Banks.

[Ignatius J.]

That fade route is a must. Without it we let the opposing D stack us in the middle and we got nothing.

But i think the bigger issue is the weakness up the middle of our O-line. All year we've had trouble running up the middle between the gaurds or right off of them towards the tackle. This is also a crucial play and we cannot do it. So I'm not sure how much we can fault jimmy raye for this one. Goaline play highlight the interior line so it's no suprise that we're weak inside the twenty when our gaurds and center are more stopgap than pro-bowl.

-DB

[Darth Tater]

DB,

Good point!

Davis had 17 td runs in '99. We were one of the deadliest red-zone teams in the NFL. Last year, we were still one of the best offenses but could not score inside the red-zone. Davis td runs fall to 11 (and he played one more game last season). This season we have been awful in the red-zone even though we have a defense that could potentially give us some very short-fields. In '99, we had a great interior. Last year, although we had good tackles, we were decimated inside. This year?

[GURU]

I'm not sure how much of a difference there was in the '99 offensive line and this one, at least in the middle.

Granted, I would take a healthy Tre Johnson over Ben Coleman. Honestly, though, Tre was an inconsistant pass blocker even when healthy. He was like a sumo wrestler on the goalline, though.

In '99 the center was, guess ... Raymer.

And in '99, the left guard was Keith Simms. A former Pro Bowler nearing the end of his career.

In 2001? Our left guard is, well, a former perennial Pro Bowler (Szott made more Pro Bowls than Simms, I'm pretty sure) who is nearing the end of his career.

Could Tre have really made that much of a difference?

Truthfully, Davis still makes most of his yardage up the middle. But there's no doubt that they seem to struggle near the goal line.

I'll tell you something. One thing you HAVE to give Norv Turner. He had a knack for call the right plays in scoring position. Just ask Stephen Davis. Not enough? Ask Terry Allen. Don't forget, Allen was a TD machine for a couple of years behind a much weaker O-line than this season's edition.

Could it be play calling?

[ by GURU on December 26, 2001.]

[Darth Tater]

You have a pre-injury Raymer. A healthy Tre Johnson was one of the best interior lineman I'd ever seen. Stotz came in late. We keep this crew together or better, add a young stud guard, we might improve next year.

Now running up the middle was no big problem when we had room when the defense has to protect more things but when things got tight, we failed at manu-a-manu.

Norv did design better blocking schemes (although his schemes also seemed to generate injuried) and he also seemed to provide a stronger passing threat even with poor quarterbacks.