Next Day Thread: Pew Pew Pew... Shots... Explosives

[KDawg]

2 minutes ago, Hdf561 said:

This is a bad football team we barely and I mean barely beat a slightly worse football team. 
 

Our defense almost lost to Josh Dobbs! If Kyler Murray is in this game we lose I absolutely believe that. 
 

The fan base is energized again but how long will they be when it’s week 10 and we have only 2 wins? 
 

Glad we got the win, but I’ve seen zero to make me think that the mistakes will be corrected especially before we play Denver. 
 

The New Year’s Eve game against San Fran that I have tickets for is gonna be a loooooooonnnnnnggggggg day. 

You’re aware that having a full game of film does allow some correction, correct?

 

Of course, there is reason. Howell can clean up. The D can clean up a few of their miscues. We can clean up concepts and play calls. 
 

We aren’t cleaning up the OL any time soon.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

It is starting to sink in and become sobering today, that we played Josh Dobbs and it took until the 4th quarter to win by 4.

[Warhead36]

1 minute ago, KDawg said:

You’re aware that having a full game of film does allow some correction, correct?

 

Of course, there is reason. Howell can clean up. The D can clean up a few of their miscues. We can clean up concepts and play calls. 
 

We aren’t cleaning up the OL any time soon.

That's my take as well. I'm for the most part okay with Howell's play yesterday, other than the fumble which was just egregious and way too Carson Wentz-esque for my liking. The rest? Yeah, some good, some bad, about par for the course, and the bad I think was stuff he can clean up.

 

But the OL will absolutely be an issue because its a personnel problem and unless this team resurrect the likes of Bostic, Grimm, and Jacoby of the 80s it ain't getting better.

Just now, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

It is starting to sink in and become sobering today, that we played Josh Dobbs and it took until the 4th quarter to win by 4.

Dobbs was never a threat to beat us. The D more than did its part. 

 

The game was close because of miscues by the offense.

[MrJL]

1 hour ago, Darrell Green Fan said:

They knew the OL was weak, yet the moves they made were to sign other team's cast offs.  We all knew, even  casual fans, that this OL was not nearly good enough. Yet this is the route they chose to take.  

 

 

 

 

  

I agree they needed more but neither Wylie nor Gates were cast offs. They were UFAs not cap cuts

[Warhead36]

Wylie needs to move to G, especially if Cosmi is hurt again. And I'd put Gates at the other G spot and let Stromberg play some C.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

3 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

3 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

 

Dobbs was never a threat to beat us. The D more than did its part. 

 

The game was close because of miscues by the offense.

I understand the context of the game, still much too close for any level of comfort. 

[Skinsinparadise]

19 minutes ago, Simmsy said:

 

So, everyone thought the Giants were going to the SB this year, they came out and couldn't tie their own shoes. Shouldn't that mean that since the Giants were so inept, the Cowboys should get a lower grade because it was so easy? I mean, its the media's expectations that were wrong, you can't grade someone on arbitrary expectations based on preseason? Training camp? Still, if you beat the other team, your grade should be higher or atleast close. These feels gave the Cardinals a full grade higher than us, bull****.

 

Don't get the logic as to Dallas-Giants.  Didn't see anyone predicting the Giants going to the SB but to play with that logic shouldn't the Cowboys get an even higher grade if that was the case?  If they are spanking a great team, then their grade should be great. 

 

I get your point about the Cards shouldn't get a higher grade.  But I've seen stuff like that happen before on graded games where the losers got the better grade -- so it doesn't shock me.  

 

Game 1 can be overamplified.   We can't say the media expecations are wrong about anything yet.  We talk about every given Sunday.  And week 1 it feels different because its ony one game so one game at the moment is the whole season.  Heck if we ran with last season, it would mean Carson Wentz is back.  I saw some of the old tweets from after that game at the time including a chesty tweet from Jason Wright on Wentz when that game was over.

 

Do I think the Cardinals are better than Vegas and the league thinks just because they gave this team the fight of their lives?  I got no idea.  I definitely wouldn't bet against them still sucking just based on yesterday.  Dallas owns the Giants the way the Giants owns us.  It's the NFL weird stuff happens especially in week 1. 

Edited September 11, 2023 by Skinsinparadise

[RandyHolt]

Randy Holt's 3'FERS

 

Good

• A big win. The stadium was alive. Its been decades. I saw only a handful of Cardinals fans. Fans disdain for Commanders name (association with Dan) is obvious. There was energy. Lots of giveaways for fans keeps the kids occupado.
• Throwing top draft picks all those years at the DL won us a game yesterday. I do wish we blitzed Doobie more though and not wait until the end for fumbles to win the game. 21.7 QBR?? ATTACK HIM make him beat you don't let him hang around.
• Howell perseverance to get that TD run late and big win. Yeah Ill go there - that Mahomesesque sidearm throw to Robinson. BOING. I called bunk that QBs cannot emulate Mahomes by buying time running off hand side / throwing sidearm - that kids nationwide have to be practicing copying him - not just Howell who watched a ton of Mahomes tubes.

Bad

• It seems like the LB void in the middle of the field will remain a black hole in our preferred D. Ertz led the league in TE targets and assume they knew JDR would leave it open & exploit our LB void.
• Run Game and Run D... su su su su sucked.  Not impressed with the play calling in general but nothing new there. Gibby fumbled...  Robinson 3.1 yikes. Team 3.3 yikes. Connor had 4.4.
• OL.  6 sacks **** run game oh and I'll pin Howell's turnovers on our OL aka 15 for piling on. Howell looked rattled after his INT and it was ugly for a while there but he probably had no confidence in our OL.

Mehgly

• My prediction held true - Logan Thomas was heavily in the game plan off radars despite EB coming from the Kelce Tree. But those drops / failed connections... Logan was 3rd most in TE targets league wide this week. Snatch him off waivers as those hookup rates will improve like mine finally did in college. I do wonder if that BRob TD was intended for Logan.. Logan sure thought so as BRob lunged to his right to snag the TD.
• DBs did good but I expect INTs from that group at least 1 per game especially against the worst QB we will face all season.
• Coaching meh after turnovers already within FG range? Go for the jugular dammit at least once. Pounding BRob inside for 3.1 3 more times... i want more aggressiveness on free possessions.

Play the day for me. Yep that's 8 defenders & 6 swarming on Howell so i'll save you counting.  Howell twisted his body around while running left to make that throw. That's was SO Mahomey. After the TD Howell was 5 yards out of bounds. Thanks @NFL

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by RandyHolt

[ixcuincle]

I'm just glad we won 

 

The legends plaza lounge is amazing where all the former players hang out. Can just approach before game.

 

For team in desperate need of community outreach they've done outstanding bringing alumni back. 

 

If you're going this year check the lounge out. Opens 3 hours before kickoff. 

 

[Tress Is The Way]

To be completely fair, a crap load of rain will make any team look like bullsnot. The sky is not falling people, when it stopped raining our defense kicked it into high gear.

[Simmsy]

8 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

Don't get the logic as to Dallas-Giants.  Didn't see anyone predicting the Giants going to the SB but to play with that logic shouldn't the Cowboys get an even higher grade if that was the case?  If they are spanking a great team, then their grade should be great. 

 

By that logic, I could say that the Giants are supposed to be SB contenders. Dallas didn't beat them, they beat themselves...give'em a "C".

 

Also, the Cardinals didn't score a single defensive TD or win the game, they shouldn't get a higher grade. It doesn't matter, in the long run, but its frustrating that the team is getting these backhanded jabs after winning the game.

Edited September 11, 2023 by Simmsy

[kingdaddy]

15 hours ago, PeterMP said:

This team is not good.  The Cardinals are not good.

 

Being it was week one, and looking around the league, the Commanders and Cardinals are no better or worse than several other teams. The Bengals were putrid. The SeaHags looked terrible vs a surprisingly very competitive Rams team. The Eagles looked ordinary and easily could've lost to a very mediocre Patriots team. And how about those New York football Giants??????

The Cardinals have talent on defense and made it tough on Sam for sure. Offensively they have some playmakers but little to work with at QB. 

Let's see how Sam recovers from yesterday and prepares for a very physical Denver defense....He'll be running for his life again for sure. But I wouldn't call the Commanders bad....mediocre but not bad. The Steelers, Bengals, Giants......they were putrid yesterday. 

One other thing, I think Sam Howell is already better than some QB's who went ahead of him: Ridder, Willis and maybe even Pickett! Howell has a gun of an arm and moves well with his legs. He needs experience and yesterday was a great test. He also needs EB to help him out a little more with the running game.

[Tress Is The Way]

3 minutes ago, kingdaddy said:

Being it was week one, and looking around the league, the Commanders and Cardinals are no better or worse than several other teams. The Bengals were putrid. The SeaHags looked terrible vs a surprisingly very competitive Rams team. The Eagles looked ordinary and easily could've lost to a very mediocre Patriots team. And how about those New York football Giants??????

The Cardinals have talent on defense and made it tough on Sam for sure. Offensively they have some playmakers but little to work with at QB. 

Let's see how Sam recovers from yesterday and prepares for a very physical Denver defense....He'll be running for his life again for sure. But I wouldn't call the Commanders bad....mediocre but not bad. The Steelers, Bengals, Giants......they were putrid yesterday. 

One other thing, I think Sam Howell is already better than some QB's who went ahead of him: Ridder, Willis and maybe even Pickett! Howell has a gun of an arm and moves well with his legs. He needs experience and yesterday was a great test. He also needs EB to help him out a little more with the running game.

Not only that but our D is a beast and could only get that much better if chase actually suits up for once. They held the red birds to 210 yards and no offensive TDs... if it wasn't for it raining and mistakes on offense it could have been a lot different of a score.

Edited September 11, 2023 by Tress Is The Way

[MartinC]

One thing I think we can all agree on is Sam can’t take the number of hits he had yesterday and make it through 17 games. 
 

 

[RandyHolt]

14 minutes ago, Tress Is The Way said:

To be completely fair, a crap load of rain will make any team look like bullsnot. The sky is not falling people, when it stopped raining our defense kicked it into high gear.

 

To be more fair... it really only rained for half of the 3rd quarter. The field looked perfectly fine and I saw no players slipping.  Regardless its the same for both teams. 

[DJD2]

Hard to read too much into week 1 since weird **** happens, but honestly looks like it may be another typical Washington season. Uninspired one week and able to knock off any team at any time out of the blue.

 

Everything was stacked for Washington to win big this week, and they barely pulled it out.

 

 

3 minutes ago, MartinC said:

One thing I think we can all agree on is Sam can’t take the number of hits he had yesterday and make it through 17 games. 
 

 

 

Would not surprise me to hear he is in concussion protocol this week.

[RandyHolt]

11 minutes ago, MartinC said:

One thing I think we can all agree on is Sam can’t take the number of hits he had yesterday and make it through 17 games. 
 

 

He was lucky to make it through the first drive. Cardinals defenders looked angry since they know they are going to be THE elite punching bag of the league this year and in hindsight should have expected them to play dirty. Their coaches and league will clamp down on them but we were gifted lots of penalties we cannot expect going forward.

Edited September 11, 2023 by RandyHolt

[Skinsinparadise]

19 minutes ago, Simmsy said:

 

By that logic, I could say that the Giants are supposed to be SB contenders. Dallas didn't beat them, they beat themselves...give'em a "C".

 

Also, the Cardinals didn't score a single defensive TD or win the game, they shouldn't get a higher grade. It doesn't matter, in the long run, but its frustrating that the team is getting these backhanded jabs after winning the game.

 

40-0 was clearly a great showing from Dallas.  The Giants >> Cardinals.  So Dallas getting love makes sense to me.    I think Dallas showed plenty of muscle.  Heck watching Parson wreak havoc on that O line among others.  Can you imagine this O line who can't handle the Cards D line who have no name guys on their unit -- deal with Lawrence and Parsons and company?

 

But overall I hear you.  The team came into the game with no love from the national pundits.  Actually the Cards got no love either.  This game was ignored by the national pregames I watched.

 

I'd say though the game played out sort of like what some national talking heads-draft geeks expected.  Two bad teams played each other, the lesser of the bad teams won.  I can see it looking that way to them.

 

I am personally not on the national train that this team sucks.  I think its a so so team.  Yesterday's version of the team IMO looked closer to the idea that this team sucks than it being so so.  But its just one game.

 

I personally don't buy that the Cardinals are better than what most people think.  I think it was just one of those any given Sundays where a team played over their skis.  And I don't discount the idea that they thought they can beat this team and were inspired.  I'd be surprised at the end of the season people will be saying, hey those Cards aren't that bad.  But who knows, wiill see.

 

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by Skinsinparadise

[MartinC]

1 minute ago, DJD2 said:

 

Would not surprise me to hear he is in concussion protocol this week.

I was thinking just the same. That hit from White was vicious.

[Koolblue13]

Our defense was lights out yesterday, despite Curl, Butler and Forbes dropping ints that hit them in the hands. It could have been such an ass beating.

 

210 yards, 4/14 on 3rd down, 3 sacks and 2 FFs. I think their offense earned 3 or 6 points and that's it. 

 

It wasn't a close game if our offense played even kind of decent.

[kingdaddy]

2 minutes ago, MartinC said:

One thing I think we can all agree on is Sam can’t take the number of hits he had yesterday and make it through 17 games. 
 

 

I thought he was knocked out early in the 1st qtr. The league needs to start throwing out guys for those kind of cheap shots and suspending them the following week. Sam wants to make plays but he'll need to learn how to protect himself better for sure. I hope EB makes some big time adjustments after calling his 1st game because Sam is either holding the ball too long or the plays are too long in developing. 

One more thing, this sounds crazy but I've lost faith in Gibson as a game changing weapon. I don't see the shiftiness or the burst like I did with McKissic as a 3rd down back and we can't run Gibby between the tackles with any confidence. I have always liked Gibby but I think we can do better. Even Patterson is more trustworthy and runs harder from what I can see. 

[MartinC]

2 minutes ago, kingdaddy said:

I thought he was knocked out early in the 1st qtr. The league needs to start throwing out guys for those kind of cheap shots and suspending them the following week. Sam wants to make plays but he'll need to learn how to protect himself better for sure. I hope EB makes some big time adjustments after calling his 1st game because Sam is either holding the ball too long or the plays are too long in developing. 

One more thing, this sounds crazy but I've lost faith in Gibson as a game changing weapon. I don't see the shiftiness or the burst like I did with McKissic as a 3rd down back and we can't run Gibby between the tackles with any confidence. I have always liked Gibby but I think we can do better. Even Patterson is more trustworthy and runs harder from what I can see. 

I think running back generally is a need. Robinson is a solid and powerful back who will get you 4 yards if you need 3, is good picking up blitzes and can catch. That’s valuable but he’s not a plus starting back IMO. Rodriquez is a rookie who might develop. Gibson very likely won’t be here next season. 
 

Our longest run yesterday was like 6 yards. Some of this is about blocking but some of it is about our backs. I’d add it as a need for next offseason.

[DJHJR86]

The positives from this game is that they won and the defensive line played excellent.  But we aren't going to play Josh Dobbs 16 more games.  This has shades of the 2020 season where the defense looks elite against **** tier quarterbacks and then they get humbled when they play someone decent.  This team is going to get smoked any time they play a good team and to even think this is a playoff team right now is laughable.  

[Tress Is The Way]

20 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

40-0 was clearly a great showing from Dallas.  The Giants >> Cardinals.  So Dallas getting love makes sense to me.    I think Dallas showed plenty of muscle.  Heck watching Parson wreak havoc on that O line among others.  Can you imagine this O line who can't handle the Cards D line who have no name guys on their unit -- deal with Lawrence and Parsons and company?

 

But overall I hear you.  The team came into the game with no love from the national pundits.  Actually the Cards got no love either.  This game was ignored by the national pregames I watched.

 

I'd say though the game played out sort of like what some national talking heads-draft geeks expected.  Two bad teams played each other, the lesser of the bad teams won.  I can see it looking that way to them.

 

I am personally not on the national train that this team sucks.  I think its a so so team.  Yesterday's version of the team IMO looked closer to the idea that this team sucks than it being so so.  But its just one game.

 

I personally don't buy that the Cardinals are better than what most people think.  I think it was just one of those any given Sundays where a team played over their skis.  And I don't discount the idea that they thought they can beat this team and were inspired.  I'd be surprised at the end of the season people will be saying, hey those Cards aren't that bad.  But who knows, wiill see.

 

 

I wouldn't really say it was the cards dline that was disruptive, more so their backers are pretty stellar. Zaven Collins is a freak and very similar to Parson imo but he just plays on a crappy team

[justice98]

49 minutes ago, Hdf561 said:

This is a bad football team we barely and I mean barely beat a slightly worse football team. 
 

Our defense almost lost to Josh Dobbs! If Kyler Murray is in this game we lose I absolutely believe that. 
 

 

The defense did fine. There's no metric that says the defense struggled with Josh Dobbs.  210 yards of offense, 4-14 on 3rd down, 3.5 yards per pass, 3.6 yards per play as a team.  The Cardinal offense had nothing. What they did have was a bunch of turnovers helping them out. They only scored 6 legitimate points on the defense.  They got 7 on a defensive TD and another 3 on a turnover in Wash territory, already in FG range.  They proceeded to gain all of 1 yard on that possession, by the way.

 

In the past when we had bad OL, at least we could always run it.  3.3 per rush on 28 carries is gonna lose you games.  

 

The takeaway for me is the OL lived down to expectations, and they are going nowhere with that group.  I dont wanna hear anything about taking time to gel or any of that.  We know this OL isn't good.  A good defensive front will eat them alive.  They got worked by a bad one yesterday. I'm not sure there's anyone on the OL that individually is any good, so I dont expect that collectively they will coalesce into anything worthwhile. 

 

They were 21st in offense last year, I dont see them being a whole lot better than that this year. I think Howell's ability to playoff script will mask a lot upfront.  Having said all that, I do allow for Howell to get better with more reps and games under his belt.  There just won't be a ton of clean pockets back there.

 

The defense will keep the season interesting.  But I forsee a lot of 20-16 type games, going either way.