Redskins Vs Steelers Review: Defense (and Other Stories)

There were several Redskins defensive storylines I could have focused on Saturday night when Washington squared off against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Preseason Week Two.

You know the kind …

Had middle linebacker London Fletcher really lost the half-step he seemed to have misplaced a couple of times against the Ravens in Week One? Did sophomore cornerback Justin Tryon replace the athletic supporter said marauding purple gang stole from him? Was Redskins Defensive Coordinator Greg Blache going to demonstrate yet again that there is, in fact, a flavor less than vanilla?

But at “game” time, when it came right down to it, turns out the only thing I was really dialed in to see was whether or not the Redskins revamped defensive line could get after the damn quarterback.

Drilling down even further, I discovered the one thing I really wanted to see was how the starting group fared in that regard. Depth is a wonderful thing, to be sure. A dynamic, dominating wall of slobbering oncoming burgundy and gold, overrunning the offensive line from the opening gun, however, is even, well …more wonderfull.

The last time the Redskins had one of those, I had hair. Sometimes I wonder if there’s a connection.

So, preseason level of appropriate seriousness properly calibrated …

The first series lived up to the hype—all of it.

DT Albert Haynesworth and Co. swarmed, harassed and otherwise flummoxed Pittsburgh QB Charlie Batch (who I think might have hair once too) and his offensive line on four successive pass plays, forcing a holding call, four ugly incompletions and leaving the Steelers with 4th-and-11.

FedEx Field was rockin’ and your humble scribe grinnin’.

1-10-PIT 29 (8:08) 16-C.Batch pass incomplete short left to 39-W.Parker (99-A.Carter). PENALTY on PIT-78-M.Starks, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at PIT 29 – No Play.
1-20-PIT 19 (8:03) 16-C.Batch pass incomplete short right to 39-W.Parker.
2-20-PIT 19 (7:57) (Shotgun) 16-C.Batch pass short right to 39-W.Parker to PIT 21 for 2 yards (23-D.Hall).

Apparently, the officials got caught up in the moment too, however, because after the 3rd down play, they called a really [emphatic epithet] weak personal foul on Redskins CB DeAngelo Hall for an alleged late “hit” (somewhere, Night Train Lane ran off his tracks).

3-18-PIT 21 (7:10) (Shotgun) 16-C.Batch pass incomplete short left to 83-H.Miller.
PENALTY on WAS-23-D.Hall, Unnecessary Roughness, 15 yards, enforced at PIT 21.

Personally, I think they wanted to watch the Redskins defense do their thing some more.

Which they did.

1-10-PIT 36 (7:04) 39-W.Parker up the middle to PIT 38 for 2 yards (93-P.Daniels, 23-D.Hall).
2-8-PIT 38 (6:26) PENALTY on PIT-38-C.Davis, False Start, 4 yards, enforced at PIT 38 – No Play.
2-12-PIT 34 (6:06) 39-W.Parker left tackle to PIT 35 for 1 yard (99-A.Carter, 64-K.Golston).
3-11-PIT 35 (5:23) (Shotgun) 16-C.Batch pass deep middle to 10-S.Holmes to WAS 18 for 47 yards (22-C.Rogers). Washington challenged the pass completion ruling, and the play was REVERSED. (Shotgun) 16-C.Batch pass incomplete deep middle to 86-H.Ward (23-D.Hall).

There was a brief “Immaculate Reception Lite” moment there when the officials, clearly enjoying themselves, allowed a 3rd-and-11 pass to bounce off the ground to a grateful (and surely guilt-ridden) Steelers WR Santonio Holmes, who pranced with it all the way to the Redskins 18.

Fortunately, the 21st century prevailed and instant replay set the record straight.

First string defense, first possession:

8 plays, 6 yds, 2 penalties
Passing: 1-for-4, 2 yds
Rushing: 2 carries, 3 yds

As first impressions go—starting Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger or no Pittsburgh starting QB Ben Roethlisberger—turning in a couple of emphatic three-and-outs in succession against the defending champions was a pretty nice home introduction to Greg Blache’s new toy.

The happy buzz didn’t last, of course. The next time the defense trotted on the field, setting up shop at midfield (more on that below), the Steelers reminded everyone watching of two very important facts:

1. They are, in fact, the defending world champions, and
2. Preseason giveth, and preseason taketh away.

1-10- (4:03) 39-W.Parker right end to WAS 43 for 7 yards (23-D.Hall).
2-3-WAS 43 (3:25) 16-C.Batch pass incomplete short middle [96-C.Griffin]. PENALTY on PIT-16-C.Batch, Intentional Grounding, 10 yards, enforced at WAS 43.
3-13-PIT 47 (3:19) (Shotgun) 16-C.Batch pass short middle to 10-S.Holmes to WAS 37 for 16 yards (48-C.Horton; 22-C.Rogers).
1-10-WAS 37 (2:39) 16-C.Batch pass incomplete deep left to 17-M.Wallace.
2-10-WAS 37 (2:32) 16-C.Batch pass incomplete short right to 86-H.Ward.
3-10-WAS 37 (2:28) (Shotgun) 16-C.Batch pass deep middle to 86-H.Ward to WAS 13 for 24 yards (30-L.Landry).
1-10-WAS 13 (1:45) (Shotgun) 16-C.Batch pass short left to 83-H.Miller to WAS 3 for 10 yards (22-C.Rogers, 48-C.Horton).
1-3-WAS 3 (1:03) 16-C.Batch pass incomplete short right to 83-H.Miller.
2-3-WAS 3 (:58) 39-W.Parker right end for 3 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

As you have no doubt surmised, there is a reason the two third down plays are bolded. Those of you who have followed the Redskins the past few years don’t need me to explain. For those who have not … they’re bolded because the Redskins always give up third and long conversions. Those two plays were highly unwelcome symbolism, given The Moment was supposed to belong to Big Albert and Co. And if you saw his face on the sidelines afterwards, it was apparent he agreed.

The drive went nine plays in total. On the seven non 3rd-down plays, the Steelers picked up 20 yards—10 passing (1-for-5, including an intentional grounding call), and 10 rushing (two carries, including the 3-yard TD).

On the other two plays, both 3rd-and-long situations, they converted on two relatively easy-looking passes over the middle for 40 yards (16, 24). Hey, if you found yourself mumbling “I’ve seen this movie,” you weren’t alone.

And that was it for the first team. The next time the Redskins defense took the field, most of the starters were wearing baseball caps and quaffing Gatorade on the sideline.

Total Steelers offensive numbers on the first two possessions:

Plays: 15 (6, 9)
Total yds: 56 (6, 50)
Passing: 4-for-10, 52 yds
Rushing: 4 carries, 13 yds
Points: 7

[Don’t yell at my math—the breakout numbers account for penalties]

So what does it all mean?

It means that the defensive line, at full bore, looks every bit as capable of wreaking havoc on offensive lines as has been projected since the day Haynesworth put ink to the dotted line.

It means that for at least one more week, despite said brief glimpse of dominance, the lingering concern in some minds that the Redskins defense still can’t get off the field on third downs remains alive. It was “only” two plays out of 15, but they were killers.  We know that drill.  We don’t like it.

It means that, on at least one of the two possessions, the starting corners and safeties played far enough off the ball to allow opposing receivers to roam pretty much at will underneath … while the defensive line either got tired, bored or something else bummer-inducing and didn’t apply any pressure. Or the Steelers offensive line took pity on Charlie Batch after the first series debacle and decided to save his life.

Or Greg Blache decided he had played with his shiny new toy enough on the first possession, and on the second went back to giving vanilla a bad name, and calling off the dogs and torturing his DB’s by putting them on the proverbial desert island again.

And it clearly means that trying to read anything serious into preseason is … please feel free to fill in the blank.  Me, I’m fresh out of preseason adjectives.

Still, those first few plays, with the crowd on the edge of its collective seat, and the Redskins defense exploding off the ball and hunting in packs through the Steelers offensive backfield … far as I’m concerned, the regular season really can’t come soon enough.

***

One other defense-related thing that put a smile on my face was the last series. It seems like it’s been a long time since I watched them get after the passer in the final minutes of a one-score game. For years, it’s seemed as if the master plan has been to sit back in the dreaded “prevent” and hope to stop somebody.

This last Saturday night, with the “game” on the line, the Redskins defense looked determined to punch somebody in the mouth and steal their candy.

1-10-PIT 32 (4:04) 33-I.Redman up the middle to PIT 33 for 1 yard (57-C.Glenn).
2-9-PIT 33 (3:31) 13-M.Reilly pass short middle to 15-M.Nance to PIT 41 for 8 yards (29-L.Holmes).
3-1-PIT 41 (2:52) 33-I.Redman right tackle to PIT 43 for 2 yards (75D-A.Dixon, 58-R.Henson).
1-10-PIT 43 (2:18) (Shotgun) 13-M.Reilly scrambles up the middle to PIT 48 for 5 yards (76-J.Jarmon).
Timeout #1 by PIT at 02:10.
2-5-PIT 48 (2:10) (Shotgun) 13-M.Reilly sacked at PIT 41 for -7 yards (95-C.Wilson).
Two-Minute Warning
3-12-PIT 41 (2:00) (Shotgun) 13-M.Reilly right end to WAS 39 for 20 yards (41-K.Moore).
Timeout #2 by PIT at 01:45.
1-10-WAS 39 (1:45) PENALTY on PIT-84-D.Sherrod, Illegal Substitution, 5 yards, enforced at WAS 39 – No Play.
1-15-WAS 44 (1:45) (Shotgun) 13-M.Reilly pass incomplete deep right to 19-T.Grisham.
2-15-WAS 44 (1:40) (Shotgun) 13-M.Reilly pass short middle to 19-T.Grisham to WAS 35 for 9 yards (29-L.Holmes) [91-R.Jackson].
3-6-WAS 35 (1:17) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 13-M.Reilly pass incomplete short right to 82-B.Williams (40-M.Grant).
4-6-WAS 35 (1:14) (Shotgun) 13-M.Reilly pass incomplete short left to 82-B.Williams [76-J.Jarmon].

Yeah, I know—I see the third-and-long conversion too. Old habits die hard.

Preseason or no preseason, fact is it did this old heart good to see the Redskins get after the quarterback in a game-ending one-score-game scenario and slam the door shut.  If that alone turns out to be an indication of a shift in Blachian philosophy, sitting through four preseason “games” will have been worth it.

***

Going over the NFL’s drive stats for this piece, something jumped out.  So for [stuff] and giggles (and since at one point during the game I remarked—not for the first time—“does it seem like the entire game is being played in Redskins territory?”), here is a breakdown of the starting field position for each team throughout the game.

See what if anything jumps out at you …

Pittsburgh (9 possessions)

First half:
26 (6 yds), 50 (TD), 31 (1 yd), 10 (21 yds), 38 (46 yds, FG), +35 (5 yds, Missed FG)
Avg start: 31.6 yard line

Second half:
26 (9 yds), +45 (22 yds, FG), 46 (-4 yds), 32 (33 yds, end game)
Avg. start: 39.75 yard line

Game: 34.8 yard line

Washington (10 possessions)

First Half:
35 (62 yds, FG), 11 (0 yds), 20 (7 yds), 8 (33 yds), 36 (1 yd), 18 (21 yds, INT)
Avg. start: 21.3
Second Half:
40 (TD), 24 (25 yds), +18 (TD), 20 (69 yds, INT)
Avg. start: 41.5

Game: 29.4 yard line

Maybe there’s more to this whole defense thing than just … defense?

Okay, I’m outta here.

NEXT UP: Colt Brennan & Chase Daniel

Preseason Week 2: QB Hopes Top Redskins Wish List

With one preseason “game” under our belts—last week’s 23-0 bummer against the Baltimore Ravens—I have pared the wish list down for week two:

I. All season, the single most crucial element in any real Redskins game will be the play of its young veteran quarterback, Jason Campbell. His performance in tonight’s preseason “game” against the Pittsburgh Steelers won’t have much bearing in terms of the final score, but it will carry significance in terms of confidence and progression for his teammates, his coaches, fans, and Campbell himself.

Last week Campbell was solid, if unspectacular. He chose safe underneath routes, seemingly the result of both his own instincts and the design of head coach Jim Zorn. Zorn stated after the game he went into it with legitimate concerns about his offensive line’s ability to protect Campbell against the Ravens’ aggressive pass rush, and called Campbell’s few plays accordingly.

Fair enough.

In week two I’ll be looking to see both Zorn and Campbell build on that and pull the trigger on at least 2-3 downfield looks. They don’t have to be 50-yard rainbows—I’ll settle for a couple of 25-yard seam routes or deep outs. Just call for the man to take a deep drop and cut it loose a couple of times.

What that will also do, of course, is test the starting offensive line.

Though the linemen protected Campbell well last week, they faced no jailbreak blitzes or sophisticated stunts from Baltimore. The Ravens didn’t start really coming after the Redskins passers until after Campbell was done for the night. I’m not expecting the same from the Steelers tonight.

I hope to see the Pittsburgh send the house at Campbell a couple of times, see the Redskins pick it up professionally and Campbell execute the right quick read to beat it.

The line and Campbell’s consistent inability to do that during over the second half of last season was a primary cause of their 2-6 slide. In all likelihood, their ability to reverse the trend in 2009 will be the primary factor in what kind of season the Redskins are going to have.

II. For all the focus on pass protection heading into last week’s opener, one thing that jumped out during the “game” was the starting offensive line’s inability to create even a whiff of running room.

Here are the running plays from the starting units’ two series, and the eleven total runs during the first half. I didn’t do the second half because, well … I was bummed.

First team:

1-10-WAS 27 (14:19) 46-L.Betts right tackle to WAS 27 for no gain
2-10-WAS 38 (13:03) 46-L.Betts right end to WAS 42 for 4 yards
1-10-WAS 39 (5:35) 46-L.Betts left tackle to WAS 39 for no gain
2-10-WAS 39 (5:02) 46-L.Betts right guard to WAS 42 for 3 yards

 

In four running plays over two drives, the Redskins starters managed seven yards (averaging 1.75 per carry). And it wasn’t against a Ravens defense putting eight men in the box to stuff the run, either. With the exception of the final play of the second possession, Baltimore came out in base 4-3-4 sets and simply ran to the ball.

Unfortunately, no Redskins broke through the line into the second level to take on a LB or the safeties. There was no movement up front at all.

The rest of the first half, with the second and third groups, didn’t go much better:

2-10-WAS 23 (12:17) 24-M.Mason right end to WAS 28 for 5 yards
1-10-WAS 22 (11:09) 24-M.Mason left tackle to WAS 23 for 1 yard
2-9-WAS 23 (10:29) 24-M.Mason up the middle to WAS 26 for 3 yards
1-10-WAS 11 (6:50) 24-M.Mason left end to WAS 11 for no gain
2-4-WAS 29 (5:18) 24-M.Mason left end to WAS 28 for -1 yards
1-10-BAL 34 (1:59) 31-R.Cartwright up the middle to BAL 30 for 4 yards
1-10-WAS 38 (:02) 31-R.Cartwright left tackle to WAS 43 for 5 yards

 

Rock Cartwright did pick up nine yards in two carries at the end of the half, but against a Baltimore defense playing “prevent” in the 2-minute drill.

I have no illusions about using tonight’s preseason action against the defending champions and their top-ranked defense to “get the running game un-tracked”—it ain’t gonna happen. But I would like to see a couple of seams in there.

Maybe a six-yard off-tackle run or two where someone blows someone else off the line. Just something to show me that the old legs up front can still get a little push and coordinate a lane or two in the normal course of play.

III. The only real surprise from last week’s preseason clunker was the ease with which Baltimore moved the ball against the first defensive group. Game plan or no game plan, different team agendas or not, that wasn’t what I was expecting to see from a unit widely viewed as among the elite defensive units heading into 2009.

I’d like very much to think the starting defense will come out a little hungrier tonight, looking to make a statement in front of the home fans.

(Assuming there are any “home fans” among the expected throng of Steeler fans at FedEx tonight, using the Redskins as an excuse to get out of town for a while. Not that it’s that surprising. If I lived in Pittsburgh I’d grab every opportunity to come to Washing—er, Landover, too.

Oh, relax Pittsburgher—it was a joke. Mostly.)

We won’t really see it tonight, but maybe we will see the first visible hint of what could turn out to be one of the more interesting side stories of the year—the reincarnation of Greg Blache as a riverboat gambler.

According to several players, the presence of [DT Albert] Haynesworth has made old-school defensive coordinator Greg Blache more daring in his approach. With young players such as first-round pick Brian Orakpo and third-round supplemental pick Jeremy Jarmon, Blache has a lot more speed and depth to work with. – ESPN

Please, let it be so. And let this kind of talk not only indicate an overall more aggressive approach, but prescience:

Greg Blache now believes [S LaRon] Landry should be more than just an NFL starter. Here would be Blache’s goals for the third-year safety, simply put.

‘Creating turnovers for us,” he said this week. “Having six-eight picks. Some devastating plays where he’s got some of these highlight kind of hits and breakups on the ball, and at the end of it him taking a trip to Hawaii as a Pro Bowl safety as opposed to being an alternate.’

I’m looking for a huge year out of LaRon, because he is healthy. This is his third year. He’s got the position figured out. This could be a real break-out year for him. – RedskinsInsider

Two things could make the 2009 Washington Redskins special,

1) the emergence of Jason Campbell as a legitimate Pro Bowl-level quarterback, and
2) the defense playing up to their level of expectation.

Of the two, if you had to bet real money you’d probably go defense without a second thought. An early series or two of dominance—even of the “yeah, but it’s just preseason” sort, would be a tasty morsel to take with us into the next week of hyper-dissection leading up to preseason “game” three against Tom Brady and his merry band of Patriots from up New England way.

IV. No injuries.

Enjoy tonight, and if you’re going to the game and planning to tailgate…be smart. We don’t want to lose any Redskins fans to tragedy because they forgot that they, too, were in preseason mode. Keep your wits about you.

Hail.

The Michael Vick Conundrum

So…Michael Vick.

I wasn’t intending to “go there” in this space. To me, this is a straight social issue, and only tangentially Redskins-related in that Vick’s new team, the Philadelphia Eagles, play in the same division.

However, a friend of mine whose thoughts I value and respect deeply recently wrote a strongly-worded, passionate piece about Vick’s return to the NFL, and it got my juices flowing a bit.

Add to that the fact I am a Virginia Tech grad myself, and have followed Vick’s career since he showed up in Blacksburg a decade ago with fascination and natural partisan interest, and next thing I know, I’m writing this.

For the record, I do not claim original insight here, nor do I offer this as some soapbox social statement. I would just like to touch on an aspect of this entire situation that I haven’t seen given as much play as I think is warranted: Everyone’s personal view of this entire incident is inextricably bound to and viewed through the lens of their own personal value system.

That’s an obvious statement on a certain level that I know we all understand intellectually. I’m just not sure how many of the more passionate voices I’ve heard speak on the subject have really accounted for it or acknowledged its relevance.

Personally, I find dog fighting abhorrent. I ache for the animals, harbor righteous rage against the humans who perpetrate it, and feel deeply frustrated confusion at the reality that so many fellow human beings utterly lack the empathy gene.

I find the way women are treated in much of the world abhorrent. The thought process behind treating any fellow human being as chattel has always been and will always be incomprehensible to me.

I find it incomprehensible that children are abandoned, beaten, abused, exploited, and ignored. I did so long before I had kids of my own; and today, as a father, it’s an issue I cannot even think about without bringing knots to my gut and bile to my throat.

I feel these things, in large part, because I was raised in an environment where they were considered wrong.

But I also do things I know others find abhorrent. I eat meat. I don’t subscribe to any of man’s religions, and I am not shy about debating the matter with those who do. I don’t care a whit about anyone else’s sexual orientation.

I don’t find those things abhorrent, in large part, because I was raised in an environment where they were considered normal.

Vick was raised in an environment where dogfighting is viewed by many as perfectly normal. That is not to imply he had no choice but to find it normal, no. But it is a factor—one it is both unfair and unrealistic to dismiss out of hand.

I will never condone his actions, but I will also not forget the context in which he made them when it comes to how I view who he is now and what I believe our society should demand and expect from him for the rest of his life.

None of us will ever know what if anything has changed in Vick’s heart. It is possible he’s a changed man today, and his experience will create in him the champion of and ultimate weapon against animal cruelty the world over.

It is also possible he remains the exact same man he was before this whole sorry affair broke, and the only thing that’s really changed is that he is and will be one hell of a lot more careful about what he shows in public.

The truth, I suspect, is somewhere in between. It almost always is.

Should he be allowed to make a living at the thing he does best? Of course he should. To suggest otherwise flies in the face of the legal system we live by—you pay your debt to society as the laws of the day dictate, then have the right to get on with your life.

Should the NFL have been forced, legally, morally or otherwise, into the role of social conscience or arbiter? I think not—not unless we’re prepared to live in a society where some Solomonic regulatory agency has the right and/or duty to dictate to any business who it can and cannot hire based on whatever crimes they have already been punished for in the legal system.

I don’t want to live in that society. But that’s a discussion for another day.

The bottom line is, I do not and will not pretend to know what is in Vick’s heart. I do think he should be able to play in the NFL. And I do think the Philadelphia Eagles would be totally justified demanding, in return for hiring him, that he use his celebrity to help bring the stark realities of dogfighting into the light, and to hopefully have some small effect in someday bringing it, if not to an end, at least to its knees. But that decision should be theirs, not imposed on them from without.

There will always be people who take pleasure in blood sports, in activities that take advantage of those—human and otherwise—who cannot say no. We all know that. But “the rest of us,” even while admittedly superimposing our own value systems, also have the right and/or—depending on your own values—the duty, to try to reduce their numbers.

I believe that for as long as his skills allow, Vick can and should serve society—not to mention the current and future generations of man’s best friend—in that regard, particularly given the stage and platform of the NFL.

Whether his heart is in it or not.

Breaking Down Jason Campbell’s Six Passing Plays in Baltimore

A lot of people seem to think there was a football game played at M&T Bank Stadium Thursday night. I’m not one of them.

Don’t worry. I’m not going to go on about NFL teams approaching preseason games so differently, and using them for such different purposes, that projecting any regular-season meaning onto them—final score or otherwise—is a straight waste of time.

And I won’t get into how these preseason affairs are glorified scrimmages at best, and slickly packaged, almost criminally overpriced hype passed off as “games” to a football-starved public at worst.

Not today. Today I’m going to parse the only thing I had any real interest in (Brian Orakpo and no injuries notwithstanding)…Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell and the offensive line’s performance on passing plays.

There were six while Campbell was in the game. Here’s how I saw them:

 

First Possession

1st-and-10, WAS 15

Ravens put four on the LOS. Redskins OL holds firm—no penetration. Campbell takes a 3-step drop, looks far right at Devin Thomas on a slant, short middle at Fred Davis, short middle left at Chris Cooley, then finally to Ladell Betts in the left flat.

Four options. The OL is doing its job. Campbell might have chosen to go to Cooley at the first down marker (with a LB about a yard off left shoulder), but he chooses Betts instead, alone in the left flat with blockers. Campbell’s throw is on target as he leads Betts up field for 11 yards (-2 catch, 13 RAC).

Campbell and OL both solid.

 

2nd-and-9, WAS 27

Ravens put four on the LOS. Redskins OL holds firm—no penetration. Campbell takes a five-step drop (play-action fake to Betts), then looks right side toward Thomas and Cooley. Thomas runs a skinny post, crossing with Cooley as he breaks toward the sideline. Campbell delivers on rhythm to Cooley for 11 (9 catch, 2 RAC).

Campbell and OL both solid.

 

1st-and-10, WAS 38

Ravens put four on the LOS. Campbell takes a threestep drop, turns and throws immediately toward Thomas, who is five yards upfield on the left numbers. A LB is moving to cover Betts in the flat and crosses between Campbell and Thomas. Campbell appears to see him just as he’s releasing the ball and pulls the string a little. The ball sails high and skips off Thomas’ fingertips incomplete.

There was no apparent reason to rush throw given the protection—Campbell’s better option would have been Randle El, uncovered at the first down marker out of the left slot. Campbell dropped, turned and threw without any hesitation or seeming to find Thomas first; clearly throwing to a spot. Unless he was directed to throw that pass regardless of coverage, it’s a poor decision given the time to throw, the rushed and/or forced pass and missed opportunity for the likely first down attempt to ARE.

OL solid; Campbell questionable.

 

3rd-and-6, WAS 42

Ravens put four on the LOS. Campbell in shotgun, takes a 3-step drop. OL holds the DL, Samuels rides the RDE wide. Campbell looks right side to Cooley at first down marker, just coming out of his break. He starts to throw, then pulls it down. Cooley breaks open as Campbell steps up into pocket and looks away to the middle of the field.

Ray Lewis closes, Betts lets him go, sliding in behind him into the open middle to provide an outlet. As Lewis gets to him, Campbell throws at the last instant, without stepping in (can’t), going deep sideline to a wide-open Marques Hagans at the Ravens 28. Hagans leaps but the ball is inches high and off his fingertips.

Campbell may have given up on Cooley too soon. The OL provided enough time to allow him to give Cooley the extra half-second necessary to finish his break, and Cooley was open at the first down marker. If Campbell had connected with Hagans—and it was close—it would have been a good play, potentially a big one if the uncovered Hagans had been able to say in bounds.

However, by passing up the high percentage conversion play available on 3rd down, and then missing Hagans, the series is over.

OL solid; Campbell questionable.

Second Possession

1st-and-10, WAS 24

Ravens put four on the LOS. The OL holds—no penetration. Campbell takes a 7-step drop (play-action to Betts). He steps and throws in rhythm to his first option, Randle El, in the intermediate middle, for 14 yards (14 catch, 0 RAC). Campbell had Cooley available in the right flat at the LOS with a 5-yard cushion to run, but elected to go with the deeper option. The pass was a little low, forcing a good to-ground catch by ARE, but the ball was on time and on target, covering 23 yards without ever getting more than 3 off the ground. The man has an arm.

Campbell and OL…solid.

3rd-and-8, WAS 41

Ravens put seven on the LOS. Redskins have six (OL, TE). Campbell in shotgun. Ravens bring four from the left side, drop two from the right into coverage. Betts slides left to pick up the safety blitzing off the edge. Cooley takes a bad angle on the blitzing LB, allowing immediate inside pressure on Campbell. The only visible bailout target is Randle El at the first down marker—but two Ravens are in the throwing lane. The LB hits Campbell as he throws, the ball comes out low and skips short.

The Ravens zone blitz left Dockery, Rabach and Rhinehart blocking air, while Heyer neutralized the DE. The play came down to Cooley’s whiff block on the LB, forcing Campbell to have to throw it away.

Campbell and OL acceptable. Cooley not so much.

In their brief appearance, with zero motion, misdirection or apparent interest in going downfield to threaten the defense, the Redskins starting quarterback and offensive line were solid, if not particularly dynamic.

The offensive line did well in six pass protection opportunities, even if only facing one schemed blitz on the evening. Couldn’t have asked for more.

Jason Campbell (3-for-6, 38 yards) looked good on three, made what appeared questionable decisions on two, and appeared to throw it away smartly on the last.

Draw from that what conclusions you will, my friends. And feel free to disagree with my read on any of the plays. Personally, I found the performance mildly encouraging, and will head into next week’s glorified practice session against the Pittsburgh Steelers at FedEx Field hoping to see no worse than more of the same. And maybe even a pass down the field for grins.

Preseason NFL Football. Gotta love it.

Jason Campbell and the Washington Redskins: One Split Second Away

Have you seen this man?

(Photo by Brian Schurman)

If you have seen him—sometimes brilliant, sometimes frustrating, ever the work-in-progress—the Redskins will remain what they have been for years…a team capable of beating the best in the NFL one week, and losing to the worst the next.

A team that will, ultimately, fall short of expectation.

If you have not seen him, however, and the man wearing “17” in burgundy and gold jogging onto the field at Giants Stadium on September 13 turns out to be the guy they were talking about in Ashburn just a week ago…hold on to your hats.

The notion that Jason Campbell is the key to their season is hardly novel—you can’t find a Redskins piece these days that doesn’t cover that angle. Not many drill down just how close the Redskins might be to breaking out, how dependent that possibility is on Campbell, and just how close Campbell might be to making that jump.

Let’s take it macro to micro.

Ownership is in place. For all the fits, starts, learning curve, and unresolved philosophical cranial flatulence concerning the offensive line, Dan Snyder is serious about procuring the pieces. If you can find a lifelong Lions, Bengals or Cardinals fan, see if they can say the same with a straight face.

The coaching staff is in place. Head Coach Jim Zorn enters his second year under the big headset with all the attendant advantages—familiarity with his players, coaching staff, rhythms of the job, and a full year to adapt and refine his roster and offense to fit one another. He has acquired one invaluable thing that can only be gained one way…experience. And with solid assistant coaching up and down the line (DC Greg Blache, OL Coach Joe Bugel, DB Coach Jerry Gray, et al), Zorn will not go to battle alone.

He’ll be flanked by battle-hardened lieutenants.

The defense is in place. Last year’s fourth-ranked overall unit (seventh passing; eighth rushing) didn’t stand pat and didn’t tinker, it upgraded—big time. The Redskins added DT Albert Haynesworth, the consensus “Best Available Free Agent” and arguably most dominant defensive lineman in football.

They also added rookie DE/LB Brian Orakpo, on the short list of best pass-rushing prospects in the 2008 NFL Draft, and early training camp surprise DE Jeremy Jarmon from Kentucky.

Factor in another year of maturity for young veterans S LaRon Landry, CB DeAngelo Hall, S Chris Horton, DT’s Anthony Montgomery and Kedric Golston, and LB Rocky McIntosh. Furthermore, add the solid leadership from players such as LB London Fletcher, DT Cornelius Griffin, and returning DE’s Phillip Daniels and Renaldo Wynn.

Stir them together under the steady hand of Greg Blache, and it is hard to envision a dropoff. Logic suggests, instead, that the Redskins defense will be better, maybe even dominant.

Offensively, things are less clear, but perhaps not as dire as many would have you believe. Last year at this time, criticism came from many quarters about how the Redskins had badly neglected the defense by using their top three draft selections on offensive players. Specifically, the criticism was of skill players brought in to do something all agreed was a serious concern—upgrading the passing game.

WR’s Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly and TE Fred Davis are no longer rookies and no longer afterthoughts. If even one of the three emerges as a legitimate weapon to complement WR Santana Moss in 2009, the upgrade could be dramatic.

Give someone like Peyton Manning or Tom Brady an array of Santana Moss, Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly, Antwaan Randle El, Chris Cooley, Fred Davis, and Todd Yoder, and you would hear few complaints about the receiving corps.

Behind RB’s Clinton Portis, Ladell Betts, and Rock Cartwright, along with big FB Mike Sellers, the running game may be a top ten unit in the league. This is particularly true if they ever get to face honest defenses, no longer stacking the line or scrimmage because the Redskins pose no legitimate passing threat.

The offensive line, of course, is where many suggest the season will turn.  I disagree…and bear in mind, I do so having yelled from the rooftops as loudly as anyone about this franchise’s inexcusable neglect the offensive line for the past decade. The Redskins are going to have bad days in pass protection this season.

Count on it.

Thing is, with breakout quarterbacking, they could have a breakout season anyway. And from where I sit, only one question mark remains as to whether or not Jason Campbell is the man to lead the charge:

Cannon arm capable of any NFL throw? Check.

Character? Check.

Work ethic? Check.

Athleticism? Check.

Leadership? Check-minus. It might not be Manning-esque, and may not always show from the stands, but the unqualified, unsolicited supportive locker room comments from teammates over four years speak volumes.

Pocket presence and processing speed? Ah…the heart of the matter.

Jason Campbell can step up in the pocket and make any throw required of an NFL quarterback; he’s done it often enough to prove the point. He has a tendency still to drift backwards away from an edge rush rather than step up in games where he’s been pin-balled all day, but you won’t find many QB’s who don’t.

Where Jason Campbell remains a question mark—and the key to the success of the 2009 Washington Redskins—is whether or not he can make the equivalent of the plays below, one by Todd Collins and one by Colt Brennan.

The kind of play that is often the difference between a hard fought win and a heartbreaking loss.

The kind of play that is pure read-and-react instinct.

The kind of play that requires a deft touch throw under duress, from an off-balance platform, in the face of a fierce rush, in the deciding moments of a game.

The kind of play we have not often seen from young Jason Campbell.

• 13:57 of 2nd Qtr: Campbell steps up, reads, fires accurately.
• 2:49 of 2nd Qtr: Campbell hesitates, drifts, holds too long, pays steep price.
• 13:29 of 3rd Qtr: Collins pass to Portis in the flat, under control, accurate, decisive.
• 2:43 of 4th Qtr: Collins TD to Betts. Reaction, timing, accuracy, touch.

 

Redskins vs Bears, 12/6/07

This one speaks for itself:

Redskins vs Jets, 8/16/07

You can’t teach those plays—instinct, reaction time, and accuracy under duress are gifts. You either have them or you don’t. To date, Jason Campbell has not shown he possesses them in sufficient quantity to make the leap from average to elite.

The truth is, I still see Jason Campbell as miscast in Jim Zorn’s offense. I still think he’s the classic drop-back, downfield play-action passer Joe Gibbs drafted him to be, not the step-and-fire, quick-release surgeon Jim Zorn needs him to be.

But I’ve also seen enough good things from Campbell to hold out hope that he can still speed up his game enough to finally force defenses to play the Redskins honestly again. To not allow them to stack the line of scrimmage, pin their ears back ,and attack a shaky pass-protecting OL with little respect for and no real fear of the quarterback’s ability to made them pay.

If Campbell has made real strides this offseason, and can reduce by a fraction of a second the time between what his eyes see as he drops from center and the ball leaving his hand in response…the results will be clear and perhaps startling.

It won’t happen in one game, maybe not even two or three. Defensive coordinators around the league will begin this season as they have the past several, believing that the way to shut down the Washington Redskins offense is to throw the kitchen sink at their quarterback and count on making more plays than they give up.

Only one thing will force them to adjust…a quarterback who makes them pay for their aggressiveness, coming up with the one or two key throws a game at the most crucial times, when a split-second decision and accurate touch throw ultimately decides whether Redskins Nation spends its Monday thumping its collective chest or kicking its cat.

Preseason game or not, come Thursday night when the Redskins open their season in Baltimore, I’ll be looking for indications of whether or not we have, in fact, seen Jason Campbell.

 

[Photo courtesy of BGO (Elephant)]

Redskins Reaction: DE Brian Orakpo

I admit it.

When the NY Jets moved up to grab franchise QB to be, Mark Sanchez, with the fifth overall selection of the 2009 NFL Draft on Saturday, and the realization set in that there would be no tumultuous quarterback transition in Washington this offseason, I experienced a moment of vague disappointment.

It was probably due as much to the sense of losing out to another team, the competitive juices flow hard on draft day. There are legitimate concerns over who will be the Skins long term solution at QB. Nonetheless, in that instant I felt a little deflated.

That feeling didn’t last long.

As the subsequent picks unfolded and the Redskins selection drew closer, with big men like OT Michael Oher and DE’s Brian Orakpo, Robert Ayers and Aaron Maybin still on the board, I got jazzed up all over again. When Denver surprisingly chose RB Knowshon Moreno at number twelve, leaving the Redskins a virtual smorgasbord of highly-rated big men from which to choose, I quietly pumped a fist.

I certainly didn’t expect the Redskins to send someone sprinting to the podium before the echo of the Moreno announcement even faded to turn in their card, seriously, what was that? If you aren’t going to use your allotted time to field possible trade offers, at least give your fans the full allotment in which to revel—we waited months for those ten minutes. When they did make the selection and the Commissioner read off the name Brian Orakpo, my gut reaction was fierce.

“Oh hell yes.”

It only took a moment for the mental image of Orakpo putting his hand in the dirt alongside Cornelius Griffin, Albert Haynesworth, and Andre Carter to dance into my head. It took only a few seconds more to envision him standing over Phillip Daniels, Renaldo Wynn, or Chris Wilson’s shoulder on that first 2nd-and-long of the new season, or sliding up and down the line on 3rd-and-long behind Haynesworth, as NY Giants QB Eli Manning tracks him warily.

It sank in fast, the Redskins may have built themselves a pass rush Saturday.

I have been been talking a lot lately about how the Redskins haven’t had a pure pass-rusher since Charles Mann, no disrespect to Andre Carter, left town in 1993. They have had good defenses in that time, particularly since defensive coordinator Gregg Williams brought his act to town in 2004 and Greg Blache continued it in 2008. But one thing they have not been known for since the end of the first Gibbs era has been pass rush.

The additions of Haynesworth and Orakpo remakes the Redskins defensive profile almost overnight.

 

 

 

 

There are no guarantees of course, that any of this will happen. Orakpo could become 2009’s version of Mike Mamula as easily as he could become Dwight Freeney. But as of today, with seemingly unlimited potential stretching for the next ten years in front of him, and what his development could mean for his team, it is difficult to look at his selection with anything other than excitement and anticipation.

We will see the Redskins new prize bull take the field in a Redskins uniform for the first time in the Redskins preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens on August 13. For those scoring at home, that’s 108 days.

Bring it.

Brian Orakpo becomes the first defensive lineman the Redskins have drafted in the first round since they made DE Kennard Lang the 17th overall choice in 1997.

A quick look at their draft history shows that defensive lineman has never really been targeted a position of first choice for Redskins brain trusts:

In the 72 college drafts since the franchise moved to Washington in 1937, Brian Orakpo becomes the Redskins’ eighth defensive lineman chosen with their first available pick.

He becomes only the fourth defensive lineman selected in the first round.

He becomes the second-highest overall defensive line selection in team history, behind only DT Joe Rutgens, chosen third overall in 1961.

2009 – DE Brian Orakpo, 1st round (13)
1997 – DE Kenard Lang, 1st round (17)
1991 – DT Bobby Wilson, 1st round (17)
1989 – DT Tracy Rocker, 3rd round (66)
1986 – DE Marcus Koch, 2nd round (30)
1984 – DT Bob Slater, 2nd round (31)
1970 – DT Bill Brundige, 2nd round (43)
1961 – DT Joe Rutgens, 1st round (3)

I will give my take on the rest of the Redskins draft in the days ahead … but for today, it’s all about the big man.

Regardless of his selection slot, regardless of how close the team did or did not come to opting for Sanchez and a titanic quarterback controversy instead, the fact remains that Brian Orakpo, is a Washington Redskin.

 

 

 

 

As someone old to remember what that looks like on game days, count me as pretty damn juiced.

By the way, one quick request to young Mr. Orakpo. About that “big bed” you plan to buy, so you can relax and take it all in? Invest in an alarm as well. Maybe give new teammate Fred Davis a buzz—I hear he’s done some research.

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