The 2012 Washington Redskins Revisited

This is the third year I’ve tried to write an end of the season report about the Redskins. I didn’t see too many games in 2010 and 2011, so it was a little difficult, but the teams weren’t that good so it was more about finding nuggets of hope. This last season was different. Before training camp I predicted that the Redskins were headed for a 6 win season, but that if everything fell into place and they caught some breaks, the team could finish 9-7. The Redskins had a year, that, if people re being completely honest, surprised a lot of people. They ended with a 7 game win streak to finish 10-7 and win the NFC East. Never saw that coming. Definitely not in the 2012 season. I thought the Redskins could/should beat the Saints, St Louis, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Carolina, Philadelphia, NY Giants, Cleveland and Dallas (winning the division home games). I had 6 out of 9 right. Who knew that the Eagles would stink so bad or that the Skins would beat Dallas, in Dallas, on Thanksgiving? 

Winning their division gave the Redskins a home playoff game. That was the good news. The bad news was that they had to face probably the one team they didn’t want to face, the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks were riding their own 5 game win streak and were playing as well, if not better, than any other team in the league. The Seahawks had eliminated the Redskins the last two times they made the playoffs, but both of those games were in Seattle. Apparently playing at home didn’t make much difference as the Seahawks rallied to beat the Redskins 24-14, once again, ending the Skins season. I’m not going to talk about that game as I want to try and remain somewhat positive and optimistic.

Since I’m trying to be positive, let’s start with the surprises from the 2012. At the top of the list has to be Alfred Morris. Where did this guy come from? Talk about making the most of your opportunities. A 6th round pick out of Florida Atlantic who was forced into action because of injuries to presumed starter Tim Hightower and his backup, Roy Helu, all Morris did was set a team record for rushing yards in a season, 1613, and rush for 13 touchdowns. Here’s hoping this is the standard and he’s not Timmy Smith.

The second surprise for me was Logan Paulsen. I saw him as a third TE at best who hopefully wouldn’t miss too many blocks. He really stepped up after Fred Davis was injured and was a better pass catcher that I could have ever imagined. He may not have the hands of Davis or Cooley, but he is a definite plus for this team.

Santana Moss provided veteran leadership for the team and I think he has finally found a role that suits him. I used to be down on him when he was the number one option because I didn’t think he was anything more that a number two receiver. This year, he was the number three guy and all he did was catch 8 touchdowns (lead the team) and kept drives alive with key catches on third down.

The offensive line held up well throughout the season. They are a young group and if they can stay healthy, could be a strength of this team for years to come. If Trent Williams can keep his act clean, he will be a Pro Bowler for years. Josh LeRibeus and Adam Gettis performed well for rookies and could develop into strong starters in the next year or two.

Now for a few, not so positive things. The team needs to end the Brandon Banks experiment. He was completely ineffective this year. Richard Crawford filled in well on punt returns and while I don’t think he’s a long term solution, Niles Paul handled kickoff returns well. Banks is too erratic and does not make good decisions.

I have no idea what the team will do with DeAngelo Hall, but I assure you, whatever they do, it will be the wrong thing. He has expressed interest to stay with the team, but I don’t know how I feel about that. The man is talented and was second on the team with 4 interceptions, but he is good for a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty every game. And it always seems to come at the worst time. He’s a good tackler who doesn’t like to do it and is more interested in trying to strip the ball than anything else. I’d say let him go, but the moment you do that, he’ll become an All-Pro elsewhere.

The defense, as a whole was not consistent, but they certainly got better after the bye week. In the first nine games of the season, the defense gave up an average of 398 yards and 27.5 points per game. After the bye, those numbers dropped to 352 and 20. If the defense continues to play as it did in the back half of the season, there’s not too much to worry about. Play as they did in the first half of the season and 2013 will be a long season and not because of making the playoffs.

I don’t like to blame injuries for a poor performance because every team has injuries. I tend to look at what healthy players might mean moving forward. Losing Brian Orakpo and Adam Carriker so early in the season seemed so devastating, but those injuries allowed us to see what Rob Jackson and Jarvis Jenkins could do. Jackson had a very good year filling in and Jenkins will continue to develop into a good player. I don’t think Fred Davis’ injury hurt too much with Paulsen and Paul picking up the slack nicely. Chris Cooley was brought back for stability at the position as well. Morris’ season kind of made everyone forget about Hightower and Helu being out all season and while Hightower won’t be back in 2013, there will be plenty of depth at RB.

In the defensive secondary, the Redskins were hurt by the absence of Brandon Meriweather (injury) and Tanard Jackson (suspension), but if they can come back in 2013, the secondary will be that much better.

Is it possible the Redskins have found stability at Kicker? Kai Forbath was just about automatic after joining the team and if he can continue, then maybe the carousal of kickers can stop.

Looking ahead to 2013, the biggest question is obviously Robert Griffin’s knee. No one can honestly say when he’ll be back and how he will be able to perform when he does. To speculate on that would be foolish, so we’ll just table any talk on RGIII for a couple of months. Outside of that, getting Carriker, Orakpo, Meriweather and Jackson back should hopefully shore up the defense and make them more consistent. Two other players I’m interested in seeing come back are Keenan Robinson and Chase Minnifield.  The Redskins will eventually need to find a replacement for London Fletcher and they need to find out if Robinson is that player. Minnifield is a bit of an unknown. He was a good player at UVA and obviously has the bloodlines, but hasn’t had a chance to really show what he can do at the pro level.

I am optimistic about 2013, but that’s too far away to start worrying about. The team will have a tougher schedule and key players returning from injury. The hope is that players coming back from injury will be able to return to the level of play they had before being injured. If that’s the case, consider getting those players back to really be your draft pool. Carriker, Orakpo, Meriweather and Jackson played a total of five games in 2012 and they were all projected to start the entire season. Getting them back will help make up for no first round pick in 2013.

I did not touch on the coaching staff as my feelings on the Shanahans is well documented. Rehashing it all at this point would be a waste of time. We all saw the same thing and the sight of RGIII on the ground says it all.

We need more of this...

and less of this...

and this...

Someone Else's Words

I plan on writing my end of the season evaluation of the Washington Redskins in the next few days as i don't want to write anything without making sure my head is clear and I wanted to wait until the results of RGIII's surgery. I've already gotten into one "discussion" with a friend and fellow Redskins fan who basically accused me of not being a real fan since I said I wanted Mike Shanahan fired. I'm going to avoid that for now, but I wanted to post someone's reply to an entry over at ProFootballTalk concerning the whole Coach Shanahan and Dr. Andrews debacle over the handling of Robert Griffin III. I did not write this, but I certainly agree with it. 

Here’s what people outside DC may not realize:

The midget owner is an insecure control freak who was desperate for a playoff win and football success after years of failure and being mocked mercilessly by the local press for his misguided efforts to run the show with nothing to show for it.

The coach, unaccustomed to a critical press in DC as compared to what he had experienced in Denver and stumbing badly in the PR arena, was under heavy fire 9 weeks into the season (at 3-6) and desperate to prove he could still coach, amid widespread local speculation he was yet another in a seemingly unending series of hiring failures by the midget, and in fact he even tried to forestall such speculation by announcing they were now going to evaluate players for next year (assuming he returned) and implicitly stating the sesaon had ended, much to his players’ surprise and dismay. Meanwhile his OC was being lambasted as having gotten his job only through nepotism and his DC was about to be run out of town.

Lo and behold, his QB uses the bye week to rally the team to an improbable series of wins and a playoff spot combining sterling play with a little good fortune, but gradually subjecting himself to more and more wear and tear. Coach is no dummy, realizes this fortuitous series of events could save his job and reputation, but also that his QB is the magic wand that makes it all work.

Not suprisingly, neither the owner, who craves national spotlight showing him dancing in the owner’s suite as a “winner”, nor the coach who knows he is safe as long as his shortsighted owner is happy, is going to ask painful but necessary questions like – what is in our long-term interest? Result – keep sending that QB out there.

It will be a typical Snyderian result if his QB can’t play effectively next season and they watch St. Louis draft studs for several years with their draft choices. Worthy of a Cerrato award.

That about sums it up. I also commented on the article and my reply can be found here.

It All Comes Down To...

Redskins versus Cowboys in the last game of the season to decide the division title. That’s the way it should be, although it hasn’t happened in 33 years. The Redskins will know before the game whether they need to win to make the playoffs, but regardless of what happens earlier in the day, the winner of the game will win the NFC East. The Cowboys will be looking to avenge a Thanksgiving Day loss to the Redskins in Dallas earlier this season, while the Redskins will be looking for their first playoff appearance since 2007 and their first division title since 1999.

I haven’t been this excited for a Redskins game in quite some time and it feels good. The Redskins are coming in on a 6 game win streak and here’s hoping they can keep that momentum going. The Cowboys lost their last game to New Orleans in overtime, but had won 3 straight before that. The Cowboys have lost two straight games twice this season and both times they lost the first game at home and the second game on the road. If that holds up, the Redskins can look at hosting a playoff game the following weekend. If the Redskins lose and still manage to sneak into the playoffs (they would need Minnesota and Chicago to both lose), they would go on the road to either San Francisco or Seattle (the Redskins’ last 2 playoff losses have been to Seattle).

If the Redskins win, it will be their first 10 win season since 2005 and only their third in the last 21 years. Before the season started, I predicted a 6 win season for the Redskins (they’ve averaged 6.4 over the last 9 years), but in that same prediction I thought, based on games they should/could win or lose, the team could finish 9-7. Here’s hoping I’m wrong on both accounts.

Only four times in the history of this rivalry have the Redskins swept the season series with the Cowboys (1984, 1987, 1995, 2005). Here’s to a fifth time. The Redskins and Cowboys have played on December 30th once before. It was in 2007 at FedEx Field and the Redskins won 27-6. The Cowboys have an all-time 16-12 regular season record against the Redskins in the month of December (the Redskins beat the Cowboys on 12/21/72 in the playoffs), but the Redskins have the edge 5-3, including the last two, when they meet in the last game of the regular season.

What does all this mean? It means that Sunday night’s game is big for Redskins’ fans (I don’t care about Dallas fans). It means a lot of people will ask me if I still hate Shanatan and his son the Boy Genius (I do). It means, hell, I don’t know what it means other than I wish it was Sunday night already. Hail!

Evaluate? Let's Do It

I’ve caught some grief over the last few years for my constant bitching about Mike (along with Kyle) Shanahan being Head Coach of the Redskins. Ever since he was hired, I have not hid my feelings about him. It really surfaced after he completed his second season as coach. He had the worst first two seasons as a Redskins head coach since Bill McPeak in 1961-62. To clarify, that’s 50 years and he had the worst record. Worse than Steve Spurrier and Jim Zorn. That’s just not good. They’ve won 3 games so far this season putting them on pace for another 6 win season. I guess I shouldn’t complain too much if he did that. At least it would be above his average, but they may not even get there since the team is just playing to be evaluated at this point.

I came across this article today and apparently I’m not the only one who thinks that Mike Shanahan is overrated as a head coach. According to NFL players surveyed, Shanahan ranks as the fourth most overrated head coach in the league. He’s considered more overrated than Norv Turner and he’s quite possibly the worst head coach ever. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Mike Shanahan should have never been hired as coach. I’ve been told that we as fans need to give him a chance and that we can’t keep having a coaching carousal. Dan Snyder has only given Joe Gibbs more than 2 seasons as head coach and that was done out of respect and a bit or worship. I know the team has shown flashes of greatness this season, but that happens every year. With all the draft picks that were given up to get RGIII, how is the team supposed to improve? High priced free agents? We’ve seen how well that worked. Snyder even tried that by signing Shanahan and we see where that has gotten us.

Dan Snyder needs to look back at what Jack Kent Cooke did as owner. JKC rolled the dice when he hired Gibbs. Yes, Gibbs lost his first 5 games as coach, but finished the season 8-8 and then improved on that the next year. I know the league is not the same as it was 30 years ago, but Snyder needs to find a young assistant coach and give him a shot. The last time the Redskins did that was with Norv Turner and while I think he was a horrible head coach, at least Turner showed a noticeable improvement in his first three years. 

Get rid of the Shanahans now, before they get RGIII killed, cut the fat when it comes to some of the under performing veterans and try and rebuild the team properly rather than trying to piecemeal it together. This will be hard to do since they traded away all their picks, but it is possible. I know some players have come out in support of the coach, but let’s be realistic, how much respect is there for him? Would players be willing to sign with a team if they don’t respect the coach? I doubt it. It’s time to end the charade before it gets even worse. 

Redskins ~ Week 2

I’m a little late with my thoughts on the Redskins loss to the Rams, but a loss really doesn’t motivate me to want to write. I must preface this blog by saying that while I did watch the game, I didn’t pay as good of attention as I could or should have. As you may or may not know, I bought a PS3 recently so I could get the NFL Sunday Ticket (I don’t have nor can I get DirecTV) and watch the Redskins from the privacy of my own home and not be surrounded by a bunch of drunk obnoxious fans of other teams. For reasons unknown to everyone outside of Sony, I was unable to purchase Sunday Ticket. They did not want to take my money. I decided to go to my local Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the game. By the time I got there the place was packed and I resigned myself to going back home and missing the game. As I was driving home, I remembered that there was a Hooters nearby and headed there. I was able to get a seat at the bar, but the game, at first was on the TV directly behind me and all the way across the place. They eventually put the game on a TV I could easily watch, but I’ll admit, I had a hard time concentrating with all the Jets, Steelers and Cowboys fans yelling and screaming.

After listening to all the pundits and reading a bunch of different things on line, it seems that everyone has their own reason as to why the Redskins lost to the Rams 31-28. Some of the reasons include: replacement refs, special teams, injuries, poor defense and of course Josh Morgan. Let me address some of these issues. Both teams played with the same set of refs. Calls were missed throughout the game for both sides. It probably all evens out. If Redskins fans are going to be upset about a missed call, it should be the one missed on Chris Long for taunting after Josh Morgan’s boneheaded penalty. That would have negated the 15 yards on Morgan and left Cundiff with a 47 yard FG attempt instead of 62. Still no guarantee he’d make it, but I would have liked his chances.

The only thing special about the Redskins’ special teams is that they should be riding the short bus. After having 5 kicks blocked last season, one would think that Danny Smith and the rest of the coaching staff would have made it a priority to ensure that there were no blocked kicks this season. That apparently was not the case. Last week the Redskins had a blocked punt returned for a touchdown and this week had another blocked that gave the Rams the ball at the Redskins’ 24 yard line. Four plays later the Rams scored a touchdown and converted a 2 point conversion for what turned out to be the winning score.

The Redskins suffered two devastating injuries on Sunday. Brian Orakpo tore his pectoral muscle and Adam Carriker tore a quad tendon. Both are out for the season. I do not want to reduce what these two players mean to the defense, but they were out for most of the game. The Redskins did not lose this game because they were injured. They may lose some games because they’re done for the season, but we’ll never fully know.

The defense is not good. There’s no other way to put it. The Rams had 23 first downs, were 7-12 converting third downs, had 452 total yards and scored 31 points. That is not good. If you look at the first two games, the Redskins defense has given up 627 yards passing (2nd worst in the league), 6 receiving TDs (worst in league), 810 total yards (5th worst), 31.5 points per game (6th worst) and have had 19 penalties called against them (2nd most) for 167 yards (most in league) all while being on the field for an average of 26 minutes a game (6th lowest in the league). What does this mean? It means that the Redskins defense gives up more per minute than just about every other defense. Can’t expect to win games like that. Also, anytime you have one WR catch 15 passes against you in a single game, you’re doing something wrong. Lastly, the Redskins lead 21-6 with 6:19 left in the second quarter. I know that’s still relatively early in the game, but they proceeded to give up 17 straight points. You can’t win games playing like that.

The biggest finger was pointed at Josh Morgan. After making a 7 yard catch and being just short of a first down, he got frustrated at a defender and threw the ball at him drawing a 15 yard penalty. The end result was the Redskins trying a 62 yard FG instead of a 47 yard one. Someone must have forgotten to tell the team they got rid of David Akers years ago, but I digress.

These are all valid excuses as to why the Redskins lost, but they’re not the reasons. I don’t think it’s any secret of my hated of the Shanahans as coaches and Sunday’s game showed why. Papa Shanahan has been called a genius and his kid is supposed to be some boy wonder when it comes to offense. I beg to differ. There are three plays that sum up why this team lost. The first play came towards the end of the first half. The Redskins had the ball in their own end with less than 2 minutes after the Rams scored their first touchdown. They had first down on their own 36 when Griffin threw an interception. It’s a pass that should have never been thrown, but he’s a rookie and you almost expect him to try and make that throw. If he doesn’t throw that pick, the worst that happens is the Redskins run out the clock and go into halftime leading 21-13. You can not turn the ball over in your own end at the end of a half. Griffin’s INT led to the second play that cost the Skins the game. The Rams, after starting at the Redskins 40 yard line, had gotten the ball to the Skins’ 24 with :07 left in the half. The trotted their FG unit out onto the field to attempt a 42 yard FG. The kick was up and it was no good. That’s great, Griffin’s interception didn’t hurt the team. Wait, what? Shanahan had called a timeout? Why? He wanted to ice the kicker? Doesn’t look he needed to do that because the kick was missed. Oh well, let’s give him another shot. Of course, the Rams make the second and now trail 21-16. I remember saying out loud at the bar, “Better hope that doesn’t come back to haunt the team.” Calling a timeout to ice the kicker is the most overrated and overused coaching move in football. The third play was the Redskins’ final play of the game. I get that everyone was upset about Morgan’s penalty, but isn’t there a reason you drafted Griffin as your franchise quartback? He makes plays, right? Are you telling me that Cundiff, whose longest FG is 56 yards and happened 7 years ago, had a better shot at hitting a 62 yard one than Griffin did at picking up 16 yards? Either the coaches were delusional about Cundiff’s ability or they didn’t have enough confidence in their Heisman Trophy winning franchise quarterback. Either way it  doesn’t give me much confidence as a fan.

It’s easy to nitpick when your team loses by 3 points, but the Redskins should have been in the position they were in at the end of the game. I listed three plays that I thought changed the game and two of them were coach related. The third was on Griffin and I’m not going to blame him for the play (only because he’s a rookie) or for the loss. I could have added a fourth play, the blocked punt, as to why the Redskins lost. That’s another one on the coaches. If you have one kick blocked, that could be on a player, but if you have punts blocked in consecutive games, that goes on the coaches.

The Redskins get Cincinnati at home and after seeing how bad the Redskins’ defense is and the show that Andy Dalton put on for the Bengals this week, I’m not overly confident of the Skins’ chances. Before the season, i would have thought this was a game they should win, but for now, I’ll just say that they can win it, but it’s far from guaranteed.