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***Official*** Washington Redskins 2014 Thread (In-Season) (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter RGIII HTTR
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MattFancy
Footballguy
There was a really good post from another message board that showed how teams addressed the OL/DL in the 1st/2nd rounds of the draft. Since 2000, the Redskins have used 1 pick in the 1st/2nd on the lines: Trent Williams in 2010.
On the topic of who will start next week -- was just in the car listening to Sports Radio 106.7: Grant Paulsen, Danny Roulie (sp) and (wait for it) Fred Smoot (haha). They were discussing "who should start vs. Dallas." All were adamant that Gruden should go back to Cousins vs. Dallas. Several rationals:
1. Griffin may practice this Wednesday but golly gee can we let him practice a little bit before starting him?
2. Cousins has problems but he is potentially a longer term investment here, so much like Griffin, let him get in there and grow. Who knows, he may stay here as a very capable backup (not sure anyone is signing him primo FA dollars to start right now).
3. We are doing with Colt what we did with Cousins. He comes in one half, throws mostly dinks and dunks, Pierre Garcon single handedly gives him over half his yards and his TDs after a glorified screen pass..and now LET'S GO WITH COLT! But in reality, Colt was third string here for a reason, JUST as Cousins was second string for a reason. WIth the season lost, emphasis should be placed on building up guys who are gonna be here. STAY THE COURSE!
4. While Cousins makes mistakes, he also has more of an ability to go downfield than Colt, and you may need that to stay with Dallas. Dink and dunk, and you will lose for sure. Go for it and you will likely lose but MAY win.
I kind of see where the guys are coming from. I know that Cousins has been a turnover machine but there is a part of me that thinks, you have to try Cousins one more time at Dallas. You can chalk this one benching up to a situational benching as long as you go back to him. But if you essentially demote him to third string now, he's likely done here. EVEN with his INT problems, not sure I'm quite ready for that. Still think that he can learn to be more cool in the pocket and be a very, very capable second stringer here.
If we lose to Dallas it doesn't matter. Whatever decision we make should have long term thinking behind it. WIth that said, does it make more sense to try on Colt for the future or try to salvage Cousins?
1. Griffin may practice this Wednesday but golly gee can we let him practice a little bit before starting him?
2. Cousins has problems but he is potentially a longer term investment here, so much like Griffin, let him get in there and grow. Who knows, he may stay here as a very capable backup (not sure anyone is signing him primo FA dollars to start right now).
3. We are doing with Colt what we did with Cousins. He comes in one half, throws mostly dinks and dunks, Pierre Garcon single handedly gives him over half his yards and his TDs after a glorified screen pass..and now LET'S GO WITH COLT! But in reality, Colt was third string here for a reason, JUST as Cousins was second string for a reason. WIth the season lost, emphasis should be placed on building up guys who are gonna be here. STAY THE COURSE!
4. While Cousins makes mistakes, he also has more of an ability to go downfield than Colt, and you may need that to stay with Dallas. Dink and dunk, and you will lose for sure. Go for it and you will likely lose but MAY win.
I kind of see where the guys are coming from. I know that Cousins has been a turnover machine but there is a part of me that thinks, you have to try Cousins one more time at Dallas. You can chalk this one benching up to a situational benching as long as you go back to him. But if you essentially demote him to third string now, he's likely done here. EVEN with his INT problems, not sure I'm quite ready for that. Still think that he can learn to be more cool in the pocket and be a very, very capable second stringer here.
If we lose to Dallas it doesn't matter. Whatever decision we make should have long term thinking behind it. WIth that said, does it make more sense to try on Colt for the future or try to salvage Cousins?
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Yeah, and that was one of our best draft picks in recent years!
There was one other "boring pick." Remember when everyone was expecting us to trade up for Blaine Gabbert and we drafted Kerrigan # 15. All the Internet trolls made fun of us for the "boring pick"
Turned out to perhaps be one of the best picks we've made in the last ten years...
MattFancy
Footballguy
I'd rather have the boring pick than the flashy pick that doesn't pan out. We're really good at those.
Bankerguy
Footballguy
Hey guys...
Regardless of records for our teams I always enjoy Washington weeks and certainly don't take anything for granted. We always have close games and upsets.
Can you guys give me an update on your defense (what you are doing well and not doing well). If you get good QB play I could see DJax and Garcon having success against us.
Looking forward to a good week...
Regardless of records for our teams I always enjoy Washington weeks and certainly don't take anything for granted. We always have close games and upsets.
Can you guys give me an update on your defense (what you are doing well and not doing well). If you get good QB play I could see DJax and Garcon having success against us.
Looking forward to a good week...
MattFancy
Footballguy
Defense hasn't been very good outside of Kerrigan, Robinson, Hatcher and Breeland. Our run defense has actually been very good, one of the best in the league good. So they'll have a big test this week against Murray.
I don't really see us pulling out a win here. Could we? Sure. But I'm not betting on it.
Dude, classy post...thank you.
Story on Redskins defense all year has been they are fairly stout against the run. At the same time, their secondary is not very good. So I think the basic idea is that teams will beat them through the air, not so much on the ground.
That's really bottom lining it and I'm sure others will give more details but I think this is the big picture.
Here's a link: McCoy is starter until Griffin returns.
But the way they are making it sound, Griffin's return is fairly imminent...
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/20/kirk-cousins-benched-colt-mccoy-will-start-until-rg3-is-cleared/
But the way they are making it sound, Griffin's return is fairly imminent...
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/20/kirk-cousins-benched-colt-mccoy-will-start-until-rg3-is-cleared/
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
Hear Gruden on the radio. You're going with Colt. Orakpo is IR'd with some dude named Trent a getting Raks spot, Kerrigen to possible switch.
IMO Hatcher and your RBs are the key to a Skins victory. Skins should try and run all over us and pop the PA bomb occasionally. Don't play conservative, no designed dump offs or bubble screens.
The cowboys D is only effective because it stays well rested. They give up yards ( hey , who doesn't theses days?), and don't get an inordinate amount of pressure to the QB. Unfortunately for y'all, they're solid against the run.
I see the skins calling a trick play or two with how effective they were for a few other teams yesterday.
To piggy back on what banker guy said, I'm a die hard Cowboys fan here in Skins country so you're my people, despite your poor decision to root for home teams .
Good luck gentlemen.
IMO Hatcher and your RBs are the key to a Skins victory. Skins should try and run all over us and pop the PA bomb occasionally. Don't play conservative, no designed dump offs or bubble screens.
The cowboys D is only effective because it stays well rested. They give up yards ( hey , who doesn't theses days?), and don't get an inordinate amount of pressure to the QB. Unfortunately for y'all, they're solid against the run.
I see the skins calling a trick play or two with how effective they were for a few other teams yesterday.
To piggy back on what banker guy said, I'm a die hard Cowboys fan here in Skins country so you're my people, despite your poor decision to root for home teams .
Good luck gentlemen.
Ted Mullins
Footballguy
I definitely saw that too, I specifically remember some people associated with the Pats saying it. I wonder if it was possibly being overstated? If you're writing something about the Skins' training camp you can get far more attention by suggesting Cousins looks better.
VaTerp
Footballguy
Skins D is very good against the run. Hatcher has been disruptive, Kerrigan has a great motor and played fairly well. Keenan Robinson has displayed good sideline to sideline ability as an ILB, and Breeland and Amerson have shown some promise as young CBs.
On the other hand, aside from one game against Jax the Skins get practically zero pressure on the QB, the LBs are not very good in coverage for the most part, the CBs are young and somewhat prone to penalties, and there is not a starting NFL caliber safety on this roster.
I will be at the game as I have for I believe 5 of the last 6 in Dallas (my in laws live there now). I don't have any expectation the Skins will win this game and just hope not to be embarrassed on national TV. That and as a Murray owner in FF I hope he escapes healthy. Say what you want but when you root for a team that has been this bad for this long, my FF goals take precedence.
Griffindor
Footballguy
Sad about Orakpo, but I am excited to see more Trent Murphy.
Oh, I should add, any talk of starting Griffin right now reeks of desperation. I don't want to hear Gruden is even thinking about thinking about rushing him back. The season is a lost cause. Don't give up your future rushing him back trying to salvage a seven win season or anything stupid like that.
fatness
Footballguy
I agree with almost all you said.
1. I don't think Cousins has an NFL future though. I did until I watched him play some games. He threw INT's in college, in training camp, in regular season games. It's what he does, and he is who he is. If there's any player who got more good press out of doing less I can't think of them.
2. Yep, the O-line sucks. No decent backups either. Moses and Long were inactive yesterday so they're not ready.
3. Hatcher did pretty well yesterday when not double-teamed. Unfortunately that's all other teams have to do to negate the Redskins D-line --- double team Hatcher. Keenan Robinson is good; watch him for a whole drive or two during a game and you'll see what I mean. He recognizes where a play is going and reacts very quickly. He's their only good ILB. Kerrigan's had a good sack year but he doesn't earn his sacks by himself; it's usually in combination with the guy next to him (often Trent Murphy). Now that Orakpo is gone, Murphy will likely take his spot, so performance at both OLB spots will drop off resultingly. Speaking of Orakpo, this is the guy's 4th injury this year. When you're 7 games in and already have 4 injuries, it just ain't gonna happen that year. I'll be sorry to see him go, but once he got a finger on each hand injured this year he couldn't use his hands to make any moves besides bullrushing and was negated as a rusher. He did play the run well, though; I'd expect Murphy to struggle with that. He's not as quick as Orakpo.
4. I'm still not sure about Gruden, He obviously has a "system" he wants to use and the Redskins don't run it well. I'm hopeful he's not yet so set in his ways that he won't change. If he doesn't adapt to what the players do well his ### will be out of here in a season or two since he doesn't, and won't, have a loaded roster. As for his honesty, I initially found that refreshing about Zorn too. But then I realized that whether he intended it or not he was just calling out players, publicly, while not calling out the coaching staff. And he gradually lost the team. Gruden runs that risk, and continued losing will heighten it. If they lose their next 3 or 4 and Gruden's still criticizing players in press conferences you'll hear plenty of unattributed grumbling from the locker room. It's not like Gruden has a long history of being a successful coach, or lots of past history with these players. I was glad to see him run a bit more yesterday, and very glad to see him yank Cousins. I'd still like to know who fooled the world into believing Kirk Cousins was a good QB. Must have been Keyser Soze; he sure fooled Gruden too.
5. Front office needs a GM. I doubt Allen will ever hire one, due to ego. It's a matter of how long the owner will put up with a bad roster, and blaming it on bad coaching, bad effort, etc. I'd love to see Allen fired at the end of the year, and a real GM hired. But it won't happen. Allen seems like as much of a sycophant as Vinnie, and we all know how long Vinnie stuck around after it was obvious he was incompetent.
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fatness
Footballguy
Breeland played his best game yesterday. He's noticeably improving, and I can live with the mistakes along the way. I think he'll be a good starting corner for them. As will Amerson.
It was funny when Breeland intercepted and just lay there for a few seconds before he got up and ran. I'm sure someone yelled at him "this ain't college ---- run!".
fatness
Footballguy
Those pushing for Cousins in training camp and preseason were those who didn't like Griffin, and those who wanted a straight drop-back QB. I believe Chris Russell was one. Al Galdi has been pimping Cousins heavily. Keim wasn't. Mike Jones wasn't.
The Patriots staff talking about him was just BS; it was around the time of a scrimmage or game I believe.
fatness
Footballguy
Hey BG, good to see you again.
Ask the Cowboys to go easy on us, OK. We kinda suck this year, which is different than last year when we sucked and didn't know it for awhile.
Dallas can run right through the middle of this defense about 50% of the time, and can almost always go wide and get the corner if Murray is quick enough. Our OLB's usually rush the QB and they get outflanked a lot. One of them will likely be making his first start, too.
I'm totally surprised at how well the Cowboys are doing this year. The O-line has really developed, Murray hasn't gotten hurt, and they've been smart enough to run the ball a lot. Congrats so far, especially on beating Seattle.
Let's be fair: don't you think there were people who were saying Cousins was doing better based on what they actually saw. It doesn't have to mean that they just "didn't like him."
From what I recall, there was a stretch of time in which RGIII was struggling in Gruden's offense and Cousins was coming in, getting rid of it quickly, and looking more comfortable in that traditional set. It's a bit of revisionist history to act like RGIII was killing it, Cousins was throwing picks left and right, and these observers were saying Cousins in better. I kind of give them the benefit of the doubt that they were responding to the play on the field and it wasn't just "hate."
Now, the way things have worked out, clearly Cousins is not at all better than Griffin. So, everyone saying he was better obviously were mistaken in their assessment. And if they persist, then it might be suspect. But, to be fair, football observers are mistaken about a lot of things -- as a stupid fan I know I am routinely mistaken. So I'm not inclined to believe that all these guys just "don't like Griffin." That feels like a reach. The entire town, media and league embraced Griffin when he was performing...
Well, to be fair, they all felt Griffin should start as soon as he is healthy. They are not hyping Cousins over Griffin now...that's for sure. I think they just see it as "lesser of two evils" at this point...MikeApf said:
They're so in love with him they want to give him one more chance I guess. Screw the team, screw how many games Cousins helped lose, we like him!
Well, to be fair, they all felt Griffin should start as soon as he is healthy. They are not hyping Cousins over Griffin now...that's for sure. I think they just see it as "lesser of two evils" at this point...MikeApf said:
They're so in love with him they want to give him one more chance I guess. Screw the team, screw how many games Cousins helped lose, we like him!
Either way, the one positive thing about how all this shook out is the whole "cousins in better than griffin" thing is officially dead. At this point, I want to see Griffin in the game healthy and see what he can do the rest of the year.Well, to be fair, they all felt Griffin should start as soon as he is healthy. They are not hyping Cousins over Griffin now...that's for sure. I think they just see it as "lesser of two evils" at this point...MikeApf said:
They're so in love with him they want to give him one more chance I guess. Screw the team, screw how many games Cousins helped lose, we like him!
I think dgreen has said it best in the past that if they could mix a bit of the running Griffin from the Shanahan era with a new and improved "sliding and protecting himself" griffin, he still could be that player we need.
As for Cousins, he had his shot and he didn't come through this time. HE is not starter caliber material, but for some reason, I don't want to pile on or say he sucks. I honestly would like to see him stay on as backup and learn to control his emotions so that he's not a turn over machine when he does come in. Every team needs a good backup...why tear him down if he can help us??
fatness
Footballguy
I didn't say those things, Mike.
It's obvious from Keim's report that he and others were aware of Cousins's repeated INT's in training camp. And it's pretty obvious that getting in and out of the huddle, delivering the ball quickly, and looking like a typical dropback passer doesn't outweigh repeated INT's . If you have another explanation for why those pushing Cousins (which apparently includes Gruden) were blind to his INT problem and pushed for him anyway, I'm all ears.
fatness
Footballguy
OK, that's cool, dude. If I misunderstood what you were writing, please accept my apologies, cool?
That said, I don't have any special insight in terms of why all those guys were pushing Cousins in lieu of his history of throwing picks. Perhaps they were thinking that with experience, he could reduce the picks and still keep his positive qualities But heck, I dunno...you'd have to ask them.. Again, to be fair, supporters of Griffin are not saying that, since he hasn't protected himself in the past, he'll NEVER learn to do it. So, I guess if you say that Griffin can learn from the past and get better, then it's a fair point to say Cousins can do so as well. It seems to me that "supporters" of either player have a hard time with just calling it even both ways.
So in the end, don't know why those guys were pushing Cousins. It's just -- it's weird at the time a lot of people saw lots of flaws in Griffins game and they saw that Cousins was a little more ahead in that area, that's all it was I think. And, even with all of Cousin's flaws, they might have been right that he was ahead in some areas. That doesn't mean he's a better player of course. But all Griffin had to do was excel in the offense and all of it would have been quieted. IN the end, I think it had less to do with folks hating on Griffin or wanting a tradition QB and more to do with Griffin not performing the way people expected in his third year. I think that's all I'm trying to say.
ON a related note, I'm a little concerned that now that Cousins has stunk up the joint, we're all so eager for Griffin to return, that our expectations of his play may be a little exxagerated. I fully expect him to come in learning the system and he's going to continue to have growing pains -- ironically just like Cousins. The more we can control our exxagerated judgements of all these guys the better. Remember, in teh same way a lot of folks are saying Cousins is completely worthless, he'll always be a turnover machine, etc....others are saying Griffin will always be fragile, can't protect himself, etc. Might be good to cool it a bit on the twenty something players will *always* do this or that and kind of let them learn the game.
Oh well...Dallas game will be interesting.
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Sebowski
Footballguy
I just found my old dusty homer glasses in the back of my closet...
Dallass games are unpredictable. I hope for the best on Monday. It's a long shot, but that is why they play the games. Colt returning to Texas as a starter in a Monday night game. Could be a story book game for him.
After that I see 5 extremely winnable games on the schedule: Minny, TB, STL, SF (they are falling apart), and NY (I know, I know, I just still think they are terrible and we can get them). We take care of business there and then we just need some good bounces and…. who knows. At the very least we can turn this into a respectable season with a first year head coach and a QB on the mend. The future is bright! Or my glasses are so dusty I can't see straight….
Dallass games are unpredictable. I hope for the best on Monday. It's a long shot, but that is why they play the games. Colt returning to Texas as a starter in a Monday night game. Could be a story book game for him.
After that I see 5 extremely winnable games on the schedule: Minny, TB, STL, SF (they are falling apart), and NY (I know, I know, I just still think they are terrible and we can get them). We take care of business there and then we just need some good bounces and…. who knows. At the very least we can turn this into a respectable season with a first year head coach and a QB on the mend. The future is bright! Or my glasses are so dusty I can't see straight….
TobiasFunke
Footballguy
Yeah, but they used a first rounder on Chris Samuels in 2000 and locked down the most prized Oline spot (the one you're most likely to use a high draft pick on) for the next decade, so there really wasn't all that much reason to use a high draft pick on the OLine, although they certainly could have used some of the 2nd round picks on linemen. And they've used multiple first round picks on pass-rushing LBs in the 3-4, which basically counts as a DLine pick.
Should have been more picks used to bulk up the middle, for sure, but that quick summary of their early picks over the last 15 years isn't entirely fair.
http://sports.yahoo.com/video/washington-redskins-head-coach-jay-194000087.html
This link takes you to portions of Gruden's Monday press conference, where he talks about the starting QB for Monday night. Several things:
1. Whoever said that possibly starting Griffin was a "smokescreen"...I agree with you. Gruden sounded very cautious about Griffin.
2. It's nice to see that Gruden is at least saying that he won't return until he really is fully healthy so he doesn't get hurt again...they have to look out for Griffin at this point.
3. Hasn't been discussed a lot, but around the middle of the clip when he's talking about what Robert has to do to return, he mentions, "he has to be comfortable wearing the brace." I have to admit, my heart kind of sank when I heard this. I know that it's the best thing for Griffin to wear extra protection around that ankle, but I remember then infamous "knee brace" and how slow and clunky it made him, which is obviously really crucial for a QB who makes so many things happen with his mobility.
Led me to a question which is what is a really realistic timeline to think that Griffin will not only be healhy enough to go out and play, but health enough to truly run around like he used to. WE've seen this before...he can be healthy enough to go out into the game but not healthy enough to be effective. I'm not really familiar with dislocated ankles. Can you come back from those things in a short time frame and be "good as new?" Or is it going to be one of those things where we are saying, "He's still getting healthy" all year this year...?
This link takes you to portions of Gruden's Monday press conference, where he talks about the starting QB for Monday night. Several things:
1. Whoever said that possibly starting Griffin was a "smokescreen"...I agree with you. Gruden sounded very cautious about Griffin.
2. It's nice to see that Gruden is at least saying that he won't return until he really is fully healthy so he doesn't get hurt again...they have to look out for Griffin at this point.
3. Hasn't been discussed a lot, but around the middle of the clip when he's talking about what Robert has to do to return, he mentions, "he has to be comfortable wearing the brace." I have to admit, my heart kind of sank when I heard this. I know that it's the best thing for Griffin to wear extra protection around that ankle, but I remember then infamous "knee brace" and how slow and clunky it made him, which is obviously really crucial for a QB who makes so many things happen with his mobility.
Led me to a question which is what is a really realistic timeline to think that Griffin will not only be healhy enough to go out and play, but health enough to truly run around like he used to. WE've seen this before...he can be healthy enough to go out into the game but not healthy enough to be effective. I'm not really familiar with dislocated ankles. Can you come back from those things in a short time frame and be "good as new?" Or is it going to be one of those things where we are saying, "He's still getting healthy" all year this year...?
PinkydaPimp
Footballguy
IMO if he is healthy enough to play and is at no greater risk to reinjur himself, im ok with him going out there. Even if that means hes not back to his tip top level. Because i believe part of that takes reps and getting used to game speed again and also comfortable with the rush.
he also needs the reps and continue learning the system.
Yes, that sounds reasonable.
The rest of the season really is basically about getting him back anyways...
Brunell4MVP
Footballguy
Griffin has no motivation to be out there this season. None. The season is over. The one guy who could take his job proved that he won't. He's got huge money due next season, so he's guaranteed a job. The OL isn't very good.
I think they'll let McCoy/Cousins get hammered until the bye week, then roll out griffin against TB (bad def) and get him some reps for the rest of the season and to see if he can hold up physically.
I think they'll let McCoy/Cousins get hammered until the bye week, then roll out griffin against TB (bad def) and get him some reps for the rest of the season and to see if he can hold up physically.
MattFancy
Footballguy
Agreed. We did have Samuels and Jansen achoring the line for awhile. But we still didn't do much to address depth or the other 3 OL spots. I feel like this team has been very reactionary instead of proactive. We wait until a position becomes a need to address it, rather than trying to build depth.TobiasFunke said:
Sidewinder16
Footballguy
What am I missing on this? According to this site, next year is the last year of his rookie contract and his base pay bumps from ~ $2.3 to $3.3 million.
PinkydaPimp
Footballguy
RG3 has plenty of motivation. we dont have to pick up his 5th year option. I think Rg3 needs to show he can pick up the offense and play smart. Otherwise they may not do so, or maybe they bring in someone else to compete.
Sidewinder16
Footballguy
Yeah, I think all Keim is saying is that the Redskins beat reporters, who were at every training camp and preseason practice session open to the media, saw Cousins' hadn't overcome the shortcomings he's showed in the past. The preseason "Cousins love" was probably from national media, or maybe Patriots beat writers, who were only at a few practice sessions.fatness said:
I'm sure if you were to catch the few practices where Cousins looks sharper than normal, and Griffin looks less accurate than normal, anyone could come away thinking the same thing. But those that have seen it all know that, while each can be up and down, overall Griffin is the better QB/talent of the two.
Ted Mullins
Footballguy
Yeah, my understanding is the Redskins have until next March to decide on picking up that 5th year option, so they have to decide on that before any games next year. If that's the case there'd be plenty of incentive for both sides to get Robert back in there - let Robert show something and let the Skins see what they have. I wouldn't expect them to rush it but I fully expect him back after the bye at latest.RG3 has plenty of motivation. we dont have to pick up his 5th year option. I think Rg3 needs to show he can pick up the offense and play smart. Otherwise they may not do so, or maybe they bring in someone else to compete.
Not sure if anyone is keeping a tally, but count me in with the "Robert vs Dallas is a smokescreen" crowd. I'd still put it at like 5% he plays though because I think he'd desperately love to get out there and come back in this situation, but I think Gruden has to know better.
I'm about as cynical as I have ever been about the Skins at this point, but I expect this game to be good. Facing the Cowboys, who are riding Murray, and Skins have actually been pretty solid vs the run. Skins usually do a nice job of getting up for the big games, and 6-1 Cowboys is about as big as it gets. I do worry about the offense sputtering with McCoy. With Shanny's offense I feel like we could basically hide him, not sure Gruden will be able to do that and still move the ball well. We'll see.
TobiasFunke
Footballguy
Totally agree with the bold.
As far as the line is concerned- the OLine in particular- I blame poor middle round drafting and free agent decisionmaking more than I blame their early round draft tendencies.
dgreen
Footballguy
Barring another huge injury, I don't see a scenario (with a meaningful probability of actually happening) where they don't take the 5th year option. Not sure exactly how much that 5th year would be (maybe $4.3M since it's gone up $1M each year), but it's going to be relatively cheap for a starting QB.
He's got plenty to prove. He's a third year QB who no one is sure if he can be a starter or not. With these offensive weapons he needs to show he can come in and be productive and healthy. If not they need to start looking at moving in another direction.
fatness
Footballguy
If they get 3 wins out of those 5 games I'd be happy. I'm assuming they'll lose Monday night to the Cowboys, though. But as you said, strange things can and do happen. They could easily get blown out 42-17 and give up 200 yards rushing. Or they could hang in a tight game until the end and get a break and win by 2. Cowboys went 1-15 one year, and you know who that win was against. Strange things sometimes happen.
I really don't see them stopping Murray though.
fatness
Footballguy
The only way Griffin will play Monday is if Snyder or Allen orders it to happen. Anyone with half a football mind knows he's not ready yet and probably needs another week or 2 of practice after Dallas to be ready.
So many soap opera-like possibilities. What if McCoy stinks up the place? Does Cousins come in and snatch victory at the end? LOL at imagining all the crazy story lines possible.
fatness
Footballguy
Players who eat up salary cap space and shouldn't be on the team (feel free to add or to differ):
Stephen Bowen
Tracy Porter
E J Biggers
I purposely did not put Orakpo on the last because he's been by far their best run defender.
Players I'm real happy about (feel free to add or differ):
Keenan Robinson (seriously, watch this guy for several possessions sometime)
David Amerson
Bashaud Breeland
Desean Jackson
Tress Way (YES HE'S A PUNTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I purposely didn't put Reed on the list because he's been hurt so much.
Clark and Merriweather have both played 2 bad games in a row. We suck so bad at safety now.
Stephen Bowen
Tracy Porter
E J Biggers
I purposely did not put Orakpo on the last because he's been by far their best run defender.
Players I'm real happy about (feel free to add or differ):
Keenan Robinson (seriously, watch this guy for several possessions sometime)
David Amerson
Bashaud Breeland
Desean Jackson
Tress Way (YES HE'S A PUNTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I purposely didn't put Reed on the list because he's been hurt so much.
Clark and Merriweather have both played 2 bad games in a row. We suck so bad at safety now.
First: most of us agree now that when RGIII is healthy, he should be starter. So in terms of this post, let's just assume that as a "given."
Second: regarding whether to play Colt or Cousins until RGIII is healthy, I've been on record as saying we should go with Cousins, despite his turnover problems, in order to build him up for a future potential backup role with the team. My thinking is if you demote him to third string now, then you change that dynamic in a way you may not be able to get back again -- you may not be able to salvage him. Also, I think he can take it downfield better than McCoy, which we may need to compete with the Cowboys. Apart from all this, the one HUGE negative on Cousins is the turnovers, and so presumably you only upset your future plans for Cousins as a primary backup if McCoy is a steady hand at QB that protects that ball and gives you a better chance to win now.
The only problem is, when you look at the numbers, McCoy turns it over pretty regularly himself. Career stats from NFL.com:
McCoy
421 out of 715, 58.9%
4,529 yards, 6.3 yards per attempt
22 TDs, 20 INTs
Cousins
240 out of 407, 59%
3,030 yards, 7.4 yards per attempt
18 TDs, 19 INTs
Numerically, these two are pretty darn similar in terms of TD to interception ratio. To be fair, Cousins has reached his 19 INTs in far fewer attempts than McCoy's 20, so one could argue that his INT per attempt ratio is worse. On the other hand, he's also amassed yardage and TDs at a much quicker clip than McCoy, which is something you may need vs. a team like the Cowboys. You can debate the case either way, but when I reflect on the two, I don't see that McCoy is such a better option that you swerve around and pick a different QB every few weeks vs. having a calm coaching hand and just staying the course until Robert gets back.
The question is: while we are all down on Cousins, why are we all so eager to replace him with McCoy? McCoy does not appear to protect the ball any better + there is probably less to build on there for the future. Are we now just doing another version of what some people did previously, imagining that Cousins was better than Griffin just because Robert was struggling? Now that Cousins is struggling, are we making up stories in our heads that Colt is any better? And if he's no better than Cousins, why make a change that alters the personnel dynamics for the future. If the two are the same, why not just stay the course vs. lurching around.
I think playing the third stringer would have made more sense if your third stringer was an unproven rookie and you wanted to see what he had. But folks know the book on McCoy even more than they knew it on Cousins. McCoy has 20 + starts under his belt and yet for the past 2 years no one has really sniffed at this guy as a serious option.
I hope I am wrong but I think this is a mistake by Gruden. The classic Redskin move is to be overly reactionary. As I say, I hope I'm wrong and McCoy steadies the ship.
Second: regarding whether to play Colt or Cousins until RGIII is healthy, I've been on record as saying we should go with Cousins, despite his turnover problems, in order to build him up for a future potential backup role with the team. My thinking is if you demote him to third string now, then you change that dynamic in a way you may not be able to get back again -- you may not be able to salvage him. Also, I think he can take it downfield better than McCoy, which we may need to compete with the Cowboys. Apart from all this, the one HUGE negative on Cousins is the turnovers, and so presumably you only upset your future plans for Cousins as a primary backup if McCoy is a steady hand at QB that protects that ball and gives you a better chance to win now.
The only problem is, when you look at the numbers, McCoy turns it over pretty regularly himself. Career stats from NFL.com:
McCoy
421 out of 715, 58.9%
4,529 yards, 6.3 yards per attempt
22 TDs, 20 INTs
Cousins
240 out of 407, 59%
3,030 yards, 7.4 yards per attempt
18 TDs, 19 INTs
Numerically, these two are pretty darn similar in terms of TD to interception ratio. To be fair, Cousins has reached his 19 INTs in far fewer attempts than McCoy's 20, so one could argue that his INT per attempt ratio is worse. On the other hand, he's also amassed yardage and TDs at a much quicker clip than McCoy, which is something you may need vs. a team like the Cowboys. You can debate the case either way, but when I reflect on the two, I don't see that McCoy is such a better option that you swerve around and pick a different QB every few weeks vs. having a calm coaching hand and just staying the course until Robert gets back.
The question is: while we are all down on Cousins, why are we all so eager to replace him with McCoy? McCoy does not appear to protect the ball any better + there is probably less to build on there for the future. Are we now just doing another version of what some people did previously, imagining that Cousins was better than Griffin just because Robert was struggling? Now that Cousins is struggling, are we making up stories in our heads that Colt is any better? And if he's no better than Cousins, why make a change that alters the personnel dynamics for the future. If the two are the same, why not just stay the course vs. lurching around.
I think playing the third stringer would have made more sense if your third stringer was an unproven rookie and you wanted to see what he had. But folks know the book on McCoy even more than they knew it on Cousins. McCoy has 20 + starts under his belt and yet for the past 2 years no one has really sniffed at this guy as a serious option.
I hope I am wrong but I think this is a mistake by Gruden. The classic Redskin move is to be overly reactionary. As I say, I hope I'm wrong and McCoy steadies the ship.
TobiasFunke
Footballguy
That's about where he ranks in targets among WRs on the season and not too far ahead of where he ranks in yards, and that's with mediocre at best QB play all season. His size makes him the most attractive red zone target among the Skins' receiving corps, the Skins will probably be playing from behind, and Dallas is an average at best pass defense. Looks pretty reasonable to me.jtp1982 said:
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