Skins-Colts

[Big Mac]

Big game tonight, thoughts?

[JDubs]

Big game tonight, thoughts?

Well, I'm looking forward to the game, but I have my concerns. Their weakness is that they cannot stop the run. We do not have much of a running game to exploit that.

Their strengths are that they have ridiculous pass rushing DEs and the ultimate pocket passer. We have two injured tackles and an established difficulty stopping traditional passers this season. It does not match up well.

The eternal optimist--I'm looking forward to the upset. :D

[RipkenWay]

Big game tonight, thoughts?

This one is a no brainer for me. If the Skins can't pressure Peyton we lose. That guy will carve up your secondary better than the greatest butcher if he has time. For some reason the Colts have not looked unbeatable like they have in previous years. I like the Redskins chances at home but it's going to be tough.

[backwardsk]

I'm trying to get an official list of tonight's inactives. So far, I've heard Haynesworth, McIntosh, Dockery, and Portis.

Beck will be the third QB, anybody hear who the other 3 inactives are?

[RipkenWay]

I'm trying to get an official list of tonight's inactives. So far, I've heard Haynesworth, McIntosh, Dockery, and Portis.

Beck will be the third QB, anybody hear who the other 3 inactives are?

http://dcprosportsreport.com/2010/10/17/redskins-inactives-against-colts/

The Washington Redskins have released their inactives. Not playing today are:
So far what we know is Albert Haynesworth and Rocky McIntosh are inactive. Rest coming.
DT Albert Haynesworth
LB Rocky McIntosh
QB John Beck
OG Derrick Dockery
TE Logan Paulsen
CB Kevin Barnes
NT Anthony Bryant
RB Clinton Portis
NBC says that Albert Haynesworth said he would have loved to have played tonight and does not believe it is a mental or conditioning issue. Here we go again …
As for McIntosh, he suffered a mild concussion, so he was kind of expected to be out. As for Dockery, I really don;’t get it. Even if he is not a perfect fit for the Redskins zone blocking scheme, I refuse to believe he is not a better depth player than Will Montgomery.

[CrimsonTribe]

Quick, someone do a photoshop of the whole Skins secondary with bricks where their hands should be.

[Moose Milligan]

Quick, someone do a photoshop of the whole Skins secondary with bricks where their hands should be.

Just Rogers, really.

[Miller192]

Getting interesting. Big Skins fan tonight.

[mweb]

Just Rogers, really.

Well Moore dropped what was likely the easiest pick, but yeah, Rodgers continues to suck at catching the ball. Had pretty good coverage most of the game though.

Tough loss, but at least they were competitive tonight mostly due to creating turnovers, and having an effective running game.

McNabb still hasn't impressed me so far during his time as a Redskin. He's been rather mediocre.

[Dr. FLK]

Well Moore dropped what was likely the easiest pick, but yeah, Rodgers continues to suck at catching the ball. Had pretty good coverage most of the game though.

Tough loss, but at least they were competitive tonight mostly due to creating turnovers, and having an effective running game.

McNabb still hasn't impressed me so far during his time as a Redskin. He's been rather mediocre.

But he's been good enough to keep them in games without making a lot mistakes to blow games. He's done remarkably well with handling the constant pressure he's under and the frequent hits/sacks, and he's doing a nice job at making Armstrong into a real NFL WR. He hasn't been great, but IMO he's been what this team needs.

If they can bring in some weapons for him in the off season and find a young QB to develop behind him, I think they'll be in good shape going forward.

[Moose Milligan]

Well Moore dropped what was likely the easiest pick, but yeah, Rodgers continues to suck at catching the ball. Had pretty good coverage most of the game though.

Tough loss, but at least they were competitive tonight mostly due to creating turnovers, and having an effective running game.

McNabb still hasn't impressed me so far during his time as a Redskin. He's been rather mediocre.

McNabb has been alright...better than your boy Campbell, I think. :hearts:

He makes throws in the clutch and bigger plays when it counts. I don't think Campbell leads that drive late in the 4th quarter. I agree he hasn't been a world beater, but he's been alright. At any rate, they've been able to score this year...this time last year, our offense looked so pathetic. How long did it take for us to score 24 points last year? There's room for improvement but at least it's better than last year. Torain looked awesome.

Redskins did a great job of forcing turnovers but just couldn't capitalize on getting points from them which was problematic. Biggest thing is Cooley's concussion...really hope he's ok.

[JDubs]

McNabb still hasn't impressed me so far during his time as a Redskin. He's been rather mediocre.

I keep getting this line from fellow skins fans and I don't get it at all. He generally protects the ball very well, doesn't make a lot of mistakes, throws a pretty good long ball, and keeps us in the game. He is not the most accurate QB in the league, but anyone that did not know that has not been watching him in Philly.

He's a great leader and the team (not just the offense) has responded positively to his presence. He gives us a chance to win every week and they know that.

Philly fans failed to recognize McNabb's strengths and eventually soured on him. This led to an ill-advised trade to a division rival. It would be wise if we did not make a similar mistake (not re-signing him).

[mweb]

Reply to the previous three posts:

McNabb hasn't really been that good at limiting mistakes since he has 4 picks not counting the hail mary. Or 3 if you want to disregard the second one yesterday, but he's also thrown a few really bad passes that should have been picked. So he's been decent in that regard, but I wouldn't say it's been a positive. He and the rest of the team have been great at not losing fumbles though.

I'm not sure how he's been clutch either. He's had his moments, but he's been much better in the first half than the second half and was not clutch at all in the first two games. He was great that second game except for coming through in the clutch where he had chances to finish that game off. Granted the missed FG was brutal as well.

He's also been quite inaccurate with his passes and has consistently missed open deep receivers.

His QB rating is only 78.8, actually worse than JC's last year, and he has significantly better offensive coaching.

As far as them scoring more points, well only 2 more a game, some of which can be attributed to Hall's TD.

Overall, he's been disappointing to me and it's hard to understand why anyone would be happy with his performance so far. You don't have to be as critical, but you should have been expecting a top 10 or so QB, which is not what we've had so far.

[Dr. FLK]

Overall, he's been disappointing to me and it's hard to understand why anyone would be happy with his performance so far. You don't have to be as critical, but you should have been expecting a top 10 or so QB, which is not what we've had so far.

If you take a QB and give him a team with no WR, RB, or O-line...throw him into a new offense...and expect a top 10 performance, you're pretty naive IMO.

What I am impressed with is:
-Pocket Presence - He just gets it. He moves well in the pocket. He avoids the blitz. He doesn't take terrible sacks. He doesn't run for no reason, but he does run at the right times.
-Deep Ball - He throws a nice deep ball. We finally have a QB who doesn't throw every deep ball 4 yards out of bounds.
-Leadership - It finally seems like players on this team are accountable for their actions. I think most of that is on Shanny, but guys just seem to play harder for Donovan.

Sure, he needs to make more throws. But, as he gets more weapons around him I think he will. I did hope for more production from him than we're getting, so I am disappointed to some extent. But, he's been worth the price tag so far...and the offense actually looks like a real NFL offense for once.

[mweb]

If you take a QB and give him a team with no WR, RB, or O-line...throw him into a new offense...and expect a top 10 performance, you're pretty naive IMO.What I am impressed with is:
-Pocket Presence - He just gets it. He moves well in the pocket. He avoids the blitz. He doesn't take terrible sacks. He doesn't run for no reason, but he does run at the right times.
-Deep Ball - He throws a nice deep ball. We finally have a QB who doesn't throw every deep ball 4 yards out of bounds.
-Leadership - It finally seems like players on this team are accountable for their actions. I think most of that is on Shanny, but guys just seem to play harder for Donovan.

Sure, he needs to make more throws. But, as he gets more weapons around him I think he will. I did hope for more production from him than we're getting, so I am disappointed to some extent. But, he's been worth the price tag so far...and the offense actually looks like a real NFL offense for once.

That's pretty funny considering your take on JC who had a worse O-line and much worse coaching, and consistently had new systems to learn. And the receivers are fine, and Torrain is ok, plus Donavan is used to not having a running game.

His pocket presence is good, not great though.

What are you talking about with the deep ball? He's consistently missed open receivers deep.

The offense has looked good some of the time, looked bad other times, so it's a mixed bag, and the results haven't been much better than last year despite much better coaching and the O-Line upgrades.

[Dr. FLK]

That's pretty funny considering your take on JC who had a worse O-line and much worse coaching, and consistently had new systems to learn. And the receivers are fine, and Torrain is ok, plus Donavan is used to not having a running game.

His pocket presence is good, not great though.

What are you talking about with the deep ball? He's consistently missed open receivers deep.

The offense has looked good some of the time, looked bad other times, so it's a mixed bag, and the results haven't been much better than last year despite much better coaching and the O-Line upgrades.

Not really. My problem with JC was that when he was under pressure, he looked confused. He had no clock in his head. He had terrible pocket awareness. He didn't check down effectively. He didn't run at the right times. He couldn't avoid sacks, and in many instances moved right into them. But, if you want to go back and find a time when I said I expected top 10 performance from him, be my guest. You're completely off on my criticism of JC. I never said it was his fault for getting pressured, but I did criticize him for exacerbating the issue when he was pressured. Why you continue to defend him is beyond me. I told myself I wouldn't get dragged back into this mindless debate...yet here I am one more time.

As for your other comments...

The receivers are fine? Really? Until a week ago, the #2 was 83 years old. The #4 entering the season has already been released. The current #2 is a 28 year old rookie who recently was playing in some league that no one in the world has ever heard of.

Torain is fine, but he's slow and the roster has no change of pace back. He's not great. Portis is hurt. Williams isn't much except a blocker.

Donovan is not used to "not having a running game." He might be used to a pass heavy offense, but he had productive RBs. They had threat of a running game.

Donovan isn't missing a lot of deep balls IMO. He missed Fred Davis after Fred decided to run backwards and fall over. He missed Joey by a step or two a few times, but not by a lot. He's also hit on some real game changers.

[mweb]

I never said you expected a top 10 season out of JC, just pointing out that the excuses for him were greater than they are for Donovan, but whatever, no need to talk to you about him.

Armstrong does look like a good WR and they have two very good TE's, so along with Moss and Galloway, that's not bad imo.

Yeah, they don't have a Westbrook in his prime, I'll give you that, but Torain is decent as we seem to agree on. He may be better than decent as well.

Donavan has missed a lot of deep balls, there really isn't any denying that if you've watched and adequately recalled the games. And the Davis pass was all on McNabb.

[backwardsk]

I never said you expected a top 10 season out of JC, just pointing out that the excuses for him were greater than they are for Donovan, but whatever, no need to talk to you about him.

Armstrong does look like a good WR and they have two very good TE's, so along with Moss and Galloway, that's not bad imo.

Yeah, they don't have a Westbrook in his prime, I'll give you that, but Torain is decent as we seem to agree on. He may be better than decent as well.

Donavan has missed a lot of deep balls, there really isn't any denying that if you've watched and adequately recalled the games. And the Davis pass was all on McNabb.

He's missed a lot of deep balls, but I'd venture to say that he has more 45+ yard completions in 6 games than Campbell had all of last year. A lot has to do with play calling, Campbell was in a bad situation, but at least this team has big play potential. Last year, I remember the Kelly strike in SD, but how many more were there? In 2008, he hit Santana in the Saints game and in Detroit. When I get a chance, I'll go back through the game logs and take a look. So far this season, McNabb has hit Armstrong twice, Galloway once, Davis once, and Santana once maybe twice for long receptions.

EDIT: So I was wrong. McNabb doesn't have more big completions than Campbell from last season. He has just as many in 6 games (6) as Campbell did in 16. Last season he hit Moss 3 times, Sellers 1, Cartwright 1, and Kelly. The season before that, he only had 3 in 16 starts. He made a total of 20 starts in 2006 and 2007 and had 5. On thing I did notice is that in his first season as the starter from day 1 (2007), he started off with big strikes in the first 3 games, then Gibbs reigned (sp?) him in. He had none in the next 10 games. So out of 52 starts, Campbell had 14 completions of 45+ yards. Yes, McNabb does miss the deep ball. He had Galloway in Houston, Armstrong on a scramble against GB, and Banks last night. But he's connecting at a much better pace on the deep threat.

[Goop]

Biggest thing is Cooley's concussion...really hope he's ok.

I agree. If Cooley misses any time, Fred Davis needs to step it up big time. Cooley's my favorite Skin, I hate to see him get banged up again this season.

[JDubs]

McNabb is tied for second in the NFL for passes over 40-yards.

Orton: 7
McNabb: 6
Rivers: 6

Campbell: 1

I know that this does not necessarily prove that he is accurate down field--one may argue that he throws down field a lot. Even if that were true (and I'm not sure it is), the stat is pretty unimpeachable. He is making things happen and keeping us in games. It's even more convincing after a cursory glance at the WR corps (or backwardsk's post above).

McNabb is not P. Manning, no question, but an objective view of the way he is performing--not just by stat, but by watching him--can only conclude that he is a good QB.

As far as pocket presence, you cannot win saying that he has no pocket presence. It is not even arguable. He shifts throughout the pocket. He only gets sacked when either there is no escape or when he has to throw across his body while scrambling (he seems to stiff in the midsection...er...no homo...to throw across his body). He has shocked me with both his ability to avoid the seemingly inevitable sack, but also his ability to throw the ball while being hung on by a defender. He hasn't even fumbled--that's the ultimate stat to show pocket awareness. He knows when he is going to get hit.

Argue accuracy. That is where your bread and butter is if you want to find an argument against McNabb. You are wasting your time arguing 'pocket presence.' He is one of the best in that area.

[backwardsk]

Reply to the previous three posts:

McNabb hasn't really been that good at limiting mistakes since he has 4 picks not counting the hail mary. Or 3 if you want to disregard the second one yesterday, but he's also thrown a few really bad passes that should have been picked. So he's been decent in that regard, but I wouldn't say it's been a positive. He and the rest of the team have been great at not losing fumbles though.

I'm not sure how he's been clutch either. He's had his moments, but he's been much better in the first half than the second half and was not clutch at all in the first two games. He was great that second game except for coming through in the clutch where he had chances to finish that game off. Granted the missed FG was brutal as well.

He's also been quite inaccurate with his passes and has consistently missed open deep receivers.

His QB rating is only 78.8, actually worse than JC's last year, and he has significantly better offensive coaching.

As far as them scoring more points, well only 2 more a game, some of which can be attributed to Hall's TD.Overall, he's been disappointing to me and it's hard to understand why anyone would be happy with his performance so far. You don't have to be as critical, but you should have been expecting a top 10 or so QB, which is not what we've had so far.

Let's see how the season plays out. But comparing the first 6 games, the Skins are scoring 4 more points a game than they did last season (and that's backing out the Hall return). Last season, at this point in the season, they played the Rams, Lions, and Chiefs who combined for 6 wins on the season.

Only 5 guys have thrown for more yards than McNabb this season.

[mweb]

He's missed a lot of deep balls, but I'd venture to say that he has more 45+ yard completions in 6 games than Campbell had all of last year. A lot has to do with play calling, Campbell was in a bad situation, but at least this team has big play potential. Last year, I remember the Kelly strike in SD, but how many more were there? In 2008, he hit Santana in the Saints game and in Detroit. When I get a chance, I'll go back through the game logs and take a look. So far this season, McNabb has hit Armstrong twice, Galloway once, Davis once, and Santana once maybe twice for long receptions.

EDIT: So I was wrong. McNabb doesn't have more big completions than Campbell from last season. He has just as many in 6 games (6) as Campbell did in 16. Last season he hit Moss 3 times, Sellers 1, Cartwright 1, and Kelly. The season before that, he only had 3 in 16 starts. He made a total of 20 starts in 2006 and 2007 and had 5. On thing I did notice is that in his first season as the starter from day 1 (2007), he started off with big strikes in the first 3 games, then Gibbs reigned (sp?) him in. He had none in the next 10 games. So out of 52 starts, Campbell had 14 completions of 45+ yards. Yes, McNabb does miss the deep ball. He had Galloway in Houston, Armstrong on a scramble against GB, and Banks last night. But he's connecting at a much better pace on the deep threat.

Well I think a lot of that is the offense and the play calling as you say. They've been throwing deep at an extremely high rate this year, and there's been guys wide open rather often too.

[Frobby]

Just to weigh in, McNabb has done just about what I expected from him. He is not an all-pro level QB anymore, but he's a very solid veteran who can still beat you with either his legs or his arm at times. If you watched him in Philly the last few years, then you should know that he's erratic at times but is also a playmaker.

As to Campbell, he had very unfortunate circmstances here because the offensive system kept being overhauled and the line play was spotty. I definitely think McNabb sees the field better and does a better job of sensing the rush and tucking the football away when necessary.