Sunday, November 26th, 2006...5:57 pm by Lee Gibbons
Defense Leads Redskins to Victory. Seriously!
Whatever Joe Gibbs said to the Redskins this week, it worked. The Redskins came out with their best defensive performance of the year in a 17-13 win. It was an old-school Redskins performance: strong defense, good running game and a big-play or two.
The defensive play was shockingly good. Carlos Rogers had his best game of the year and looked like the 1st round pick we’ve all been waiting for. Sean Taylor had a huge 4th down stop and the game ending interception. But the biggest surprise was the play of the defensive line. The much maligned group finally got some pressure on the QB and had a good game stuffing runs up the middle. Kedric Golston was the star or the group. He continues to impress and looks like a 6th round steal.
Ladell Betts had a solid game with 104 yards. Betts, who struggled last week, rebounded with a workmanlike effort. He isn’t flashy, but when he hits the hole hard, he can grind out the yards. It will be interesting to see how the free agent market plays out for Betts this off-season. He’s basically auditioning for a starting role on another team for the rest of the season.
Jason Campbell wasn’t great but made the big play when it was needed. The Redskins went with an ultra conservative game plan, with lots of runs and short passes. Despite his pedestrian numbers make no mistake, he is an NFL starting QB. He was short on that intercepted pass, but came right back to lead the game winning touchdown drive. That was a great play after the catch by Cooley. A lot of fans have been ragging on the Redskins front office this year, but both Golston and Cooley were mid to late round picks who’ve had a lot of success.
Its nice to see the team actually play a good game for once. Next week, struggling Atlanta comes to town. A little winning streak would be nice to see. But for now, lets just enjoy this one.
14 Comments
November 26th, 2006 at 8:07 pm
Don’t forget the return of the red pants!
November 26th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
Yes, the red pants. Someone here was demanding their return, and there we go.
Also, big laughs to the Giants blowing that lead.
November 26th, 2006 at 10:12 pm
today I turned 27. Good b-day present!
November 26th, 2006 at 11:11 pm
The power of the red pants unleashed! finally… all is good today for this 4-7 team. What’s up with these mini-shuffle passes. minus 12 yard on all four of them today. Call the plays coach.. Al Saunders is like Kudzu, you think you believe him but you knew the answer all along.
Good Game guys.. you actually looked like you were having some fun out there!
I’m out
November 27th, 2006 at 8:46 am
finally, the red pants.
November 27th, 2006 at 8:46 am
So Coach Joe has now defeated 30 of the 32 franchises in the league; he’ll never defeat Washington, so I guess we need to look forward to next season; it seems to me they should be playing Cleveland, which is the 31st… the old Browns, which he DID defeat, are the Ravens now (he’s never defeated the Ravens, but he defeated them as the Browns).
I didn’t get to see much of the game at all (first two possessions on Offense, plus the first interception by the Defense) outside of the highlights, but I must say, Cambell looked good on the pass to Cooley. There seems to be some real chemistry between those two. Now, if he could only get that chemistry with Moss, Randle-El, Patton, and Lloyd. Before you know it, he’ll have his first 200 yard game (not being sarcastic here… the Redskins don’t NEED a 300 yard passer week in-week out; they need 100+ from the running game and 170-230 in passing; once Cambell starts throwing 200 yard games routinely, we can start to breathe again!)
November 27th, 2006 at 8:48 am
now that we got rid of Brunell, Archuletta, and the white pants, what do we do about a kicker that misses half his kicks?
November 27th, 2006 at 8:49 am
trying to find the article in espn, by Tom Friend.
November 27th, 2006 at 10:21 am
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?id=2672668
Here is the article. Great win, the defense finally showed up AND no big plays to the king of big plays, steve smith.
HAIL!
November 27th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
That ESPN article is interesting, although pretty much the same stuff the fans have been saying all along. People always forget that early last year, the defense was getting burned by long play after long play as well.
Putting Lavar in for Holdman fixed most of the run defense problems. Holdman played like a guy who was trying to keep his job this week. Actually made a few plays, but I don’t understand the reluctance to play someone who can make a play or two.
As for Novak, I swear with the guy its all mental. On the missed kick, Carolina overloaded the one side of the line and he rushed it and missed it. The guy just has block all that stuff out and kick. I figure he’ll make it through the year, but I can’t see a way that they don’t bring in competition (and real competition) for the off-season. Although since they really didn’t bring in anyone to compete with Frost last year, who knows.
November 27th, 2006 at 3:56 pm
The ARTICLE. Very interesting. Not only that, but a truly spectatular buzz for the Redskins. Yes the Dan pulls it off again. Stay with me here. Mr Friend is truly a friend of the Redskins (That more than anything includes Joe and yes, Dan). The Redskins are jst starting their offseason. How else could the value af Brunell, Archuletta, and others go up if you don’t blame it on the system. So the players can still play, right? Good play call Joe or Dan, whoever. Reach out to an old friend. Yes, this article will pay off in the long run as it did on Sunday.
November 27th, 2006 at 7:36 pm
Ok, call me crazy but it IS still possible for the Redskins to get into the playoffs; they need help, but not as much as folks would think, and of course, they (almost certainly) need to win out (they could get in at 8-8, but it would take an almost exact sequence at the end to get there… much more likely with 9-7).
Just doing to numbers; I don’t believe we WILL win out… but I didn’t think we could last year, either.
We get in as Wildcard #2, BTW, through almost all the possibilities. Our final schedule actually really helps, because WE control if we win or lose against some of the teams we need to get one or more losses.
November 28th, 2006 at 12:46 pm
Actually, not long after the last post, I caught “Monday Night Live” on Comcast… and they said the same thing about the playoff picture, EXCEPT…. the Redskins did NOT need help (except that no remaining game can end in a tie). Win out, make the playoffs is the picture for the Redskins. 8-8 is where they said the Redskins would need help (and would only be able to lose SPECIFIC games… “any” game could keep them out, for example, they MUST beat Atlanta and Philly.
Hard to believe. I STILL don’t see that happening, but….
November 29th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
Stranger things have happened…
Leave a Reply