The Redskin Report

In the aftermath of Sunday’s debacle, many questions have arisen. Here is my take on a few of the big issues:

Playcalling

The Giants defense was in disarray heading into Sunday’s game. Their secondary had been picked apart two straight games and the strategy seemed simple enough – run the ball and take a bunch of deep shots. Instead the Redskins decided to turn back the clock to “Brunell ball”and were more likely to throw for 2 yards than 20. It really doesn’t make sense; the Redskins took some deep shots in the game and had some success. They threw deep to Moss twice and he was open both times; they went to Randle-El twice down the field – one was well covered and the other brought them to the one yard line in the final drive.

At this stage of his development, Jason Campbell is better on deep passes than short balls. The Redskins should have attacked down the field consistently. Working down the field methodically is fine against a team that won’t allow big plays, but the Giants were ripe for the picking.

Part of the reason for the lack of deep balls has to be the offensive line. They weren’t at their best on Sunday. One thing that you hope the coaches have noticed is team’s jumping our snap. The Redskins and Campbell have to vary on their snap count to give the offensive line a fair shot at keeping the pressure away from the QB.

Its time to take the training wheels off Campbell and the offense. The Redskins have weapons on the field; they need to try to exploit them.

Where was Portis?

Calling for a spike on 1st and goal from the 1 with a minute to go was an odd call, but it would have been understandable if they had put Clinton Portis in the backfield. I can understand having Ladell Betts in while they worked down the field as he is a better receiver than Portis, but there is no reason to not put him in at the goal line.

The coaches said that the running backs are interchangeable in defense of the move to use Betts on the goal line, but that’s ridiculous. Betts is a good running back, but Portis is just plain better. Who knows if they’d have scored if Portis was on the field, but if you’re going to go down, go down with your best players.

What happened to the Defense?

Most fans were overrating the defense heading into Sunday’s game. They are much improved, but they are far from great. Week one was against a pitiful Miami offense that isn’t going to put up much yardage against anyone. The 2nd game against Philadelphia and a struggling Donovan McNabb was a more accurate gauge of the defense. For 3 quarters while McNabb couldn’t hit the broad side of the barn, the Redskins defense looked good. In the 4th, when McNabb started to complete passes, they moved up and down the field. Sunday was a continuation of the 4th quarter of the Eagles game; the Giants moved the ball against the Redskins.

This isn’t a shutdown defense. It’s a bend-don’t-break type of defense. They will get turnovers, but they are going to give up points. It’s another reason why the Redskins need to cut loose a bit on offense. They are going to need 20 points to win most weeks.