Conventional wisdom says young quarterbacks need to be protected and nurtured in their first full season as a starter. If you expose them to too much, they may fail, sapping their confidence and slowing the develop process. If the Redskins want to have a shot this week, conventional wisdom needs to be ignored. Its time to take the training wheels off and let Jason Campbell take over as the main cog offense.
The Redskins offense is weak again, as it has been for pretty much all of Gibbs 2.0. Most seasons, the Redskins could at least rely on a strong running game while Mark Brunell’s vintage 3 yard passes would be drive killers. This year however, the running game is failing. Whether it’s the offensive line injuries or Clinton Portis losing a step, it’s just not working anymore.
On the rare occasions the Redskins have had any offensive success, it’s been when they’ve stopped being so damn conservative and let Campbell play. Gibbs and Al Saunders want to avoid the game changing mistakes that young quarterbacks are prone to make, but with Campbell most of his mistakes come on short, touch passes anyways (i.e. the interception on the screen pass he threw too long last week). He’s very smart when he throws his deep ball and unless it’s thrown to Brandon Lloyd there are rarely any issues.
The part of the field the Redskins seem to ignore in most of their game plans is the mid-range passes. The offense seems to revolve around very short little passes and the deep bomb. The 10-20 yard pass is almost an afterthought. Campbell has the arm to make these throws whether down the middle of the field or on an out pattern. The Redskins need to try to exploit this part of the field more often.
Bill Belicheck is going to call some defensive plays that may end up confusing Campbell. He’s a very smart defensive mind who’s messed up guys like Peyton Manning before, so there is no shame in messing up a pre-snap read or making the wrong check down (although obviously the Redskins are going to need to avoid the turnovers). But Campbell has proven that he’s going to learn from his mistakes and a bad play won’t ruin his confidence, so the Redskins’ coaching staff should feel comfortable giving his a chance to win this game for the team.
Let’s be honest, the Washington Redskins defense is very good this year. By far the best defense the Patriots have faced. If the Pats’ offense completely rolls over the Washington defense, then the talk about the 16-0 season becomes very legitimate. No matter how good Redskins defense is this year, the Patriots are going to score some points this week. The Redskins’ patented turtle offensive strategy of scoring two touchdowns and then hiding in their shell for the rest of the game just isn’t going to cut it.
The team has nothing to lose this week. If Campbell goes out there, throws 3 interceptions and the Redskins get hammered by 30 points, no one is going to be calling for his head. They are expected to get whipped anyways, letting Campbell loose is the only chance the Redskins have to win. Why not let the kid give it his best shot?
Without a doubt, Jason Campbell is the man; if we win on Sunday (big IF), he’s the one who will win the game for us. We have to play like we have nothing to lose, anyway…. seems to me, about 19 odd years ago, a streaking (read, Undefeated) Redskins team ran into a (poor) Cowboys team (though one showing signs of eventually “turning the corner”), which played as if it had nothing to lose; I’d never seen Hail Marys in Pro football except as last minute desperation heaves until that game.
We lost two games that season (going on to beat Denver in the big game), but the second one we lost to the Eagles because there was no reason to play our starters, and we weren’t playing for an undefeated season…. I think we need to revisit that game on tape, and think about it. The game plan the Cowboys ran that day would only work 1 time in 4 on even teams… but it gave a chance on an uneven matchup to the underdog.
Probably the best segment i have read all week…..Gibbs needs to let JC’s arm do what it knows best!!
I agree with you on the nothing to lose angle. They shouldn’t play to lose by 17 rather than 30. The only way to win is have a few big plays go in their favor.
I also share in the disappointment in the running game. I’m joining the 980 crew in calling for more Sellers carries. If Portis got 18 carries a game, and Sellers and Betts each got about 10, I think the change in styles can mess with a defense.
But that’s a strategy to test on the Jets. This week they need something like what Santana Moss did to the Jags last year.