Wednesday, September 21, 2005

http://washtimes.com/sports/20050921-121731-6078r.htm

I found it hard to believe. Too many times over the last 10 years have the Skins been the ones to give away games in the waning moments. Too many times did they commit ridiculous penalties to keep drives alive, fumble the ball away (Stephen Davis) to give Dallas time to mount a game-winning drive, or give up a huge play in the final seconds (Patrick Crayton). It was practically in the Skins' DNA to lose these games. And it showed in all the 1-7 point losses over the years. It showed in the 1-14 record over the past 15 games.

There was plenty with which to be to be disappointed. The 56 minutes of inept offensive output up to that point were pitiful. The 5 sacks given up were frustrating. The 3 turnovers were inexcusable. They're not going to make the playoffs averaging a -2.5 giveaway/takeaway ratio.

Too often have the Skins been in the Cowboys' shoes. But this time, for once, they pulled it off.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Luck changes for Gibbs' team on wild night in Dallas�-�Sports�-�The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

I found it unbelievable. How many times in the past 10 years have the Skins been up in the waning moments of the game and then have it slip through their fingers with stupid plays and maybe questionable calls that aid the other team? It seems countless. The Skins always seemed to be the ones caught with their pants down in the end -- especially losing to a guy like Bill Parcells, who basically owns Joe Gibbs.

This time, however, the situation was inexplicably reversed. The Skins pulled a handful of wild plays out of their hat and the Boys were the ones looking bewildered and downtrodden at the end. How beautiful to see Jerry Jones and Parcells look tormented and depressed that way. How wonderful that it happened the night the Triplets were inducted into the Ring of Honor. How perfect it was to do it in such dramatic fashion and shock all of Dallas. So often the Skins had been on the wrong side of the equation, with the most recent loss to Dallas, courtesy of Crayton and Sean Taylor as a prime example. Not to say that the Skins really look good as a team because the offense obviously still has major issues. Allowing five sacks is inexcusable and being -5 in turnover ratio is horrible. But at least this time, for one night, the Skins pulled it off. Glorious.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Brunell Is Named Starting QB

Ramsey being demoted is an extremely surprising development given Gibbs' reputation for loyalty. Ramsey has to feel like this is a stab in the back after Gibbs spent the entire offseason saying that this is Patrick's team. It's unfair given the long leash Brunell had last year while Ramsey was only given one game before being pulled (if it truly wasn't injury-related as Gibbs claims).

However, it is the best move for the Skins as a team. As much as he's been given the opportunity to eliminate mistakes, Ramsey never did play mistake-free football. In the preseason, he still had a penchant for holding the ball too long and throwing INTs at the wrong time.

With Jason Campbell waiting in the wings, Ramsey may have to hope for injury to his friend Brunell in order to prove himself again. Otherwise, he'll be looking for work elsewhere after this season.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Skins Edge Bears

While it's great that the Skins were victorious, it's extremely disappointing that it barely happened against one of the weaker teams in the league starting a rookie quarterback. I'm sure we all hoped that the Skins would be able to force Orton into throwing 4 picks and that the Skins would win in a rout. The Bears were only able to score because of Antonio Brown fumbling so they got a very short field to work with.

The fact that Washington barely beat Chicago reveals what all Skins fans feared but hoped might not be true, that the Skins are also bottom dwellers. With the kinds of mistakes that they made on offense and special teams, they won't be able to compete with better teams, like Dallas on Monday night.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

The Skins and Fantasy Football

In our 10-team league, Portis fell to the middle of the second round, which I found a bit surprising. I picked up Santana Moss in the 11th round with pick #102 and needing a TE to round out the roster, drafted Chris Cooley in the 12th round with pick #119.

I would have loved to pick up Kerry Collins and should have done so in the 5th round but I didn't know he was still available. I was drafting remotely with the commish helping me make selections with general guidelines of my draft strategy while I happened to be at dinner with some friends. I picked up Mike Anderson in round 5 and Collins got picked up 3 picks later (to the commish, no less). Then I compete against commish in week 1 and Collins throws 3 TDs and scores 20 points on me.

Nevertheless, I feel good about the roster I compiled even if it was remote. We play 2 QBs, 3 RBs, 3 WRs, and 1 TE. My picks, in order:

Tomlinson - Chargers
Barber - Giants
TO - Eagles
Arrington - Cards
M. Anderson - Broncos
D. Jackson - Seahawks
Boldin - Cards
Warner - Cards
McNair - Titans
Staley - Steelers
Moss - Skins
Cooley - Skins
Houshmandzadeh - Bengals

Cooley probably won't get more than 400 yards and 6 TDs. Moss has the potential of going for 1100-1200 yards and 8 TDs. I predict Patten will end up just shy of 1000 yards and 5 TDs. Between them, Thrash and Jacobs will probably combine for 500 yards and 4 TDs.

This could be a big year for Portis. If he stays healthy and the line stays healthy (both of which are always big IFs in the Not For Long league), he should be able to get his 1500 yards, depending on how much he's spelled by Betts.

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Special teams players

Hall, Groom, Brown, and Albright, naturally.

Also, Carlos Rogers, Molinaro, Sellers, Kozlowski, Thrash, Khary Campbell, Jimoh, Walt Harris, Cartwright, Stoutmire, Prioleau, Ryan Clark, Royal, Keasey, and probably Broughton.

I don't know what special teams positions look like but I imagine that for punt coverage, the gunners are likely Jimoh and Thrash. Albright snaps to Groom so that's a total of four. Then there are three men on each side flanking Albright and the upback.

The following is complete speculation: Molinaro, Sellers, Kozlowski, Royal, Campbell, and Keasey are candidates to man the line. A typical scenario may have Molinaro, Sellers, Kozlowski, and Campbell along the line, along with faster guys like Clark, Stoutmire, and/or Prioleau manning the edges. Then Broughton is probably the upback.

KO coverage probably removes Molinaro and Albright from the equation and replaces Groom with Hall. The S and LBs probably run down to cover kickoffs to lay good hits as well as Rogers, Jimoh, and Thrash for speed. Keasey and Cartwright have made tackles on KO coverage.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Final Cuts: Dyson, 16 Others

McCants was immediately signed by WR-depleted Philly. The Skins then proceed to keep Taylor Jacobs on potential while cutting Kevin Dyson and the previously-mentioned unnotable Jimmy Farris. However, in his last preseason game, Farris then did all he could to prevent from getting cut with a 2 TD game and still can't last, which can only be extremely disheartening.

We can go through the roster and figure out who was guaranteed to be one of the 53 spots. On offense, each of the 3 QBs was set. Both Portis and Betts were safe. Moss, Patten, and Thrash were guaranteed to make it. The starting line of Jansen, Thomas, Rabach, Thomas, and Samuels are locked, and backups Ray Brown and Raymer were pretty much set as well. Chris Cooley, Sellers, and Robert Royal were solid. That's 18 on offense.

LS Ethan Albright was safe as was John Hall. Groom surprisingly beat out Chris Mohr for the P spot vacated by Tupa. That's 3 more spots for special teams, bringing the total to 21.

On defense, Daniels, Salave'a, Noble, Griffin, and Wynn were going to make it for the D-line. Behind them, Holdman, Arrington, Marshall, and Washington were guaranteed LB spots. Rogers, Springs, and Walt Harris were going to be the top three corners, and Clark, Bowen, and Taylor are the top three safeties. That's 15 spots on defense, bringing the total to 36.

That leaves 17 spots vacant and they fall among certain areas. Both lines need depth and rotation. The O-line got 9 spots, which is probably best. Having only 3 backups seems like you can run out of people in a hurry. Friedman had an inside track since he can play both C and G. Molinaro got the last spot. I found it surprising that Mark Wilson was cut but expect him to get re-signed to the practice squad. Maybe it shouldn't be too shocking since he was the 10th man. Molinaro and Wilson had been praised last year togethr as the next generation Hogs.

At WR, I'm shocked that Jacobs survived. Perhaps his status as a 2nd round draft pick bought him a little more time. If Farris still has eligibility, he'll likely get re-signed to the practice squad.

I can't see Gibbs ever deploying a Charlie Weis-like 5 WR set but if they ever do, they'll probably split Cooley out wide before putting Antonio Brown on the field. As far as H-back/TE/FB, the Skins kept a surprising glut of players between Cooley, Royal, Sellers, Kozlowski, Cartwright, and Broughton. Having a 3rd tailback like Cartwright seems prudent given some bad history the Skins have had like when they had to press Chad Morton into RB duty. [Speaking of which, Morton was cut by the Pats, so the Skins should have re-signed him to a 1-year deal and gotten rid of Brown.] Broughton seems extraneous.

The LB spots figured to have two more positions open but surprisingly, the Skins kept 3 slots there, which went to the surprise keeper, Zak Keasey, an undrafted rookie free agent from Princeton, Khary Campbell, and Chris Clemons. On the D-line, it's surprising that Ron Warner, who got a good amount of playing time last year, was bumped out by Nic Clemons.

Stoutmire and Prioleau were good shots to make it given the Skins need for depth at safety as well as their special teams experience. However, it's surprising that Garnell Wilds didn't make it given the notoriety he got for covering Randy Moss in last year's season finale. He must not have played on special teams which seems like a must for any unproven non-starter. Otherwise, you're just taking up roster space.

Cal football

Cal destroys Sac State in their opener. http://calbears.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/090305aah.html

Sac State WR Ryan Coogler: "Positives are that we know we can play with anybody. Negatives are that we need to get better at finishing games."

Is this guy for real? How can you be demolished by a score of 41-3 and say that you know you can play with anybody? Doesn't a 0 for 10 QB stretch and 2 fumbled handoffs while the opponent STILL beats you handily mean that you're nowhere near in the same class as them? Hey Ryan, you could have scored 5 touchdowns and you still would have lost. Talk about delusional.

It's very upsetting that Longshore was supposedly looking as good as he was and is now out for the season. Everyone must be scratching their head with what is going on with the JC transfer Ayoob, who was supposed to be highly regarded. He's obviously confused himself. Perhaps Tedford's playbook is too complex for him. All other material on him before this season points to a promising player. I really hope he turns a corner in the next week or two or Cal won't be able to compete against the PAC-10.