Giants-Redskins Matchup
The ESPN analysts are picking the Redskins to come out on top. However, there is much more to this game than the Skins' D vs. Giants' O and vice versa. The main poits that is ignored is the intangibles factor.
The emotional aspect where the home team will be honoring Wellington Mara is a definitive edge. In addition, Antonio Pierce is highly motivated against his former compatriots. Brunell is playing against his former head coach in Tom Coughlin. Tim Hasselbeck knows the Skins' offense and has been briefing the Giants organization all week. These factors, combined with the fact that the Skins haven't solved the turnover problem (except for one week against the lowly Niners) will likely amount to big problems for the Redskins. It's easy to imagine that the Giants defense will elevate their level of play several notches, inspired by the emotional calling. They will probably play better than they have all season. Plus, once they force a couple turnovers, the face of the game changes completely.
CBS Sportsline has analysts who are believers of this latter theory. Plus, they point out that despite giving up a lot of yardage, the Giants defense has forced a league-leading 18 turnovers.
Friday, October 28, 2005
NFL.com - NFL News
All the NFL.com analysts vote Mark Brunell as the "new" QB of the year. The question is how long he can maintain his impressive performance. Closely tied to Brunell's fortunes are those of Santana Moss. He is on a tear, on pace to break the team record for receiving yardage. Clearly, the revamped offense has worked wonders in the first half of the year.
What will happen, though, is that opposing defensive coordinators will get more footage of the opened-up Redskins' offense with each successive game. They will then be able to game-plan better to contain Moss. The Brunell to Moss combo will be far less potent in the second half of the year. Meanwhile, the running game will open up as defenses back off to prevent the big play. Defensive coordinators will also be more than willing to give up the underneath stuff. Gibbs then has to be ready to adjust his receivers' routes to hitches, curls, and slants.
An exciting play to see unfold was the double screen to Cooley in the San Francisco game. As John Madden always notes, defenses have become much better at sniffing out and defending screen than offenses have been at executing them. However, the double screen is often very effective because the defense gets spread out.
All the NFL.com analysts vote Mark Brunell as the "new" QB of the year. The question is how long he can maintain his impressive performance. Closely tied to Brunell's fortunes are those of Santana Moss. He is on a tear, on pace to break the team record for receiving yardage. Clearly, the revamped offense has worked wonders in the first half of the year.
What will happen, though, is that opposing defensive coordinators will get more footage of the opened-up Redskins' offense with each successive game. They will then be able to game-plan better to contain Moss. The Brunell to Moss combo will be far less potent in the second half of the year. Meanwhile, the running game will open up as defenses back off to prevent the big play. Defensive coordinators will also be more than willing to give up the underneath stuff. Gibbs then has to be ready to adjust his receivers' routes to hitches, curls, and slants.
An exciting play to see unfold was the double screen to Cooley in the San Francisco game. As John Madden always notes, defenses have become much better at sniffing out and defending screen than offenses have been at executing them. However, the double screen is often very effective because the defense gets spread out.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
As Taylor matures, his game improves�-�Sports�-�The Washington Times, America's Newspaper
Sean Taylor is a force to be reckoned with. He hit Patrick Crayton so hard it forced the ball out to prevent a 3rd down conversion late in the game as the Cowboys were driving. I still believe that was possession and a fumble.
He made a big play with an interception against the 49ers. The tackle from Brandon Lloyd looked like it could have caused a severe ankle injury. Nevertheless, all indications are that Taylor will play against the Giants.
On the other hand, I stand by my previous post that Sean Taylor is around for this season only. Each game that they get out of him is a bonus since his assault charge likely means serious jail time.
With Taylor, Marcus Washington, and now LaVar Arrington back in the mix, commentators and analysts can't refer to Gregg Williams' defense as a no-name defense.
Sean Taylor is a force to be reckoned with. He hit Patrick Crayton so hard it forced the ball out to prevent a 3rd down conversion late in the game as the Cowboys were driving. I still believe that was possession and a fumble.
He made a big play with an interception against the 49ers. The tackle from Brandon Lloyd looked like it could have caused a severe ankle injury. Nevertheless, all indications are that Taylor will play against the Giants.
On the other hand, I stand by my previous post that Sean Taylor is around for this season only. Each game that they get out of him is a bonus since his assault charge likely means serious jail time.
With Taylor, Marcus Washington, and now LaVar Arrington back in the mix, commentators and analysts can't refer to Gregg Williams' defense as a no-name defense.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Griffin's Status: Day-to-Day
Losing Griffin would be quite a blow. Between Burress, Shockey, Manning, and Barber, the Giants have an explosive offense. Griffin truly anchors the middle. Without him, the Skins would have a gaping hole.
On the other hand, going to a 3-4 could allow LaVar Arrington to get on the field more. Renaldo Wynn and Philip Daniels are perfectly suited to be 3-4 ends that are closer to being defensive tackles and plugs than anything else. It's convenient that the Skins were able to get some practice at the 3-4 against the hapless Niners.
Losing Griffin would be quite a blow. Between Burress, Shockey, Manning, and Barber, the Giants have an explosive offense. Griffin truly anchors the middle. Without him, the Skins would have a gaping hole.
On the other hand, going to a 3-4 could allow LaVar Arrington to get on the field more. Renaldo Wynn and Philip Daniels are perfectly suited to be 3-4 ends that are closer to being defensive tackles and plugs than anything else. It's convenient that the Skins were able to get some practice at the 3-4 against the hapless Niners.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Redskins Quash the Niners
Despite Gibbs' rants, this was a gimme win. Nevertheless, it's Gibbs' role to make sure his team doesn't get complacent and overlook a lowly team like the Niners. Luckily, they performed the way most people expected them to. They beat the Niners soundly in all three phases of the games. They got LaVar Arrington significant playing time, they racked up sacks, they created turnovers. Portis scored. The offense minimized mistakes. This was the complete performance that defines a good team. It will be interesting to see if the team can keep the momentum heading into the roughest part of their schedule, starting with the Giants next week.
The rushing TD that the second team allowed to Frank Gore was awful. Up to that point, they had allowed ~70 yards rushing. Then that rushing yardage was promptly doubled.
Despite Gibbs' rants, this was a gimme win. Nevertheless, it's Gibbs' role to make sure his team doesn't get complacent and overlook a lowly team like the Niners. Luckily, they performed the way most people expected them to. They beat the Niners soundly in all three phases of the games. They got LaVar Arrington significant playing time, they racked up sacks, they created turnovers. Portis scored. The offense minimized mistakes. This was the complete performance that defines a good team. It will be interesting to see if the team can keep the momentum heading into the roughest part of their schedule, starting with the Giants next week.
The rushing TD that the second team allowed to Frank Gore was awful. Up to that point, they had allowed ~70 yards rushing. Then that rushing yardage was promptly doubled.
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