Redskins' Offense Is On the 'Right Path'

[Box_O_Rocks]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/28/AR2006082801281.html

In the visitors' locker room at Gillette Stadium, wide receiver David Patten dressed following Washington's 41-0 loss to the New England Patriots on Saturday night and voiced a sentiment similar to that of fellow players and even Saunders himself: The Redskins' offense may appear to be struggling, but it hasn't in the three games used any of the dynamic offensive formations and schemes it uses every day in practice.

I wondered how it occured that our poor defense looked so good...the reports that Gibbs looked "pale" in his post-game conference must have been from all the vanilla used during the game.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

And another article...
In preseason, losses offer Skins blessing

If the idea of NFL preseason games is to show as little as possible, the Washington Redskins are giving a bravura performance.

Instead of getting better each week, the Redskins are getting worse. Instead of displaying more of what they can do on offense and defense, the Redskins are showing less.

The results have been predictable. The Redskins are 0-3, and Saturday night's 41-0 loss to New England left coach Joe Gibbs wringing his hands in dismay and worry.

He even broke out his, "We're going through tough times" speech.

Tough times? In preseason? Coach, the games don't count.
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But when you go into a game, as the Redskins did Saturday night, and essentially tell your players the game plan is for every man to outplay his opponent, you're asking to be beaten.

In regular-season games, Gregg Williams, who runs the Redskins' defense, constructs complicated plans that require timing and coordination on the part of his players. On Saturday night, the Redskins barely even blitzed.

Williams hates to lose, but he loves to make corrections after a loss. This week, he has the best of both worlds. The loss doesn't cost the Redskins anything, and Williams and Gibbs get to act as if their chance to make the Super Bowl is on the verge of evaporating.

Coaching isn't about just X's and O's. Sometimes it is about finding the best way to sharpen the players' focus for the task at hand.

I'll bet his readers would go into shock if they read one of the positive stories from our beloved Borges or the unlamented Kevin Mannix.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

http://washingtontimes.com/sports/20060829-122219-5688r.htm

The Patriots and Redskins both went 10-6 last year. They were even eliminated in the same playoff weekend (the second). Look at the two teams now, though. The Pats, anxious to return to the top, are all but ripping their opponents' facemasks off. After three NFL titles, they're still hungry for more. The Redskins, meanwhile, are acting as if these practice games are beneath them, aren't worthy of their best efforts.
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Yes, you can read too much into preseason results, but the difference in the clubs' approaches -- gung-ho vs. ho-hum -- was striking. If a 10-6 season is enough to make the Redskins complacent, how are they ever going to get to the next level, never mind the Patriots' level?
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Everybody in the NFC East looks, on paper, to be more muscular this season. And this is how the Redskins prepare for the coming onslaught -- by mailing it in against the Patriots and looking barely interested against the Bengals (19-3) and Jets (27-14)?
The yardage totals the other night -- Patriots 464, Redskins 154 -- looked like Reagan's margin over Mondale in the Electoral College. And while the Washington offense continued to be very vanilla, per Al Saunders' instructions, it wasn't like the New England attack was Coconut Almond Fudge Chip. It consisted mostly of Tom Brady flipping passes to his tight end, Ben Watson, whose name must have been missing in Washington's scouting report. (There's no other explanation for his eight catches for 97 yards.)
In its defense, the Redskins secondary did shut down Deion Branch, holding him without a reception. But then, Branch has yet to report to camp.
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The Redskins' all-world coaching staff also deserves some of the blame -- for the New England disaster, at least. Everyone knows the Patriots place a major emphasis on their third preseason game, treat it almost like a real one. If the Redskins didn't want to get shown up, they had to meet the Pats on their own terms. Alas, the coaches sent them out with the same old Mickey Mouse game plan -- three yards and a cloud of punts.

H'mm, maybe we are getting our expectations too high again, some nice quips though.

 

[hwc]

In regular-season games, Gregg Williams, who runs the Redskins' defense, constructs complicated plans that require timing and coordination on the part of his players. On Saturday night, the Redskins barely even blitzed.

That's not what Belichick said today. He said that Washington blitzed the heck out of the Pats. They brought 5 or more pass rushers a whopping 30 times during the game.

I'm assuming that Belichick based that number on actual stats from the game film.

 

[smg93]

It's preseason and we should all definitely take it as that. Still, if the general consensus is to be on the right side of a 41-0 score, then I'd say we did our part. Phew.