‘Mark Sanchez’
courtesy of ‘Jeffrey Beall’

Last Sunday the Redskins won their fourth game of the season. After starting out 3-1 the Redskins then proceeded to lose their next six games to fall to 3-7 before winning last week. While the Redskins were 3-1 there was talk of a playoff run, but for that to happen now the Redskins would need to win out and have a lot of luck on their side. The week four talk of playoffs was fun at the time, but that wasn’t the expectation for the Redskins. The Redskins were expected to finish as possibly one of the worst teams in the NFL by national publications, and at or around last season’s record by local prognosticators.

The Jets on the other hand were expected to contend for the AFC East and some even predicted they would be a better team than the Patriots. At 6-5 the Jets are a disappointing team. The reason for the Jets disappointing record is the play of their quarterback Mark Sanchez. Coming into the season Sanchez was thought of as one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL, but finds himself ranked as the 19th best QB according to QB rating and has thrown the 10th most interception whil completing only 56.3% of his passes.

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‘Cardinals7’
courtesy of ‘Homer McFanboy’

Twice in the fourth quarter the Redskins needed the defense to come up big to put the game away and both times the defense answered. On fourth and five the Seahawks offensive line was overwhelmed and Tavaris Jackson was sacked with just over two minutes left to play. The Redskins played conservative and settled for a field goal which gave them a six point lead and the Seahawks a chance to drive down the field with just over a minute left on the clock for a game winning touchdown. On the third play of the drive Jackson was picked off by DeAngelo Hall and all the Redskins had to do was take knees and they had their first victory since week four.

The Redskins scored on the opening drive and the Seahawks were handed a touchdown courtesy of a Rex Grossman interception that gave them a short field to work with. Aside from those two scores the game was tied most of the afternoon with neither offense able to mount much of a drive. It will not go down as one of the better football games anyone has watched unless it was the first football game they’ve watched. The overall staleness of the game was made worse by having Jim Mora Jr. prattling on about dance floors, the size of Rex Grossman’s hands, and how he may or may not have once looked like David Cassidy.

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‘Hawks_Saints_2011_Playoff-98’
courtesy of ‘KellBailey’

Every week I look at the offensive stats expecting the Redskins to be worse. The Redskins offense is still one of the least productive offenses in the NFL ranking 27th in points per game and 23rd in yards a game. The Redskins have one of the worst offenses in the NFL, but every week I watch them constantly go three and out and turn the ball over and it is hard to believe they aren’t the worst offense in the NFL. They are certainly one of the worst offenses I have ever seen. I wonder who could possibly be worse than this Redskins team. The Seattle Seahawks rank worse than the Redskins in yards per game averaging 298.5 compared to the Redskins 313.0, and rank directly above the Redskins in points per game averaging 16.8 compared to the Redskins 16.0. This is a match-up between two of the worst offensive teams in the NFL.

After years of being set at quarterback with Matt Hasslebeck as the franchise quarterback the Seahawks moved on to Tavaris Jackson. With Jackson now hurt the Seahawks are deciding between Josh Portis and Charlie Whitehurst to lead their offense on Sunday against the Redskins. The transition has not been an easy one for the Seahawks as they now feature a bottom ten pass offense. They have also allowed 34 sacks which ties them with Miami for the second worst in the NFL.

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”
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

The Redskins played there most entertaining game of the season this past Sunday as they fell in overtime 27-24 to their rival Cowboys. Some of the typical issues that have plagued the Redskins this season were still in evidence, but they were able to alleviate many of thoseissues. Roy Helu was the teams leading rusher with 35 yards on eight attempts which is unacceptable in a game as tightly contested as this. The Redskins did have success passing the ball and it is almost wrong to complain about sticking with what worked, but a more balanced attack could have reaped the rewards of better time of possession and less opportunity to turn the ball over.

Turning the ball over remains the Redskins biggest issue. The Cowboys were able to work with a short field and draw first blood on a Dez Bryant touchdown after Fred Davis fumbled the ball reaching for a first down. The Redskins have enough issues with the quarterback getting the ball to the receivers that they do not need the receivers to then turn the ball over or drop a pass. Fred Davis has been one of if not the only consistent performer on the offense this season and is on a very short list of Redskins that should be considered part of the future.

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‘appropriate for dallas weekâ�¦’
courtesy of ‘dharmabumx’

The first game this season between the Redskins and the Cowboys was a defensive match-up won by the Cowboys in the fourth quarter. The Redskins had the lead for most of the game and were able to apply constant pressure to the Cowboys defense for most of the game, but in the end the Cowboys defense adjusted and stopped the Redskins. A lot has changed since that time. Santana Moss, Chris Cooley, Kory Lichtensteiger, and Tim Hightower are now all hurt. Rex Grossman lost his job to John Beck and then won it back when John Beck turned out to be a less aggressive version of Rex Grossman (all of the turnovers with none of the down field passes).

The Cowboys have had issues of their own. One week the offense looks dynamic picking apart the other team’s defense and then the next Tony Romo can’t do much of anything but have a fourth quarter meltdown. The strength of the Cowboys is their defense. They have allowed the tenth fewest points per game at 20.2 and the ninth fewest yards a game at 327.8. The Redskins defense has allowed slightly fewer points per game at 19.8 and slightly more yards a game at 337.1.

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’49ers15′
courtesy of ‘Homer McFanboy’

It is starting to feel like the Redskins are playing the same game each week. The names and faces of the opponents change, but the results and the recipe are the same. The defense struggles against the run, the secondary gets torn apart when the opposing quarterback gets time, and the Redskins offense is the Redskins offense. The change from Beck to Grossman did some good as Grossman was at least able to get the Redskins into the Red Zone, but then remembered he was Rex Grossman and promptly turned the ball over in the fashion that has become all too familiar to those that have watched Grossman through his career.

It wasn’t all bad for the Redskins. Rookies Ryan Kerrigan and Leonard Hankerson had good games. Kerrigan had two sacks one of which caused a fumble and Hankerson had eight catches for over 100 yards. Both players were drafted in 2011 and are part of the Redskins commitment to rebuilding. It gets harder every week to look for positives but they do exist and it doesn’t all have to be about draft position. Kerrigan and Orakpo are a good one two punch and having a solid pass rush is important for a team.

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‘Introduction to Bottle Nose’
courtesy of ‘Danilo.Lewis|Fotography’

It is hard to believe that at one point this season the Redskins were 3-1. It is also hard to believe that this will be John Beck’s eighth career start and he is still looking for his first victory. When John Beck took over for Rex Grossman it was because Grossman showed why no other team had interest in him and it was time to find out what John Beck was. John Beck might be one of the few quarterbacks in the NFL who is worse than Rex Grossman, and neither of them should have a starting job again after this season.

To be fair to Beck the Redskins don’t help him out by lacking skill players and an offensive line that can protect the quarterback or open up lanes for the running back. The Redskins offense is one of the worst in recent memory and it is a surprise that they are only 12th worst in yards a game, but no surprise they are fifth worst in points a game. The Redskins have almost no running game averaging just 89.9 yards a game which is fifth worst in the NFL. Of course the issue with the running game could be because of the passing games inability to make opposing teams pay for stacking the line and putting eight men in the box.

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‘Frank Gore’
courtesy of ‘dkaz’

Sunday’s loss against the 49ers was another standard issue Redskins loss as the offense couldn’t sustain drives or hold onto the football. Three drives came to an end because of turnovers and one other ended because of a dumb unnecessary roughness penalty by Trent Williams. At the time that the penalty against Williams happened the 49ers held a 3-0 lead and John Beck had just completed a 10 yard pass to Jabar Gaffney to move the Redskins into 49ers territory. 

It was a strange play all around as it began with the 49ers jumping offsides, realizing they did it, and then looking like they stopped playing as John Beck completed his pass to Jabar Gaffney. If the play were allowed to stand the Redskins would have had first and ten at the San Francisco 41, but as soon as the play ended Trent Williams pushed a 49ers defender to the ground which instead gave the Redskins a third and 23 at their own 34 yard line. This play as much as the two lost fumbles and the interception should count as a turnover for the Redskins offense. That is what the end result was. The Redskins had momentum and were driving, but all of that was lost when Trent Williams couldn’t keep his cool.

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‘IMG_8421’
courtesy of ‘Monica’s Dad’

Here is something to consider when people talk about the Redskins getting better at the quarterback position. Alex Smith was drafted in 2005 and struggled early on as the 49ers QB, but this season he has completed 63.2% of his passes for 1267 yards and has thrown 9 touchdowns and just 2 interceptions. In order for the Redskins to be a good football team they are going to have to get better at multiple positions including the quarterback, but this is no quick fix. Simply getting a top pick and using it on a quarterback is only the first step. The Redskins have to be willing to give the player the time to development and not rush to judgment.

The 49ers are the toughest team the Redskins have played in awhile. Unlike the Bills, Panthers, and Eagles the 49ers are not an unbalanced team. In fact the 49ers defense is tops in the NFL having allowed only 15.3 points a game. They do rank 21st against the pass having allowed 255.7 yards a game, but John Beck and the Redskins receiving core pose a threat to no one.

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‘DeAngelo Hall’
courtesy of ‘Keith Allison’

The talk this week is going to be about how far away the Redskins are from being a good football team. The Redskins do have a lot of holes, mostly on the offense, but last season they had even more holes and that included a lot on the defense. This past off-season the Redskins fixed a number of problem areas, but didn’t or couldn’t address others. In 2010 the Redskins defense was the second worst in the NFL. So far into the 2011 season the defense has improved to 14th in yards a game, and seventh in points a game. The big problem is as much as the defense has improved the offense might have taken steps backwards.

If the Redskins want to understand how a team is built look at the team that just beat them. Driving into work I heard from the radio that it would take five first round picks to find a running back, quarterback, wide receiver, and corner back to make the Redskins a complete team. Look at the Bills. Their quarterback is a seventh round pick that was cast-off by the Rams, and their running back is an undrafted free agent. Most of the players on their team were overlooked. Good teams can find overlooked talent in late rounds in the draft and in free agency. Players don’t have to be first round picks or big money free agents to be good. It just takes an organization that has an eye for talent.

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‘Buffalo Wings – Hot!’
courtesy of ‘andynash’

The narrative that comes out of this Sunday’s game against the Bills will either be the Redskins got their season back on track or it is continuing to fall apart. Narrative is important to most fans but it is based too heavily on preconceptions. Before the season began the Redskins were predicted by most major sporting news sources to win between two and three games. At 3-3 the Redskins are better than what most people expected, but for some reason this is seen as a negative. Some have already begun the Shanahan is on the hot seat talk. Yet another coaching change is the last thing the Redskins need. If they hope to ever become a winning franchise hitting the reset button every two or three years is not the way to go.

A lot of meaning is being put into this game against the Bills, but it shouldn’t be. In order for the Redskins to win this game they are going to have to have a lot of players play over their heads. The injury list is growing by the week and a lot of the names aren’t good. The two worst players to have out this week though are Santana Moss and DeAngelo Hall. Secondary and receiver are two of the Redskins weaker areas, and missing their best cover corner and best pass catcher is not going to help. Tim Hightower is also out with his knee injury, but he has not performed up to expectations and his production can be replaced by Torain and Helu.

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‘Steve Smith’
courtesy of ‘PDA.POTO’

Every flaw the Redskins had coming into this season was on full display in their 33-20 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. The 3-4 defense was unable to stop the run, a banged up secondary wasn’t able to stop the pass, and the offense was hurt by its total lack of skill players.

Coming into the season these issues were known and if the Redskins were going to win games it was going to have to be by controlling the clock, running the ball, and getting pressure on the quarterback. Cam Newton and the Panthers offensive line made it hard for the Redskins to get any constant pressure and when they did Newton would either escape the pocket and create a play or stand tall in the pocket and deliever a sharp pass down field. 

The Redskins secondary is suddenly banged up and the lack of depth is all but too apparent. Steve Smith found himself in man on man coverage, due to the Redskins need to blitz, and had no problem beating whoever the Redskins put on him. Newton showed no fear of the pass rush and was more than willing to take a hit in order to get a pass off. The Redskins were able to hold the Panthers to three field goals in the first half, but the Panthers constant running attack wore down the defense and turned them from bend to don’t break into a sieve.

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‘Cam Newton’
courtesy of ‘PDA.POTO’

The big news this week is who will be under center for the Redskins against the Panthers. Rex Grossman got out of playing in the system and decided it was better to fling the ball to the deepest receiver instead of reading his progressions, taking what the defense gave him, and passing to the open man. To Rex Grossman the best option wasn’t who was open, but who was furthest downfield. He got out of the system and ended up making too many costly mistakes. All of this is why John Beck is going to be starting at quarterback for the Redskins when they take on the Panthers this Sunday.

It is a good week to make the change. Beck won’t be facing a good pass defense and might not even be asked to pass that much as the Panthers are second worst in the NFL having allowed over 140 yards a game rushing. Because of this they have seen the fourth fewest passing attempts against. They still rank 17th in passing yards allowed, and while it is in the bottom half of the league it is a bit deceiving as they are tied for worst in the NFL with 8.5 yards allowed per passing attempt against, and are ninth worst having allowed a 64.2% completion percentage.

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‘John Beck’
courtesy of ‘Keith Allison’

After Rex Grossmanhad thrown his fourth interception of the game and John Beck entered and led the Redskins on a late touchdown drive the natural order of Washington Redskins football returned. There cannot be a Redskins football season without a quarterback controversy. From the early days of Sonny Jurgensen vs. Billy Kilmer to Heath Shuler vs. Gus Frerotte to Brad Johnson vs. Jeff George, and the more recent quarterback battles of Jason Campbell vs. Todd Collins and Donovan McNabb vs. Rex Grossman there has seemingly always existed a need to have a battle for quarterback.

Some of this might have to do with the fact that the Redskins haven’t had a top quarterback for what amounts to a lifetime for some, but whatever the reason is when John Beck came out on the field and looked competent he put the Washington Redskins universe in order. It doesn’t matter if the game was out of hand at that point and would have taken a miracle to win. It was out of hand because Rex Grossmanand the Redskins offense weren’t able to capitalize on the mistakes made by an Eagles team that has made mistakes all season.

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