Live blog Redskins vs. Colts

Thanks for joining in the live blog. The most recent posts are on the top and the time is what’s remaining in each quarter.

Please leave your comments and questions either here in the comments section or hit me on Twitter @Rich_Tandler. I’ll pull the best ones into the main part of the blog.

Hit refresh often and enjoy!

Quick impressions:

Overall, another good performance by the Redskins. The red zone issues persist but they are moving the ball well to get there.

Hightower and Helu have to have Ryan Torain itching to get back onto the field. They both displayed decisive cuts and good downfield speed. Helu did get caught from behind on his long run but perhaps he can learn to be more elusive in those situations.

If all Beck has to do is play as well as Grossman to win the starting quarterback job, he got off to a good start. He was 14 of 17 for 140 yards with a QB rating of 101 and he led all four Redskins scoring drives. Yes, he threw short passes exclusively and he will need to do something to loosen up defenses when they start playing for keeps. But considering how many people thought that he had no business being on the field in any sort of NFL game, it was a solid performance.

It is hard to evaluate the defense playing against an offense with Curtis Painter at quarterback (speaking of players who may have no business being on an NFL field) and the team’s top three receivers watching the game. The first unit, playing minus three quarters of the starting secondary, was mostly crisp and tackled well. 

Fourth quarter

9:25—Keiland Williams was just flipped up in the air and landed on his left shoulder pad. He did not get up and there is an injury timeout. Update: Williams was down for a couple of minutes and left the field under his own power. 

Rex Grossman seemed to be getting into a rhythm before throwing an interception that killed a promising drive. 

14:00—Adam Schfeter just piped in on Twitter with an opinion not held by most who are watching this game:

Washington's John Beck looked and played like a QB who wrapped up a starting job tonight.

Beck looked pretty good but not far superior to Rex Grossman. We will see.

Third quarter

Summary: Guess what, this looks like a preseason game played between two teams who did not have any offseason activities. It is turning pretty sloppy with penalties, missed blocks, and missed tackles taking place with regularity. 

2:50—Leonard Hankerson had a good week at practice but he just dropped a pass that would have been good for a first down. He tried to catch it with his hands but he looked up at a defender who was a few steps away and the ball bounced off of his hands. The Redskins knew he had issues with the dropsies in college and they will give him more than one preseason to work through them.

5:45—The Redskins’ Edgar Jones was in excellent position to make a tackle on punt coverage until he was blocked in the back right into the returner. Jones’ helmet went flying and he was down on the field for a few minutes. He was helped up and he got off the field. He looks OK but we will await word. 

FG Vinatieri 55
Redskins 16, Colts 3

8:30—The Colts put together a nice drive that was stopped with the Redskins started to put some pass pressure on Dan Orlovsky. First Rob Jackson hit the QB as he threw, forcing an incompletion. Then an all-our blitz resulted in a Lorenzo Alexander sack that forced a 55-yard field goal attempt by Adam Vinatieri. He hit it to make it 16-3.

Second quarter

Summary: Just like last week, the Redskins are advancing the ball like crazy but they have been unable to punch it in consistently from within the Colts 20. Only on their first drive did they score a touchdown. Three field goals in three trips to the red zone have ensued.

The play calling close to the goal line has been very conservative. Not one pass has been into the end zone with the exception of one on the first drive. And the execution hasn’t been much to write home about, either. Pass protection has been good until they get into scoring territory. Then, it has broken down consistently.

Still, it is hard to complain about a 16-0 score with a 160-1 edge in rushing yards and a 16-1 edge in first downs.  

FG Gano 26
Redskins 16, Colts 0
1:50 left in second quarter

2:00—A nice drive by the Redskins gets them into the red zone again. Good rhythm, a couple of third-down conversions, and they move from their own seven. Trent Williams just whiffed horribly to allow a second-down sack that has the Redskins near the 13 with a third and goal.

10:11--The Redskins got a break when the Colts were called for a horse collar tackle on a sack after Helu's long run. But they couldn't punch it in after that, settling for another Gano field goal. By the way, Gano is five for five in field goals this preseason. 

FG Gano 27
Redskins 13, Colts 0
10:11 left

13:26—Roy Helu just tried to match Hightower as he busted off a 51-yard run. He bounced outside, played off of a block by Anthony Armstrong, made a defender miss, and scooted down the sideline to the 20. 

First quarter

Summary: A solid start for the Redskins. Beck is throwing safe and effective passes, Hightower broke loose with that long run, and the offense seems to be in a good rhythm. The Colts have 26 yards of total offense.

:48—Kerrigan gets his first NFL sack (preseason style, of course), displaying a good motor while chasing down Curtis Painter. That completes a three and out by the Redskins and the Colts punt it away. 

1:54--Beck is 6 for 8 for 64 yards in the first quarter.

FG Gano 28
Redskins 10, Colts 0

6:24—On this drive, Beck has hit both Darrel Young and Hightower with swing passes that the backs were able to catch in stride. Both plays went for about 10 yards. If you don’t slow the players down, you can move the ball pretty well with dink and dunk passes.

8:43—A 30-yard punt return by Terrence Austin as he worked his way out of traffic and then showed some burst down the sideline. Brandon Banks was left back in Washington, that can’t make him too happy. Austin has better receiver skills than Banks will ever have.

12:15—It was thought that Graham Gano would miss this game after his wife gave birth a couple of days ago. Evidently all is well with mother and child as Gano just booted the extra point and kicked off well into the end zone. They do have kicker Clint Stitser, whose signing was just announced, with them tonight as well.

14:11—Nice zone blocking and zone running by Trent Williams and Tim Hightower, respectively. The result is a 58-yard run to near the Colts 20. Then Beck fires a nice pass to Gaffney to get inside the one. Three plays later, Hightower punches it in.

Hightower 1 run (Gano kick)
Redskins 7, Colts 0
Scoring drive: 6 plays, 80 yards

 

Pregame

7:00--Mike Patrick and Doc Walker with the call on TV. Thought that Joey T had the preseason? 

6:45—CSN Washington’s Ryan O’Halloran reports that there are a lot of NFL scouts in attendance tonight, looking for waiver wire gems from both teams. Here are the teams present: NYJ, SD, GB, Car, Oak, KC, Balt, Pitt, Mia (2), Minn, NYG and Saints.

6:40--Adam Carriker is in street clotes so he is out. 

6:00—In other injury fill-in news, Kevin Barnes is going to start in place of Josh Wilson at cornerback. This is a big chance for Barnes to try to earn the nickel back spot. Last week, Phillip Buchanon, who will be suspended for the first four games this year, played only on special teams and that might be his role tonight as well.

5:55--In ex-Redskins news, the Boston Herald is reporting that the Patriots have worked out running back Clinton Portis. The Pats already have ex-Redskins Andre Carter and Albert Haynesworth on the team. 

5:50—Jarvis Jenkins will start in place of Adam Carriker at defensive end. Carriker has been nursing a sore ankle all week so this would appear to be injury related rather than a change in the depth chart. 

5:45—Here is a roster you can download; it’s current through last Tuesday. You can print it up but be warned that the print is going to be on the small side since it contains information fo 90 players. One is numerical, the other alphabetical.Download Washington Redskins Game roster, Preseason Wk 2  

5:30—It is going to be hard to refrain from overanalyzing John Beck tonight. Certainly, his every pass will be critiqued and dissected and debated. But we’ll keep an eye on the other 10 players on offense and on the defense as well. It is going to be interesting to see how the secondary will perform with three starters sidelined. Also want to see what Ryan Kerrigan learned from his game last week. 

 

Comments

[Bill]

Please check DOC Walkers mic. His levels are completely different than Mike Patricks and he sounds muffled.

[Will]

Do you guys know your sound mix is all off??? Can't hear a thing!!! Commercials are fine. Too much of the crowd-noise mics; Patrick and Doc's mics way too low!!!

[Terry]

Do you guys think you could wait until the second half for the sideline interviews? Your missing a good dame and some really good plays. I would rather hear about Helu's run than what two guys are doing on the sidel;ine that didn't even dress for the game.

[Rich Tandler]

Guys, the Redskins produce the telecast, Comcast just puts the signal on the air. And I'm not having any audio problems watching on CSN, maybe try that.

[Puma Outlet Store]

This tax and spend list won't be for the next 10-years, which is a favorite political trick which pushes all the pain to distant years. That is utterly irrelevant since future Congressmen will make their own decisions anyway. All I want to see is the budget preferences for next year. And the list won't allow someone to make across the board caps or changes, or to do a "me too" on someone else's bill or list. If someone wants to be a copycat, then they have to figure it out and fill in each line. And they will need to understand each line so that they can answer questions from constituents and lobbyists.