Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

After further review: Redskins-Bucs second half

Here are my observations after taking a second look at the game. Here is the second half, the first half review is here.

Third quarter

--Brandon Banks was on the field for two defensive snaps. Early in the third quarter he motioned into position behind Griffin and the quarterback faked a handoff to him. The fake drew even the offside defenders to the right, allowing Davis to get a little running room after Griffin threw him a pass on the left side. Davis ran right between blocks by Josh Morgan and Trent Williams and got 12 yards and a fist down. The fear of Banks’ speed set it up.

--The Redskins were on the move to put the game away until a first-down clipping call on Will Montgomery spiked the drive. It clearly was a clip and looks like Morris may have been trapped for a loss of seven yards or so had he not done it. After that, a pass intended for Hankerson was tipped away, an underneath pass to Hankerson picked up 10, and the Griffin ran well short of the first down.

--Richard Crawford made a nice, open-field tackle on Benn to prevent the Bucs from converting a third down. He got into the bigger receiver with this shoulder and stopped him a yard short of the sticks.

--Again, bad optics as Griffin yells at the defender who hit him late to draw a flag but the offensive line does nothing.

--Shanahan said that Garçon’s personal foul on Aquib Talib came prior to the whistle. That turned a third and four into a third and 19. On the original camera shot you can see it happen while Royster, who caught a short pass form Griffin, was fighting for an extra yard or two. It’s hard to tell if the whistle had blown. It was a good 8 or 10 yards away from the action, though, and Talib clearly wasn’t going to be involved in making the stop. That is going to get flagged most of the time.

--The play that got Freeman and the Bucs going, a 65-yard pass and run to Mike Williams, happened both because Wilson hesitated when Williams broke down the sideline and because Madieu Williams missed a tackle near midfield. There is no reason for Wilson to let Williams get past him there. A big play was the only thing that would get the Bucs back into the game and he got it.

--I’ll chalk up the seven-yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson up to great athletic ability. Jackson gets paid a lot of money to make plays like that and, in this case, he did. Hall could have been a little closer to him and Williams could have anticipated that Jackson was going to get the ball and moved over there sooner but I’m not sure it would have done any good.

--The second time they use the quick pitch to Morris it picks up seven and a first down.

--One of Griffin’s few off-target passes of the season was a little behind Morgan and it almost got picked off. It was tipped in the air and linebacker Mason Foster was close to a diving interception.

--Banks’ speed set up the razzle dazzle as the Bucs defense was pulled over to the left with Griffin’s first lateral and Niles Paul had all kinds of room to run after he caught Griffin’s forward pass. Had Banks not actually run the ball a few times last week against the Bengals this and the previous play with him in on offense would not have been nearly as effective.

Fourth quarter

--Again, just a great athletic play by Jackson on Freeman’s deep pass to Jackson right after Cundiff’s 31-yard miss. And anything but a perfect pass is incomplete.

--We thought that the field would be an issue after a college game was played there Saturday night. It turned out not to be but Hankerson did slip on a cut during a route. If he keeps his feet, it’s likely a reception and a first down. Because he slipped, the pass was nearly intercepted. As it was, it became second and 10. A sack and an incompletion followed and the Redskins’ chance to respond to the Bucs’ second TD was gone.

--Maybe some day offenses won’t expect Ryan Kerrigan to get fooled on screen passes. But Sunday was not that day as he took away a scoring opportunity for the Bucs by sniffing out a screen and tackling D. J. Ware for a seven-yard loss on third and three at the Redskins’ 31. They were in Connor Barth’s field goal range before the play but they had to punt due to the loss.

--Not much to say about RG3’s scramble on third and 10 that came up short of the first down. He had no chance to extend the ball out to get it over the line to make as he was getting tackled. It was very clearly short and I have no idea why Shanahan decided to challenge.

--There’s not much more that can be said about the final drive except that there were two terrifying moments. The second was 0-3 Cundiff lining up for the game-winning field goal. The first came right before that after Griffin threw to Moss for seven yards. They rushed to line up as the clock ticked below 10 seconds. If anyone had committed a false start, the game is over after a 10-second runoff. Shanahan got the timeout before they got set, however, and Cundiff slipped the kick past the good side of the left upright.

Bucs-Redskins review, 1st half

Here are my observations after taking a second look at the game. First half is here, second half will be posted at 5:00 p.m.

First quarter

--Griffin’s cadence drew the Bucs offside on the very first offensive play. You couldn’t hear the snap count but you can see Griffin’s head bobbing. The linebacker on the right side jumped on the first “hut”, the ball was snapped on the second one.

--Rob Jackson was not quite as stellar in this game as he was in his starting debut against the Bengals. Wide receiver Arrelious Benn literally faked Jackson onto the ground on an end around. Jackson could have had him after a short gain but Benn picked up 10 yards and a first down. By the way, the Redskins need to do a better job of defending that play. The Bengals got at least three first downs off of it last week.

--On the second play of their first touchdown drive, Griffin pitched the ball back to Alfred Morris, who was in an I formation. He caught the pitch about five yards behind the line of scrimmage and he could immediately turn his attention upfield. That allowed him to identify the gaping hole on the right side and he bolted through it and wasn’t taken down until he had picked up 17 yards.

--On the next play, Fred Davis did a heck of a job pass blocking against defensive lineman Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, who lined up at right end in a three-point stance. Davis engaged the lineman and stuck to him. Te’o-Nesheim broke loose eventually but Davis pushed him to the ground. That allowed Griffin to step up into the pocket and flip a pass to fullback Darrel Young, who broke a tackle and rumbled for 30 yards. None of that happens without Davis’ pass blocking.

--First and 20? Years past, a big problem. On this play, no problem. After a holding penalty, Griffin waited until just the right moment and flipped to Davis just behind the line. Linebacker David Lavonte was able to avoid Chris Chester’s block a few yards downfield but the linebacker was late getting to Davis and the tight end dismissed him with a stiffarm to the face. Further downfield he skirted an attempted tackle by Ronde Barber and was finally pushed out of bounds at the 14 after a gain of 20.

--Griffin needs to be careful with the ball. It’s great that he wanted to score as he approached the goal line on a third and five play from the Bucs’ nine. But he waited a step or two too long to protect the ball as two defenders converged on him near the goal line. He already had the first down but the ball got knocked out as he went for the end zone. Fortunately Pierre Garçon caught the ball bouncing in the end zone out of the corner of his eye and pounced on it for the touchdown.

Second quarter

--I’m not much for symbolic gestures on the field, I don’t think they matter all that much. But in the first quarter, DeAngelo Hall put a legal shoulder into Josh Freeman to tackle the quarterback after a sort gain. A Bucs offensive lineman went up to Hall and barked in his face, apparently telling Hall to lay off of his quarterback. In the second quarter, rookie Mark Barron drew a (borderline) flag for picking up Griffin on an option plan and dumping him to the ground. There was no response from anyone on the offensive line. Again, it’s nothing major but you would like to see a message being sent.

--They could have doubled the width of the goal posts and Billy Cundiff’s first field goal try from 41 yards still would have been wide right.

--It looked like Barry Cofield got a fingertip or two on the Freeman pass that Hall intercepted. Give some credit to Ryan Kerrigan on the play as well for relentlessly driving towards Freeman despite the tackle being engaged and forcing him to step up towards the line.

--Gerald McCoy is a third-year player and he should know better than to jump offside on a hard count on fourth and a long one. The Redskins ran the play and got a first down anyway as Alfred Morris ran right through the hole created by McCoy’s premature movement.

--Last week, RG3 scooted outside for a touchdown in a goal to go situation. This week the Bucs spread out their defense to try to stop that and he scoots right up the middle for five yards and a score. Too easy, no wonder he was laughing while looking at pictures on the bench with Kyle Shanahan after the score.

--Morris made a good, quick decision that got him a 39-yard touchdown run. He cut through the left side of the line, planted his foot and took off back to the right. Eric Wright was the only Buc to touch him and he just barely nipped his ankles. Leonard Hankerson stuck with his block downfield and that was all Morris needed to dash into the end zone.

--I don’t understand getting conservative in the last two minutes. After getting a first down at their own 35, the Redskins went with a pass behind the line to Morris that lost four yards and two draw plays. You’d think that Mike and Kyle would be more aggressive here with their quarterback who seems to be capable of just about anything and at least try to get back the field goal they just gave up. Yes, they were getting the second-half kickoff but they could have treated it like an opportunity to score 10 straight points without the Bucs getting the ball. That would have put the game away.

--Then, after a short Bucs punt, they get aggressive with 14 second left. Passes to wide receivers Hankerson and Morgan picked up about 18 yards and getting the Redskins into position to at least try a long field goal. Where was that approach a minute and a half earlier?

After Further Review: Offense gets it going in second half

Here is my review after looking at the recording of the Redskins-Bengals game. The second half is here, go here to see the first half review.

Third quarter

That was just a good, competent drive for the Redskins’ first offensive touchdown. The only thing of note was the last play, when Robert Geathers tried to take Morris’ head off behind the line of scrimmage, but the RB spun out of it and scooted into the end zone.

Jarvis Jenkins had a big hand in making a third-down stop on the Bengals’ ensuing possession. He got into the hole and made the initial contact on BenJarvus Green-Ellis. That held him up long enough for the rest of the defense to take him down.

You have to love the way Alfred Morris runs. During the second TD drive he just willed his way through a pile of bodies to pick up seven additional yards. He ran the last five yards with his torso parallel to the ground.

The edge defenders have to play the option soft when Banks is in. His speed just terrifies defenses. Good adjustment by Kyle Shanahan to get him in there.

Again, Morris. He’s stopped dead after a two-yard gain on second and five at the 12. But his legs keep churning and he moves the pile for enough yardage to get the first down.

Had Griffin’s left foot not been a few inches out of bounds, his arms-out dive to the goal line with the ball touching the pylon would have been an all-timer.

But they got the TD on the next play anyway as Griffin found Santana Moss in the front of the end zone with a pinpoint pass on the move. That tied the game at 24-24.

It’s hard to say for sure, but it doesn’t appear that Josh Wilson was touched while he was on the ground after recovering Green-Ellis’ first fumble in 590 career touches. The all-22 might provide a better view. The veteran refs probably would have let the play proceed and then, since it was a turnover, take a look on the automatic review. But the replacements blew the whistle and signaled timeout very quickly so even if the Redskins had prevailed on a challenge, Wilson would not have been given very many return yards, if any.

Fourth quarter

The Redskins twice got good field position after tying the score and twice they squandered it. The first one, after the fumble recovery, was torpedoed by a second-down sack. They got the ball at the end of the third quarter on a punt and that one ended with Mike Shanahan’s controversial decision to punt on fourth and one from the Cincinnati 44.

One of the disadvantages of having Banks in on offense—blocking. Griffin ran on third and eight from the Washington 49 and came up a yard short. Had Banks been able to get anything resembling a block on cornerback Nate Clements it looks like Griffin would have been able to squeeze out another couple of yards and they could have kept the drive alive.

Another thing to look for on the all-22 is DeAngelo Hall’s facemask penalty. It didn’t look like he was close enough to Green to do anything to him. It wound up being only a six-yard penalty since Green caught the ball and got down to the 12 but curious anyway.

I can see why some wanted pass interference called on the deep pass to Hankerson but I really don’t see it. Mays was between Hankerson and the ball and he is allowed to maintain that position. Yes, Hank went to the ground but not until the ball did.

It just looked like Richard Crawford was tentative in his coverage of Andrew Hawkins on the 59-yard touchdown pass. He didn’t quite believe what his eyes were telling him and by the time he figured it out, Hawkins was well past him.

Although they didn’t go no-huddle, the Redskins were efficient during their 90-yard drive to make a game of it again. They got off 12 plays in about three and a half minutes. That is a switch from what we’ve seen in the recent past.

On the earlier challenged touchback, the ball was just inches from bouncing in the field of play. Niles Paul was just inches, maybe a foot or so, from legally batting the ball back on the onside kick. It would be a stretch to say the Redskins are about 18 inches away from being 2-1 but it wouldn’t be a huge one.

The Redskins should have declined the delay of game penalty after Cincinnati took a delay of game from the Washington 36 after the 2:00 warning. It’s easier to put a team in the hole from the 41 than it is from five yards closer in.

The officials were correct (after being corrected) not to run 10 seconds off of the clock after Leonard Hankerson was injured after the Redskins were out of timeouts and already had received a “free” timeout when Evan Royster was hurt. The rules, however, do call for a five-yard delay of game penalty in such a situation.

Another “RG3 Moment” happened when Adam Jones hit him out of bounds after a scramble. Jones went sprawling while Griffin remained upright. Goes with the Superman socks.

Public service announcement—please do not work on the assumption that the guys in the TV booth know the rules. They don’t. There is never, ever a runoff if the clock is stopped. 

After Further Review: A muddled first half on both sides of the ball

Here is my review after looking at the recording of the Redskins-Bengals game. The first half is here, the second half will be posted at 4:00 p.m.

First quarter

On the first snap of the game, all 11 defensive players were within seven yards of the line of scrimmage. From the snap of the ball that was a touchdown, assuming that Sanu could throw a decent pass. He could.

It was pitch right to Alfred Morris on the first play of the game, pitch left on the second. Ten yards on each play. Among others, Leonard Hankerson did a good job blocking on the first run, Josh Morgan did the same on the second one.

It’s hard to see how Trent Williams could have sustained a bone bruise on that second run. He stayed engaged with his man as Morris ran past him and then went to the ground. Many thought the injury could be somewhat serious as it looked like a classic scenario for ligament damage.

There must have been some sort of a protection mixup on Rob Jackson’s interception. Ryan Kerrigan just went through virtually untouched and hit Andy Dalton as he was throwing a little swing pass. Jackson saw the gift fluttering through the air and pounced on it, becoming just the fifth player in NFL history to get a zero-yard interception return for a touchdown.

The Bengals had to overcome a second and 18 to start the drive that led to their second TD. They got most of it with a Dalton scramble. The score itself came on second and 20. Madieu Williams did hit Dalton on the blitz but he was a step and a half away when the QB released the ball. It didn’t look like Josh Wilson, who had single coverage on receiver Armon Binns, misplayed the ball. He got caught flat-footed when Binns made his cut and he had no chance after Dalton threw the ball. Perhaps he could have taken a better angle and cut off the receiver after the throw but even that seems doubtful.

After being sacked with 2:46 left, Griffin is in a pile that includes a few Bengals and tight end Logan Paulsen. The offensive linemen, all five of them, are standing and looking at the pile, all but Jordan Black at least five yards away. Although it was more of a coverage sack—Griffin pumped, apparently looking to go deep—the optics here are not good.

The next play was one of a few where Black looked truly awful. Carlos Dunlap made him look like a statue as he sped around him to RG3. Black wasn’t perfect the rest of the way by any means but he did seem to realize that he had to do better.

Second quarter

Twice the Bengals caught the Redskins bunched up in the middle of the line on third and short and went to Andrew Hawkins on an end around. They easily got the first down both times.

The Bengals’ fake field goal—a highly questionable call to begin with—never had a chance. Madieu Williams just stayed home and the holder turned runner ran right into him.

On the fumbled pitch (which they still are calling a sack but it’s not as Griffin had no intent to pass) it looks like Griffin simply should have held on to the ball since Dunlap was on him so quickly. I am not sure why Morris didn’t recover the ball. They had several replays, some of them from the right angle to see what happened but they stopped them before the recovery. The all-22 view comes out tomorrow, maybe we can see then.

And, as the announcers pointed out, Griffin did grab Dunlap’s facemask as the defender was on top of him in an apparent effort to keep him from going after the ball. Smart move or a dirty one? It didn’t matter as Dunlap ultimately recovered the ball anyway.

Niles Paul got off a nice block to spring Brandon Banks on that 55-yard return late in the first half. He didn’t knock anyone to the ground but he got himself into position to get between the ballcarrier and the would-be tackler.

Worse than ugly but still an win

My weekly "After Further Review" article from CSNwashington.com:

It wasn’t pretty. In fact, calling the Redskins’ 17-14 win over the Bears ugly is an insult to all things ugly. That includes the Ugly Ducking, the Ugly American, Coyote Ugly, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Whatever adjective you want to use to describe it, the word “win” is at the end of it and that is all that really matters. "People remember the end of the game," quarterback Donovan McNabb said. "The most important thing is we won."

Hit the link for the full article:

After Further Review: Worse Than Ugly, But Still a Win

After further review: Redskins-Bucs second half

[caption id="attachment_1894" align="aligncenter" width="270" caption="Hall's third-quarter interception got things going for the Skins"][/caption] Third quarter LaRon Landry got a crunching block that let Hall gain another ten yards on his interception return. There’s a lot of talk about Campbell’s nice scramble that preceeded his TD pass to Cooley. But another one was huge. After Hall’s pick the Redskins were on the verge of going three and out but Campbell stepped up and made a stutter step while some bodies flew past him. A defender made contact two yards shy of the marker but Campbell dove and landed two yards past it. That set up the Redskins’ first score on a Suisham field goal. On one Bucs running play I saw a DT push his blocker into the backfield and grab the runner with one arm and make the tackle for a one-yard gain. Thought it must have been Haynesworth but when I got a clear view of the number it was Cornelius Griffin, not Albert. On the next play, Haynesworth got his man on roller skates and pushed him back towards Johnson, collapsing the pocket. The QB eluded him but ended up getting tackled by Fletcher for a loss of a yard. The line had some leaks in pass protection, but they were a solid wall on the bomb to Moss, allowing Santana to execute the double move and Campbell plenty of time to throw an on-the-money pass. Fourth quarter One thing that hasn’t been talked about much is the sequence after the Bucs attained first and goal at the seven with the score 16-10 and less than seven minutes left. It looked like that blocked conversion might come back to haunt them.

• On first down, Haynesworth held off his blocker with one hand and blocked Ernest Graham’s path after a gain of two. Griffin either suffered or aggrevated his elbow injury on this play, he went out and Golston came in.
• On second down from the five, Landry sniffed out the play, streaked into the backfield, and tackled Williams for a loss of three before the back could get moving.
• On third down from the eight the quarterback draw fooled nobody and Johnson had to take off to the left. Tryon’s speed again proved valuable as he was on him in a flash to make the tackle.

With the Skins trying to kill the clock Portis took a handoff on a draw play on third and five. He said after the game that he should have bounced it outside and it does look like he had wide open spaces out there. But he wanted to make sure that he got the first and he darted into an opening inside. He stumbled as he cut, though, and he came up short. On the play before the game-clinching fumble, Doughty had Johnson after a scramble but it appeared that the QB would be able to lunge for a first down. But Tryon came flying into the picture and finished off the tackle, setting up the third and one. The forced fumble was a great individual effort by Jarmon. He spun out of his block, reached out, and pawed away the ball. Chris Horton, who has a nose for the ball, pounced on it to end it.

After further review: Redskins-Bucs First Half

[caption id="attachment_1890" align="aligncenter" width="337" caption="Haynesworth spent some snaps at end"][/caption] Here are some random observations after viewing the recording of the game. Second half will be up later today. First quarter On the sack and fumble, Rienhart and Rabach were doubling Wilkerson. Rabach just sort of put a shoulder in the to defender, allowing him to slide inside with Reinhart out of position. I almost forgot that Kellen Winslow played for the Bucs. He did catch a couple of passes for 21. Orakpo, lined up in a two-point stance, almost had another sack but he got held and then let Johnson slip through his arms and gain a few yards. Haynesworth blew up a draw play while lined up at right defensive end. He straightened up the tackle and pushed him into the backfield, collapsing the line from the end. During the chat yesterday I was asked if the punt that Randle El fielded at the five was headed to the end zone. After looking at it again, I’d say that it was headed there and there is a 95% chance that the decision cost the Redskins 15 yards. The Redskins rarely lined up with the same two DE’s two plays in a row. In one series, Carter, Orakpo, Daniels, and Haynesworth (twice) were at right defensive end. Second quarter After the first interception by Talib, Malcolm Kelly, the intended target, didn’t exactly bounce up quickly to make the tackle. He got up and gave a tentative chase. Justin Tryon was one of the few defenders with the speed to chase down Johnson. He showed great closing speed while getting his sack of the Tampa Bay QB. Fred Davis learned about protecting the ball after a preseason miscue. Hopefully he’ll learn about keeping his head up while blocking after Gains Adams tossed him aside and tackled Portis for a loss.

Redskins-Browns: After Further Review

• Leigh Torrence has Ade Jimoh's special teams prowess with better coverage skills. Despite the issues on the late deep pass that set up the game-winning field goal last week, one does not break into a cold sweat when Torrence is called upon to play nickel back. There was no such confidence with special teams ace "Uh-Oh" Jimoh lined up in coverage.
  
• Not that I'm one to talk, but Ryan Plackemeier should either drop a few dozen pounds or wear a looser jersey. I know punters aren't real football players, but he looks like the guy at the mall who thinks he's ripped and wears too-tight shirts but the bulges are flab, not muscle. His punt was OK, just OK. He didn't shank one that let the other team score a field goal without needing a first down as his predecessor did last week, so I guess that represents an improvement.
  
• On several occasions London Fletcher did exactly what you have to do to stop a big back. He got to Jamal Lewis in the backfield and hit him low. Lewis didn't always go down right away but he wasn't able to get any momentum and he was tackled quickly. Some of Lewis' best gains came on a toss sweep, away from the middle of the line and Fletcher.
  
• There was some puzzling clock management at the end of the first half. The Redskins had the ball at their own 33 with 2:28 left in the half. Portis ran for seven and the team dawdled as the clock ran down to 2:00. Portis then broke loose for 20 to the Cleveland 40 and still there was no sense of urgency. The next snap came with 1:16 left. After a pass to Moss gained six, there was another leisurely huddle and then a snap with 41 seconds left. With 35 seconds left, the Redskins called their first timeout. They nearly ran out of time, but they were able to get a field goal attempt off on the last play of the half. Zorn said that he didn't want the Browns to have any time left to be able to score. Given that Cleveland hadn't even sniffed the Red Zone all half, I'm not sure why that was such an overriding concern.
  
• As of halftime, Portis had outgained the entire Browns team, 75 yards to 59.
  
• Shaun Alexander got a few touches in his debut. He told me that he was working off of a very limited package of running plays. As he stood in the locker room, his Redskins hat was so new that it still had the size sticker on the bill.
  
• What's striking about Portis' running is that he gains yardage without the offensive line blowing the defense into the backfield snap after snap. The energy is focused on opening a hole and it doesn't have to be a very big one for Portis to slip through for five yards. It's not the Red Sea parting, it's more like a few strategically-placed rocks in a creek. On Portis' touchdown run, Lorenzo Alexander just push their men sideways while Randy Thomas gets about a yard of push. Jansen kind of bumps into his man, knocking him over, and tumbles into the end zone. Portis never set foot in the end zone but he got the ball across the plane of the goal line. There is no physical domination in the style of the Hogs, but it's smart blocking and Portis knows how to use it.
  
• It was a slightly different story on a 27-yard Portis run early in the fourth quarter. On this one, the O-line got a good push and created a pile on the inside. At the point of attack, though, Samuels stepped back as if to pass block and just shoved his man out of the way. Portis got to the second level quickly and an Santana Moss block—nothing spectacular, he just stayed engaged with his man—sprung him. This was the middle play in the three-play drive that led to the Redskins' winning TD.
  
• That came on a pass to Moss. A safety covering deep isn't much help when you send Moss streaking across the middle like that. The spin move to stay inbounds, make the tackler miss and get into the end zone isn't something you can teach.
  
• That put the Redskins up 14-3. I'm going to break down the goal line stand tomorrow in the Tuesday Take, so I'll stop here.