Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

Other division top picks will be after RG3

Everyone knows that Robert Griffin III, the Redskins’ top draft pick, will make an impact on the 2012 team and that they should be better because of it. 

That’s good for the Redskins because the other three teams in the division could also be improved due to the presence of their first-round draft picks. Washington traded up to get Griffin and two of the other NFC East teams traded up to get players they hope will help stop RG3.

A look at the other NFC East first rounders:

Morris Claiborne, CB, Cowboys (6^th pick)–He was touted as the best defensive player in the 2012 draft and the Cowboys, who traded up to the sixth overall pick to take him, will need him to be very good if not great. Dallas secondary has been the team’s Achilles heel for quite some time and Jerry Jones spent a high draft pick on Claiborne and some hefty free agent dollars on Brandon Carr to transform the cornerback spot from a soft spot into an area of strength.

Fletcher Cox, DT, Eagles (12^th pick)–Cox could come at Griffin from just about anywhere along the Eagles’ defensive line. He’s a freakish athlete who could spend a number of years blowing into the offensive backfield and disrupting the Redskins’ zone stretch play. Philly moved up from 15^th in the first round to 12^th to nap Cox.

David Wilson, RB, Giants (31^st pick)–Ahmad Bradshaw had better be careful. If he has any more injuries like the foot problem that kept him out of our games last year and limited him in others Wilson could take over and keep the job for good. Wilson is a deadly combination of speed and athletic ability, giving the Giants a player who take one all the way from anywhere on the field. It’s a good bet that he’ll have executed one of those plays that is all over TV on Sunday night and Monday by Week 4.

 

RG3 will face tough pass rush in NFC East

Tim Hightower, the running back the Redskins re-signed over the weekend, is not exactly a dynamic runner. His career average is a pedestrian 3.9 yards per carry. But that is not the number the Redskins were concerned with when they decided to bring him back. The number they were looking at was 140.

That is the number of 2011 sacks posted by the Eagles (50, tied for first in NFL), Giants (48, tied for third), and Cowboys (42, tied for seventh). According to the research of Pat Kirwan of CBSSports.com, the 140 combined sacks were the most posted by any trio of NFL teams in the same division last year.

That comes to about three sacks per game by the Redskins’ NFC East rivals. Washington actually fared a little bit better than the league as a whole controlling the pass rush in its division games. In their six division games the Redskins quarterbacks were sacked 14 times, an average of 2.3 per contest.

Still, Robert Griffin III can’t have a successful season if he has to deal with Jason Pierre Paul, Trent Cole, and DeMarcus Ware bearing down on him play after play. In his article, Kirwan outlines some ways that the Redskins can counter the heat they will face in the NFC East including developing an effective running game and having RG3 develop a good relationship with tight end Fred Davis. 

But while schemes and strategies are important, pass protection boils down to the blocker staying in between the defender and the quarterback. Hightower is good at that and when he is healthy and on the field, Trent Williams, who lines up against Ware, Cole, and Justin Tuck in those division games, is too. Those two players will be critical if Griffin is going to lead the Redskins out of their longtime spot in the basement of the NFC East.

 

Enemy Intel: Eagles' free agency plans

We wanted to find out what the Redskins' division rivals are up to in free agency so we went to some of our friends who cover the NFC East. The Eagles are first up and we got in touch with Jim Kempski, who covers the whole division on his Blogging the BEast site and the Eagles at Bleeding Green Nation. Here 

*What is the Eagles’ current salary cap situation? Do you anticipate any cap casualties?

Eagles fans are blessed to have the resource known as eaglescap.com, which does an amazing job of keeping up with the Eagles salary cap situation.  Eaglescap.com currently has the Eagles' estimated cap space estimated at $19,386,628.  The NFL needs to clone this guy 31 times and dispense them to the other NFL teams.

The Eagles have a number of likely cap casualties:

- C Jamaal Jackson is done in Philly.  Hes on the hook for $1.875M with no penalty if cut, and with Jason Kelce firmly entrenched as the Eagles' starting center, Jackson will be gone.

- Darryl Tapp is a nice player, and played well when he got his chances, but he probably won't be sticking around at $3.575M.  The Eagles have two excellent starting DE's in Trent Cole and Jason Babin.  2010 1st round pick Brandon Graham and Phillip Hunt (a guy the Eagles really like) are behind them, and they always seem to add a pass rusher either in free agency or the draft.

- Winston Justice is on the hook for $4.256M.  He's gone.

- Asante Samuel, Nnamdi Asomugha, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie are all very talented corners that can play on the outside, but none of them are particularly good in the slot.  One of them has to go.  Samuel is 31 years old, he's going to make $10.5M in 2012, and his aggressive style of play doesn't jive quite the way it did when the Eagles blitzed a lot more than they do now, so he's the odd man out.  The Eagles won't cut him though.  There's little doubt they'll get some sort of compensation for him in a trade.

*What were the pros and cons of putting the franchise tag on DeSean Jackson? Was it a move that you would have made?

The tag for DeSean was a no-brainer, in my opinion.  The Eagles weren't going to just let him walk for nothing.  DeSean is an enigma.  In 2011, he moped his way through the season, which was strange for a guy playing for a contract.  He had just 58 catches, 961 yards, 4 TD's, and a boatload of drops, some of which were in critical moments.  Compare those numbers to Jabar Gaffney (68-947-5).  I don't want to sound like I'm taking a shot at Gaffney with that comment, but the expectations for those two players were vastly different.  That's bad DeSean.  Conversely, in 2009, he had TD distances of 85, 72, 71, 67, 64, 60, 57, 54, 48, 35, 19, 4, and 2.  That's the DeSean that's as big a threat to score anytime he touches the football as anyone in the league.  It's the DeSean that scares the daylights out of opposing defensive coordinators, who park their safeties 30 yards off the line of scrimmage.  Good DeSean is such an intriguing football player, but Bad DeSean makes you think twice about giving him a lucrative long term deal.

*Who is the one free agent the Eagles can least afford to lose?

LG Evan Mathis, by default.  The Eagles don't have many free agents to worry about this offseason.  Mathis had a good season in 2011, and his style of play (quick, mobile type) is a great fit for Howard Mudd's blocking scheme.  He didn't give up a sack all season.  However, since he's more of a "scheme fit," I don't think he'll get much attention elsewhere, and I don't think he's extraordinarily irreplaceable either. 

*Is there one who the fans would like to see hit the road?

Can I give more than one?  Steve Smith, Vince Young, Ronnie Brown, Victor Abiamiri - Take your pick from those four.  None of them will be remembered fondly in Philly.

*Is there a free agent on the Redskins’ roster who may be on the Eagles’ radar?

There's some guy that wears the number 59.  I think he's been around for a while.  Hasn't missed a game in 14 years.  True leader.  Tackle machine.  If he doesn't make the Hall of Fame, they may as well just do away with it.  He's getting long in the tooth, but seems to me like the kind of guy that would fit a glaring obvious need for a team that has a head coach perceived to be expected to make some noise in the playoffs in order to keep his job.  I don't know if that guy is on the Eagles' radar, but he's certainly on mine.

 

Report: Eagles to tag Jackson

By Rich Tandler

Philly.com is reporting that the Eagles will put the franchise tag on DeSean Jackson. The wide receiver, who is entering his fifth year in the league, would become an unrestricted free agent without the tag.

Jackson is one of the game’s top big-play threats as both a receiver and a punt returner. He averaged 18.5 yards per reception in 2009 and a league-leading 22.5 yards in 2010. Jackson was named to the Pro Bowl after the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

Last year, however, his production fell off, as his desire for a new contract became a distraction. He missed some of training camp and was benched during games on more than one occasion.

That left Jackson as damaged goods to some extent. Still, he remains a dynamic receiver and it would make no sense for the Eagles to let him walk.

The Eagles would have the option of trading Jackson under the tag but it seems likely he will play for the Eagles for the franchise wide receiver salary of nearly $10 million. Many Philly fans were calling for coach Any Reid to be fired last year as the Eagles finished 8-8 despite some big-name free agent additions. His job certainly could be in jeopardy if the team has another disappointing season. It would seem that having Jackson on the field would be better for the 2012 Eagles than having whatever draft picks they might get in for him in a trade.

Washington has been victimized by Jackson’s ability to break big plays the past two years. Last year he got free for a 62-yard touchdown reception and he started off Philadelphia’s 59-28 rout at Washington in 2008 by catching an 88-yard TD bomb from Michael Vick on the game’s first play.

The Redskins could be looking for wide receiver help in free agency and some have speculated about the possibility of them pursuing Jackson. Signing him would have the potential to give the Redskins the playmaking threat that they desperately need while simultaneously weakening their division rival. However, such a move seemed to be unlikely after the issues surrounding Jackson last year and the application of the tag would seem to completely rule out seeing Jackson in burgundy and gold. 

 

Jerry the owner approves of Jones the GM

By Rich Tandler

At least one person thinks that Jerry Jones is doing a fine job as general manager of the Dallas Cowboys.

That person happens to be Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

Speaking on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas last week, Jones said that he would continue in his role of general manager of the Cowboys, who lost three of their last four games to finish 8-8 and out of the playoffs in 2011.

Jones pointed out that of the 71 players who were on the Cowboys’ roster this year, 31 were new to the team. “I look at the mix of players, the veteran, the young player, where we're going to be with our core,” he said.

"I know we can do better, but I think there are some positives there."

He believes that adding a traditional GM would “deter from the mix” that he believes is working well in acquiring talent.

"The way we're structured and the way it is, our fans need to understand that I have the ability to go get anybody and any bit of information that there is, sports or football, and I do. I go get it. We get it from a lot of sources."

Of course, anyone can get information; the key is making the right decisions based on that information. With Jones as the GM, the Cowboys have qualified for the playoffs six times in the past 15 seasons and have won one playoff game.

I’d put up a poll on whether or not Jones should continue as Cowboys GM, but I suspect that Redskins fans would vote virtually unanimously to allow Jerruh to continue to select the players for their team’s chief rival. 

 

Redskins-Eagles Live Chat Archive

By Rich Tandler 

Hi, and thanks for joining in to our live chat of the Redskins-Eagles game. Rich is in the press box at Lincoln Financial Field to bring his perspective from there and respond to your questions and comments.

All comments are moderated and it may take a few minutes to get to your comment. Don't worry, everyone will have his say. If you want to get approved to make unmoderated comments, just sign in with your Twitter, Facebook, or Open ID accounts.

Eagles favored, history tell us why

By Ryan O’Halloran

The Eagles have been installed as a nine-point favorite over the Redskins in Sunday’s regular season finale. This shouldn’t be a surprise given the teams’ recent series history.

2011
Week 6 at Washington: Redskins favored by 1. Vegas, like everybody else, thought the 1-4 Eagles were in a free fall and the coming-off-the-bye Redskins would put them away. Not. Final score: Eagles 20-13.

2010
Week 4 at Philadelphia. Eagles favored by 5. Donovan McNabb’s return to Philadelphia resulted in an upset victory – a week after getting blown out at St. Louis – and a hamstring injury that plagued McNabb until he was benched. Final score: Redskins 17-12.

Week 10 at Washington. Eagles favored by 3. Hours after signing a contract extension that was phony as all get out, McNabb and the Redskins were blown out of the stadium by the end of the first quarter. Final score: Eagles 59-28.

2009
Week 7 at Washington. Eagles favored by 7. Another Prime Time Debacle for the Redskins – the Eagles got a 67-yard TD run and a 57-yard TD catch by DeSean Jackson to jump to a 20-point, first-half lead. Final score: Eagles 27-17.

Week 12 at Philadelphia. Eagles favored by 9. The Redskins led by eight points with 11 minutes remaining but Philadelphia rallied to win on David Akers’ 32-yard field goal with 1:48 remaining. Final score: Eagles 27-24. 

2008
Week 5 at Philadelphia. Eagles favored by 6. The pinnacle of Jim Zorn’s two-year stay with the Redskins. A week after winning at Dallas as 10-point underdogs, the Redskins rallied from a 14-0 deficit to win. Final score: Redskins 23-17.

Week 16 at Washington: Eagles favored by 5. A tractor pull-type win for the Redskins and it probably saved Zorn from being one-and-done (they had lost to the 1-11-1 Bengals the week before). Final score: Redskins 10-3.

2007
Week 2 at Philadelphia: Eagles favored by 6. On ‘Monday Night Football,’ the Redskins limited Philadelphia to 4-of-16 on third down. Final score: Redskins 20-12.

Week 10 at Washington: Redskins favored by 3. The Redskins blew a five-point lead in the final four minutes on touchdowns of 57 and 10 yards by Brian Westbrook. Final score: Eagles 33-25.

Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@comcastsportsnet.com

 

Eagles have had their way at FedEx Field

By Ryan O'Halloran
CSNwashington.com 

What should gain some traction as the week goes along is how Philadelphia has turned FedEx Field into Lincoln Financial Field South. The Eagles fans – and they have a base in the D.C. area – have gobbled up tickets for years at the cavernous (but now smaller) stadium.

And Philadelphia usually has the better team 

The Eagles have won eight of their last 10 games in Washington.

The only two losses were 2008 (Week 16, Redskins 10-3, when Jim Zorn’s job was probably hanging by a thread) and 2005 (Week 9, Redskins 17-10, when Terrell Owens was suspended a day before the game).

The Redskins are the only NFC East team without a home loss. They went 2-6 at home last year, 3-5 in 2009, 4-4 in 2008 and 5-3 in 2007.

 

Does it matter if the Eagles are 'desperate'?

By Rich Tandler

Even before the Eagles lost to the Bills yesterday I was getting questions on Twitter about the possibility that the Redskins will be playing a desperate Eagles team next Sunday. Twitter friend @RedskinsST21 had a typical comment:

Desperate teams always scare me

I have never bought into the notion that desperate teams somehow play harder or better. If you need losing to get you motivated, you are in trouble anyway. The notion goes counter to the idea that success breeds success. Does failure breed success? I don’t think so.

And even if desperation could cause this Eagles team to play better wouldn’t that motivation kicked in already? Given the expectations in Philly, shouldn’t they have started to play better when the slipped to 1-2? Shouldn’t desperation mode really have kicked in when they were 1-3? If the theory held they should have played the game of their lives yesterday.

This does not mean that the Redskins are assured of winning on Sunday. The Eagles are a talented team and if they stop shooting themselves in the foot they can beat anyone in the league. But it won’t be because they are “desperate.”

 

Can the Eagles fix 'sloppy and dumb' in a week?

By Rich Tandler

The nature of the NFL is that the discussion of this Sunday’s game will center on the Eagles. It will be all about their losing and their mistakes and Andy Reid’s job security.

Philly suffered their prototypical loss against the Bills, as they rolled up up 489 yards of offense but made enough mistakes on both sides of the ball to lose. Peter King of Sports Illustrated just tweeted that “the Eagles are sloppy and dumb.”

The question is, can they fix sloppy and dumb in a week? Can Reid get his wide receivers to secure the ball when they are running down the field? Can he break Michael Vick of his propensity to pass with pressure in his face, leading to some of his interceptions?

Vick, by the way, threw six interceptions in 12 games last year. So far in 2011 he has thrown seven. His apologists will note that some of them are not his fault and clearly Vick could do nothing about some of his picks like the one near the end of the game, the one that Jason Avant had in his hands. But when you are on a pace to throw over 20 interceptions in a season as Vick is, at some point the blame has to fall on the guy pulling the trigger.

There are issues with the Eagles that are not related to playing dumb football. They are getting gashed for 140 yards per game rushing and that is not something that is going to be fixed immediately. Antonio Dixon, the team’s best run stopping defensive lineman, is out for the season. The Eagles are not going to get NFL-caliber linebackers between now and Sunday. You have to think that Kyle Shanahan is planning a heavy workload for Ryan Torain, Tim Hightower, and Roy Helu on Sunday.

All that said, this is a dangerous game for the Redskins. The Eagles still have many of the same players that hung 59 points on Washington at FedEx Field last November. But talent alone doesn’t get it done in the NFL and Reid and the rest of the coaches will be burning the midnight oil trying to find answers.