The Curly R: A Washington RedskinZ Blog

Every Time I Think I'm Out

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:30:00 +0000

After all I've been through

Danny Rouhier is out with his week ten video, it includes excerpts from Jon Gruden's and Shannon Sharpe's analysis of the Redskins, and Danny's true passion for the team is tested.

Enjoy, game preview in the morning. If the Redskins were somehow miraculously to win this game tomorrow in Dallas they would be [REDACTED]

YouTube from here.

Have You Actually Gone Back and Looked at that Sideline Scrum in the Falcons Game?

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Easy target

So two weeks ago in game eight against the Falcons, Atlanta's fifth possession, second quarter, on third and three near midfield and the Redskins trailing 21-3, quarterback Matt Ryan scrambles four yards for the first down. Redskins safety LaRon Landry comes in from the defensive secondary, too late, and hits Matt out of bounds, penalty flag, fifteen yards personal foul late hit.

Cornerback DeAngelo Hall follows his teammate to the sideline, arriving at nearly the same time as LaRon. The camera follows Matt Ryan the ground, he rolls and pops back up unhurt, as the camera follows Matt back toward the field of play, a Falcons staffer, presumably Director of Athletic Conditioning Jeff Fish, appears to shove LaRon out of the way, LaRon keeps going back to the field and is out of the action until the coming scrum is already at critical mass.

After shoving LaRon out of the way this Falcons staffer grabs DeAngelo by the jersey with both hands and begins shaking him. Within two seconds Falcons players and head coach Mike Smith are on top of DeAngelo, and coach Smith appears to grab DeAngelo with his right hand, up under DeAngelo's right shoulder, yelling at him.

The camera pans out then back in quickly, as DeAngelo backs or is pushed toward the field of play, coach Smith moves around in front of DeAngelo, still appears to have hold of DeAngelo with one hand, shaking. Here is where it gets interesting.

Cornerback Justin Tryon appears from camera left, clearly trying to extract DeAngelo, LaRon also reappears, but he is incidental to the action. As DeAngelo continues to try and disengage, and with the referee literally right there in the center of the scrum, the Falcons head coach gives DeAngelo and Justin a forearm across the facemask. At this point coach Smith is pulled off by Falcons players, at that point all the principal action is over, defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth appears and moves the pile but that is not germane to the previous action. Penaties are assessed, Atlanta's drive continues, ending in a field goal to push the Falcons' lead to 24-3.

While reasonable people can disagree what actually happened in this scrum, and of course we have no idea what was said by any of the parties in those first seconds of the scrum, it would certainly appear to me that all relevant contact was initiated by the Falcons and that Mike Smith's assertion that he did not know who was in the pile, there were a bunch of people and he was just trying to break it up is bullshit. Coach Smith is clearly on top of DeAngelo and I seriously doubt he did not know that was the former player he helped usher out of town.

Go check the video yourself, it is here. Everything you need to see happens in the first 23 seconds. Twenty-three, ha.

Unfortunately for DeAngelo he does not get the benefit of the doubt in these situations, he once committed three penalties on the same drive in 2007, then blew up on the sideline at Falcons rookie head coach Bobby Petrino. He groused about his coach and team relations in Atlanta soured. Later he was fined by the league for inappropriate displays of support for Michael Vick, who had just been sentenced to prison.

After Bobby Petrino resigned suddenly to return to the college ranks, DeAngelo was traded amid rancor to the Oakland Raiders who promptly signed him to a seven year, seventy million dollar contract. DeAngelo never jelled with Oakland's scheme and after coach Lane Kiffin was fired, DeAngelo was cut only eight games into that giant contract.

Perhaps most relevant to this sideline scrum two weeks ago, is this bizarre story, that in what would turn out to be DeAngelo's last game with the Raiders, against his former team the Falcons, DeAngelo lingered in the tunnel at halftime of the game, harassing his former teammates and trying to pick a fight.

Fast forward to the week before the Redskins played the Falcons this season, DeAngelo swore up and down that he is misunderstood and that he is working to rehabilitate his image, then he still manages to find his way into an altercation with his old team.

Can't wait until the Redskins play at Oakland in game thirteen next month.

DeAngelo Hall with the Raiders in 2008, obviously before game nine: Getty Images from here.

Happy Birthday DeAngelo Hall

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:00:00 +0000

If you want an interception, ask this guy

Please join me and the entire staff of The Curly R in wishing Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall a happy birthday, DeAngelo turns 26 today.

DeAngelo made his way to the Redskins circuitously, a midseason signing last year who made his mark immediately with an interception against Dallas in a close game ten loss, after a terrific half season the Redskins elected to keep DeAngelo, signing him this offseason to a six year, 55 million dollar contract, DeAngelo immediately moved into the principal cornerback position replacing five year Redskin Shawn Springs.

This season DeAngelo has four of the team's five interceptions, including a two pick performance against Denver this past week. Whatever we as fans may think about this year's team, DeAngelo has been a big part of a defensive unit this is currently ranked number one in passing defense, allowing a meager 162 yards passing per game. Times may be tough, there is plenty of cause for hope on this team.

Happy birthday DeAngelo!

DeAngelo Hall: Getty Images from here.

Redskins Name Will Continue to Be Offensive. Or Not. It Depends on Who You Ask. I Lost the Plot.

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Um, no

A Curly R twofer for your Tuesday morning.

First, yesterday the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the case of the Redskins team name, ending this particular legal challenge to the propriety of naming a for profit enterprise with a term recognized now as an epithet.

To summarize this long running case, a group of what some people would call activists and others would call defenders of the oppressed and yet others might call enforcers of political correctness brought a lawsuit against the Redskins in 1992, calling the Redskins name offensive and demeaning to American Indians. The Redskins went 9-7 and made the playoffs that year.

The group won the first skirmish, in 1999 when the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board agreed the name could be considered offensive. The result of that case was not the Redskins being forced to change their name but rather that they were to lose their trademark, meaning anyone and everyone could create and sell Redskins merchandise and the team and league would lose millions. The Redskins went 10-6 and made the playoffs that year.

Logically following that decision, the team would have been pressured to change its name by the league if not internally just in order to have a trademark to generate licensing revenue.

The team then appealed the case into federal court, resulting in a reversal in 2003 by federal judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, best known for being the federal judge assigned to US vs. Microsoft after judge Thomas Penfield Jackson was dismissed in 2001, on grounds that the plaintiffs had not produced enough evidence and that the issue was way too old to be visited legally at this point in history. The Redskins went 5-11 that year, missing the playoffs.

The plaintiffs appealed and the case was returned to judge Kollar-Kotelly for review, she focused on the timing issues and ignored the matter of offensiveness or propriety of the name, in July of 2006 ruling that the individuals that brought the case all had waited too long to bring it. The Redskins went 5-11 that year.

In July of 2008 the same appeals court that had returned the case to judge Kollar-Kotelly agreed, leaving the Supreme Court the only recourse for the plaintiffs. The Redskins went 8-8 that year.

By refusing to hear the case the Supreme Court is saying law is established in the area of standing and when an offended party may bring a case. This case had nothing to do with the offensiveness or propriety of the name Redskins, that was not what was adjudicated, it was simply about whether the plaintiffs had standing to make a case.

The plaintiffs have said they will remount a another legal case against the team after leagal review in the hopes of finding the right mix of standing and justification.

It is of note that Supreme Court Samuel Alito once ruled as an appellate judge that lawsuits may be brought against disparaging trademarks at any time. This would mean in societal terms that there is a legal remedy to address trademarks that may at one point in time not have been considered offensive but now are with the evolution of socio-cultural tastes.

When this case ended yesterday, nine games into the 2009 NFL season, the Redskins were 3-6.

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The other half of today's Curly R twofer concerns that alternate reality Redskins helmet image above. Mark Newgent at Redskins Examiner found a piece at Fast Company by a graphic designer that wanted to spruce up some boring NFL helmets, and the Redskins was one, that is his prospective design.

I do not like it for the simple reason that the re design encompasses a half measure toward ridding the team of the name, and that is ridding the team of the logo of the Indian brave.

As I have written many times here and will happily engage in conversation, I am over the talk of changing the name. As a young man I held the position that it is not offensive because I am not offended and those that are offended simply do not understand the name and logo are honorifics.
With maturity I realized that is a flawed perspective of the type that leads to separate but equal and that failing to consider another's point of view is fundamentally narrow minded.

So then I went through a phase where I wanted to burn down the team name, even if it meant the arrival of some awful generic name like the Monuments or the Power or the Cherry Blossoms with some awful teal and black 90s color scheme.

Now, I simply haven no opinion on the matter. Yes I understand the term redskin has a demeaning connotation. I also know it has been in use as the team name since 1937 and that an anecdotal majority people do not consider it so offensive that the team would have the motivation to make a change. In fact it is a bit of joke among football fans, you know you are winning the argument as a Redskins fan when the other guy breaks out the well my team name is not offensive line of attack.

Too bad we do not hear that too much these days with such a crappy team on the field and off.

We will not see a real motivation to change the name until the NFL's corporate partners and overlords, ESPN, FOX, Anheuser-Busch, General Motors, etc., take a position on the matter and refuse to recognize the name or patronize the league that supports the continued use of the name.

This of course will never happen because these business are all in bed together, big business is fundamentally conservative in approach to change and public positions on controversial matters and no one wants to rock the money boat that is the NFL. The desire to change, outside a successful future lawsuit, can only come from one place, the team itself and the owner, and Dan Synder has by all accounts never even considered changing the name.

So change it. Or Don't. The name, colors and logo do not matter to me. This is my football team and always will be. You can put them in green and black and call them the Washington Frankenfish, put them in parchment and black and call them the Washington Independence, the Spirit, the Cougars, the Blueberries, the Asian Tigers, the River Dogs, the Politicos, the Spirit, the Internets, the Administration, the Panthers or any other unused bird, big mammal, fruit, vegetable or icon of the region. I just root for the laundry now and will whatever the team is called.

And if that happens we will see all new colors and logos on the helmet so I will pass on the alternate design above, if you want to make the Indian go away, go all the way and let us not pretend him away, he's my guy and I'm going with him until it's time for him to hit the showers.

Alternate Redskins helment from here.

38 Runs / 26 Passes

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:00:00 +0000

That's what I'm talking about

Takeaway Drill: When you play Redskins football with Redskins football players you get what you got today, a cast of banged up rejects that saves the day, so in other words The Goonies; man that defensive secondary sucks.

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Quick jump to

Monday Walkthrough :: Soapbox :: Chattering Class :: Omnibus Spotlights :: Recaps and Stats

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Monday Walkthrough: With nothing to lose, nothing to prove and heaping scorn from the public, the Redskins play the kind of football that wins football games, beating the visiting Denver Broncos 27-17 to move to 3-6. Whatever got into the playcalling bureaucracy worked and those guys should take note, the running game drives the Redskins in this or any era. The Broncos continue their reversal of fortune, keeping their parallels with the 2008 Redskins for another week.

The Broncos got the ball to start the first quarter, Denver's first possession starts with a 28 yard run by tailback Knowshon Moreno, after two nowhere plays Kyle Orton finds Brandon Marshall on an embarrassing third and eleven, just embarrassing Carlos Rogers and LaRon Landry for a touchdown and the Redskins once again open with a deficit as the Broncos go up 7-0 to start the game. The Redskins get the ball for the first time and open with a run by Ladell Betts, in for Clinton Portis, Fred Davis and Rock Cartwright also help move the chains, the Redskins move down the field on twelve plays over 78 yards, ending with a two yard touchdown pass to tight end Todd Yoder and the game is tied 7-7. Denver gets the ball for the second time in good field position thanks to a terrible Shaun Suisham kickoff, on second and one in Redskins territory, former Eagle Correll Buckhalter is hit form behind Lorenzo Alexander aka Scarface and drops the ball, Reed Doughty falls on it is Redskins ball. Washington's second drive turns out three and out and they are punting. Denver's third drive is a one play drive as LaRon Landry makes a bad move, allowing Brandon Marshall a 75 yard path to the end zone, Denver goes up 14-7. Washington's third possession is saved by Antwaan Randle El on third and fifteen over Champ Bailey, the drive stalls three plays later and the Redskins are punting, The Broncos get the ball for the fourth time and run one running play and that is it, the first quarter ends with the Broncos leading 14-7. [Quarterly reports: Washington Post]

Denver continues their fourth drive into the second quarter, Rocky McIntosh introduces himself to Brandon Marshall and Kyle Orton overthrow Eddie Royal by inches to prevent another long Denver touchdown, and the Broncos are punting. The Redskins get the ball for the fourth time, a miserable three and out, Washington's second in a row. The Broncos fifth drive almost ends after one play as DeAngelo Hall nearly intercepts the latest deep pass by Kyle Orton, two plays later Denver is three and out. Washington's fifth possession moves fourteen yards on six plays before Shaun Suisham sets up for a 53 yard field goal, the Redskins execute some trickery on fourth and twenty as punter Hunter the Punter tosses a 35 yard touchdown pass to fullback Mike Sellers and the score is tied 14-14. The Broncos sixth possession is long, moving 82 yards on 16 plays in six and a half minutes, Denver kicks a 24 yard field goal to go up 17-14. The Broncos kick off with six seconds left and there is no return and that is where the half ends with the Broncos leading 17-14. [Quarterly reports: Washington Post]

Washington got the ball to start the third quarter, the Redskins sixth possession is a four and out, Fred Davis makes a good catch and run and outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil finally gets hold of Jason Campbell for a sack and the Redskins are punting. Denver gets the ball for the seventh time, Chris Simms comes out at quarterback, we hear that Kyle Orton's return is doubtful with two ankles, the drive is eight plays over three minutes but only moves twenty yards and the Broncos are punting. Washington's seventh possession starts with two strong Ladell Betts runs, soon it is third and seven near midfield and Devin Thomas saves the drive, three plays later it is fourth and one from the Denver 31, within range of a tying field goal, Jim Zorn chooses to go for it and it fails on a Rock Cartwright run to the right, Denver ball. Luckily for Redskins fans, Denver's eighth drive is a three and out. Washington's eighth drive starts deep in Redskins territory, Ladell, Ladell, Ladell, throw in one run to Quinton Ganther and that is it for the third quarter, it ends with the Broncos leading 17-14. [Quarterly reports: Washington Post]

Washington continued its eighth drive into the fourth quarter, and they continue to run the ball, after a twelve play 89 yard drive featuring eight runs and four passes they stall and Shaun Suisham kicks a 40 yard field goal to tie the game at 17-17. Denver gets the ball for the ninth time, they can move the ball, on first and ten from midfield Chris Simms drops back on a playaction and tosses fifty yards in the air for Brandon Marshall, DeAngelo Hall intercepts it in the end zone and returns it 25 yards before bizarrely lateraling the ball to LaRon Landry who almost drops it but does not, Redskins ball. Washington's ninth possession starts with 4:20 left in the game, it is a relentless series of runs, toss in a great play by Devin Thomas and it is first and goal Washington, Ladell, Ladell, Ladell and touchdown, Redskins take a lead and move to ten points above their season scoring average, 24-17 Redskins. Denver gets the ball for the tenth time, Albert Haynesworth comes back onto the field before limping back off, a four and over as the Broncos turn the ball over on downs, Redskins ball. Washington's tenth and final possession of the game starts deep in Denver territory, three Ladell Betts runs then a Shaun Suisham 35 yard field goal to put the Redskins up for good, 27-17. The Broncos got the ball one more time, their eleventh time, four down territory including a Brian Orakpo sack and that's the game, Redskins win 27-17 on the backs of two areas that have not been strong lately, running and running. [Quarterly reports: Washington Post]

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Soapbox: In depth thoughts on the game tomorrow, check back around lunch.

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Chattering Class: We are all on the same deadline, check back tomorrow around lunch and I will have a round up of pundits and shit disturbers.

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Omnibus: Broadcasters: CBS, Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf, nice to see you Dan, I always through you got jobbed in the Monday Night Football travesty that saw that broadcast go from Dennis Miller to Tony Kornheiser. Later as the game wore on I came to the realization that Dan Dierdorf is not the same color man he was a decade ago, he was sloppy on replays and his analysis too often was like, then the player made a bad move. Dan, we want to hear the names and the breakdown.

Uniform watch: The team was wearing the traditional road uniform of burgundy jerseys and white pants, I still hate that uniform.

To end the Bronco's first drive, Carlos Rogers and LaRon Landry once again botched up the coverage, from the Washington 40 yard line on third and eleven, Brandon Marshall got behind Carlos and LaRon did not provide over the top coverage, it was a huge fucking ugly busted play and it was also the first time Denver had scored a touchdown on their opening drive, the Redskins this season have a way of making everyone feel special. Carlos bit hook line and sinker on a stutter and go, he sucks.

Great statistic during the Redskins first drive: Redskins have been outscored 52-10 in the all first quarters this season.

Another configuration to the offensive line, with Stephon Heyer moving back to right tackle to replace Mike Williams and Levi Jones moving in to left tackle. Chad Rinehart would appear to be getting a pity start from Joe Bugel at right guard over Will Montgomery. My impression may change during this game, I am going into it with the basic belief that Will and Chad are both interchangeably bad.

The Redskins are scrapping like crazy on this first drive, Ladell Betts, Fred Davis, Antwaan Randle El, Rock Cartwright, they all figured in, and Levi Jones looks like he can play. To this point.

Nice head's up play be defensive specialist Lorenzo Alexander to whack from behind and knock the ball out of Correll Buckhalter's hands and for Reed Doughty to just fall on it. Too bad the Redskins couldn't do shit with the turnover and three and outed.

The boobirds first came out on Shaun Suisham's botched kickoff but that does not really count, they were out for the first time for real on the second long touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall, DeAngelo Hall played a weak zone but the real fault on that play was safety LaRon Landry, he came up to jump the route, emptying his zone and leaving Brandon a straight path to the end zone.

In the Broncos fourth drive, only safety Kareem Moore illegally holding receiver Eddie Royal prevented another loooooong Denver touchdown. In Denver's fifth drive, it looked like the Redskins had made some adjustments, Kyle Orton went long to Eddie Royal, DeAngelo Hall was right there and nearly intercepted it.

Tailback Quinton Ganther made his Redskins debut, his first play was a run from nowhere, his second was a great backfield pass block and his third was an over the middle catch that ended with Quentin standing up former Eagles safety Brian Dawkins, knocking his helmet off at the point of contact. Welcome to Washington Quentin.

Department of Trickery: In the Redskins fifth possession, second quarter, the Redskins lined up for a 53 yard field goal on fourth and twenty, Jason Campbell had been called for an intentional grounding two plays earlier, as the teams lined up the Redskins shifted formations, the holder, punter Hunter the Punter Smith stepped back into what looked like punt formation, the Broncos responded by falling back into punt return formation. Fullback Mike Sellers split wide, when the ball was snapped Hunter did not punt the ball, he cocked and started looking to pass the ball to a receiver, Mike Sellers was wide open 35 yards down the field, touchdown Redskins. As we learned in the switch to Sherman Lewis calling plays, head coach Jim Zorn still has dominion over fourth down calls, this was clearly coach Zorn not only calling a good play, but giving everyone a great reminder he is still here. The big error on that play on the part of the Broncos was not to call timeout immediately when they saw Hunter Smith back up and Mike Sellers move out wide.

Bad stat: The broadcasters told us in the second half that the Redskins are the only team in the NFL not to draft an offensive lineman in either the first or second rounds of the draft since 2001. The results of this fact speak for themselves.

The Redskins seventh possession, third quarter, ended with a failed fourth and one deep in Denver territory, Washington could have gone for the tying field goal and instead tried for the first down, it failed, someone needs to go back and see how many times the Redskins have failed on fourth and one this season.

The Redskins eighth possession started with three Ladell Betts runs, all for positive yards and for those of us watching the game together on Shed TV, we were so excited to see a good running game, I wonder if we are seeing a backfield controversy, I think even Rock Cartwright is running harder than Clinton Portis.

During the Broncos ninth drive, fourth quarter, Albert Haynesworth went down hard on first down, he needed help to get off the field. To be determined.

That's what I'm talking bout: In the Redskins ninth possession, fourth quarter, Rock Cartwright and Ladell Betts carried the drive up until third and three at the Denver 32 yard line, Jason Campbell tossed a receiver screen to Devin Thomas who makes three men miss, that play was a lot closer to what we were expecting to see from Devin Thomas and I hope it gives him a quote spark unquote.

First time with more than 17 points in 11 home games. ACK!

All is well in the end and it was done on the backs of the Redskins running backs, 35 carries between Ladell Betts and Rock Cartwright for 155 yards, against only 26 passing plays for Jason Campbell. The story is so obvious it writes itself.

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Shooter:

Fat Contract Albert: second quarter batdown in Denver 6th possession

OH CRAPPO: second quarter knockdown of Kyle Orton at end of half, third quarter sack DEN 8th drive, sack Broncos final drive

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Washington Post recap, photos. NFL recap, box score, full play by play, photos, video highlights.

Other recaps: Mark Newgent at Redskins Examiner

Next up,

Ladell Betts celebrating his fourth quarter touchdown: Gerald Herbert / AP photo from here.

Game 9: Redskins (2-6) vs. Broncos (6-2)

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:30:00 +0000

vs.

Out of the box: The 2009 walk of shame continues as the Redskins host the Denver Broncos, 1pm ET on CBS, they way I figure it Washington has a chance to win this game just based on the law of large numbers.

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Quick jump to

The Story So Far :: Curly R aside :: Oppo Research :: Trainer's Table Gameplan :: My Take in 60 Words or Less :: Preview Generalia

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The Story So Far: The march to irrelevance continues into its ninth game, now with more sideline fights. I saw the same play and replay as everyone else (op. cit.) and what I saw last week against the Falcons after safety LaRon Landry's late hit on quarterback Matt Ryan was two things: cornerback DeAngelo Hall not getting out of there in an expeditious fashion and a lack of Redskins teammates rushing in to bail him out. I would counsel though that the lack of teammates coming to break things up is not so much a comment on how the players feel about DeAngelo, rather it is a comment on how unmotivated the team is to do anything, they are as depressed as their fan base. DeAngelo came in and stirred things up when he did not have too (op. cit.) and then whined about it and the Falcons head coach took a chance to take some bitterness out, both kind of punk moves. Nice move by defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth at the end of the scrum, he came right in and moved the whole pile. LaRon and Albert were both fined for their effort (op. cit.).

And how does a game like last week's happen? One team, with a week off plays another that was on a short week and gets creamed in the first half, five sacks of quarterback Jason Campbell and it took an epic halftime screaming match by offensive line coach Joe Bugel and head coach Jim Zorn to get them to play like men. All this is so last week, about the last game so why bring it up this week? Because the sideline scrum and the getting pushed around are not signs the team is quitting, but rather signs the team lacks discipline and basic fundamentals.We cannot even really get to the talent issue at this point.

In non football news, head coach Jim Zorn has entered the bunker and former Super Bowl 26 MVP Mark Rypien's exhortations notwithstanding, things are not getting better between the team and the fans, so lame was Redskins owner Dan Snyder's media availability at an out of town charity event, and so softball were NBC 4's Lindsey Czarniak's questions at that availability that Redskins fans are left wondering if team management even cares. Hall of Fame freight train John Riggins continues to be an unabashed critic of the owner and despite the appearance of circumstances, I approve.

In football news, the battle for right guard is back open, Will Montgomery started the past three games, Joe Bugel lobbied for Chad Rinehart to get another shot and they competed this week, Chad eventually won out and will be back at right guard today.

While it seems like meteor sized pieces of the season keep raining down all around Washington, hints are beginning to materialize there may be new management at the end of the season (op. cit.), meaning shadow general manager Vinny Cerrato. And why the hell not, everything over the past two seasons, from Jim Zorn to drafting all receivers last year to the fresh set of eyes this season to handing the playcalling duties to a total stranger, is all traced back to Vinny. As someone once said on HBO's great The Sopranos, someone's gotta go.

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Curly R aside: As the Redskins have continued to spiral downward and inspire nothing but ennui in their fanbase I have seen anecdotally more and more pleas for someone to please take my tickets, or stories of people refusing free tickets or people simply not using their tickets and staying home to watch a real football game on TV. Well one local business is doing its best to turn Redskins tickets back into hard currency, American Service Center is running a promotion whereby if you turn in your unused Redskins tickets, and the team is not called by name in the commercials, ASC will credit you face value of the ticket off the price of a new Mercedes and donate the tickets to Boys and Girls Clubs.

Ouch.

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Oppo Research: This year's Broncos bear at least a passing resemblance to last year's Redskins, a brash and inexperienced head coach coming in to replace a legendary face of the franchise and then getting out of the gate on a hot streak. Will the parallels continue? After coming out of the gate six and oh, Denver has lost two straight, has been outscored 58-17 in those two games, and quarterback Kyle Orton throwing three interceptions against the Steelers last week. The league may be catching up with Josh McDaniels.

This game also marks the first meeting of tailback Clinton Portis and cornerback Champ Bailey, Washington's 1999 first round draft pick out of the University of Georgia, since the 2004 blockbuster trade that swapped them, the Redskins and Broncos played in 2005 but Champ was injured and did not play. Clinton has all but become the greatest Redskins ball carrier ever and Champ has gone to four Pro Bowls, I think the trade was a wash in principle, with Denver getting a slight advantage in the deal as they got a second round draft pick in the deal that they ultimately used on tailback Tatum Bell who was a workhorse for the Broncos for the better part of three seasons.

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Trainer's Table: It's bad, the injury report has pretty much taken over the daily agenda at Redskins Park.

Tailback Clinton Portis suffered a painful looking concussion, taking two Falcons helmets right on the hat and knocking him out of that game, he wants to play but needs medical clearance and may miss more than one game, in his place tailbacks Ladell Betts, and to a lesser extent Rock Cartwright, did a great job carrying the load, Ladell will be the go to guy this week as Clinton will be out, which should be fine since Ladell already takes most of the snaps in practice because Clinton so rarely practices. I wonder if Ladell has a great game behind this same shitty offensive line if we will have ourselves a backfield controversy.

The list of injuries from the Atlanta game goes on, safety Chris Horton suffered a ligament tear in his big toe and will miss the rest of the season, the team put Chris on injured reserve on Wednesday. With Chris' absence, regular free safety LaRon Landry may move up to play some strong safety closer to the line and second year reserve safety Kareem Moore may play some at free safety (op. cit.). LaRon has had a hard time so far this season but I am not about to write him off, he seems to be playing a little like Sean Taylor did in 2006 and like Sean did LaRon can snap out of it. Rookie free agent safety Lendy Holmes was signed to the roster to replace Chris after the temp punter was released (ibid., see below).

Former 400 pound man guard-tackle Mike Williams also suffered a ligament tear, in his ankle, he is in a boot after surgery and is expected to miss at least two weeks (ibid.). With Mike Williams out Stephon Heyer moves back to right tackle (ibid.) which is where he started the season before he moved to left tackle after Chris Samuels was injured in game five against the Panthers, so Stephon is now his own backup. Newly signed tackle Levi Jones moves to left tackle until Stephon gets hurt and then Levi will play both left and right tackles at the same time.

Punter Hunter the Punter Smith is good to go, the team waited until the last minute to make a decision on his groin, they released last week's temp Sam Paulescu.

There is simply no depth left in the team, and they know it (op. cit.).

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Gameplan: This game will be all about pass rush, with both the Redskins and the Broncos strong on the defensive line and susceptible to sacks along the offensive line. Down the field the Broncos have two excellent receivers in Eddie Royal and Brandon Marshall which will test Washington's defensive secondary. Somehow the Redskins are currently leading the league in passing defense, I have no idea how that stat is true. Shit tackling must improve (ibid.).

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My Take in 60 Words or Less: Everything sucks. Can't wait to see the demonstrations of fan unrest in the stands.

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Washington Post interactive gameday, keys to the game, key matchups, Redskins roster. SkinsCast weather, it is going to be a beautiful day, it might even be too hot in the sun. Broadcast coverage, a huge geographical area out west commensurate with the Broncos market, very tight local coverage on the east coast.

Other previews: Mark Newgent at Redskins Examiner has his regular exchange with the Examiner columnist for Washington's opponent.

Enjoy the game, at this point I do not even know if there is anyone out there to hear my signal, all appears to be madness, there will be more pain, then stillness.

This is a gameday open thread.

NFL helmet logos from here.

250,000 Visits

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Keeping the spark alive

At 8:29 am ET today, The Curly R welcomed its quarter millionth visitor, a Mac user in Oklahoma dialing in on Cox cable internet, there was no referring uniform resource locator, which usually means our honored guest dialed up the site directly or from a bookmark. In the world of website traffic analysis, lack of referring URL is good, it means the visitor came directly to you and not from another link. Which is pretty much what you want when you have created a site you want people to visit.

Curly R achieved this traffic milestone in 1194 days. We welcomed our one hundred thousandth visitor in 739 days, back in August 2008 just after our second anniversary. Curly R secured one point five times that traffic total in the next 455 days, or two thirds the time. Our curve is still heading upward.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by.

Previous traffic milestones: 100,000 visits

250,000 from here.

For Those Unclear on the Concept

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:30:00 +0000

Doesn't take a rocket scientist

Here is one way I know things are not going well for the Redskins in 2009, forget the record, the turmoil, the fresh set of eyes, the bus that keeps rolling over head coach Jim Zorn again and again and again and the 14.1 points per game offensive average.

When I read through eight weeks, there are only four teams with fewer rushing attempts than the Redskins in 2009, I know things are bad. The Redskins are a running team, it is in their DNA.

When I read through eight weeks, there are only four teams with fewer rushing yards than the Redskins in 2009, I know there is a problem. The Redskins are a running team, have been for decades.

When I read through eight weeks there is only one team with fewer rushing touchdowns than the Redskins, I know we are off track. The Redskins are a running team, line em up and knock em over.

With Clinton Portis still sidelined from last week's concussion suffered against the Falcons, perhaps we will see a little of the Ladell Betts that ran for more than eleven hundred yards on only nine starts in 2006, including five straight games of one hundred yards or better in November and December.

It is not all on Clinton, it is a terrific example of the perfect shitstorm engulfing the Redskins in 2009: poor blocking up front, deteriorating feature back and playcalling that does not value the run.

Clinton Portis: Getty Images from here.

Jason Campbell's Quarterback Slide

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:00:00 +0000

Is like a seventh grader asking a hot girl to dance

Danny Rouhier keeps us engaged with his week nine video in which he learns Chinese, the better to communicate with his Redskins Stadium overlords and excerpts game commentary from last week's debacle against the Falcons.

Danny is one of the best things Redskins fans have going for them right now.

YouTube from here.

The Dread Bye Week Post

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:30:00 +0000

Battle stations

While not exactly coinciding with the Sunday of the bye week when Curly R generally publishes the Dread Bye Week posts, I thought it important to put up a few notes on the state of the team at the middle point of the season.

And it is not hot. In fact it is a complete reversal of fortune from last year.

The Redskins are 2-6 and have beaten two teams, the Rams and Buccaneers, teams with two wins between them and Washington's margin of victory over the two teams was a combined five points. An offensive consultant was brought in as another set of eyes which led to head coach Jim Zorn being stripped of playcalling duties, which were handed to Sherman Lewis, the offensive consultant that had been with the team less than three weeks at the time of his first game.

Most decisions have been bungled, case in point the playcalling. When the decision was made to hand playcalling duties to Sherman Lewis, the original thought was plays would come from Sherman Lewis to Jim Zorn to the quarterback.

And while I thought that was a bad idea at first I have changed my opinion. One day later the team announced that the playcalls would come from Sherman Lewis to offensive coordinator Sherman Smith then out to the quarterback, with the head coach listening in. To make things more interesting, Sherman Smith gets to call the run plays, that's two playcallers and neither is named Jim Zorn.

Turns out I think this revised process is a mistake, coach Zorn has been the playcaller, leaving the management of the offense as a whole to Sherman Smith, who has never called plays. Now Sherman Smith is out of his element, relaying plays to the quarterback and calling his own running plays when Sherman Lewis says it's ok to run the ball. Sherman Smith may be a good running game playcaller, he has simply never done it before and was suddenly doing it seven games into the season. This is not the sign of solid NFL strategy and decision making.

Meanwhile coach Zorn is supposed to be managing the offense as a whole now, something he has never really done in a season and half with the team. Like Sherman Smith and the play relay, coach Zorn may be a good motivator and in game strategist, it is simply not something he has had to do as part of a game.

Put in a new playcaller and flip the two highest ranked offensive coaches in gameday duties and two games into the new process the team is scoring 17.0 points per game, 3.8 more than the 13.2 per game average before the switch. So I have no idea what that means, it seems to tell me though that the playcalling was not the problem in Washington.

If there is a problem with Jim Zorn it is not the playcalling, it is a lack of urgency in practice, a softness that translates to getting pushed around on Sundays, this Redskins team is a bunch of cagey veterans and young guys looking for inspiration and they cannot even tell they are soft.

Quarterback Jason Campbell is getting the shit beat out of him, eleven sacks in the last two games as the offensive line deteriorates into a shivering pile of jelly. Twice in last week's game eight against the Falcons Jason had to leave the game injured, both times he managed somehow to return.

And yet somehow Jason is having a career season, if you believe the passer rating system is an accurate measure of a quarterback's performance.

Jason's career rating, parts of four seasons, is 81.4. His rating for the 2009 season is 86.5. His passer rating has risen every season. Within this season his rating has been above 90 four times and above 100 once.

This with so little help from his receivers and his offensive line. Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly are not making a difference, Antwaan Randle El and Santana Moss look perfectly average and Jason's favorite target, tight end Chris Cooley, is out at least another three weeks, possibly more. Chris' replacement, second year tight end Fred Davis, let a catchable ball bounce off his hands and be intercepted, that pass as returned for a touchdown.

If the passer rating system matters then it is pretty obvious to me at this point that Jason Campbell is not the problem with this team.

The front office continues to weather a storm that began after game two, a weak win against the Rams. Inactive list dweller rookie linebacker Robert Henson tweeted after the game that fans could kiss his ass and most make less money than he does. It made the front page of the nation's capital newspaper and to make matters worse, other players hopped on top, saying the fans needed to get behind the team and the booing was a quote shame unquote (op. cit.).

Some of us tried to remind the team that winning cures all ills and the team seemed not to be listening as the Redskins lost five of the next six, along the way we saw Jim Zorn and Sonny Jurgenson get in a fight, a fan try and sell his allegiance on eBay, after three games and a 2-1 record the way 2009 would play out would become obvious to some of us: it was basically over, that we were going to pile on the coaches and players for another couple of weeks and then the spotlight would turn where it has not been on a national scale for a decade, on owner Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato.

Which is exactly what happened. Former players, TV pundits, football cognoscenti and commenters from across the spectrum turned their open attention to to the open secret the national media has largely ignored for a decade and that is the Redskins are a very poorly run team. Here is just one example featuring Bill Cowher, Shannon Sharpe, Ron Jaworski, Mike Ditka, Keyshawn Johnson and Tom Jackson all laying into how the team is run. When you have Keyshawn looking down on you, you know you are in the bottom of the barrel.

The team's reaction? Take it and lump it? Thank the fans for their loyalty and ask for another? Accept even the possibility of a notion that they are not doing it right?

Nope, their reaction was to tighten down. Displays of fan dissatisfaction and outrage were suppressed, the shadow general manager threw the coach under the bus with comments of handing him a playoff roster, this right after a vote of confidence in the coach that was more than a week after anonymous senior players asked for it in the media.

The owner, clinging to a horseshit policy of not commenting during the season, when the stage is supposably only for the players and shadow general managers, sent out his attack dog lawyer as a proxy to blame the media and take on every story with fantastic plausibilities about how sorry if you got kicked out for wearing a Snyder Sux t-shirt or if you got tricked into a club seat contract and then almost got sued, mistakes were made.

And we have eight straight weeks of this left.

The 2009 season so far has been nothing but a complete trainwreck.

Vinny Cerrato: Getty Images from here.

A Picture of Neighbor Bill Looking at a Picture of Him Looking at a Picture of Him Looking at the Redskins-Eagles Game

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:00:00 +0000

Back when we watched the Redskins

The Redskins futility has managed to depress even me, I watched the Falcons game and cached all the post game links, I have simply not had the energy to write it up, I can barely get out of bed.

I finally finished the Eagles gamewrap btw, done and linked up and stuff. So I've got that going for me.

Photo by me.

Game 8: Redskins (2-5) at Falcons (4-3)

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:30:00 +0000

at

Out of the box: A week off for a team that needed it, sadly though the problems left behind last week did not go away as the Redskins travel to Atlanta for a game against a playoff contender. Finger crossing is now a sanctioned fan behavior.

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Quick jump to

The Story So Far :: Curly R aside :: Oppo Research :: Trainer's Table Gameplan :: My Take in 60 Words or Less :: Preview Generalia

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The Story So Far: The play of the Redskins has long ceased to be the main story of the 2009 season with the focus placed squarely on the management of the franchise, it has been an open secret for a decade that the Redskins were not helmed by a bunch of guys with deep and wide football knowledge and rather by a bunch of guys that do not know how to manage a team, and others afraid to tell those guys the truth.

Now that the Redskins are cratering out of the bye with a 2-5 record and the hardest stretch of football still to come, it seems like the floodgates are open, the backstabbing is rampant, and the national football attention has turned to owner Dan Snyder and shadow general manager Vinny Cerrato, and it is not pretty. In one piece alone the Washington Post's Len Shapiro rounded up remarks critical not just of how the team has played but mainly of how the team is run, by the likes of Bill Cowher, Shannon Sharpe, Ron Jaworski, Mike Ditka, Keyshawn Johnson and Tom Jackson.

Last week it was the New Yorker, this week it is Rolling Stone, when you have these types of publications piling on the Redskins and Dan Snyder then you know it's bad.

Throw in remarks early in the second half of the bye week by Jim Zorn's last employer, former Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren about how bothered he was by team management's treatment of coach Zorn and maybe you can cross Mike and Bill Cowher off the list of prospective head coaches after Jim Zorn is inevitably fired in January.

In other not football news, the team appears to have altered, without warning, the stadium policy on signs made and brought in by fans. Sign making is a hallowed tradition in football, from the D-fence to the Next On SportsCenter, and signs have been permitted in Redskins Stadium and its predecessor RFK Stadium for decades. No longer, if you bring one in now, even one that purports to send well wishes to your husband stationed in Afghanistan, you will not be permitted in with it, and if you do get in with it you are likely not to see the security guard rushing up behind you to knock it out of your hands. This policy was obviously altered to ensure there was as little fan dissent displayed as possible and the team's new chief operating officer David Donovan even had the courtesy to gin up a wholly bullshit excuse that pointy signs were a danger of head poking. You cannot make this stuff up.

And defensive coordinator Greg Blache completely embarrassed himself by making an unannounced statement to the press on Thursday defending Dan Snyder from the evil John Riggins. Am I dreaming? Is all this stuff really happening? It may be time for Greg to go into that retirement Dan Snyder lured him from last year.

You should be embarrassed you embarrassment of a football team owner and by the way nice touch getting in front of the microphones and cameras at a charitable event held way away from Redskins Park or Redskins Stadium and attended by only a few local media members where you could be fairly certain you would not be put on the spot too seriously. Nice accountability. You do make George Steinbrenner look rational.

It is all ceasing to matter though. Redskins fans have lost faith that their team can ever be good under this owner. At this rate team management will not need to put up with those fuckers in the stands much longer.

In football news, the Washington Post has another enterprise piece on the Redskins endless march of quarterbacks since Dan Snyder took over in 1999, ten to be exact, the piece examines the surprise many football cognoscenti expressed when Joe Gibbs and the team traded three draft picks for the 25th pick in the first round of the 2005 draft to take Jason Campbell, to read this story it would appear that Jason is just another guy destined for the heap, his rookie contract is up after this season and the team is not negotiating an extension with him. While the piece is good for historical purposes it fails to include the fact that, despite playing in his umpteenth system in umpteen years, Jason Campbell is having a career year.

second year tight end Fred Davis canceled his bye week trip to southern California to stay in the Washington area and work with tight ends coach Scott Wachenheim on blocking, it was great new to hear how conscientious Fred is and how seriously he is taking his move to primary tight end in Chris Cooley's absence. It is not exactly heartening to hear that coach Wachenheim and Fred went back to quote Pop Warner unquote basically to go through all the fundamentals of blocking. So in other news last year the Redskins used a second round draft pick on a player in a position where they had no need and where blocking large men is a big part of the job, on a guy that did not have strong blocking fundamentals. It would be hard to be a worse blocking tight end than Chris Cooley, it would appear Fred has managed that feat simply be getting out of bed.

Congratulations to defensive end Phillip Daniels, he is the winner of the team's Ed Block Courage Award for 2009 (op. cit.), the award named after the former Baltimore Colts trainer and is given to the player dealing with the greatest adversity on the field. Phillip tore his anterior cruciate ligament in 2008 training camp and missed the entire season, necessitating the trade for Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor, and Phillip is playing this season through a torn biceps. Good on ya Phillip, you are 36 and still rocking.

Tailback Clinton Portis is still on pace for his worst non injury season as a Redskins, it looks at this point like there is no chance Clinton will be able to break former Redskins freight train John Riggins' team rushing record of 1370 yards this season which is ok with me.

Is cornerback DeAngelo Hall a changed man? Check his profile and you tell me. His time in Atlanta was rough and ended in total disaster and then he was deemed so bad in Oakland that the team and interim coach Tom Cable cut DeAngelo eight games into last season when DeAngelo had just signed a seventy million dollar contract with 24 million dollars guaranteed, so if I understand the way NFL contracts and guaranteed money work, DeAngelo got 24 million dollars for eight games. There is even a story that when the Falcons played the Raiders last season DeAngelo was in the tunnel at halftime trying to pick a fight with his old team. Could be an interesting game if DeAngelo gets too close to his old teammates and the team that ushered him out the door.

And thank god receiver Antwaan Randle El is finally off punt return duty, the guy fair catches everything except the ones he should and the ones he drops, saying quote the situation has changed, head coach Jim Zorn announced Monday that DeAngelo Hall will take his place as primary (op. cit.), with Santana Moss in there as well though the team wisely does not want to risk injuring Santana on punt returns. DeAngelo has not returned punts with any regularity since college but for cripes sake he cannot be worse than Antwaan.

Wait what? Coach Zorn changed his mind? Antwaan is still returning punts? From what I was able to learn this week it sounds like Antwaan heard through the grapevine that he was benched from the return game and stormed into coach's office to ask what the fuck was going on. And because Jim Zorn is essentially neutered or Vinny Cerrato is effectively calling the personnel shots, coach Zorn rolled over, I cringe anymore when I hear coach trying to explain away the removal of his manhood.

And I do not even know where to begin with this playcalling thing. Consultant Sherman Lewis will call the plays for the second consecutive game, it is Jim Zorn's gameplan, Sherman Lewis' runs the offense on gameday with help from offensive assistant Chris Meidt, Sherman Lewis calls the pass plays, he lets offensive coordinator Sherman Smith know when he wants a running play and Sherman Smith then calls the running plays, and coach Zorn will run the two minute drills and make the final calls on fourth downs. Maybe this can work, I do not know, it certainly looks like this sets up the various parties in competition for who can make the best, and most calls.

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Curly R aside: From the department of Bus Undertossing we have the best story of the week, back on 14 October anonymous senior players with the Redskins asked through the media for team management to issue an endorsement of head coach Jim Zorn, the better to what was becoming and still is a regular distraction to the players, basically it was the roster asking for the team to shot or get off the pot, either say you are going to keep him or get rid of him so we can move on and focus on playing football.

The team did not and then magically nine days later shadow general manager Vinny Cerrato held an impromptu press availability where he weakly endorsed coach Zorn for the rest of the season, saying coach Zorn would be the head coach of the Redskins for the rest of the season, and here is the best part, quote and hopefully into the future unquote. Setting aside the disingenuity of these comments given all that has happened with the other set of eyes, the stripping of the playcalling, the cornering and flashing of the contract terms, now we are to believe Dan Snyder is going to hold fire on canning Jim Zorn until January.

That is not the story though, everything above is old news, the story this week, heading into the bye week, was Vinny Cerrato's interview with reporters from Tuesday 27 October wherein he affirmed his belief that team management handed Jim Zorn a playoff capable roster.

Clearly at 2-5 the Redskins will not make the playoffs without some sort of divine football intervention and as such submitting these comments for public scrutiny is therefore by definition team management stating openly that the head coach has failed to hold up his end of the bargain. And there are other examples of internecine warfare inside the Redskins, between the team and management and between and among players.

Now we can argue all day about whether this roster is playoff capable, I guess at some level they all are, right? But this latest development speaks to two factors very much playing into the resolution of this disastrous 2009 campaign: 1) No matter what they say, they hate Jim Zorn and he is gone and they will undermine him every chance they get; and 2) The front office is in such deep denial that they are unwilling to execute their duty as partners in the process of building a winning team.

There can be no progress with an attitude such as this from the front office.

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Oppo Research:

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Trainer's Table: Going into the bye week there were a number injuries, the most severe of course being left tackle Chris Samuels' neck, the team had been posturing for some time that he would be heading on the season ending injured reserve list and the trigger on that move was pulled on Halloween. Game five against the Panthers was in all likelihood the last time we will have seen Chris Samuels in a Redskins uniform.

Linebacker HB Blades and cornerback Byron Westbrook both suffered knee meniscus tears in the Eagles game seven, they both had surgery this week and will be out of this game (ibid.), Stephon Heyer tweaked his knee and was in a brace to start the off week, meaning newly signed off the street tackle Levi Jones got some additional work with the first team at left tackle (ibid.). There was a laundry list of others (op. cit.), the bye week arrived at a good time for players to heal, as it always seems to.

Tight end Chris Cooley will miss his first NFL start ever with a broken ankle, leaving a huge void in quarterback Jason Campbell's target environment, Fred hopes to step it up (ibid.) and I hope so too, Chris was initially expected to be out for the season, now after surgery he is expected to be out a month. The promotion of rookie seventh round pick Eddie Williams from the practice squad (op. cit.) was really about another option to replace some of Chris' production. Eddie is technically listed as a fullback though he played tight end in college, he has never really been a lead blocker so he is not a threat to fullback Mike Sellers, which Mike needs right now, his play has been very sub par.

Punter Hunter the Punter Smith aggravated his groin on Wednesday and may not be able to go (op. cit.), the team signed another utility punter, this time Sam Paulescu. And safety Chris Horton tweaked his knee on Thursday (ibid.), the extent of any injury was not known and we may not see Chris in the game today.

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Gameplan: The defense, featuring a much improved linebacker Rocky McIntosh, is carrying this team which is good in the sense that there is a high performing unit but bad in that every mistake the defense makes is magnified because the offense cannot make up for them. Gameplan hard on defense, realize you will win the game, and try not to be nonsensical (op. cit.) in playcalling on offense, Sherm.

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My Take in 60 Words or Less: When you are talking about very average center Casey Rabach as the stabilizing force along your offensive line then you are fucked. Casey's a good guy and all, in the past eight games the Redskins have lost three ten year veterans along the line, the fall has been short and the landing hard for this offense. The end.

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Washington Post interactive gameday, keys to the game, key matchups, roster. Broadcast coverage, with the closeness of these two markets it looks really tight.

Enjoy the game, I am recovering from my 40th birthday party last night and will be taking it easy with neighbors, watching the game on Shed TV.

This is a gameday open thread.

NFL helmet logos from here.

Happy Birthday to Me

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

It is still possible to enjoy the Redskins in 2009

This past Monday 2 November 2009 your author turned forty years old, tonight, Saturday 7 November 2009 we are celebrating, my excellent wife arranged for a huge party with about fifty guests, a keg, a bourbon tasting and of course the entire house it littered with somewhat embarrassing childhood pictures of me.

Our neighbor makes cakes and the masterpiece above is her contribution to the festivities, a Redskins themed cake surrounded by ten Redskin themed cupcakes, a pyramid of another twenty Redskins cupcakes sits just to camera right.

Enjoy your Saturday night, I will be watching the game tomorrow from the couch with a big bottle of gatorade.

Photo by me of cake by neighbor.

Won't You Please

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:30:00 +0000

Think of the children

With pleasure I present to Redskinsland Danny Rouhier's latest video, a public service announcement for a campaign to draft a lineman. For a change. Once this decade.

Enjoy.

YouTube from here.

Rich Tandler @ CSN: On the Offensive Line and the Appearance of Normalty in Ashburn

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Your reading assignment for today

Rich Tandler's latest two pieces are up at Comcast SportsNet, in Thursday's piece Rich compares and contrasts the quote talented unquote versus quote rag tag unquote offensive line. Great now Stephon Heyer is hurt which is a little like the disappointment you feel when those khakis that you love but are way too tight are not clean for the party, everyone can see they are not a good fit.

This morning Rich posted up how inside the locker room Redskins Park everything seems so calm and serene, players enjoying a fall day and making dates to go scrapbooking, while outside the storm still rages.

Go forth and get educated and enjoy your Saturday.

Rich Tandler from here.

Timing Is Everything When It Comes to Dissatisfaction With Your Team Owner

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:30:00 +0000

You only don't like them when things are tough. PS things have been tough for ten years.

I read, yesterday on Matt Terl's ORB (Official Redskins Blog) Twitter feed and then in greater detail at Dan Dan the Sports Bog Man about the poll showing we hated Jack Kent Cooke just as much as Dan Snyder and so that makes us Redskins fans a bunch of fucking hypocrites because Dan is really a pretty good guy when you really think about it because hating owners is what we do so we need to take it down a notch on Dan and remember that JKC was as big an a-hole as Dan.

Wrong, JKC was no angel and there were reasons not to like JKC the man and times when the team struggled and there were reasons not to like JKC the owner. Let us examine the context of Dan's post.

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It was July 1994. Fans were hot for three reasons: the team was sucking, the roster was a mess and the general manager was in over his head.

1. The Redskins had come off Richie Petitbon's disastrous lone season as a head coach.

Offensive coordinator Rod Dowhower tried to turn mister long ball Mark Rypien into a short game passer, after a glorious 38-16 destruction of the Cowboys on Monday Night Football to open the season, the Redskins then lost six straight on the way down to 4-12. Richie was dumped at the end of the season, not even given a second shot or a chance to get it together and assert himself.

Then, to add injury to insult JKC turned to Dallas offensive coordinator Norval Turner, a Cowboy, a FUCKING COWBOY to dig the team of the shitter. While no one in Washington disputed Norval's success in Dallas there was some lingering resentment that it had so quickly come to that and fans from that time will remember being annoyed by fucking patronizing Cowboys fans.

The sadness of watching Richie's team fail so spectacularly and the hope at the arrival of offensive genius Norval quickly turned to concern and frustration that the team was not put together correctly because...

2. The team had entirely botched its first forays into the new era of free agency.

The core of the last great Redskins teams was aging fast and being picked apart by free agency. Besides the draft there was now a second channel for talent and the team needed to dive in to free agency just like every other team.

I literally remember hearing general manager Charley Casserly talk about how Washington was a great place to play and there would be a premium on playing here that translated into lower costs for free agent football players. In other words the team went into the free agent pool after the 1992 season without Joe Gibbs and believing players be knocking down doors to play here for less.

That is how we wound up with Al Noga, Carl Banks, Tim McGee and a deposed Rich Gannon just off shoulder surgery, all second tier or worse free agents, none long term solutions and with the exception of Rich Gannon, all near the end of their careers.

Carl is a host on Sirius NFL Radio and does not admit he was ever a Redskin, like he has redacted that season, Al played a lot smaller than we thought from Minnesota and Tim stayed consistent with career numbers but did not replace Gary Clarks' production, which was the offseason need.

All three of those guys were expected to play a major role on the team, all basically failed and were gone after one season.

It got worse in the free agent season of 1994 with Leonard Marshall, in his tweflth and final year and Ethan Horton in his eighth and final season. Granted as Redskins fans in July of 1994 we had not seen those guys play yet, I can speak for myself when I say that I was not encouraged by these signings.

From the incredible heights of Super Bowl 26 following the 1991 season down to the disappointment of 1993's 4-12, being outmaneuvered by every other team in free agency and questionable drafts, it had become obvious to Redskins fans that...

3. Charley Casserly was in over his head and doing a poor job as general manager.

The moment Bobby Beathard left the team after the 1989 season, leaving the team in general manager Charley's hands, it was clear that Charley was dominated by Joe Gibbs. Joe had spent a decade cultivating a father son relationship with owner Jack Kent Cooke and Joe and Bobby were a team of rivals. With Bobby out of the way Joe was able, intentionally or no, to get his way.

How do we know this? Desmond Howard. It is something of an article of faith among Redskins fans that Joe Gibbs' strong suit was never personnel, what he did for this team he did from another direction.

Which did not mean Joe was disciplined enough to keep his hand out of the cookie jar.

From the very beginning Charley was second to the coach and by the time Joe was gone, free agency was here and Charley was the undisputed, though not necessarily wholly independent, football decision maker, he was not ready. He bungled free agency to start with and most of the drafts under Charley are really bad.

Redskins fans were ready for Charley to go well before he finally was ousted when Dan Snyder took over.

So that is the context for the July 1994 poll showing that Louis Farrakhan was more popular than Jack Kent Cooke, Louis of course was on an upward popularity swing that peaked with the Million Man March right here in Washington a little over a year later.

The poll results are not commentary on JKC per se, it was commentary on how the team was performing at the time. When an organization performs poorly, shareholders always start their questioning at the top, looking at the performance of the senior managers put in place by the guy in charge. It always comes back to the owner.

Just like it is right now.

Jack Kent Cooke: AP via Washington Post

The Greatest Threat of Our Time

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0000

WHY WASN'T I TOLD

No it is not the economic downturn threatening to swallow our jobs and life savings, not the growing Chinese threat or even al Qaeda. No, the most clear and present danger in our lives as Redskins fans is...

A rogue Hogette.

This is no fun and games, not at all. This impostor Hogette, who goes by the name Stephette Hogette is a threat to women, children and the sacred and copyrighted franchise (op. cit.) that is the Redskins Hogettes, those walrus stached plus size men that have been fulfilling every gay bear's desire to wear womens' clothing in public since 1982.

He befriended the actual Hogettes and used to bunk with them in costume at games. Later he betrayed them by fraternizing with Eagles mascot Bird Man. One time he even was spotted in the Redskins Stadium parking lot under the influence of alcohol [gasps, clutches pearls].

The real Hogettes in an act of actual outrage have lashed out at the counterfeit Hogette who responded in kind with fake outrage: this means war. And if the legion of ExtremeSkins loonies get their hands on the fake Hogette it is going to be Stephette Brisquette at the next tailgate.

It should be noted that Stephette Hogette has been dressing in Hogette attire since at least 1992, meaning he is not only a de facto authentic Hogette, he is also old and creepy. Redskins fans are advised to lock their liquor cabinets and be on the lookout for anyone dressed as a hopelesssly outdated homage to glory years of a well run franchise and a long dead owner.

Counterfeit Hogette with random dude: uncredited image from here via here.

Rich Tandler @ CSN: Fred Davis, the Bye Week and Learning to Block

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:00:00 +0000

Blogger-patriot

Rich Tandler's second piece is up on Comcast SportsNet, tight end Fred Davis on how I spent my fall vacation, get over there and read it.

Did I mention that Rich also writes books about the Redskins? And the Hokies but I will not hold that against him.

Rich Tandler from here.

Rich Tandler @ CSN: How Deep Is Washington's Bag of Tricks?

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Read me? Read him.

Our own Rich Tandler, dean of Redskins writers, editor of the indispensible Real Redskins blog and the most knowledgeable Redskins fan I know signed on with Comcast SportsNet last week as a writer and beat reporter covering Redskins Park, this is huge news for him, for CSN and for Redskins fans, please join me in welcoming Rich as a card carrying member of the liberal media establishment.

Curly R will be pimping out Rich's work at CSN, over on that side of the fence they care about things like pageviews so do the right thing, click over and give it a read and help me ensure there is ample audience for his work.

In his first piece, from Monday, Rich lists some changeups the Redskins should consider on the long road to the end of this season. Go read it.

Congratulations Rich.

Rich Tandler from here.

I Don't Even Know What This Means

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:30:00 +0000

Stomp on one face and never hear the end of it

This morning I got a tip from lifetime Eagles fan, season ticket holder and Curly R reader/lurker Wilbert Montgomery, it would seem Sports Illustrated ran a poll of 300 active NFL players in training camp on the league's dirtiest players and would you be surprised our own defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth came in second?

In first place was Steelers receiver Hines Ward and tied with Albert for second was former Steelers and current Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter.

Ok so maybe I have lost the plot here, are these guys really dirty players? Read through the comments at the Pro Football Talk post, they talk a lot about how Hines is somehow dirty because he blocks hard downfield and doesn't care who he blocks and wants to be seen as a football player and not a receiver, yada yada. I really do not get it, maybe I do not understand what is the definition of a dirty player any longer.

Yes we know Albert stomped on the face of Cowboys center Andre Gurode in 2006, an act that earned Albert a five game suspension. Does that make him dirty? I think it makes him angry with a rage problem, a condition sort of borne out by myriad traffic violations, injuries caused and divorces in process.

I think by definition in order to be dirty you have to get away with it, at least part of the time, Albert did not exactly get away with stomping Andre's face.

If by dirty you mean unblockable by a single person then Albert is a very dirty player. While rewatching game seven against the Eagles last night the broadcasters threw up an interesting statistic, while playing alongside Albert Haynesworth last season in Tennessee, defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch had 4.5 sacks, not a glorious number though Kyle is the only one of Albert's former Titans linemates from last season that is off his 2008 pace with only one sack through seven games.

In contrast defensive end Andre Carter has already rang up 6.5 sacks, two more over seven games than he had last season in sixteen games. It is clear that Albert has a halo effect and Andre Carter is benefiting from his presence.

Albert Haynesworth: AP photo from here.

About Freaking Time

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0000

No longer effective

Antwaan Randle El has been demoted from primary punt return duties and all of Redskinsland will join me in a big helllll yes. Redskins head coach Jim Zorn was careful to couch the move in some uncertainty so as not to tip the next opponent, that is just boilerplate, Antwaan has been demoted and DeAngelo Hall has been placed into the lead spot.

This is a good thing if for no other reason than Antwaan has been steadily losing effectiveness at this position to the point where he is hurting the team.

Antwaan's punt return average has continued a general career downward trend even as the number of punts he has fielded has remained steady. After fielding no more than eleven fair catches in a single season so far in Washington, last season Antwaan ballooned to 21 fair catches. So far this season Antwaan has fielded exactly as many punts, eleven, as he has fair catches.

The final straw was game seven against the Eagles two Monday nights ago. Even if you forgive Antwaan for fair catching a punt at the Redskins thirteen and another at the eighteen based on the possiblity the Eagles may have downed the ball even deeper, Antwaan still fair caught one at the nine to ensure awful field position to start, fielded one cleanly at the five and was downed inside the twenty, and of course most harmfully muffed one off his facemask that resulted in an Eagles field goal four plays later.

Now of course there are other factors at play, the opposing punter and coverage and Washington punt coverage have a role in each punt, it has just seemed to me over the past two seasons that you could put an equipment tub out there to catch punts and we would see about the same results.

And let me be clear, this is not simply about Antwaan, this is principally about the coaching. Antwaan's performance has been deteriorating and it is up to the coaches to identify that and find a replacement.

Santana Moss will still be a nice change of pace, he always seems to spark a return, though coach Zorn wisely will keep these to a minimum, even as Santana appears to suffer from the same accelerated decay as tailback Clinton Portis this season he is still the team's only real deep threat and it cannot afford to see Santana get clobbered on a special teams play.

Antwaan Randle El: Reuters Pictures from here.

Neighbor Bill Looking at a Picture of Him Looking at the Redskins-Eagles Game

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Regressing

We have completed the rewatch of the Monday night game against the Eagles, I am completing the raw post, will go back and doll it up with links, this was an ugly game, it did not look any better on TV than it did in the stadium, except I did not have people getting arrested for fighting and signs being torn out of hands all around me.

If no one can block for Jason Campbell then Jason Campbell will no be able to do shit.

Photo by me.

If I Have to Rewatch a Crappy Game, This Is the Way to Do It

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:00:00 +0000

The media room

Curly R is off the bye weekend, I am over at neighbor Bill's, rewatching the Redskins-Eagles Monday night game on NFL Game Rewind. He has quite the rig, with two 42 inch monitors, one for the game and one for stats.

As you were.

Photo by me.

Department of Bad News: Chris Samuels

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Done. Probably for good.

Redskins fans got some expected bad news back on Halloween, long time left tackle Chris Samuels was placed on injured reserve, the neck stinger he took in game five of this season back on 11 October against the Panthers caused Chris some extended numbness, in short order we learned that Chris had been diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a condition characterized by the narrowing of the spine in the neck, thereby making it more vulnerable to injury.

In the nearly three weeks since that game Chris has consulted with specialists and weighed his options, and there was really no question, with the risk of paralysis looming and a solid NFL career under his belt, Chris decided to shut it down, likely calling it a career.

It was in part due to the stenosis that Chris wore the big neck brace rising from his shoulder pads all this time. This condition was diagnosed while Chris was still in high school and was manageable, Chris eventually became an All-American and Outland Trophy winner at the University of Alabama before becoming the number three overall selection to the Redskins in the 2000 NFL draft, the Redskins having given up two first round picks in that draft, their own and the one acquired from Carolina in the 1998 trade of defensive end Sean Gilbert to the Panthers (thank you Sean).

Chris became the Redskins starting left tackle immediately, replacing Tre' Johnson and has been the team's anchor at the second most important position on the field for a decade. In ten seasons Chris started 146 of a possible 165 games, including playoffs and those he will not be eligible to start this season.

Chris was amazingly durable during his career, at six feet five and better than 310 pounds he continually tangled with the opponents' best pass rushers. He was selected to six Pro Bowls in his ten seasons, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 when the team was 5-11 but propelled backup tailback Ladell Betts to 1100 yards on nine starts, 2007 when Chris and Pro Bowl teammates tight end Chris Cooley and long snapper Ethan Albright all wore jersey number 21 in honor of fallen teammate safety Sean Taylor and last season in 2008 when he ended the season on injured reserve with a torn triceps.

Redskins success in the 2009 season was to be largely premised on aging veterans Chris Samuels and right guard Randy Thomas staying healthy, and now both are on injured reserve. Right now Redskins fans are stuck in the void loop of this season, forced to watch it play out slowly and painfully.

We will not fully realize what it means for this team to be without Chris Samuels ever again until the offseason when as expected he announces his retirement and then the team faces a serious rebuilding.

Thank you Chris, you were a hell of a left tackle and did your part to keep quarterback jerseys clean all these years, and Redskins fans will never forget it.

Curly R's Department of Bad News previous announcements on Chris Samuels: 2008

Chris Samuels: AP photo from here.

Two Playcallers for the Price of Three

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Folsom) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

A Dan Snyder kind of deal

In the aftermath of the miserable game six loss to the previously winless Kansas City Chiefs, Redskins head coach Jim Zorn was stripped of playcalling authority, by the next morning that responsibility had been invested in Sherman Lewis, an offensive consultant hired by the team on Tuesday 6 October 2009, a mere thirteen days prior.

That day, Monday 19 October 2009 the new playcalling procedure was announced: Sherman Lewis would sit in the upstairs booth and relay plays down to head coach Jim Zorn who would in turn radio them in to a quarterback then to be determined, later established as Jason Campbell. GoSkins.org captured the process perfectly here.

Coach Zorn also happened to mention at the time that no other coach on staff was considered for playcalling duties, the subtext there being obvious disappointment on the part of coach Zorn that Sherman Smith, the Redskins offensive coordinator and former NFL teammate of Jim Zorn's and who has never called plays was not selected to do so now.

It is perhaps worth noting that Sherman Smith's name first appeared in connection with the Redskins offensive coordinator position on the same day Jim Zorn was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach on Sunday 9 February 2008. Six days later on 15 February 2008 Sherman Smith accepted the offensive coordinator position, meaning on the day Sherman Lewis was named playcaller for the Washington Redskins Sherman Smith had exactly 600 more days experience with this offense than the new playcaller.

Right here on this channel you read Curly R's opinion on this structure, that the issue of too many cooks aside, forcing Jim Zorn to relay someone else's plays in to the game would have the dual function of further humiliating coach Zorn and preventing him from managing the game as head coach when the Redskins had the ball.

Two days after Sherman Lewis was named playcaller, on Wednesday 21 October 2009 the Redskins issued a clarification, the actual procession of playcalling would be Sherman Lewis in the booth to offensive coordinator Sherman Smith on the sideline, then in to the quarterback. Jim Zorn would be able to listen in on playcalls and would have veto power in some situations, in the main coach Zorn would then be free to take care of the other business of being a head coach.

Before the ink on these stories was dry our own Rich Tandler was railing against it, calling it another abuse of coach Zorn, that by forcing coach Zorn out of the loop he would be decoupled from his quarterback and would be unable to provide the in game coaching a player like Jason Campbell needs.

I think Rich would agree with me that the massive improvement in ball protection, decision making and progression reads exhibited by Jason Campbell in 2008 over 2007 was largely due to Jim Zorn's tutelage, and Rich's worry is clearly that the umbilical cord between the sideline general and the field captain would now be severed, thus leaving Jim Zorn impotent to affect the flow of the game and Jason Campbell out on his own.

I cannot disagree with this notion directly, I will say simply that relief from the burden of calling every single offensive play should give Jim Zorn more time and freedom to counsel Jason Campbell as well as all the offensive and I suppose defensive players, at the expense of being able to advise and coach Jason on the very next play or the very next evil plan coach Zorn might have in store for the next possession.

But I digress, my published opinion was forcing Jim Zorn to relay Sherman Lewis' plays was bad and Rich's published opinion was removing Jim Zorn from the playcalling loop altogether was bad, we both encourage the reader to consider the context and draw his own conclusions.

The real story is how the playcalling actually went against the Eagles, and how we can assume it will be going forward.

There were no delay of game penalties. There seemed to be no confusion getting the play in, though as I was at the game Monday I have not yet had a chance to re watch it on NFL Game Rewind which I love and which by the way has been lowered from $50 to $25 for a year, offering high definition replays of every game from 2008 and so far in 2009. But I digress again.

We can quibble about whether the quality and variety of playcalls was any different, what is not open for debate is how the plays were actually called: Sherman Lewis called pass plays and and when Sherman Lewis wanted a run play, Sherman Smith called the run plays.

The team deemed Sherman Smith not worthy of the duty and what is the first thing anointed playcaller Sherman Lewis did? Invest calls from half the playbook into that guy.

So now we have a playcaller elevated by management delegating half the playcalls to the guy the head coach wanted to call plays after he was stripped of playcalling authority but who was not considered qualified by management, both of whom nominally report to that head coach.

And as the serpent continues eating its tail, with one game in the new playcalling configuration very little difference in the dynamism or production of the offense was observed.

Anyone else still believe who calls the plays and what plays they call is really the reason the Redskins are 2-5 at the bye?

Sherman Lewis: AP photo from here.