I’m sure they had to dig deep to find that (and I do give them credit for going beyond the OMG 4th quarter comebacks!~! meme) and I’m a friendly chap so here are other stats where Luck leads RG3:

• Throwing a 50 yard incompletion when a guy is running wide open 10 yards downfield.
• Interceptions (this one isn’t even close guys!)
• 4th quarter comebacks!!
• Games played against terrible teams
• Growing weird looking beards

Looking forward to your posts.

Why would he mention next year? Now it has become clear – the Redskins have been hit with a 36 million dollar cap penalty for adjusting bonuses in the uncapped year (Albert Haynesworth and DeAngelo Hall to be specific). The penalty can be split over two years. The penalty was announced today, but I’m certain the Redskins knew it was coming for a while now.

Now whether or not its fair to be penalized for what they did…. that’s another question altogether.

I don’t care how many picks it took.

This video shows how I’m feeling right now:

Seriously…. what a beauty carpet. George Allen speaks to the Redskins back in 1977

I liked his ability to block out bad plays and to go for the big play, but unfortunately those qualities can’t overcome a crippling tendency to turn the ball over.  Its a good quality that he can forget throwing a brutal interception and move on to the next play, but its not one you want to see in action 4 times a game.   He just makes too many mistakes.

This Redskins team is going to win games based on a strong defense and a decent special teams unit (which has the potential to be very good if Gano can continue his recent hot streak).  They need a quarterback who can manage the game and not put the defense in horrible positions.  Can John Beck be that guy?  Who knows at this point, but Rex Grossman clearly can not be.  It was easy to defend Grossman’s errors when he was putting up 300 yard games and the Skins were putting up points, but over these past three games the passing game has faded and all that remains are the constant turnovers.

Grossman is what he’s always been, a mistake prone inconsistent QB who will cost you more games than he will win for you and who has the mobility of a three toed sloth.   Will Beck be any better?  We just don’t know, but its time to find out.

The All Out Blitz on 3rd and 21

Watching the game Monday on ESPN through my trusty cabletelevision I nearly threw the remote when I saw the all-out blitz on 3rd and 21.

The Redskins and various media members can attempt to defend the call all they want but it was dumb.  The issue isn’t calling an all out blitz when the game is on the line, the issue is calling the blitz when the Cowboys were already backed into a tough spot.  The blown snap had backed the Cowboys into a difficult position.  The Redskins goal was to stop them and get off the field by not allowing 21 yards on next two downs.  I have no idea about the actual odds but an all-out blitz obviously increases the odds of a the Cowboys having a negative play and also increases their odds of having a big play.  A negative play was essentially meaningless on that play.  A 4th and 15 or a 4th and 30 are both very unlikely to be made.

The Cowboys needed to make a big play to get out of the 3rd and 21 jam and by all out blitzing Haslett increased their odds of getting one.  I don’t care if it worked 9 times in a row before then, you’ve got to play to the situation at hand.  Force the Cowboys to make two consecutive eleven yard pass plays, don’t give them a chance to get out of it on one play.

As an aside, everyone is falling in love with Ryan Kerrigan (and deservedly so) but this game showed the importance of Brian Orakpo.  Whenever Orakpo left the game to get treatment for cramping, the Cowboys offense became a ton more effective.  Rob Jackson had a big sack but his run defense leaves a lot to be desired.  This game also turned on fumbles.  The stats guys have shown that fumble recoveries are pretty much a 50/50 proposition (i.e. if there are two fumbles in a game, you’d expect each team to recover one).  This game had 7 fumbles (six by the Cowboys) and they recovered six of them, that’s your ball game right there.

Phillip Buchanon

The Washington Post Redskins blog today had an article that seemed to hint that Buchanon may get cut when his suspension ends on Monday and the Redskins could stick with the current 5 cornerbacks on the roster.  I just can’t see it happen.  You only had to watch the Cardinals game when Kevin Barnes and Josh Wilson went out with injuries and the Cardinals suddenly started to move the ball up and down the field to see that Buchanon will be a solid addition.

The question then becomes who gets dropped to activate him.  If the Redskins are worried about losing rookie Brandyn Thompson if they try to move him to the practice squad, then veteran Byron Westbrook would seem to be the obvious choice.  But Thompson was a 7th round pick and he didn’t jump off the chart when he was pressed into action, so I suspect he’ll be cut and re-signed to the practice squad and someone currently on the practice squad will be dropped.

Offensive Play Calling

I get the feeling this is becoming a bit of battle of wills between father and son.  Pops wants to run but son seems to get mesmerized by the pass at times.  Dad will win this battle as the Skins need to keep running, especially when they have the lead in the 4th quarter.

A more pressing concern in my opinion is the Red Zone play calling.  Oddly enough they get very run heavy in the Red Zone (at least to my eyes) and they need to mix it up a bit.

The Week Ahead

The Rams have been bad this year.  But unfortunately for the Redskins they seem to be getting healthy just as Washington comes to town.  Stephen Jackson will play this week and he’ll obviously make a big difference.  He’s their best offensive player by a long shot and the Redskins won’t be able to tee off on Sam Bradford like other teams have been doing in his absence.

If the Redskins can put up some points (and they should be able to, the Rams aren’t exactly the 85 Bears), they should win this game.

Redskins 24 Rams 14

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I like Rex Grossman.

I may end up regretting it in a few weeks or heck, maybe Monday night.  But I dig the guy.

He’s got guts.  That 4th down TD pass to Santana Moss took balls.  For years we’ve had either had bad QBs (Donovan McNabb) or wimpy QBs (Mark Brunell, Jason Campbell) who would take the check down route every 2nd play.  Grossman’s 7.7 yard per attempt dwarfs anything we’ve seen in Washington in years.  (Its also way above anything Grossman’s done before so who knows if it’ll last)

There’s no doubt that Brunell or Campbell would’ve dumped that 4th down pass off to the Helu or Gaffney.  McNabb would have tossed it into the ground .  Grossman rolled the dice and helped won the game for the Redskins.

Yes, he also had a brutal interception.  Its highly unlikely that he’s going to turn into some superstar QB at this point in his career.  But he seems to be able brush off mistakes, and heck he’s kinda fun to watch.

The 2010-11 Washington Redskins finished with a 6-10 record.

Its quite possible that the 2011-12 Washington Redskins don’t finish any better, but even without an improvement in wins it may end up being the turning point that Redskins fans have long awaited.

This isn’t your Vinny Cerrato Redskins.  There are nine guys from 2011 draft alone on this years roster, during the Cerrato reign it would take three drafts to even draft nine guys.  Add in Willie Smith, an undrafted free agent, and the team has ten first year players on the roster.  There are 25 players on the opening day roster with less than three years of experience in the NFL.

The Redskins actually have some depth, particularly at running back, wide receiver and linebacker.  There are still a few soft spots on the roster, defensive tackle is thin beyond Barry Cofield and the interior offensive line positions could use help, but this is a much deeper team than in recent years.

The defense will be better than last year.  The players remaining on the roster are more accustom to the 3-4 and Ryan Kerrigan should provide a 2nd pass rusher that the team lacked last year.  You’d expect an improved special teams season as Rocca should be better than the awfulness of the 2010 punting carousel and Gano will either improve or find himself on the street quickly.

But despite those improvements, its all going to come down to Rex Grossman at the QB position.  This team should be able to run with anyone (assuming Kyle Shanahan doesn’t abandon the run as quickly as he tended to last year in his play calling).  There are a billion receivers still on the roster and seeing as the 2010 season opened with Joey Galloway as a starter, its an improved bunch.  Even if Chris Cooley can’t go, Fred Davis is a capable tight end and the line should at least be reasonable.  But can Grossman deliver?

When evaluating the Redskins QBs in 2011 most analysts seems to forget that the 2010 QB play wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire.  Donovan McNabb had more interceptions than touchdown passes last year.  Grossman doesn’t have to be Drew Brees to be an upgrade over McNabb’s 2010.  But if the Redskins want to be in the playoff hunt this season, Grossman is going to have to play better than he did in his last starting gig way back in 2006.   Grossman isn’t going to be an elite QB, but the two most recent QBs to lead the Redskins to the playoffs were Todd Collins and Mark Brunell.  You don’t need a superstar to make the playoffs if the other aspects of your team are strong, but you do need someone decent.

So that is all we ask of you Rex Grossman – be decent.  If he can deliver that maybe 6-10 can turn into 9-7 and a shot at a playoff spot.