So, today was the home opener at FedEx Field. Robert Griffin III's first regular season game in the house that Snyder built. The stadium was sold-out, as the anticipation was high for RG3 to take the field and hopefully spark some "Hail to the Redskins". Well, the game started off in a very unorthodox way. The Bengals lined up in a Wildcat formation with QB Andy Dalton split out wide and WR Mohamed Sanu under center. Sanu connected with second-year sensation WR AJ Green for a73 yard touchdown pass. This proved to be the start of a long day for the Redskins defense. During the week, the Redskins had to declare DL Adam Carriker and OLB Brian Orakpo out for the season with injuries against STL. Probably, one of the absolute worst things that could have happened to this team in a year of such promise. The loss of Carriker and Orakpo not only weakens the D-line but also allows the offense to focus more on Ryan Kerrigan on the other side. There is really no silver lining for the loss of these key players.
To say the least, the defense needs work. Today, the defense gave up 385 passing yards and 4 passing touchdowns. You cannot win football games giving up 38 points. It's not feasible. The offense has produced over 30 points in all three games this season. That should be enough to win a game in the NFL. I'm not placing all the blame on the defense here, but something needs to be done. When your offense is producing, just like they should be, the defense needs to step up and make something happen. Sure, Josh Wilson recovered a fumble in the 3rd Quarter and Rob Jackson had an interception, but it's not all about huge turnovers. A defense needs to be able to succeed a mostly one-weapon offense. I'm sure Andy Dalton was having a lot of fun throwing the football around with AJ Green today, because that is all it looked like. Just a Sunday afternoon in the Dalton's backyard. DeAngelo Hall had a tough task covering Green today, and there is only so much you can do to stop the guy, but there has to be a way to at least diminish his influence on the game. Green(9 recs, 183 yds, 1 TD) was everywhere today. Hall could not for his life keep up with him. We know that D-Hall is not a cover corner and I do not understand why Josh Wilson was not on Green. Wilson has proved himself this season as a solid, secure cornerback. Take a chance on him, Haslett, he might surprise you.
Now for what is proving to be a common theme for all of the games so far: RG3 is the real deal. Griffin completed 21 out of 34 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown. He also ran 12 times for 85 yards and a touchdown. He has been the most consistent, complete player on the roster for the first 3 games of the season. And once again, he led the Skins back from a large deficit in the 2nd half. The Skins were down by 17 points, when Griffin started heating up. I cannot stress enough how important his ability to see the field while being mobile is. He has extended numerous plays into large gains or just to avoid bad plays. Through this point in the season, the only complaint I have with RG3 is his tendency to try to extend plays a little too much. For example, during the final seconds of the game, Griffin was wrapped up by a Bengals lineman, escaped, fumbled, recovered, and then got sacked again. This took at least 10 ticks off the clock, and with no timeouts, sometimes it is better to just take the sack.
Let's talk about the whole coaching situation. If you've read my blogs before, you are aware of my dislike of the Shanahan coaching clan. Today, really emphasized my disapproval of their coaching strategies. I am far from a NFL coach, but the management of the clock and timeouts were poorly done today. Shanahan called two timeouts in 3 downs inside the red zone in the beginning of the 3rd Quarter. This is just irresponsible. With the game in reach, you cannot use two timeouts in the span of one minute. It's pathetic coaching and awful decision making. Also, the challenge that wasted the final timeout was completely and utterly pointless. That play would have had a minimal impact on the outcome of this game. Maybe, Mike isn't seeing the play from the same angles I am, but the ball clearly was bouncing on the goal line. And last, but not least, how about Kyle having some choice words for the referee after the sack? I will not write the quote out here, but I'm sure you could find it. This comment spurred the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, pushing the Skins to a rather difficult 3rd and 50 to end the game.
All in all, a game that could have been won, but due to miserable defensive play, and just careless coaching, the game was lost. I don't like where things are headed, but we'll see what Josh Freeman and the Bucs have in store next week.
Hail.
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