Now is the Time

This morning I listened to the Junkies debating whether Shanahan would be here through the end of his 5-year contract and discussing how badly he has managed the QB situation. I'm no Shanahan apologist, but I do tend to disagree with them.

Shanahan inherited a team fraught with the misgivings of Vinny and Zorn. He didn't believe in Jason Campbell and, frankly, neither did this city. So he did what he thought was best. He brought in a veteran at QB1 and backed him up with two journeymen(-ish). It seemed liked a safe move, one that would buy some time while they worked through changes and challenges on the rest of the roster and prepared for a big 2011 draft.

Unfortunately, the plan imploded. McNabb was not in peak condition. He paid lip service to the media but showed very little progress in learning our playbook and becoming a team leader. We now know we had him midway into what is clearly the downward spiral on which he will end his NFL career. He got the bench and we got Rex.

For all intents and purposes, it seemed clear that Rex got the start because he and Kyle had a relationship from their time in Houston, he knew the offense, and had more on-field experience than Beck-the-Unknown. Ultimately, however, Rex played like Rex plays and we ended the season 6-10.

Enter the 2011 Draft and cue commentary that Shanahan missed an opportunity by not drafting a QB. It is hard to argue against such claims, but I believe he was right to continue to build a core of young players, on both offense and defense, who will have a year to learn the system and develop as professionals in the NFL, making us a better team and a better place for a young QB in the future. We needed positions on both sides of the ball, a lot of them, and trading down for more picks was the unpopular, but healthy decision.

And all of that is to say, now is the time.

In addition to great defensive additions, we now have two classes of offensive players with potential - Austin (2010), Paulsen (2010 Undrafted), Hankerson, Helu, Paul, and Royster. Now is their time to show us what they've got.

Cooley is on IR, possibly having seen his last snap as a Redskin (though I, for one, hope not). Hightower is also on IR, with no guarantees for a return to the Redskins next year (one year contract, though, if healthy, I'd like to see him back). Moss is out for 5-7 weeks, possibly the next candidate for IR depending on his progress (is it worth bringing him back in week 10?).

Now is the time to let our young guns have at it. Put them out there. All of them. Give them their chance. Give them time with the first team and lots of it. We need to take time to develop these guys. We'll need patience, but we have the veterans on the squad to help them along.

Beck has a year and a half with this offense, runs the team efficiently, and can spread the ball around to give opportunities to all the young studs. Our QB situation is bad, no doubt about it, but I like that we have this time to build a stronger team for a new QB. I know a rookie won't solve all our problems, but any rookie will fare better with teammates that are more comfortable in their roles, routes and responsibilities. 


And yes, I understand that if we had drafted a rookie, he too would have an extra year under his belt, but would it have been worth it at the expense of draft picks at other positions and depth chart issues in 2012? A QB may be a team's offensive leader and the key component of any winning offense, but where are we without talent and depth on the rest of the team? I'll tell you where - St. Louis. 

Week 7: The Heartbreaker

We knew this was going to be a challenge, especially with the versatile rookie Cam Newton leading the Panthers. But we had also hoped their sad D would give our offense opportunities to score... 

Beck Wagon
Weak start, but warmed up and moved well. He made mistakes, and I do wish he would take a little more time, but, behind a make-shift O-line and making his first start since 2007, you have to give him some credit for a fairly solid performance. I also love his humility and candor. It is refreshing to have a QB at the podium who takes responsibility for his performance - good, bad or otherwise.

Oh My, O-Line
Make-shift it may be, but I think the line deserves a round of applause. They need work, no doubt, but Beck was mostly well-protected and our backs were given lanes. I look forward to seeing their progress next week.

MIA
Where was our defense in the first half? Was that the cheerleading squad lined up out there? I had to stop counting the missed tackles when there were more than there were beers in the bucket on our table. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. They let both Cam and the Panthers run game run all over us. Not to mention they let Smith light up the scoreboard like the Vegas Strip. We needed them to show up and they really let us down. Atogwe not playing hurt us, but one player does not a defense make. I did not see nearly enough Landry for my tastes and our other playmakers seemed dazed and confused. It was, however, nice to see Reed Doughty on the field making good, clean hits.

The Run! The Run!
It was back and it was looking good.We've been begging for it all season and it was nice to see. It was nice to see my Holes for Hightower campaign take flight and carry us down the field. But one trick ponies never win. Especially not when they call a run play on 3rd down after being backed up by a penalty. Kyle the Wunder Coach at it again. The calling started off well, but fell flat. I know they want to protect Beck and keep the ball on the ground as much as possible, but today's league requires passing to be competitive.

Injuries, The Encore
I knew the moment I saw Hightower on the ground that he was suffering, suffering bad and was not going to be able to walk this one off. The news today that he tore his ACL was devastating, but, unfortunately, not unexpected. I truly feel for him and wish him a speedy and successful recovery. He has been a great addition to this team and I hope to see him back next year in full health. With Moss's broken hand sending him out for 5-7 weeks, I would be surprised if we see him back this season. We will miss him, but I do believe this is an opportunity to get our young receivers some reps and some real time on the field. We will never know what kind of talent these players have if we don't give them a chance to show us against first team Ds. And then London Fletcher injured his hamstring - I won't even begin to think what playing without him might mean for us in Toronto. I can only hope we left the injury bug in Carolina. We cannot afford to lose any more starters.

Fried Butter at Warm Ups?
That's the only thing I can think of that would explain all those dropped balls. Unacceptable. Gaffney, Armstrong, Moss, Davis... No one was safe from the dropsies this week. Beck claimed full responsibility for Hankerson's disappointing debut, but that kid does need to get his head into the game if he hopes to play a role in narrowing field of offensive targets.

The Young Bucks
Both Paulsen and Austin made nice showings this weekend. I hope to see more of both of them next weekend as we continue to adjust and deal with the losses of Cooley and Moss.

Discipline
The penalties, drops, misses, more penalties. We need to reign it in and get back on track. 4-3 works for me, but 3-4 is a bore.

Traveling to Toronto against a burgeoning Bills team will be a big test. We've got work to do this week. I'll leave it at that. 

Week 6: The Missed Opportunity

When your first drive ends in an interception, you know it is going to be a long game. And boy was it. Grossman earned his nickname InterceptasaurusRex.

I was incredibly nervous going into this game, knowing all too well from years past how it can turn out, but I did maintain a bit of my unabashed optimism. It's masochistic really.

Gross
23.7 QB rating says it all. Or not. I have been waiting for him to get benched since he was named the starter. I just wish it had come sooner in the game. I have listened to all the arguments for keeping him and I just cannot support them. At his absolute best, he is 50/50. At his worst, well, let's hope tomorrow is the worst we see this season and that all we see going forward is his overweight tuckus on the bench. I'm not optimistic about it, but a girl can dream.

Kyle the Wonder Kid
Who is responsible for him? The best call he made all game was the flea flicker. The worst call was keeping Grossman in long enough to lead that play. And what does he have against our running corps?

Injuries We Can't Afford
Ouch. Those are going to haunt us. Our O-line doesn't have the depth to lose two men. Shifting the tackles around, moving Brown back to the left should help, but we'll still need to put a QB who can move behind them, and that is not Rex. Cooley got rocked. I feel horrible for him having to go out again and I do think it could have been avoided.

Penalties
For the second week in a row, we have let penalties shift the momentum of the game to our detriment. We started the season strong as one of the most disciplined teams in the league and we need to get back to that place - fast. And we need to focus on making slightly lower, legal hits - no more 15-yard helmet to helmet calls, accidental or not.

Offensive Defense
Where was our defense in the first half? Did they forget it was Sunday and that they were facing a desperate division rival? They were late, sloppy and let both Vick and McCoy chew up too much turf. They were on the field a lot and our offense certainly wasn't providing any reprieve, but we need them to show up strong and they let us get four scores down before the half.

Defense Rides Again 
The halftime trip to the locker room reminded the D where they were. Oh, hey, it's game day! They came out in the second half with more gusto and gave me what I've been waiting for all season - INTs courtesy of D. Hall and Atogwe. Of course, with Rex at the helm, both were wasted effort.

Beck!
I've been on the Beck Wagon since the pre-season. He is agile, thoughtful and can hit his targets. Yesterday he had a few wobbly tosses, but he was coming off the bench without any reps with our starters in over 5 weeks. You have to give the guy credit for playing as well as he did. I also loved what Cooley said this morning on the Junkies about his huddle style - how he really steps up as a leader and provides a strong presence on the field. With the injuries to the O-line, we need a QB who can move and is reliable out of the pocket. I hope to see him out there next Sunday, but I worry the Shannys are going to disappoint me... again.

Return of Tight Ends
It was nice to see the tight ends getting some love. We've got talent there, and talent there deep. When deep balls are dangerous, as they always are with Rex at the helm, they are sturdy, reliable options. Fred Davis, despite some drops, was one of the few offensive producers this week. And he should not have taken blame for any of those INTs. Rex has other options and should have exercised them instead of throwing bad balls. Watching Cooley go out was excruciating. And,yes, I blame Rex for that too. Even Sonny does.

Disappearance of the Run Game, Continued
The Eagles were shutting us down and then we got so far behind that we were forced to throw, but we really could've used some All-Torrain pushes in the second half. Not to mention that our passing game was giving the Eagles D a lot to celebrate. Seems to me our RBs were lined up to receive shovel passes more than they were lined up in the back field. Even if just to give us more time on the field and draw more time off the clock, we cannot simply abandon the run. Kyle, can you hear me?

I don't know what Mike will do on Wednesday, but I do know that sending Rex back in will be a very unpopular decision. And it is a decision I cannot support. 

Week 4: A W is a W, but...

Kyle, Kyle, Kyle
That opening drive was a joke. And not a good one. Playing the worst run D in the league and you pass, pass, pass, pass. We have weapons with legs. Use them. Run the ball. Move down the field. Steady pace. I hope one week to be able to stop writing about this, but it's not looking promising. From now on, and until someone smacks him into line, he'll be Kalamity Kyle to me.

Return of the ATV 
Welcome back, Ryan. What a treat! 135 yards and one triumphant touchdown marked Torain's return to the field and what a return it was.

Capitalizing on a Turnover 
It's about damn time. I almost didn't believe it. We need to make sure this trend continues.

Rex
Ugh. Intentional groundings. Bad throws. Typical. I'm so over him. A 48.5 QB rating? Embarrassing.

Pathetic Penalties 
We had been doing so well but this week we had several costly penalties. 10 penalties for around 100 yards is unacceptable. I will say that I don't think Riley deserved the call for his hit on Pettis, but that was one of the lesser infractions in terms of impact on the game. We held ourselves to only 10 total penalties in first 3 games. We must get that discipline back.

Defensive Domination 
Our saving grace. Other than the penalties, they saved us once again. Only 45 rushing yards allowed today - outstanding. Not to mention my personal favorites Orakpo and Kerrigan each had 2.5 sacks, despite not getting calls for some fairly obvious holds by the Rams.

Late Game Laziness?
Whatever it is that makes us let our opponents surge late the in the game, stop it. Stop it now. We cannot continue to do this and expect to keep winning games. The Cowgirls showed us just how bitter it can be. Let's make them the last team to do so.

Hogtied Home Team
I genuinely felt bad for Bradford after a certain point. His receivers had the dropsies and Kerakpo had his number. He's a good young QB without the resources and protection to highlight his talents.

Fox's Fail
Fox fell down on the job today. The feed was spotty, the camera work was a snooze and the announcers made golf announcers seem lively.

Tight End Fade Away
If it is the latest scheme in Kyle's offense, it is another rotten egg. Davis and Cooley can be game changers when given the chance. Where have they been these last two games? Mike, in getting Kyle back on track, get these guys back in the game plan.

Pleasant Surprise
Today we sit atop the NFC East thanks to collapses by Dallas and Philly against the Lions and the 49ers respectively. Something about those games makes this slightly sloppy win a little sweeter.