All is Forgiven....Nah
Andy Reid is a great coach now that we won a game and I want him to stay...just kidding, he still needs to go! But today was a nice win for the Birds for sure. Other than the score itself, there were a lot of positives, including things that I wish the coaches had been doing all year (or for the last 7 years):
One important change today was the play calling which Big Red noted in his press conference - Andy finally let Marty and Donovan control the play calling. I thought that was a good concept, one which needed to be done...however, the offense didn't execute as crisply as they did earlier this season and a lot of the plays were predictable (uh, the flea-flicker, again?! Come on, Marty. I had a momentary flash-back to the on-sides kick to open the game that Reid did against Dallas for the second time a few years ago when it was run back for a TD. Been there, done the flea-flicker, now let's move on Marty).
Westbrook had a great day and is really developing as a more stable runner. Some of his runs were unbelievable. He carried the ball 22 times which is a season high for him, with good results (113 yards baby). The offense just doesn't tick without Westy around. I hope Andy and Marty will continue to focus on the importance of the running game. We'll be much better in the long run if they do.
And I wonder why it took Andy 7 years to realize he's not a great play caller? hmm.
McNabb wasn't very sharp today and either was the offense in general - they did OK, putting up 20 points. The magic beans McNabb was eating early in the season definitely wore off over the last 3 or 4 weeks. Although he didn't play poorly and the conditions were wet, he looked like the McNabb of old at times, throwing many errant balls into the mud. Strange kid - I'd love to know what's going on in his mind. I still love him in any case, but still...just strange........hey, maybe fashion is his thing and football is just a means to an end?
Overall, the defense played pretty well but the Skins were their own worst enemy, leaving points on the board, sticking with a broke-down QB and calling predictable plays. Despite that, the Birds still allowed the Skins to control the tempo of the game for a large portion of the game (into the 3rd Q or basically up until the time that Portis went out with his broken hand). The Skins managed to rack up 146 rushing yards overall, and they were gashing our D in the first half, which in turn aided them in controlling the clock to the tune of 20 mins of possession to our 10 mins. We still can't seem to stop the run very well - as we've been droning on about all season, that's going to present problems for us if we have any kind of playoff aspirations. We seem to be missing Kearse around the edges too - our ends and outside LBs don't contain very well. If I was an offensive coordinator, I'd throw screens all day against us - we can't stop it.
Dawkins had a great game today. I think his pass defense against Randle El's one attempt was incredible...it set the example man. He made a statement about hustle and aggressiveness on that one.
Anyone see Matt McCoy out there today? Thrown around like a RAG DOLL. Not sure whether he's the real deal or not - right now, I'm saying not.
On a positive note, we got better at controlling the clock in the second half - we made up a significant portion of time of possession by running out the last 9 minutes or so of the 4th Quarter, like the Saints did to us a few weeks ago. That was an impressive display of ball control and is a sign of a superior team. We need to build on that last drive and take it into the next game. Crafty running by the Brook and Buckhalter throwing himself into the breach a few times on that drive helped squash the Skins' hopes for a chance at winning.
Finally, I'd like to see Andy and Marty go for it on 4th down once in a while. They had a couple opportunities today and only took one of them, and succeeded with it. Give the guys a chance to be great, Andy. Have some balls once in a while!
Back on the subject of Reid staying or going - from listening to the callers during the post-game shows on WYSP and WIP, it seems that everyone is happy again, enamored with what Andy's doing. Short memories around here. People, he can't deliver the goods - a regular season win against a 3-5 team doesn't mean much. He's just teasing you again. Keep the big picture in mind: We have no Super Bowl trophies.
One important change today was the play calling which Big Red noted in his press conference - Andy finally let Marty and Donovan control the play calling. I thought that was a good concept, one which needed to be done...however, the offense didn't execute as crisply as they did earlier this season and a lot of the plays were predictable (uh, the flea-flicker, again?! Come on, Marty. I had a momentary flash-back to the on-sides kick to open the game that Reid did against Dallas for the second time a few years ago when it was run back for a TD. Been there, done the flea-flicker, now let's move on Marty).
Westbrook had a great day and is really developing as a more stable runner. Some of his runs were unbelievable. He carried the ball 22 times which is a season high for him, with good results (113 yards baby). The offense just doesn't tick without Westy around. I hope Andy and Marty will continue to focus on the importance of the running game. We'll be much better in the long run if they do.
And I wonder why it took Andy 7 years to realize he's not a great play caller? hmm.
McNabb wasn't very sharp today and either was the offense in general - they did OK, putting up 20 points. The magic beans McNabb was eating early in the season definitely wore off over the last 3 or 4 weeks. Although he didn't play poorly and the conditions were wet, he looked like the McNabb of old at times, throwing many errant balls into the mud. Strange kid - I'd love to know what's going on in his mind. I still love him in any case, but still...just strange........hey, maybe fashion is his thing and football is just a means to an end?
Overall, the defense played pretty well but the Skins were their own worst enemy, leaving points on the board, sticking with a broke-down QB and calling predictable plays. Despite that, the Birds still allowed the Skins to control the tempo of the game for a large portion of the game (into the 3rd Q or basically up until the time that Portis went out with his broken hand). The Skins managed to rack up 146 rushing yards overall, and they were gashing our D in the first half, which in turn aided them in controlling the clock to the tune of 20 mins of possession to our 10 mins. We still can't seem to stop the run very well - as we've been droning on about all season, that's going to present problems for us if we have any kind of playoff aspirations. We seem to be missing Kearse around the edges too - our ends and outside LBs don't contain very well. If I was an offensive coordinator, I'd throw screens all day against us - we can't stop it.
Dawkins had a great game today. I think his pass defense against Randle El's one attempt was incredible...it set the example man. He made a statement about hustle and aggressiveness on that one.
Anyone see Matt McCoy out there today? Thrown around like a RAG DOLL. Not sure whether he's the real deal or not - right now, I'm saying not.
On a positive note, we got better at controlling the clock in the second half - we made up a significant portion of time of possession by running out the last 9 minutes or so of the 4th Quarter, like the Saints did to us a few weeks ago. That was an impressive display of ball control and is a sign of a superior team. We need to build on that last drive and take it into the next game. Crafty running by the Brook and Buckhalter throwing himself into the breach a few times on that drive helped squash the Skins' hopes for a chance at winning.
Finally, I'd like to see Andy and Marty go for it on 4th down once in a while. They had a couple opportunities today and only took one of them, and succeeded with it. Give the guys a chance to be great, Andy. Have some balls once in a while!
Back on the subject of Reid staying or going - from listening to the callers during the post-game shows on WYSP and WIP, it seems that everyone is happy again, enamored with what Andy's doing. Short memories around here. People, he can't deliver the goods - a regular season win against a 3-5 team doesn't mean much. He's just teasing you again. Keep the big picture in mind: We have no Super Bowl trophies.
posted by Paulomon Grundy at 9:42 PM
3 Comments:
Who is Chris McCoy?
Not to toot their horn or anything, but we took a knee in scoring position, so it could've been worse for the Deadskins. And wasn't anyone impressed with how we kept the ball for the final 8 or 9 minutes of the game? Good ball and clock-control in the 2nd half. That being said, we weren't very consistent, other than Westy and Stallworth, who both looked like workhourses yesterday.
Sorry, I used to work with a guy named Chris McCoy - he was a pussy too. I corrected the blog above.
I was TOTALLY impressed with how we controlled the ball the last 9 mins of the game - that's why I blogged about that drive above and said how impressive it was. We need to keep that going into the next game.
You are forgiven, Jakey Jakey, corrected his big... mistakey.
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