Charting the game

Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I thought I'd chart the game, writing thoughts and comments about every series. I guess I had some small hope that in doing so, I could figure out what ails this team besides the obvious "It's the O-line" kind of analysis.

So, here goes:

1st Philly series: Touchdown, Desean Jackson... (Comment: Just bad execution from the D meeting up with good execution from the O. (Comment: I'm not going to be a hypocrite and deride Vinny for not picking this guy, because at the time NOBODY thought we needed another small WR. And I don't think anyone thought Jackson would be this good... That doesn't get Vinny off the hook for who he did pick, though).

1st Redskins series: Jason Campbell couldn't catch the snap, which while not perfect, was catchable. (Comment: Bad execution. Not catching snaps comes down to simple concentration. I know he doesn't trust his O-line enough and so is probably looking at the D at that point, but c'mon man, good QBs don't screw up like that. That's on you, Jason... I've been a Jason supporter, but I gotta call it like I see it. He's been disappointing this year. He's talked about not being able to get into a rhythm a lot this year. That sounds lame. A QB needs to find a way to play well. If you're relying on playcalling or feel to get in a rhythm, then you're not all that trustworthy. Imagine being in a Super Bowl worried about whether your QB will be able to get in a rhythm. I hope he never talks about rhythm again, unless it's in reference to maybe Todd Yoder's dancing.).

2nd Philly series: They seem to be moving the ball fairly easily. The runs are all going for 4 or 5 yards, and the passes 8 or more yards. Jaworski (Jaws from now on) noticed that when Orakpo was on the line, McNabb audibled into a run. It gained 3 yards, but I don't think he made the tackle... (Comment: I think next year Orakpo will hopefully be a full time DE, but he'll need to get bigger, so he won't get run on. I think he will get bigger)... Series ended with a bad McNabb pass into good Skins coverage... No real pass rush, though.

2nd Redskins series: Portis loses a yard and a half. (Comment: I've seen more behind the line of scrimmage tackles on our backs this year than I can ever remember. And it happened when Samuels and Thomas were healthy as well. They say 4 O-linemen can block the play right and if one doesn't, or if a back or tight end doesn't, the play ends. I don't know if they're playing musical chairs to see who misses the block each time, but it happens way too much, and is a big reason why they stink on offense. Good offenses would have a hard time being in 2nd and long all the time.)... Skins get a 1st down on a penalty. (Comment: I don't know if I'll be able to sing "Hail to the Redskins" this game at all, so I sang it here.)... A horrible Jason play. He looked indecisive even with good protection... A 3rd down checkdown pass to Betts. Doesn't get the 1st. (Comment: I don't like this play. The odds are too low. Maybe with a bad O-line you have no choice to keep doing these, though.)... They punt to the extremely slow, un-quick DeSean Jackson. He gets a good runback. Not a wise decision.

3rd Philly series: They moved the ball enough to give the Skins bad field position. (Comment: Unfortunately, the defense has to be perfect in order to overcome the Skins woeful offense. Either constant 3 and outs or preferably turnovers. But this defense, while good, is not the Ravens in their Superbowl year, or the Steelers last year, or the 85 Bears... They're solid, just not great.)

3rd Skins series: A 2 yard run. Campbell's pass knocked in the air and intercepted for a TD. Eagles 14-0. Montgomery called out by Jaws and Gruden for not knocking the tackle's hand down. Apparently, in this play with a short drop, that's vital for the O-lineman to do. (Comment: The vaunted Vinny O-line depth comes through again. How does Vinny account for the Rhinehart pick? A side note. Over at the WaPo blogs, there's a fun little tete a tete between someone who goes by the name Barno1 and someone who goes by Poopy_McPoop. Whenever I would read anything Barno wrote, I always envisioned a big fat purple dinosaur with a picture of Snyder on one side of his keyboard and Vinny on the other and him singing to them, "I love you, you love me." But their back and forth got me to thinking, wouldn't it be great to have them on one of those political type point/counterpoint shows -- but only if Barno is dressed like a big fat purple dinosaur and Poopy in a diaper with Snyder's face on it. Larry King could host it.)

Larry King: Poopy, the offensive line. Your thoughts?
Poopy: PFTHHHHHH!!!
Larry King: I believe Poopy just crapped on Dan Snyder's face... Barno, rebuttal.
Barno: If Samuels and Thomas didn't get hurt, this would be a great offensive line.
Poopy: PFTHHHHHH!!!
Larry King: I think what he's trying to say is how wise was it to assume two older, injury prone players were going to stay healthy?
Poopy: PFTHHHHHH!!!
Larry King: And I think he also questioned how good the rest of the line actually is. Heyer's been playing like the remnants of Poopy's diaper.

Well, you get the jist (or is it Gist?). Hopefully, someone makes that show happen... How pathetic is this season that I'm hoping for a show featuring two blog commenters who I've never seen and don't know their real names? Back to the game, mercifully.

4th Skins series: 2 good Portis runs over left/center. End of quarter...

2nd Quarter: Campbell fumbles, showing a lack of awareness. (Comment: He looked gimpy and didn't appear as fast as he has been, but he still has to sense that guy and get rid of the ball quicker or just tuck and run and get what you can.) Cooley injured. (Comment: Cliched when it rains it pours moment. The yellow hair did nothing to protect him.)

4th Philly series: 3 and out. Field goal. (Comment: The Skins offense has given Philly 10 points. The Skins offense has given the Skins 0 points. Maybe they don't know the rules of football.)

5th Skins series: The referees are confused. They called number 35 on the Skins for a penalty, but I have no idea who 35 is... Okay, it was on Philly. Good return by Rock.
All right, a very good drive. Good throws and good decisions, especially on the TD. Fred Davis with 2 catches in place of Cooley. (Comment: Let's hope Davis doesn't dye his hair yellow at halftime). Devin Thomas first receiving TD... I really liked the Rock Cartwright run. He looked fast! I'd give him a few more carries this game. It feels like he's playing with a lot of fight.

5th Philly series: The kickoff only traveled to the 18. Weak. Good D to make them punt.

6th Skins series: Randle El can't catch the punt! Before the punt, I was asking why no Moss in this situation. The Skins had momentum, a big Moss return here could have been huge. (Comment: Like most, I've thought Randle El wasn't very good at returning punts anymore, but he was dependable in catching it, which is important, too... Well, this muff was horrible. It took away all the momentum, and the Skins rarely have had momentum this year. This may have been the game right here.)

6th Philly series: Good D stand after El's turnover. The D is playing with some passion right now, which is good to see. DeAngelo Hall actually made a good tackle. (Comment: Gruden praised DeAngelo as a complete ballplayer... Uh, someone please show Gruden Hall's attempted tackles against Manningham and Jake Delhomme and ask if that was a complete ballplayer making those plays.)

7th Skins series: Portis no gain. (Comment: I think Portis is the highest paid back in the league right now. No cap next year, this has to change. I'd probably cut him unless he takes some kind of cut. He shouldn't be a featured back anymore. He should be in a 2 or 3 back rotation. And be in on 3rd down passing situations because, honestly, his pass blocking is what he does best at this point in his career.) Jaws shows us that if Jason had stayed with Moss after the pump fake it would have been an easy touchdown. (Comment: Great job of analysis because we can't see that kind of thing on television.) Campbell sacked. This failed series was on Jason... And 3rd and longs for this O-line are too difficult... Bad punt. DeSean Jackson probably a factor.

7th Philly series: Another good D stand so far. Nice sack by Doughty. (Comment: Mike Tirico is the first announcer in weeks to pronounce Doughty's name right. The middle of his name should sound like "OUT"...) It's 3rd and 23. DeSean Jackson WIDE OPEN for TD! PATHETIC!!!How? How?!!! Uncovered! No pass rush, but still, that should never happen. Looks like Carlos Rogers fell for a fake, and Horton not in position to help. Just pathetic! (Comment: I don't know if you can tell, but I'm not happy right now.)

8th Skins series: Betts tackled out of bounds near the benches. Flag called. Overturned call. I've seen some really bad overturn calls this year. The ref gets it right the first time and then is talked out of it by someone who apparently is not operating with 20/20 vision. (Comment: Is 20/20 vision a requirement to be a ref?)

Halftime analysis: When you watch on TV, you don't always get a sense of what's really going on, especially in the passing game. But Jaws and Gruden pointed out some of Jason's bad decisions. For the most part, they've done great color commentary. I grew up reading Kornheiser, but I'll always prefer actual football analysis from the broadcasting crew... As for the game so far, this team isn't good enough to overcome any turnovers or any blown coverages. When you have multiples of both, it ain't good.

3rd Quarter:

1st Skins series: Good start. Until the penalties. Heyer is just not good enough. Strange 3rd down screen to Sellers.

1st Philly series: Why can't the Skins recover fumbles? It was a great sack by Carter. Wilson has to find that ball -- it was there for the taking. That's a potential game-changing play NOT made.

2nd Skins series: Moss looks like he was tutored by Randle-El on that punt... Jaws gave great analysis on the sack. A good discussion about audibling. Both Jaws and Gruden felt like that was a play that couldn't work and an audible was needed. (Comment: They felt the Skins don't have an audible system. I don't think that's correct. I remember in Norv Turner's offense there wasn't audibling, but I think Zorn allows for it. Will have to look into that one more.)

2nd Philly series: Jarmon looks quick, although he needed to make that McCoy tackle. London Fletcher's facemask seemed so unnecessary with someone else tackling the guy. Players have to be more aware. I know it's happening full speed, but you can't win with mistakes like that (Comment: The Skins ain't winning this year regardless so that last comment is directed more to teams in general.)... Wilson's having a good game. I guess he's in place of Orakpo who went out with an injury. Haven't heard an update on his status... I don't like the side safety blitz. It takes too long and never seems to work.

3rd Skins series: Heyer's going to get Jason killed. (Comment: Smart football people = good offensive line depth. Nuff said.)

End of 3rd quarter: Jaws said there was no juice or energy at the Skins practice he saw. How many 2-4 teams with lots of turmoil about the coach have juice or energy at practice?

4th Quarter:

3rd Philly series: Nice play by Golston (batted ball)... Golston injured. Haven't gotten updates on Cooley or Orakpo. Would be nice to hear something.

4th Skins series: Good field position after a bad punt. DeAneglo Hall was back there... Is there really time to run the ball now?... You can't take a sack there. Did Jason have time, though? Why is Fred Davis blocking Trent Cole? I can't believe not even a field goal attempt on this possession. (Comment: Back to the Davis blocking Cole thing. That has to be on the coaches. First, a tight end should never have to pass block one on one the other team's top DE. The odds for success are way too low... But the Skins know what kind of blocker Davis is. They know he's putrid at it. How could he be put in that position? Coaches can bemoan execution, but they have to put the players in place to execute first.) (2nd comment: I hate seeing the Skins lose, but rock bottom will hopefully mean BIG changes. They have to, don't they? Snyder can't be that oblivious to everything, can he? Solutions: 1. No more involvement in football decisions for Snyder, 2. Fire Vinny, 3. Hire a great GM and get the hell out of his way...
ding, ding, ding -- I'm the one millionth customer to make that observation--this week. What do I win? A get-out-of-free chokehold card by a FedEx stadium security guy if I ever write "Snyder Sucks" on a napkin.)

4th Philly series: I think I saw Orakpo back on the Haynesworth sack, which looks like he fell backwards into. Still, a sack's a sack. I actually think Haynesworth has played well. Carter's sacks are way up due to him, absolutely.

5th Skins series: Another Devin Thomas sighting. Good job... Levi Jones in for Heyer. Heyer back in. I don't like when Fred Davis jumps in the air. It's too easy to fumble that way... Bad decision on 4th down. If you're actually trying to still win this game, which a coach and team should always be doing, then the right call was a field goal and then an onside kick... Another 4th down: since they didn't go for the FG last time, and lots of clock was eaten up, might as well go for it on 4th here. Let's see what happens? Fumbled snap! Wow! Can't snap the ball correctly on 4th and goal. Devin Thomas was wide open for another TD if Rabach just snapped it... Are they the Washington Generals right now?

5th Philly series: They punt. Yeah, I'm tired.

6th Skins series: Jason's got to throw the ball. Does Fred Davis know how to block even a little? Did his lack of blocking show in his college tapes? A 2nd round tight end should be at least somewhat competent in blocking... Skins TD. It's always nice to score, but let's be honest, Philly's D has let up.

That's all. Game over. I'm done.