Hopefully after yesterday’s horrible loss, people will stop saying the Redskins are “in the hunt” for a wildcard spot.
jeffd
3722
I think the Skins have been out of the hunt for a looong time now. :)
They also have not had very good showings in national broadcast games. I’ve only seen them I think 3 times all season up here in the Northeast.
They’re still in the hunt, in the way that Elmer Fudd is perpetually in the hunt for wabbits. And they seem to be having about as much success.
Sarkus
3725
Don Meredith has died. While not the greatest Cowboy quarterback, he did have an impact as one of the MNF co-hosts in it’s dominant years. Not to mention being the obvious real-life person behind the quarterback in “North Dallas Forty.”
Erik_J
3727
Our offensive play calling is terrible. Not a big fan of Cam this year.
robsam
3728
See Patriots vs Steelers game, pretty much every time this century, (exception one Halloween game with half the Pats out on injuries). The Pats do the same thing every time. Spread them out with short passes and this slows down the zone blitz.No Blitz, exposes that their CB depth stinks, and that their LB’s can’t cover very well. I admit i was amused a few weeks ago that after all this time Pittsburgh almost stubbornly refuses to adjust to this. I expected Pitt to destroy them, but about 10 minutes into the game, it became apparent in the X’s and O’s dept this is the team that Belichick/Brady own, the same as Shanahan seems to know how to beat Belichick.
Sarkus
3730
That Halloween game was Roethlisberger’s rookie year, so you can’t just point to injuries as an excuse and ignore that. ;-)
And there is another “exception” as well, from just a few years ago. In 2008 the Steelers beat the Patriots 33-10 in Foxboro.
In 2008 Matt Cassel was the starting QB. He’s becoming an awesome QB now but he was just developing then.
So then the blueprint to beat the Steelers is to have Tom Brady. Check.
The idea of “blueprints” is bullshit. Short passes work so well for the Pats because they have greased pigs for receivers and turn two yarders into four or five. Baltimore has taller and bigger catchers so they should gameplan to their strengths.
Enough about the Steelers though, what’s up with Peyton Manning? Is he really that thrown by the loss of his receivers? Or do these receivers just suck? Or, dare I say it, is Peyton pulling Favres?
Mathematically speaking, the Skins still have a 7% shot at a wild card if they win out and finish 9-7.
Practically speaking, 5-11 is a touch more likely.
He’s obviously not as comfortable with them. I hardly think they suck though. It’s all on Peyton. He doesn’t have a feel for his corps and doesn’t look like he’s got control of the game. This is the point where the QB/receiver/offensive coach should be helping him out with alterations.
Sarkus
3737
They have no running game. All the good receivers are injured. And the defense isn’t that good. All those things mean Peyton is pressing and trying to do too much. Pretty much typical for veteran QBs in that situation. He’ll be fine once the injured guys come back.
Honestly, put any QB in a situation like that and their numbers drop for the exact same reasons. Even Tom Brady.
In the game yesterday Troy Aikman made the observation that because Manning hasn’t developed the kind of synchronicity he has/had with guys like Clark and Harrison, he doesn’t have a good feel for where they are going to be on the field so he doesn’t trust himself (or them) to look off the safety and then come back to the receiver just before the throw, which telegraphs his intentions. I would think he’d be way past that sort of behavior but apparently not. Also, he is not getting the ball out soon enough and their running game is a joke, plus I don’t think much of any of their RBs not named Joseph Addai when it comes to pass blocking.
Peyton’s played with shitty defenses before and done fine.
The lack of a running game is probably it. The Colts have always been able to run well. Still, I don’t remember ever seeing Manning trying to force balls into coverage like this. One week with lots of INTs sure, but 3 weeks in a row is just weird.
Except Brady invented the ‘i-don’t-need-no-stinking-running-game’ offense. There’s a difference between dropping numbers and turning into a pick-6 machine.
I don’t think it’s so much the lack of running, but the lack of adjustments to the lack running. Peyton’s still slinging as if the safeties are going to bite on the play action. He’s stubbornly making bad choices and expecting his old gameplan to still work.
