Tag: Washington Redskins (Page 11 of 44)

      Are the Redskins and Bucs for real?

      October 10, 2010 /
      Green Bay Packers defensive end Mike Neal (L), without his helmet, watches as teammates pursue Washington Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb in the first half of their NFL football game in Landover, Maryland, October 10, 2010. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      Despite their wins on Sunday and their overall records, I’m struggling with the notion that the Redskins and Bucs are “for real” (whatever that means). Personally, I think they’re both a product of their circumstances.

      Let me explain before Washington and Tampa Bay Fan rip my nuggets off.

      The Bucs have beaten three teams with weak passing games (Cleveland, Carolina and Cincinnati). Their only loss was at the hands of the Steelers, who absolutely destroyed them on their home field in Week 3.

      Wins are tied to yards per pass and turnovers. Teams that can throw for more yards per pass and turn the ball over less usually win. (Look at the box scores from this week in the NFL if you think I’m making this up.) With that in mind, is it that big of a shock that the Bucs are 3-1 after facing teams that can’t throw the ball? Some would say yes just based on how bad Tampa was last year, but you have to consider how brutal the Browns, Panthers and Bengals’ passing games are when it comes to Tampa’s surprising start.

      Now, the Redskins are kind of a different story. They’ve beaten the Cowboys, Eagles and Packers – three teams that have better passing games than the teams Tampa has faced. However, Dallas’ offense carried its funk from preseason into the regular season, Philadelphia lost Michael Vick in the first quarter last week and Green Bay has racked up more injuries than the front lines of the Revolutionary War.

      Again I ask, are these two teams for real or have they cashed in on some nice opportunities early in the year?

      That said, regardless of what I or anyone else thinks, the Skins (3-2) and Bucs (3-1) are what their records say they are. You can’t take that away from them and after both of them produced some big-time wins today, so I hate to damper the mood.

      But we’ll see.

      External Sports, NFL

      The Packers have some big-time issues

      October 10, 2010 /
      Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) is stopped on the goal line by the Washington Redskins defense in the first quarter of their NFL football game in Landover, Maryland, October 10, 2010. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      If you wanted to trace back where the Packers started having issues, go ahead and start with the Monday night loss to the Bears three weeks ago.

      That was the game where their troubles were put on full display. They had trouble running the ball, they were undisciplined and they lacked that killer instinct that most Super Bowl contenders have. At 3-2, Green Bay is still in great shape (it’s early yet), but this is a team that is hurting right now in more ways than one.

      On the second play of Sunday’s 16-13 overtime loss to the Redskins, tight end Jermichael Finley (who is a huge part of the Packers’ pass-happy offense) suffered a knee injury and was carted off the field. Nobody knows at this point how long he’ll be out, but some are already speculating that he won’t play next week.

      Making matters worse, Clay Matthews left Sunday’s game in the third quarter due to a hamstring injury, which affected the Packers’ pass rush for the rest of the game. Donovan McNabb had spent most of the first half running for his life but once Matthews came out, the Redskins were able to chip away at Green Bay’s 13-3 lead and eventually won the game in overtime. If you wanted to know what kind of an impact Matthews has for the Packers’ defense, just pop in the tape of today’s game and compare halves.

      Finley and Matthews’ injuries come at a time when Morgan Burnett, Nick Barnett and Mark Tauscher are already out with various aliments. At this pace, Aaron Rodgers will be playing on both sides of the ball in a couple of weeks.

      Speaking of which, Rodgers and the passing game continues to sing off key. Rodgers played well again today, but he was plagued by drops and was obviously affected by Finley’s injury. The fact that this team can’t run the ball (Brandon Jackson had 115 yards today, but 71 of which came on one play) doesn’t help Rodgers’ cause.

      Things don’t get any easier for the Packers, either. They play a Miami team coming off a bye next Sunday and then host the Vikings before going on the road to face the Jets in Week 8. They host the Cowboys in Week 9 before having their bye in Week 10.

      If this team can’t get healthy soon, we won’t be talking about Green Bay the potential Super Bowl team, we’ll be talking about Green Bay the what-could-have-been team.

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 4 MVP, COY and ROY power rankings

      October 10, 2010 /

      We are a quarter of the way through the NFL season, and there are lots of wacky things happening. The Chiefs are 3-0 and the only undefeated team. That’s a far cry from last year, when the Colts and Saints were unbeaten almost all the way to the end of the 2009 campaign. There are also some interesting candidates emerging for MVP consideration, as well as for Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year. And like last year, we’ll start to analyze them in power rankings fashion. For this week and maybe the next few, we’ll put this in one post and give three names for each category. Around the halfway point of the season, more candidates will emerge so we will separate things out. Sound good? Right. Let’s go……..

      MVP Power Rankings

      1. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—Do we even have to spell this out? He steps in for Kevin Kolb in Week 1 and almost leads the Eagles to victory against the Packers. Then he wins against Detroit and Jacksonville before having his ribs crushed on a meaningless play vs. Washington last Sunday, knocking him out of the game early. Kolb comes back in, and the Eagles lose. Vick is averaging 200 yards passing per game, has 6 TDs and no interceptions, and is also averaging 7.2 yards per rush on 26 carries and one TD on the ground. He has a QB rating of 108.8 while Kolb’s is 71.1. Simply put, this team is dangerous with Vick, and not scaring anyone without him. That’s the very definition of MVP.

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, NFL

      Clinton Portis to miss the next 4-6 weeks with groin injury

      October 6, 2010 /
      PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 03: Clinton Portis of the Washington Redskins runs the ball against the Philadelphia Eagles on October 3, 2010 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

      Those impressed by Ryan Torain’s effort in the Redskins’ 17-12 win over the Eagles last week are about to get themselves a helping hand of it again.

      Mike Shanahan told the media on Wednesday that running back Clinton Portis will miss the next 4-6 weeks because of a groin injury. Portis said that he heard his groin “pop” in the third quarter on Sunday and although he was able to return to the game in the fourth, he immediately aggravated the injury and had to return to the locker room.

      Torain now becomes the featured back in Washington, while Keiland Williams and Chad Simpson will battle for carries as well. Keep in mind that Skeletor likes to rotate his running backs, so there’s no guarantee that Torain will receive a full workload every week. Shanahan will continue to play the hot hand from game to game, just as he’s always done.

      For now, Torain becomes a great story. He sifted through the muck that was the Redskins’ depth chart (i.e. Portis, Larry Johnson and Willie Parker) to reach this point and remained patient throughout. He goes from the practice squad to the starting lineup in one, quick jump.

      Don’t be surprised if the Skins placed Portis on IR, which would end his season. There’s a ton of wear and tear on those tires and he can’t stay healthy. If Torain runs well over the next couple of weeks, there’s no reason for Shanahan to turn back to Portis.

      External Sports, NFL

      Redskins-Eagles fails to live up to hype as Vick goes down and McNabb struggles

      October 3, 2010 /
      Washington Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb (R) is greeted by Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick before the start of their NFL football game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 3, 2010. McNabb was traded to Washington during the off-season. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      Lackluster doesn’t even begin to describe what transpired in Philadelphia this evening, although I guess we should have all seen it coming.

      The media hyped up Donovan McNabb’s return to Philly so much that you would have thought Obama was giving a speech at halftime. In the end, McNabb completed just 8-of-19 passes for 125 yards with one touchdown and one interception, but the Redskins still pulled off a 17-12 victory.

      Michael Vick, who ironically has become the media’s darling, suffered an injury in the first half and couldn’t return. Kevin Kolb replaced him and while he completed 22-of-35 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown, he stuck with check downs and short-range passes for most of the game and failed to lead Philly to a comeback. This was the second time this season where Kolb has failed to get the Eagles’ offense moving, which further supports Andy Reid’s decision to stick with Vick.

      As far as Vick’s injury is concerned, FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer is reporting that the results of the X-ray he took were negative. Vick will undergo an MRI on Monday morning, but as of now he may not be out long. It’s doubtful he’ll play next Sunday, but that’s just speculation on my part.

      As for the rest of the game…snoozefest. At halftime I switched over to the Colts-Jaguars game and only returned periodically to make sure Kolb was still checking down to his backs.

      External Sports, NFL

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