1. I love the aggressive play-calling on both sides of the ball. It’s hard to imagine Joe Gibbs going for it on fourth and 3 down by eight points from the 18-yard line with more than five minutes remaining. And there’s no way Marty Schottenheimer would have thought about doing it. Would anyone have blamed Mike Shanahan if he had opted for a field goal? I wouldn’t have. I remember years ago when Bill Parcells went to the Patriots. They were a bad team before he took over, but when he was there he spent the first year or two instilling a mindset. That meant going for it on fourth down in any situation where there was a legitimate choice. Players gain confidence from those situations, feeling as if the coach believes in them. Who doesn’t want to play for aggressive coaches? Maybe at some point it will cost them a game or even two. Should that make them change their ways? No; because when they’re really good? They’ll want to stay aggressive. So stay that way now. When the head coach shows no fear that rubs off on the players. I wonder how they’ll be with this week to week – even former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams would not take certain chances every week, despite his reputation; he was very calculating. Still, it’s fun to watch if nothing else. Perhaps that helps them be resilient, too. And it’s why they could overcome the loss of a starting corner (Josh Wilson, who misses too many tackles). They were forced to use backups to backups. Oh, and give credit to Byron Westbrook for his stick on the fumble. Never thought a few years ago he’d develop into a contributor the way he is now. Guess that’s why I’m in the media room and not the coaches rooms.
2. Rex Grossman’s mistakes might hurt the Redskins at some point. Guess you could say that about any quarterback. I’m curious to see the game again, but if they had been playing a better team they would have been in big trouble today. Heck, they were in big trouble and the Cardinals are nothing more than a .500 team. Grossman’s first-quarter pass that was intercepted inside the 10 was just a bad decision. Even if he had completed the pass to Santana Moss, he would not have scored. Yet Grossman forced it to him and it was picked. He had too many passes batted down at the line; yes, the Cards have a 6-foot-8 pass rusher in Calais Campbell but he wasn’t the only one knocking them down. Arizona did a good job of timing his throws. Oh, and on the second interception, sounds like the Redskins will settle on saying a penalty should have been called on the defensive player covering Anthony Armstrong rather than the result of the play. They liked Grossman’s decision. Still, the Redskins had four trips inside the 20 in the first half and managed only 10 points. That sort of effort will cost you against better teams.
3. But give Grossman credit for rallying in the second half. Let’s say Aaron Rodgers had played a terrible first half, then closed the game the same way Grossman did. What would you say? That’s the mark of a good quarterback, right? Well, that’s what Grossman did. Clearly not putting him in Rodgers’ category; please remove me from this beat if I do. But the point is this: Grossman responded to a tough first half and led the Redskins downfield when needed. And he made the right decision on the touchdown pass to Santana Moss. That play was designed to go to the flat and Jabar Gaffney. But the corner on that side bit up, opening the corner for Santana Moss. That’s where Grossman hit him. The safety, Adrian Wilson, had no chance on that play.
4. Has Fred Davis replaced Chris Cooley as the top tight end? Don’t want to draw conclusions after two games; after all, Cooley missed all the preseason games and only recently returned to practice. He’s been too good for too long to think he won’t still be a big part of the offense. And when teams figure out that Davis now is a legit target, that could open up stuff for Cooley. But Davis provides them a much different weapon than most teams have at that position. Sunday, Grossman attempted seven passes to Davis (he caught six for 86 yards). Grossman attempted two passes to Cooley, who did not have a catch. In the fourth quarter it appeared Davis played a decent bit more than Cooley, particularly in the three-receiver sets. And it was Davis that Grossman often went to in clutch situations. There’s room for both players, but Davis is scary for defenses because of his athleticism (yes, Cooley has it too, but Davis moves like a receiver). His three-yard catch on third and one in the fourth quarter showed his strong hands; the ball was out in front and a little low. Also liked how well Davis sells it on the bootleg pass in which he runs up the opposite sideline. Davis blocked flat down the line, selling the run. Then he turns it up; the linebackers are frozen because of the action of the play. The Redskins know how hard this play is to defend. But Davis runs it well because of his speed.
“Some of those third down plays with Fred are just him beating guys that bad and other times it’s progressing through the routes and finding someone open,” Grossman said.
5. The Cardinals did not blitz nearly as much as anticipated. This surprised the Redskins a little; they had shown a lot of blitzes through the A gap in the opener. But they were also missing one of their inside linebackers in Daryl Washington and another got hurt in Paris Lenon. They did blitz and the Redskins handled it well. Even rookie running back Roy Helu picked up the blitz a couple times. For a while, at least when he was in the game early on, the Redskins did not put him in position to pass protect. Arizona was able to cover a little tighter in the secondary at times. Early in the game you did not see many open receivers.
“They have talented corners and their safeties do a good job of disguising and blitzing and putting pressure on us,” Grossman said. “We couldn’t quite get to some of our big plays because of how they defended us.”
6. Speaking of Helu, what a fun runner he is to watch. It’s no wonder some scouts have said he’ll be better than Tim Hightower eventually. (Hightower greeted him at his locker before a media scrum by saying, “Superstar!”) For now, he’s the top backup. What I love: Helu’s ability to cut and still gain ground. He’s always moving forward when he cuts and when he gives a little shake he doesn’t need to slow down and stutter step. He’ll shake, plant and cut. Very economical with his feet and it almost always allows him to make the first guy miss in the open field. He’ll be dangerous on screens and as Kory Lichtensteiger showed Sunday, you don’t have to get the defender down; you just have to obstruct him for half a second. That’s what happened on the 33-yard screen. Helu is not a dancer in the backfield, however; for a guy who gets the big play, you’d think he’d dance a little more. But he doesn’t. His big plays come from the design of the play and his patience in terms of hitting the hole properly and finding a crease. Just the way it’s supposed to work.
7. Hard to argue with the run blocking this week, but considering Arizona’s defense is in transition, I’m not surprised the Redskins ran well. It wasn’t just the offensive line. Two receivers had excellent blocks on the long runs: Jabar Gaffney and Donte Stallworth. Also liked a Niles Paul block on the backside on another play. Paul is used the way James Thrash used to be, as a tough, quick blocker. And did you see Paul’s block on Brandon Banks’ punt return? Vicious.
8. The Redskins will say that where Brian Orakpo is now, Ryan Kerrigan will be a year from now. I know he’ll continue to have some growing pains, but Kerrigan also is making big plays while learning on the go. Honestly, I’m a little stunned how far he’s come since early in camp. He just powered his man back into a sack and his pressure enabled Rocky McIntosh to get a sack. Kerrigan also had excellent coverage on London Fletcher’s interception. It was a broken play so Kerrigan turned into an athlete who just reacts and doesn’t think. Regardless, he had tight coverage on receiver Andre Roberts. Rookie Chris Neild did not play a lot; wasn’t much need. The Cardinals only ran 48 plays and the Redskins were forced to play a lot of nickel and dime coverages in the second half; Neild won’t play in those.
9. The Redskins did a good job vs. Larry Fitzgerald until his big play in solo coverage against DeAngelo Hall , who bit on the slant knowing the blitz that was coming and figuring it would be a quick release. That’s a tough matchup. For much of the game the Redskins would have a linebacker or safety play take away the slant with Hall over the top. Other times Hall would play him man to man knowing he had safety help. On his diving deflection, Hall was aggressive knowing Oshiomogho Atogwe was playing behind Fitzgerald. Atogwe, incidentally, was sometimes playing 20-25 yards deep – the Greg Blache special. But it eliminated the big play. Except for… the 73-yard touchdown, in which Hall had no help. The Redskins were in a cover zero so the heavy blitz needed to get to quarterback Kevin Kolb. London Fletcher nearly sacked him, but Kolb did an excellent job of staying poised – and sliding a little to his right. That bought him an extra half-second, the difference between a touchdown or a sack. Kolb recognized the blitz and with an empty backfield he knew Fletcher was unaccounted for.
“When I hit him, I was thinking worst-case scenario he would underthrow the ball,” Fletcher said. “Then I saw Fitzgerald running down the field.”
One thing I love watching some of these blitzes is the coordination involved. For example, take b blitz from the left late in the third quarter. It resulted in an intentional grounding, which is as good as a sack considering the lost yardage (they’ve forced two in two games). Anyway, on the play, linebacker Ryan Kerrigan slanted inside occupying the linemen and Fletcher rushed wide. That left a gap for Barnes. Easy pressure. Well designed.
10. The Cardinals did a terrific job on the ground in the second half with Beanie Wells gaining 87 of his 93 yards after halftime. This is where it’s helpful to watch game film right away to see why that was happening. Arizona did spread the Redskins out and ran a few draws (successfully). Did not look like nose tackle Barry Cofield played his best game, but have to watch again to know for sure. Obviously it’s not about one guy when it comes to stopping the run either. It led to an uneven effort and it’s something the defense definitely needs to clean up.
“We’re not feeling like we’re on top of the world,” Fletcher said. “We’re excited to be 2-0. We could play a lot better. We’re not satisfied.”
They shouldn’t be. Consider this: The Redskins ran 31 more plays; gained 131 more yards and had seven fewer penalties. And they still needed a late field goal to win. That’s what keeps you from getting cocky. There’s a lot still to work on. This wasn’t a win over Green Bay or New Orleans; it was against a mediocre Arizona. Let’s not get carried away just yet.
Plus 1: Having just said that …. How much difference does it make being 2-0? Consider that the Redskins have started 2-0 now seven times since 1978. Of the previous six times, they failed to make the playoffs once – in 2003 under Steve Spurrier. That 2-0 start led to a 5-11 finish and Gibbs’ return. Whether or not they make the playoffs, I have no idea. As much as I tell my kids otherwise, I’m just not that smart. But when you’re 2-0… and feeling good… and have a coaching staff you believe in… it bodes well. At least for another week.
