Studs and Duds (offense): Redskins-Rams

RG Chris Chester. Anytime a team runs for 196 yards as the Redskins did, it can’t just be about one guy. The rest of the blockers did a fine job, from the line to the receivers. And quarterback Rex Grossman was rarely hit. Sometimes we’ll go with the entire five, but not this time. And this comes after Chester had posted a Dud vs. Dallas. Offensive line coach Chris Foerster said Chester played with a little better technique on some plays. For example, when on a combo block in which he must then get to the linebacker, the guard needs to use his hand and not his forearm to make the first block. A forearm can get tangled in the pads and slow them down. In this game, Foerster said Chester did a better job using his hands. OK, there’s no way I was going to pick up on that. But it was easy to see that he played very well. Yeah, he allowed a pressure once to Chris Long. But he also stopped him a couple times too (the Rams had him rush inside on occasion). On Torain’s 39-yard run, Chester cleared his man to the outside, helping open the lane. On a nine-yard Roy Helu cutback, Chester kept his man at the line of scrimmage as he moved left. But the defender could not get off him to stop Helu’s cutback. Part of the reason he couldn’t get off? Chester first got his arm into him, but was then able to square his shoulders. So when the linemen tried to shake him, he could not. Next play: good block. Next play: Chester stands his man up, allowing another cutback to his outside. Chester did a nice job vs. Long on the fourth series, a third down completion to Moss for a first down, in which he just rode him to the outside. Never a threat. Two plays later he drove Long outside to open a lane for Hightower that he didn’t burst through (still gained four yards; more available). This was Chester’s best game by a decent amount this season.

P Sav Rocca. Still trying to figure out why the Eagles didn’t want him back. Maybe it’ll become apparent as the season unfolds, but his punts have been excellent the past two games. If not for the botched hold vs. Dallas he’d be making a consecutive appearance on the Studs list. The reason opponents have 11 combined return yards in the past 12 punts is in part because of his hangtime. The Redskins were in position to drill the Rams’ returner three times (yes, two penalties) because of how Rocca punted the ball. Yeah, all three should have been fair caught. Not sure I’ve seen a worse game by a return unit in quite some time. Rocca’s 63-yard punt should have been caught after 44 yards. But the Rams had a new returner deep (Quinn Porter). He’s returned one kick in his career (for one yard). Based on how he reacted to this punt, my guess is they told him not to catch the ball. So it bounced and rolled 19 more yards. The key, though, is that Rocca hit a good punt from inside his own 10-yard line and it changed the field position. Instead of the Rams starting a drive down seven from their own 47-yard line, they began at the 28. Rocca averaged 45.9 yards on seven punts and landed three more inside the 20-yard line (including a 33-yarder to the Rams’ 11). He also had a 56-yarder from his own 19; however, once again the Rams did a terrible job and cost themselves field position as Austin Pettis let it bounce at the 48-yard line and roll to the 28. Rocca changed field position again with a 56-yarder late in the first half (all in the air).

WR Jabar Gaffney. I debated this one, considering he only had four catches for 62 yards. His impact on the game was not as great as the others. Maybe it’s the bye week talking, but I’m feeling generous. Three of those catches occurred on third downs and resulted in first downs. He had a 20-yard catch on third and 8; a 17 yard catch on third and 7 – same drive; and an eight-yard grab on third and 8. The first two catches sustained a touchdown drive. And Gaffney also had a 17-yard grab on a first and 10, setting up Ryan Torain’s touchdown run two plays later. For what it’s worth, nine of the last 10 passes thrown to Gaffney have been completed. For the season, 17 of the 25 passes thrown to him have been caught (by comparison, throws to Moss are 21-35; throws to Davis are 16-22).

Duds

QB Rex Grossman. I know the first interception was not his fault. Not even close. If Santana Moss holds onto that pass, at worst it’s a field goal attempt and a 20-0 lead. In that scenario, maybe the second interception isn’t thrown (who would throw up 20, besides Jason Garrett, that is? OK, maybe Kyle Shanahan would but in this case we obviously don’t know). Anyway, if you want to play that game then we can play another: Grossman got away with one horrendous decision, throwing way back to the middle to a covered target; and another time he eyed Moss too long. Yes, it’s a quick throw so he needs to get over there, but the safety read his eyes perfectly and blew a chance at a pick-six. Those sort of plays in a close game vs. a good team are ruinous. Tom Brady threw four picks, right? But Brady also throws a boatload of touchdowns too. Grossman had a lot of time to throw in this game; by my count he was hit only three times on 32 dropbacks (one came after he had four seconds to throw). That’s a pretty good life for a QB. The Redskins used a lot of quick passes, which helped but even when they didn’t he had time and a decent pocket. His touchdown pass to Moss was very nice; a blitzer was in his face and yet Grossman never flinched and threw a perfect pass to the wide side of the field. It’s almost indefensible if thrown right and it was. Hightower also dropped a pass that would have sustained a drive. So it’s not all on Grossman. But the mistakes have to end. Near mistakes happen to every quarterback, but it’s one thing to then still average two turnovers per game in seven starts with Washington. It’s OK to do that if you’re scoring 28 points a game, but not when you still struggle to score.  Another thing: in the fourth quarter he completed one of five passes for eight yards and two interceptions. Two of those passes were dropped, however. Grossman managed the game OK at times, throwing the ball away on occasion. But he didn’t see the linebacker for the second straight week on an interception (give James Laurinaitis credit for a superb play; he was fooled by the play action yet still sprinted back and turned his head at the perfect time to make the play). That play has almost always worked, even last season, so Grossman clearly thought it would be there again. Also didn’t like that on one missed pass to Fred Davis (from inside his own 10), Grossman seemed to be too casual with his mechanics on the throw; he never really set his feet and was fading to his left as he threw. The ball was tipped; maybe it would have been anyway and maybe if it hadn’t Davis would have gone a long way. Don’t know. Regardless, not his best day.

Brandon Banks/return unit. This is never just on one person and even when Banks has a good return there are good blocks along the way. But for the second week in a row he was a non-factor. He gained three yards on four punt returns and averaged 17.5 yards on kickoff returns. Worse, he fumbled a punt in which he did not seem to read the ball well. Banks got the ball back, but that’s always a worry with him. However, Banks did not always have a lot of room to run so I can’t just pin this on him. But it wasn’t a good night and he’s obviously capable of much more. This offense is not capable of sustaining long drives and his two kickoff returns left the Redskins starting from their own 14 and 18, respectively. Opposing teams have kicked off 17 times to Washington this season, the Redskins have started 11 of those drives at their 20 or worse. And only once have they started beyond the 27-yard line (at the 31). All it takes is one or two long runs to change averages, etc. Banks is still a dangerous returner who is always one block away.

Notes

…Want to know if it’s a run or pass? Pay attention to when receiver Niles Paul is in the game. Against the Rams, he played (unofficially) 20 snaps – 18 were runs. And on one of the passes it was a designed boot to Chris Cooley in which Paul’s job was to block downfield (it was incomplete). On his other pass route, Paul had a hard time getting off the line against press coverage. Hard to argue with him as a blocker. Paul is a physical player and does a nice job. On the second series of the game, Paul drove safety Bradley Fletcher from just inside the numbers to the sidelines on a five-yard Tim Hightower run. If I’m Fletcher, I cringe when I see that one on tape. And on the third and 1 in which Roy Helu ran the backside toss, Paul, working slot left, blocked Darian Stewart to the outside. While the play was well-designed, if Paul fails on the block there’s no lane. Paul drove Stewart to the ground. Receivers coach Keenan McCardell called Paul one of the better blocking receivers he’s seen; I believe it. Whether or not he starts catching passes is another matter. So far, Grossman has not attempted a pass to him this season.

…Hightower was close to being on the Dud list. He averaged only three yards a carry and dropped a pass that would have been a first down (in the fourth quarter). He also had one poor pickup in protection. But I’ll cut him slack for his shoulder and he did make a touchdown-saving tackle. He also gained 14 of his 24 yards after contact (four coming after a missed shoestring attempt). But it was clear that he was running different late than he was early in the game. Just saw nothing with his legs and he didn’t have much burst; seemed to need to shuffle his feet a couple times on his cuts. Maybe he’s best as a third-down back, as Arizona once thought.

Hightower is easy to like, especially if you’re a coach. He’s now saved two touchdowns with tackles and he plays the game like a poor man’s Clinton Portis in the violence he plays with. It’s too bad Portis did not have Hightower’s approach and work ethic. Hightower will continue to look good in some games and not as good in others.

…Incidentally, my very unofficial tally on yards after contact by the backs? Between 120-125.

 …Tight end Chris Cooley told 106.7 The Fan that he only went on two pass routes the entire game, aside from the two passes he caught. One of his routes came when he lined up as a traditional tight end to the left. Meanwhile, Fred Davis, by my unofficial count, went out on 18 pass routes (on 32 called pass plays). He stayed in the backfield once to block. Three times he blocked and released on bootlegs.

…Defensive end Chris Long, who entered with three sacks, had a quiet game. He did get around right tackle Jammal Brown on two occasions but both times the ball was out within two seconds. Once, Brown stepped up to try and block him, which seemed unusual; Long then went around but Brown’s long arms shoved him wide and the pass was thrown long before any damange occurred. Long also chipped the tight ends at least twice before rushing. He did beat Chester inside on one rush, but again the ball was out fast. The Redskins threw quick quite a bit and that helped the protection.

…FOX still drives me nuts with its telecast. Someone needs to realize that fans like watching the alignment before the snap and not staring at Kory Lichtensteiger’s back as the play begins. My apologies to Mrs. Lichtensteiger, but I’d rather see the entire formation and not the ‘Steiger’s backside when the play is starting. That is all, until next time, that is.

…It appeared that St. Louis’ linebackers were lining up a yard closer to the ball than they have in previous games. I did not watch every snap the Rams’ defense played in the first three games. But on selected running plays, two of their linebackers were typically four yards off the ball and the third was maybe three yards off. Against the Redskins two linebackers more often than not were about three yards off the ball.  What does that mean? Well, it clearly means they wanted to stop the run. Not sure if this is why Kyle Shanahan opened with two straight bootlegs and a play-action. Regardless, it didn’t have a major impact against the run.

…Also, the coaches said the Rams’ linebackers wanted to play the run faster than what they’d seen so far this season. Clearly, it didn’t work.

…The Redskins called 10 pass plays on first downs and 16 running plays. Of the 10 pass plays, Grossman completed five of nine for 49 yards and an interception. He also scrambled for two yards. The 16 runs gained 93 yards, including Ryan Torain’s 39 yarder. Nine of the runs managed at least four yards, considered a good gain on first down.

…The Redskins ran the ball nine times in the fourth quarter and attempted five passes. Three of the runs came on their final possession when trying to run out the clock.

…Shanahan said Santana Moss would have scored had he held onto the pass that bounced off his hands for an interception. Not sure I agree. The corner, Justin King, was about five yards behind him but might have had an angle. Yes, Moss would have caught the ball in stride. But it’s not as if it would have been a definite touchdown. Regardless, it would have set up an easy field goal attempt. And how many times do the Redskins miss those?

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