1. Let’s get right to the quarterbacks, shall we? And I’m going to start with this: Rex Grossman has not regressed. He’s just playing the way he has throughout his entire career. Period. Remember the question of, has he changed? Well, it’s been answered. Never thought he had because under duress you revert to who you are. And he’s flirted with disaster in other times and had interceptions dropped. Heck, he had two more dropped today. The single biggest worry of the coaches entering camp – and the reason why many expected John Beck to win the job – was Grossman’s penchant for mistakes. A scheme can’t cover that up; coaching can’t change a guy’s decision-making when he’s on the run. Voila. Four picks. Eleven turnovers for the season. Grossman should be a game manager for this team, but is a gunslinger who forces passes into tight spots. Always has been. Now, if he had elite weapons he could get away with some of these mistakes. He does not have those players. And the notion that coaching alone, or the scheme, can change a guy is a fallacy, too.
2. Grossman deserves credit for the way he handled the postgame presser. Yeah, it’s his job. But not every player would have stood up the way he did – not every benched QB would be willing to address the media. Grossman did and he went over every interception before being asked the question. The guy handles things like a pro. Yes, he’s had experience in these matters. So did Jeff George, who did not handle things this way. Personally, I enjoy talking to Grossman away from the crowd because he provides terrific insight into plays. He’d be a good analyst someday. But Grossman can’t keep making these mistakes and hold onto his job.
3. On the first interception, one thing I want to check is whether or not TE Fred Davis could have made a better effort to prevent the interception. But he really wasn’t open so I’m not sure why the ball was thrown. Again: bad decision. And when Grossman gets outside the pocket his decision-making plummets. Got away with a bad throw to the middle vs. St. Louis, but did not get away with one today when Kurt Coleman – the immortal Kurt Coleman (OK, confession: he played for my alma mater, Ohio State; wish he had picked off three in a game there) – picked him off for a third time. Grossman rolled to his left and even if the receiver had come back to him, guess what? He wasn’t open.
4. Grossman has no shot to play well if the Redskins can’t run or even stay committed to the run. The Redskins are an odd mix offensively. They have a coordinator who wants to throw it downfield and be aggressive through the air, but they lack the passing game to be that way. They have a coach who wants to run the ball, but they haven’t shown they can run the ball against a good defense. So he needs a good passing game to make this offense work. Grossman isn’t giving it to him. Again, they lack a single player on offense who scares a defense so it’s not all about the QB. But the bulk of the mistakes are on him. You can excuse some turnovers by saying, “Well, the ball was tipped.” Or, “Maybe the tight end or receiver could have done more on the play.” But in eight starts, the tally is now at 18 turnovers. That’s not a trend or a couple bad games, that’s reality. They had a chance to get back in the game Sunday, down 20-6 with the ball at the Eagles’ 18. Boom: interception on just a bad throw to Davis with not a lot of zip.
5. Now on to John Beck. He should start, but not based on what happened Sunday. It’s based on the fact that Grossman has not matured into the sort of QB that a coach can trust. It’s time to see if Beck is that guy. I really don’t know that he is or will be. Beck struggled this summer late in preseason, with his decision making. He was the favorite entering camp and lost the job.
6. He made a couple plays that showed his athleticism, but he also was off on some throws downfield. That’s how he was this summer early in camp. He would start off slow, then start to look better and hit a plateau. Never been wowed by him, but now it’s time to see what he can do. Anyway, it’s hard to make a complete judgment on him because I’d like to see him after a week of preparation where he can find some timing with the wideouts. He missed Jabar Gaffney on a deep ball; he was wide open but he threw it way too far to the inside. Was that timing? Could be. Don’t know. But his 12-yard run is something new for the offense. And he had one play in which he threw a screen to Roy Helu with a defender rushing at him. It’s a subtle difference between he and Grossman, but Beck is just more athletic in that situation and it showed as he could be a little more patient and let the play develop. It worked.
7. The shocker is that Washington could not run the ball. Give the Eagles credit because their run defense had struggled. It wasn’t just the injuries to the line that stopped their ground game Sunday, it was the Eagles’ speed. Too many times the linemen just beat their man and the linebackers did a good job of beating the blockers to the spot. The Eagles just looked faster than the Redskins and it prevented them from really using that stretch zone much. The Eagles also appeared to tighten their wide-nine defense and often played the linebackers tight, and perhaps closer to the line of scrimmage, than in the past. It worked.
8. Before the season, a primary worry was line depth. Now it’s a huge issue. Erik Cook might have gutted it out, but he’s not ready to start in the NFL. In the preseason he would get pushed back too often vs. backups. That happened Sunday to no surprise. I’ll be curious to see how much so after watching the game again. He’s a tall center in a game of leverage. Kory Lichtensteiger’s loss is significant; he had improved from last year but he also was a good crutch for LT Trent Williams. ‘Steiger was not a Pro Bowler, but he was fine and clearly was feeling comfortable in this offense. He was much more relaxed in the locker room with the media, a sign of his growing confidence. And Williams’ loss is huge too for the simple reason that Sean Locklear can’t do what he does. Locklear is best suited for the right side. He struggled this summer — didn’t like his footwork — but he was new to Washington so we’ll cut him slack. But this will be tough. That stretch zone was starting to work more this season because of the line’s familiarity; it was a strength. Players talked about knowing one another better; about knowing the footwork better and where to place their hands on certain runs. Now the Redskins have a new left side. Will Montgomery has played, but not at left guard and not next to Locklear. Chris Cooley will obviously be missed, too. What a nightmare season for him. When he blocked well, the run game often did well. So now you have three guys who helped in this area who are down and a fourth who changed positions. The Redskins absolutely must run the ball to win.
9. A word about the defense. They did a good job shutting out the Eagles in the second half, but they still gave up too many yards. Yeah, it’s not about the stats except that the Eagles controlled the clock. When they needed to stop them late they couldn’t. On the other hand, they controlled the clock because the Redskins offense couldn’t do the same; they were one for 10 on third downs. And one of my keys was to make the Eagles go on long scoring drives; well they did that as there were no explosive touchdown plays. The Eagles two TDs came off double-digit play drives. Entering this game they had one such TD drive out of 13. The Eagles were patient and did an excellent job adjusting to their personnel by using Michael Vick on more three-step drops and by rolling the pocket to buy him time. Their line was reshuffled but you’d never know it; can the Redskins look the same next week at Carolina? Also, LeSean McCoy is one of the tougher backs to bring down. You never get a clean shot at him – Adam Carriker called him “slippery”. One time, LaRon Landry had to resort to grabbing him rather than tackling him. Very un-Landry like but he had no choice. And Rocky McIntosh did not have his best game (yes, that’s being kind); McCoy juked him numerous times.
10. It’s amazing how quickly things turn in the NFL. A few days ago, the Redskins were a team that some thought could sneak up and win the division. Now? Who knows where this is headed. The tough part was, that was based largely on what other teams were, or were not, doing and not where the Redskins really were at in terms of their building process. They knew this was not a finished roster. So this loss doesn’t really alter where I think they’re headed. Thought before the season they needed a QB; they still do. Thought they needed playmakers on offense; they still do. Thought they needed more depth along the line; they still do. Their defense is much closer to a finished product than the offense. This locker room is a good one in terms of leadership so one loss and a few injuries won’t change that. Despite all the negatives Sunday, they still hung around in this game. But they’ll need more than a good mindset to get where they want to eventually go.
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