Former NFL offensive lineman Brian Baldinger studies a lot of film, whether it’s in preparation to see teams live as Fox analyst (he’s seen both the Redskins and the Panthers in person) or for the NFL Newtwork’s Playbook show. So he knows these teams well. Here’s his take on the Redskins-Panthers game:
On the matchup: “The story of the game is going to be quarterbacks. The Redskins making a change with John beck and Cam Newton is a story every week. The thing that jumps out at me is I haven’t seen a quarterback come into this league and play at the level Cam Newton has played at. Ever. I know he’s thrown a couple interceptions but the way that guy sees the field and the decisions he makes, it’s amazing how far advanced that guy is considering the offense he came out of and how he was scrutinized coming into the draft. John Beck is a guy I think Mike Shanahan wanted to win the job all along. He just couldn’t make the right throw in the preseason against the Ravens and Tampa so he had to give the job to Rex Grossman. But Rex played himself out of that job, not just what he did last week but what he did the week before.
“The Redskins aren’t a great team by any means, losing Trent Williams and Kory Lichtensteiger really hurt them in the run game. But they have a good scheme. The quarterback, you have to do more than just manage the game but there will be some easy throws to make. You’ve got to make them. They just need to do their job and this offense will be fine because the defense is playing well. They can compete in the NFC East this year if they get better overall play from the quarterback.”
On John Beck’s play vs. Philadelphia: “He looked rusty. He hadn’t played in six weeks and he looked like it. He threw balls in the dirt, he missed throws. He hit a seam route and got them into the end zone. It has to make him feel good but I thought he was really rusty. He looked like he knew where to go with the ball but his timing was terrible to start with and maybe he shook a little rust off, maybe after a week of practice and against a defense that has a lot of holes in Carolina he can have success.”
On what Newton does that is different than other QBs: “He sees the whole field. It’s not like he has this truncated playbook where he only has a couple things and half-field reads. If he doesn’t like it over here, he goes over here. Against the Packers that touchdown he throws against the best red zone defense in the league a year ago, I don’t know how many guys could make the throw, a touch throw that drops out of the sky like he’s Kurt Warner. The deep balls to Steve Smith, hitting him in stride; his bootlegs to Shockey or Greg Olsen. And at one point in his career he may lead the league in rushing touchdowns; he’s their goal-line offense. He ran Urlacher over a couple weeks ago. Now, he forces a few throws and he lets a few get away from him but it’s never like one mistake is compounded by another. He’s able to flush it and move on.”
On how to attack/defend him: “They just saw Mike Vick last week. Cam can do all the things Mike Vick can do. He can put the ball down and take off and run. Haslett doesn’t like to spy on quarterbacks but he’s 50 pounds bigger than Vick and it’s not like you can shoestring tackle him or trip him up. You have to get your whole body on that guy. I don’t care if it’s Ryan Kerrigan or Brian Orakpo, he’s bigger than all those guys. So they have their work cut out when he breaks the pocket. The fact that they saw Vick may help them. But compared to Vick, he’s 6-foot-6. You’re not going to bat those balls down with an over the top release. Last week they got a nice interception bouncing off the helmet of Barry Cofield. Cam Newton ain’t bouncing the ball off anyone’s helmet. He’s throwing over the trees.”
On blitzing Cam Newton: “He doesn’t seem fooled by anything. They tried to do that early in the year and he burned them. They’ll break down the protection for sure and they’ll get a free runner at him, but it’s not like you can bring extra guys and he’ll be fooled by what you do in the secondary and your pressure’s gonna get to him. He’s well advanced and anticipates what’s coming out and making the necessary reads. He doesn’t look like your basic rookie quarterback with six starts.”
On why Carolina’s defense is so bad: “You lose Jon Beason and Thomas Davis and you lose your speed at linebacker. That’s huge. Beason is a bona fide stud at middle linebacker who never comes off the field. Now you replace him with Dan Connor and different guys, but you don’t have two experienced guys. The run fits aren’t good. They get hooked on the edge quite a bit. They give up a lot of runs outside. They play hard up front. They’re not big at defensive tackle. They’re undersized and they’re playing backups at linebacker; that leads to a lot of problems.”
On the Redskins run game: “I liked the Redskins running game. I thought it would be a lot better than it was a week ago. But when you lose the left side of the line … Kory Lichtensteiger is a bigger loss than anyone thinks. He really understood what you do in the zone blocking scheme and the zone stretch and when to cut on the backside. That’s a big part of it. They lose a lot. They did a real juggling act so they’re not as good. Trent Williams makes a difference when he’s in there. He’s a big-time run blocker. They lost a lot. But the zone scheme, whether it’s Hightower or Torain, they’re very good at it. They have to get that going to be successful.”
On Panthers DE Charles Johnson: “He’s a good player and can beat you one on one. He has a counter move and he wants to come inside on you. He’s a talented guy and he’s not just a pass rusher. He’s not a top-five end, but he’s very good and his technique is good. He can make you look bad.”
On the Panther running backs: “They’re big-time backs. The thing about DeAngelo Williams is that he breaks a lot of tackles. He’s very elusive and Jonathan Stewart is a very strong back. If they try to arm tackle them, like they did against LeSean McCoy, they can make you look bad and gain a lot of yards. They run a little college revers option with DeAngelo. That’s something you have to prepare for, who has the pitch and who has the quarterback.”
On how much the Panthers run that option: “Not a lot. They broke it out two weeks ago against the Saints and had a lot of success. I expected it earlier; in fact I expected a lot of the Auburn playbook in the Carolina offense. They have incorporated some of it. Some of the spread one-back option is there. When I saw the reverse option – the counter option – I thought, ‘There’s a little more Auburn.’ And they should do it. They’ll test your rules. You have to be alert to it. Cam is really good at drawing the defense to him and making the right read and deciding when to pitch and when to keep it.”
On the Redskins’ defense: “They’re a good third-down defense because their tackling is better. They’re setting traps and making you get the ball out quick. I think Jim’s happy with what Kerrigan has done and he’s happy the way Landry has come back and the way DeAngelo has bought into the program this year. He wants to be involved. I didn’t like the way he covered last week. He’s a much better player than giving 10-yard cushions to Jeremy Maclin on the outside. If I’m Haslett, I’d want him to challenge these guys more than last week.”
More on the Redskins’ defense: “They’re right there on being a top-10 defense. I think [Ryan] Kerrigan is a strong player. I don’t think he’s a great pass rusher yet. He plays with good effort. You’d like to see more elite speed coming of the edge than what they have. Guys know their roles. The interior players understand their roles. They’re just missing an elite player on the outside. That’s nothing against Brian Orakpo and Kerrigan, they’re good but I don’t think they’re elite players.
“Let’s face it, Bill Belichick changed his defense around because he gave up trying to find that guy to run a 3-4. There aren’t many of them out there. You can’t complain about what Orakpo gives you or what Kerrigan gives you. But you don’t have to change your protection to handle those guys every play.”
On who he likes in this game: “I like the Redskins. They can flush last week’s performance. They’re better than what they showed. I love Cam and he’ll make his share of plays but they’re not a very talented team at this point. When I think they’re a play away from beating New Orleans or Chicago, they punt it to Devin Hester. They do things that make you scratch your head and that makes you think they’re a year away from truly being able to compete.”
To sign up for my Friday email reports, click here.
