Washington Redskins

By Anthony Brown Al Saunders is the offensive coordinator of the hapless Rams. The Rams won this game in spite of Saunders’ offense. Thus, Saunders joins Norv Turner and Marty Schottenheimer as ex-employees who’ve come back to FedEx and smack Daniel Snyder’s team around.

By Anthony Brown Here’s what the Washington Redskins must do to beat the St. Louis Rams Sunday. Daniel Snyder is jinxed Two weeks later, Turner’s replacement, Marty Schottenheimer visited FedEx with the San Diego Chargers, with whom he landed after Snyder fired him at the end of the ‘01 season.

By Greg Trippiedi Pass Defense I don’t like the Redskins chances if you give the Eagles more offensive plays. However, combined with the fact that the Redskins offense kept the Eagles offense on the sideline, credit also has to go to the pass defense for putting them there in the first place. Run Defense

By Greg Trippiedi targeted, receptions, catch %, y/a) Chris Cooley — 10, 8, 80%, 11.0 Antwaan Randle El — 7, 3, 43%, 4.7 Devin Thomas — 2, 2, 100%, 13.5 Clinton Portis — 2, 2, 100%, 7.0 Ladell Betts — 1, 1, 100%, 7.0 Todd Yoder — 1, 1, 100%, 3.0 Malcolm Kelly — 0, 1, 0%, 0.0 Santana Moss — 0, 1, 0%, 0.0 Total Offense

By Anthony Brown Champ Bailey hates that he knocked Brian Griese out of the Broncos-Buccaneers game Sunday almost as much as he hates just missing getting a sack on the  guy. Favorite headline from Eagles game Eagles Zorn Asunder over at Post Game Heroes.

By Anthony Brown Former greats from the teams are quoted, including Joe Gibbs and Joe Theismann, and current players from several of the teams. Eagles president Joe Banner says it’s the latter. “The team fortunate enough to win this division will be the team best positioned to win the Super Bowl.”

By Michael Farnham That being said, listening to Clinton Portis and Jason Campbell and the rest of the team speak to media after the game, you got the sense that they are focused.  This team is bereft of the fatal hubris, and full of humble warriors. The Eagles stomped into the ring vs.the Redskins today with 2 big...

By Anthony Brown Joe Gibbs never promised a Super Bowl when he returned to Washington in 2004 to coach the Redskins. Example: Redskins up by six late in the fourth quarter. On 3rd and 1 on the Eagles’ 38, Washington attempts a pass for the first down; they miss.

By Greg Trippiedi 2.  Jason Campbell has been one of the best 5 Quarterbacks in football over the first quarter of the season.  Donovan McNabb has gotten off to a great start as well, but I think Campbell’s passing prowess gives the Redskins a nice advantage going into this one.  Campbell must continue his brea...

By Anthony Brown To stop the Redskins, you have to stop Jason Campbell. The Number on Campbell As important as Clinton Portis is to the team, the Redskins morphed to a passing offense, but not like the WCO team they face Sunday. Beating the Eagles NFL.com, Redskins vs. Eagles Preview

By Brian Mulholland The pass defense was outstanding.  The Cowboys are a prolific pass offense and threw 47 times.  The Redskins plainly came in with the feeling that a healthy Shawn Springs was better than Terrell Owens.  And they were 100% right.  While he was in the game, Springs was on TO man to man wherever...

By Anthony Brown Pittsburgh and Baltimore could make the playoffs because they get to play Cincinnati and Cleveland twice. The Redskins host Cleveland on October 19 and visit Cincinnati December 14. Laveranues Coles (2003-04) broke out big time in the New York Jets 56-35 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Co...

By Greg Trippiedi The Redskins defense had their hands full with the league’s elite offense this week. Keep this in mind as we investigate the statistics. Cowboys points off the three drives where the Redskins were in zone defense: 17 Cowboys points off all other drives: 7 Run Defense Overall Defense

By Greg Trippiedi Personnel Packages: Base (2 WR, 2 RB): 19 (28%) 2 TE: 14 (20%) 3 WR, 1 TE: 31 (45%) 3 WR, 2 RB: 5 (7%) Pass Offense Santana Moss will probably be back in the pro bowl. Rush Offense Clinton Portis 21 rushes, 121 yards Jason Campbell 1 rush for 6 yards Overall Offense

By Anthony Brown Blog and Internet reactions to yesterday’s Redskins-Cowboys game: Dallas Cowboys defense hasn’t earned label as one of league’s best from dallasnews.com – Do you believe in unlikelihoods! Redskins Beat Cowboys, from hogshaven.com –

By Michael Farnham How ’bout that Dallas secondary?  Did Roy Williams change his number to 41?  Terrance Newman trying to cover Santana Moss was as laughable as Roy Williams pretending to be a safety. How ’bout the two words Dallas fans fear the most, Santana Moss?  He owns the Dallas DB’s, every single one of...

By Anthony Brown He says the Redskins will lose if the offensive line cannot hold off the Cowboys front seven to give Jason Campbell time to make a play. The defensive line must pressure the Cowboy’s Tony Romo into making mistakes that (Mitchell implies) he is inclined to make anyway.

By Greg Trippiedi Just a month before the Redskins opened their training camp, I wrote this piece on a roster matchup between the Cowboys and Redskins.  The game between the teams is tomorrow.  I’d like to review a few points I made in June as we talk Redskins-Cowboys once more.

By Greg Trippiedi This is the bread and butter of the Redskins defense, and no player in the Redskins secondary really played their best game as a Redskin. Yes, the Cards WRs are good. And the Redskins secondary made a bunch of great individual plays at times. Run Defense Overall defense

By Anthony Brown Mayhew is the second ex-Redskin to be named to a NFC North front office. Former Redskins safety Mark Murphy was named President and CEO of the Green Bay Packers in December 2007. Call it a supplement to yesterday’s Ex-Redskins of the Week. William Clay Ford, Sr. named former Redskin Martin May...

By Anthony Brown Teams took notice and searched their roster for ex-Redskins quarterbacks. Sure enough, the Rams discovered that Trent Green was still on the team and named him the starter for the game against the visiting Buffalo Bills. No word from New Orleans or Denver about Mark Brunell and Patrick Ram...

By Brian Mulholland The Redskin coverage continues to be the heart and soul of this defense.  The defense hasn’t exactly looked spectacular so far, but it is always important to consider the caliber of the opposition.  This defense is pretty mediocre by the numbers, but it has played three very potent offense...

By Anthony Brown The Redskins were impressive, yes, impressive, in their 24-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals. You just don’t get this done in one training camp, folks. The Washington Post: One Play Tips the Scales Washington Examiner: Week Three, Washington 24, Cardinals 17

By Anthony Brown Philadelphia was the only NFC East team to lose last weekend. That loss came at the hands of another beast team, the Dallas Cowboys, and might have gone the other way. Dallas flies to Green Bay to take on the 2-0 Packers, highest scoring team in the NFL right now, while the Eagles host the...

By Anthony Brown Brian Mitchell was, along with Darrell Green, one of the few bright spots on the Redskins during the Norv Turner era in the ‘nineties. Clinton Portis will likely leave the Redskins with the franchise all-time rushing record. About Mitchell

By Greg Trippiedi We are seeing a lot more DL rotation than we were with Williams. The reason the Redskins have 5 active defensive ends is because the team plays with 4 DEs on the line in clear passing situations. Lorenzo Alexander, Chris Wilson, and Erasmus James all play inside on third down. For the first time...

By Greg Trippiedi Base (2 WR, 2 RB, 1 TE) - 26 (37%) 3 WR - 27 (39%) 4 WR - 1 (1%) 2 Backs (Portis & Betts) - 3 (4%) 2 TE - 14 (20%) Pass Offense Jason Campbell: 24/26 for 321 and 1 TD with 0 INTs Rushing Offense Clinton Portis: 21 attempts, 96 yards, 2 TDs. Santana Moss: 1 carry, 27 yards Overall Offense

By Anthony Brown Walt Harris had four tackles for Mike Nolan and the San Francisco 49ers. Nolan’s 49ers pulled of an improbable 33-30 upset of the Seahawks in Seattle, a feat rarely done in the Mike Holmgren era. T.J. Duckett rushed twice for three yards and a touchdown for the Seattle Seahawks.

By Anthony Brown Jason Campbell was everything in the Washington Redskins win over the New Orleans Saints that he was not last week against the Giants. The Skins controlled the game clock for 34:14. Campbell’s offense went for a net 455 yards. Meet Chris Horton

By Michael Farnham The Saints refused our charitable donations.  7 points from a Randle-El fumble, 7 points from a joke of a punt by Durant Brooks (that’s his name, right?), the two field goals that were missed, and the TD’s left on the field, all were squandered by New Orleans.  It felt so familiar for the burgu...

By Greg Trippiedi But what about the Eagles?  They finished 8-8, and tied the Redskins in every conceivable statistical category, minus a single win.  They did not make the playoffs.  And because they did not make the playoffs, they did not get credit that they should have otherwise been entitled to.

By Anthony Brown Sooner or later, the commissioner of the no fun league is going to ban it. A group of Redskins players gathered a Chris Cooley’s house to set up a fantasy football league. Watching Cooley explain fantasy football to pro players is…humorous. See the YouTube video here. Jason Campbell selected...

By Anthony Brown Most of the print publications offer updated info on an affiliate web site and most serious players go to draft night with downloaded spreadsheets. None of the Redskins players, nor their wives and girl friends had print-outs of their cheatsheats.

By Anthony Brown Felix Jones (Arkansas) is another NFC East running back for the Redskins defense to fret about. He only ran for 62 yards on nine carries and a score in Dallas’ win over Cleveland. Coach Zorn says Kelly may play Sunday against the Saints. Free Chris Cooley

By Greg Trippiedi pertains only to plays in which the Redskins were in a version of the 4-3 Pass defense Fred Smoot: 1 Interception, 1 Pass defensed Carlos Rogers: 2 Passes defensed LaRon Landry: 1 Pass defensed Run defense Overall consistency of run defense, as measured by success rate:

By Greg Trippiedi There will be more far productive days in Jason Campbell’s future, but I think a lot of fans are mistaking things that didn’t happen on Thursday for shortcomings in Campbell’s game — and that’s ludicrous. Prior to that last, meaningless drive, Campbell had thrown only 19 passes. 19. That’s f...

By Anthony Brown “Jim Zorn has underestimated what it takes to be a head coach.” ~~ John Riggins If he can pull that off, he will match Joe Gibbs’ and Marty Schottenheimer’s first year record with the Skins. Most new coaches don’t do as well in their first year.

By Anthony Brown Then the Redskins got lucky and they got good The penalty moved the ball to the Giants 11. Three plays later, Jason Campbell would throw a touchdown pass to Santana Moss. The Redskins offense, however, did not improve. Go west, young Redskins

By Greg Trippiedi But DVOA really hates the Redskins offense this season, and it really likes the Giants.  Whether that is just the standard fear surrounding the team that most blatantly lacks continuity, or an honest evaluation of the differences in the offensive lines or the wide receivers, we can make o...

By Anthony Brown What does count is whether the man who backed into the Redskins head coach position when Daniel Snyder ran out of candidates, partly because Zorn was already on board as OC, has the stuff to be a success. The Redskins need that kind of performance this year from the more gifted Campbell. They e...

By Brian Mulholland Clinton Portis Rock tried to find a backup job this past offseason, but ran headlong into the problem of over-supply of RBs that is in the league.  Cartwright, with no significant in-game track record, was simply no more attractive than younger and much cheaper players.  Cartwright was we...

By Brian Mulholland Yoder is the veteran backup, and is a solid player in that role.  He is not fast or talented enough to ever threaten for a starting gig, but as a depth player he is good enough to find openings and makes catches when the defense is focused elsewhere.   It wasn’t all that long ago that the tight end...

By Brian Mulholland Santana Moss Kelly’s knee has flared up and Zorn has thrown two weeks out as his expected games missed estimate.  Kelly, like Thomas has been chastised for a lack of conditioning.  When he comes back though, Kelly is the player to bet on to overtake Thrash.  Before his injury, Kelly was being s...

By Brian Mulholland What makes Samuels stand out even more is that last year the Redskins’ injuries on the right side of their line meant that most of the time the back or other help was going to head right unless the defense showed obvious blitz from the left.  Yet Samuels was still quite solid.  Samuels does get p...

By Greg Trippiedi QB Jason Campbell QB Todd Collins QB Colt Brennan RB Clinton Portis RB Ladell Betts RB Rock Cartwright FB Mike Sellers WR Santana Moss WR Antwaan Randle El WR James Thrash WR Devin Thomas WR Malcolm Kelly TE Chris Cooley TE Todd Yoder TE Fred Davis T Chris Samuels G Jason Fabini C Casey Rabach

By Anthony Brown Norv Turner, Marty Schottenheimer and Brad Johnson have something in common. They were all let go by Daniel Snyder. They all came back with their new team to beat their old boss. Add Gregg Williams to the list. Williams is Jacksonville’s defensive coordinator. His defense kept the Skins bo...

By Brian Mulholland Obviously, the Redskins safety position will miss Sean Taylor who, after a rocky start, really seemed to be settling in as both a man and an elite football player.  Before his injury, and later untimely passing, Taylor was terrorizing defenses from his ultra-deep free safety spot.  He did...

By Anthony Brown What if Joe Gibbs named Todd Collins as the QB starter in 2006? Collins followed new OC Al Saunders to Washington with hopes of a shot at the starting role. Collins was very familiar with Saunders’ complex offense, but was never seen as more than a playbook tutor to Mark Brunell. 

By Anthony Brown Cooley writes that the Redskins were embarrassed by their performance against the Carolina Panthers. Even for a preseason game, it’s not how they want to be to be remembered going into the opener against the New York Giants. The Redskins cut second year linebacker Matt Sinclair and wide re...

By Greg Trippiedi If Taylor is out for an extended period of time, it significantly diminishes the chances that the Redskins will get the better end of that trade. Theoretically, Taylor’s best games as a Redskin would seem to be more likely occur early in his Redskins career, basically, while he’s still at a...

By Anthony Brown The defense got exposed. That can’t happen. The defense has to hold the ground while the offense finds its legs in Jim Zorn’s new offense. Nor did the offense. But that pales in comparison to the defense giving up 400 yards and 47 points to the Panthers.

By Anthony Brown Tonight’s preseason game against the Carolina Panthers is a key event for veterans. Jim Zorn says he will play the starters for almost a half. I doubt we will see Clinton Portis for more than three or four series. Everyone else should see more reps.

By Anthony Brown Shirley Wang at The Wall Street Journalcaught up with Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and queried him about his management style. WSJ asked about Red Zebra Broadcasting and Six Flags as well as the Redskins. Snyder’s answers to those Redskins questions were quite revealing.

By Brian Mulholland Shawn Springs When we went to Minnesota and tanked on the field, it was, in hindsight, predictable.  Smoot had been an almost exclusively man cover corner in college, and had player predominantly man under Marty Shottenheimer, Marvin Lewis, and Gregg Williams’ systems.  Minnesota was i...

By Anthony Brown All the scrubs on the Redskins defense had to do was stand and watch it happen. Standing and watching was all they were doing anyway. Redskins fans are picking up the buzz, too. I’m calling it now — QB controversy in Washington in 2010. The Redskins will entertain any trade offers for Brennan th...

By Anthony Brown In response, I argue that the Redskins didn’t create the problem. When FedEx Field was built, it envisioned public transportation through two Metrorail stations, the Orange line’s Landover station, and the Blue line’s Morgan Blvd. station. Shuttle service from the Landover station...

By Greg Trippiedi Former Redskins Safety Matt Bowen, now contributes to a new blog called the “National Football Post.” In this article, Bowen point out that he feels that the key to the entire pass defense this year for the Redskins has to do with Carlos Rogers’ health:

By Greg Trippiedi As good of a job as Todd Collins did in limited time last year, this team needs it’s quarterback to be successful, and that means that Jason Campbell has to stay healthy.  Collins threw very efficiently against poor pass defenses like the Giants and the Vikings last year in consecutive week...

By Greg Trippiedi Sean Taylor Shawn Springs In 2004, Shawn Springs signed a 6 year contract with the Redskins. No one expected him to play it out, but here we are in the 5th year of the deal, and not only is he still around, but he’s the best CB on the team. In fact, that doesn’t nearly begin to do him justice. Carlos Ro...

By Anthony Brown Hail to the Redskins “Redskins” has become a politically incorrect term to some over time. Some Native Americans say it is derogatory and have been pushing Washington to change the name. Owner Daniel Snyder and a legion of Redskins fans decline to do so.

By Anthony Brown Here’s IGN’s recap of the NFC East race: Alas, That didn’t save Marty’s job. He was fired to make way for Steve Spurrier’s “pass ‘n’ gas” offense. Al Saunders was fired to make way for Jim Zorn’s offense. Madden and Daniel Snyder thinks that’s going to work out.

By Greg Trippiedi No official word here.  Jason Campbell is at the forefront of this speculation, but he’s under contract through 2009, so theres no reason to be in a rush here.  Every team in the league saves money to commit to a franchise QB, and the Redskins are no different.  If Jason Campbell proves to be a fr...

By Greg Trippiedi Today, we look at the 12 key head to head matchups between the Philadelphia Eagles, and your Washington Redskins. Matchup #2: Donovan McNabb vs. Shawn Springs, Fred Smoot, and Carlos Rogers Advantage Eagles. Advantage Redskins. Redskins/Eagles Final Verdict

By Greg Trippiedi Right now, there’s a big advantage for Jason Campbell and the Redskins here. Matchup #2: Tony Romo vs. Shawn Springs, Fred Smoot, and Carlos Rogers Matchup #5: Santana Moss, Malcolm Kelly, and Antwaan Randle El vs. Roy Williams and Ken Hamlin Redskins/Cowboys Final Verdict

By Greg Trippiedi Back to the original subject of this discussion:  Would the Redskins have been better served to take Ends instead of receivers at picks 34 and 51?  If the Redskins’ draft board at DE was to mimic the actual order in which the players were picked, then the “best available” players at 34 and 51...

By Greg Trippiedi QB- Mark Brunell RB- Clinton Portis FB- Mike Sellers WR- Laverenus Coles WR- Rod Gardener TE- Walter Rasby OT- Chris Samuels OT- Jon Jansen 2008: QB- Jason Campbell RB- Clinton Portis FB- Mike Sellers WR- Santana Moss TE- Chris Cooley OT- Chris Samuels OT- Jon Jansen 

By Greg Trippiedi If the Redskins make a strong playoff push this season, or if they crash and burn, or if they do a little of both and finish up 8-8, we can be almost certain that there will be some very good football games to watch at FedEx Field this season.  The Redskins will bring in a lot of good teams to play, b...

By Greg Trippiedi 2008 Redskins Roster (Projection)** Jason Campbell Todd Collins Colt Brennan Sam Hollenbach Derek Devine Shawn Springs Carlos Rogers* Fred Smoot Justin Tryon John Eubanks Leigh Torrence Byron Westbrook Matteral Richardson Cedrick Holt Shaun Suisham

By Greg Trippiedi The 2004 Chicago Bears drafted Tommie Harris and Tank Johnson with their first two selections.  Johnson is in Dallas now, but appears to have been a good value pick, off-field issues aside, and Tommie Harris is one of the very best DTs in the NFL.

By Anthony Brown The word on Alonzo Dotson, DE, 6-4, 250 pounds, Sr., Oklahoma — More proof that the NFL is becoming a family business, Dotson’s uncle, Santana, played for the Green Bay Packers in the 1990s and his grandfather, Alphonse, played for the Oakland Raiders in the 1970s. That’s the extent of a mea...

By Greg Trippiedi The Cowboys, Eagles, and New York Giants added players at impact positions on the first day.  Trevor Laws is an Eagle.  Mike Jenkins is a Cowboy. Kenny Phillips is a Giant.  Clearly, defenses across the division improved, and I think the Redskins will live to regret not keeping up with this tre...

By Brian Mulholland The Redskins selected QB Colt Brennan of Hawaii at #186.  The ESPN crew practically came to blows when the debate over Brennan came up.  Brennan was a stat-machine in college, but when you play in the run & shoot against a lower level of competition, that is pretty much expected. 

By Brian Mulholland The Redskins natural #2, the 51st overall was only a few picks away.  Reeling from the shock of Davis, I commented to a friend that I felt it might be a good idea to take Calais Campbell with the next pick to salvage the 2nd round.  Sure enough, right before Washington went, Arizona took Campbel...

By Brian Mulholland WRs also often do not contribute as immediately as some other positions.  While not as slow-developing as quarterbacks, many struggle for a year or two before finding their groove.  In fantasy football circles the rule of thumb is the third year WR.  The team will need a player with sufficie...

By Brian Mulholland The Coryell offense has been a staple here in the nation’s capital. 22 of the past 26 years have featured a Washington Redskins offense called by a coach off of the Coryell coaching tree, be it Al Saunders, Joe Gibbs or Norv Turner. The team’s records in those 4 other years were 4-12, 8-8, 7-9, ...

By Greg Trippiedi 6.80% Yards/Attempt and 61% completion should sound somewhat familiar to Redskins’ statheads, because that’s exactly what Jason Campbell accomplished this season.  You would have to think if Favre’s 2007 had actually been at the level of Campbell, the Redskins would have been a better...

By Anthony Brown Here are my comments on SportsProjection’s ranking from first through 15th place.  TEAMCOMMENTNEW YORK GIANTSMore power to the Giants for pulling off the big one, but they went into the playoffs as a 10-6 team for a reason.NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTSSportsProjections knocks them down a peg be...

By Greg Trippiedi What if the Redskins had used both of the picks for Lloyd on interior offensive linemen? The Redskins could have added Mansfield Wrotto, who played many minutes for the Seahawks this season as a rookie, and Jahari Evans, a starter for the New Orleans Saints. The presence of those players on...

By Greg Trippiedi Thusly, we have to go beyond the numbers to try to project this unit beyond this 4 game start. In 2005, the Redskins had a defensive line of Renaldo Wynn, Cornelius Griffin, Joe Saleve’a, and Phillip Daniels, with Lavar Arrington and Lemar Marshall next to Marcus Washington at the lineback...