Studs
RB Roy Helu. He’s fun to watch, but I’d hate to try and tackle him. He’s always moving forward and consistently gets more yards after contact. Why? Probably because of the way he cuts it’s hard to get a good shot at him to drive him back. Rather, you’re left going for his legs and that enables him to fall forward for another yard or two. Of his 10 runs, nine gained positive yardage and he managed to squeeze out an extra yard – or five or six – after contact on the majority of those. Take this one, for example: On a seven-yard run in the second quarter, Helu gave corner A.J. Jefferson a shoulder shake and cut back inside. A two-yard run turned into a seven-yard gain. On the 33-yard screen pass he hurdled Kory Lichtensteiger and when he hit the ground he appeared to get back to full speed right away. One more run to discuss. It came right after the screen, too. On Helu’s 11-yard run in the second quarter, he did a fantastic job of pressing the hole on a stretch zone to the left. He froze linebacker Stewart Bradley in the hole, then cut wide. Because of Helu’s patience, fullback Darrel Young reached Bradley to create a bigger cutback lane. Oh, and Helu shook Jefferson again for four more yards. Those extra yards add up. I still am not sold on him in pass protection; he picked up a couple blitzes, but his technique is not good – constantly lowers his head.
RB Tim Hightower. He showed his former team what he could do (though they had to be very pleased with what Beanie Wells did, so I don’t think they regret losing Hightower). He finished with 96 yards on 20 carries and gained 10 more on a catch. He did a good job picking up the blitz as well, though he got lucky that he wasn’t flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct on the first drive. He blocked linebacker Paris Lenon after he had stopped and the play was clearly over. Maybe Hightower didn’t know; my guess is that his intensity took over. Regardless he was lucky; Lenon retaliated and was caught.
TE Fred Davis. Goodness sakes, Fast Freddie has become their biggest weapon. Who would have guessed that? He finished with 86 yards on six catches, including a 40-yarder that should have been a lot more if Rex Grossman had led him at all. That play is difficult to stop with Davis. The linebackers have to honor the play fake (the line slanted to the left and Grossman booted to the right). Davis just runs flat along the line and then does a wheel route. By the time the linebacker has figured the play out, he’s downfield all alone. Davis’ blocking was not the best. See the issue Cooley had too. It wasn’t like it was every play, but Davis blocked better in the opener. Still, on Darrel Young’s third and 1 run, Davis blocked the linebacker inside, creating the hole. And right now he’s making his money with his hands. Grossman was looking for him on several other plays, but the Cards had him covered. Davis made a couple grabs that were terrific, including one in which it looked like the ball might hit the ground. Strong hands.
Offensive line: OK, let’s name them: Trent Williams, Kory Lichtensteiger, Will Montgomery, Chris Chester and Jammal Brown. There were moments for each of the linemen that didn’t go well. Brown, for example, played much better in the first half than in the second. In the final two quarters I jotted down notes about him bending too much at the waist and not the knees, which prevents him from reacting to moves. His feet aren’t always the quickest in protection. Saw Montgomery fall in the open field; still not sure what tripped him up. There was one play in the fourth quarter in which every offensive lineman was pushed back at least one to two yards, resulting in a three-yard Helu run. Joey Porter got past Williams once in part because Williams was bent too much at the waist. And please keep in mind that Arizona’s front seven is not considered one of the NFL’s best.
But here’s the thing: for the most part this group played very well. The Redskins controlled the ball for 38 minutes, 30 seconds. They gained 455 total yards and ran for 172. Where do you think this started? The combination blocks were executed well, for the most part. Really liked what Chester did and loved Brown’s first half, which might have been the best I’ve seen him play. On consecutive plays in the second quarter, Brown got to linebacker Paris Lenon to open cutback lanes. Loved Chester’s combo block with Montgomery on Darnell Dockett on Hightower’s 20-yard run. Chester not only blocked him, but gave him a good shove to allow Montgomery to gain control; then Chester scooted to the linebacker to complete the hole. Williams did a good job sealing the edge on Hightower’s 17-yard run in the second quarter. On the next play, Brown blocked Lenon to open a cutback lane for 10 more yards. Oh, and on the Helu run mentioned above – the 11-yarder – the line did a great job of re-establishing the line of scrimmage. Helu made his cut at the line, which means that the entire line was a good yard beyond that point.
There were a few times in the second half when Rex Grossman was pressured, but it came after the line had blocked for four or five seconds. He dropped back to pass 44 times and was sacked once. This group also handled Dockett, who finished with two tackles, one for a loss. His impact was not great. Again, the line was not perfect; never will be. But they got to the second level enough to open cutback lanes and they more than did their jobs.
QB Rex Grossman (second half). I debated this one, but with Grossman his halves were dramatically different. Check below for the first half. Anyway, his passer rating in the second half was 93.75. He handled the blitz well much of the day, though it helped on the game-winning field goal drive that the Redskins ran shorter routes, allowing him to get rid of the ball faster and not let the pressure get to him. It worked. Grossman’s pass to Santana Moss was the right read – the corner bit up on the receiver in the flat (Jabar Gaffney), leaving Moss free. Right call; terrific throw. When a QB leads a fourth-quarter comeback, they deserve praise. Seems like one of Grossman’s strengths is staying poised during the game.
Duds
QB Rex Grossman (first half). At times he’s getting away with not stepping into his throws, leaving less zip on his passes. This was evident in the first half. The first interception was clearly his fault. The Cards only rushed four men, but he was chased from the pocket as the coverage enabled the rush to get deep. Why he threw to Santana Moss is a mystery; he wasn’t open, the safety was right there and even if he caught the ball he would have been tackled. Not smart. Grossman stared down Davis on the seventh play of the game, allowing Kerry Rhodes to easily read the play and tip it away. Gotta know better. Two plays later, on the Hightower penalty play, Grossman did not step into the pass – a slant to Moss. Instead, he threw flat footed and was all arm; not as much zip, pass knocked away. Two plays later, same thing on an out pass to Gaffney. The pass was incomplete. Grossman usually has a good throwing base, but does much better when he steps into his throws. Maybe that’s why he throws better over the middle. Don’t know. His second interception was not his fault; it should have been pass interference on Jefferson.
TE Chris Cooley. Think it’s too early to write this guy off; he’s produced for too long to do otherwise and it’s not as if he is coming off a bad season. When I talk to scouts or evaluators they still like him, though they say he doesn’t scare defenses. But his job is to move the chains and he’s done that quite well over the years. And will do so again. It’ll be hard to match his 77 receptions from last season and honestly the offense is better if he doesn’t. That means more receivers are involved and that probably means more big plays. But Cooley will still be a factor.
Having said all that, Sunday was not his best day. Not like he was terrible, but he’s had better days. It’s not that he didn’t catch a pass for only the fourth time in his career (and first since 2009). His blocking wasn’t as strong as it’s been in other games. He lost his man a few times, including on a 1-yard Hightower run near the end of the third. Cooley said he didn’t think the 20 pounds would impact his blocking; rather, it gives him more quickness. But there were times Sunday when it looked like he could have used the added weight. Not saying he shouldn’t have lost it; but am saying that on some runs it was about strength not quickness.
Notes
…In two games Davis has been targeted 17 times and caught 11 passes for 191 yards. Cooley, who missed all of last season with a sore knee, has been targeted five times and caught two passes for 21 yards. Against the Cardinals, Davis played 57 snaps to 39 for Cooley. And Davis was the tight end in the three-receiver sets 38 times compared to 17 for Cooley. Finally, on Washington’s last 26 plays, Davis received 19 snaps to Cooley’s eight (they played together one snap in this stretch).
…You want balance? Here you go: On first down plays, the Redskins ran the ball 18 times and passed 18 times.
…The Redskins used one three tight end formation. They had four tight ends active for the game.
…Kyle Shanahan is an excellent playcaller; thought that last year and think so even more now. Loved the simple dive play to fullback Darrel Young on third and 1 in the fourth quarter for a seven-yard gain. Very unexpected. I like that Young doesn’t try to hurdle everyone too.
…Shanahan also had the right play calls on against certain looks. For example, in the second quarter Arizona had eight defenders in the box – six were over the center or to the right; two were to the left. Guess where the Redskins ran? Hightower ran to the Redskins’ right and gained 20 yards. This happened a couple times where the Cards overloaded a side and the Redskins hit them the other way.
…The Redskins ran 79 plays, which is their second most under Mike Shanahan. They ran 86 plays vs. Tennessee last November.
…I don’t know how A.J. Jefferson wasn’t called for pass interference on Anthony Armstrong. Jefferson grabbed Armstrong’s left arm, leading to a tipped pass and an interception. But I also am not sure why Hightower wasn’t flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. He started the little ruckus by continuing to block after the play; linebacker Paris Lenon had all but stopped. Lenon retaliated; Lenon was caught.
…According to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, the run-pass percentage breakdown for the league through two weeks is this: 58.8 pass; 41.2 run. The Redskins have thrown the ball 57 percent of the time to 43 percent runs. A year ago they passed it on 63 percent of their snaps.
…Cardinals linebacker Clark Hagans did an excellent job of consistently shedding blocks. Or the Redskins did a consistently poor job of maintaining blocks on him. I’ll lean toward the former.
…Redskins wideouts have combined for 25 catches in the first two games. A year ago, they combined for 23. Not a big difference, right? Except that Santana Moss had 16 catches through two games and was basically the receiving corps. Now he has 11. It took six games last year for another wideout to reach double digits in receptions (Armstrong). Gaffney already has eight catches.
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