First quarter review

1st Qtr | 2nd Qtr | 3rd Qtr | 4th Qtr

» Great pursuit by the defense, especially on the first snap of the game. It wasn’t just Albert Haynesworth, it was everyone flying to the ball. They look much more energized, perhaps helped by their aggressiveness last week.

» It’s not just on the first play, it’s been on most of the early runs. Brian Orakpo did a good job on one run shedding his man and stringing the play wide, allowing Reed Doughty to make a tackle for a short gain.

» Good awareness by Jason Campbell on the touchdown pass to Clinton Portis.

» Mike Williams is doing a decent job at guard as the Redskins have run that way. Makes sense. Though I can’t imagine he’s a good long-term solution at this spot, he does add power and against this front that is a good thing. Carolina is relatively small and not very good up front. But he later gave up some pressure.

..» Uh-oh. Chris Samuels is out, at least for now with a stinger injury. How the Redskins did not give D’Anthony Batiste any help at left tackle on a third-down sack is beyond me. Just asking for trouble.

» The Redskins seem to be overloading the left side of the Carolina offensive line. They’re using three men to that side of the ball often, with the linebackers focused that way. Not surprising that Carolina has run that way often, so it appears to be good scouting.

» They’re not using this formation on every down; looked to be more even as the quarter wore on.

» Again, excellent swarming defense.

» Carolina never had a chance to make it work on the fourth down call. They changed their minds too much and there was too much time for the Redskins to figure out what likely was going to happen. That’s a defensive-minded head coach being a bit safe.

» The Redskins’ line is struggling to protect; Derrick Dockery needs to do better. But he’s just very average. They will continue to get pressure because the Redskins can’t do anything about their rush. And it hasn’t exactly been a good one until today.