Studs
RB Roy Helu. For a third straight game Helu showed that he’s more than capable. Can he keep this up? Well, what back can? He’s rushed for 334 yards the past three games combined. Not many guys do that. So, no, he won’t keep this up. But he just needs to continue being a threat. I’d also say: what will happen when he has a good run-blocking line? Because he doesn’t have one now. Really, it’s rather impressive what he’s done under the circumstances. Initially I didn’t think he had as many yards after contact that he had in his first two games but that was incorrect, partly because on his 26-yard run 29 came after a defender glanced him with his arm. Technically it’s contact. Anyway, had him with 77 yards after contact. I also wondered how Helu held up after carrying the ball 25 times in terms of his effectiveness. Well, he did pretty well as he averaged 4.7 yards per carry on his final 10 runs compared to 2.5 per carry on his first 10. Five of his last 10 carries gained four or more yards; three of his first 10 gained at least that many. There were one or two runs in which Helu could have made a better decision on when and where to cut. But that’s to be expected and I’m sure that’ll be the case in a few years as well. It’s also true that he doesn’t always have that many options on where to cut back.
A couple plays stood out: On his 15-yard run around right end, Darrel Young went to cut the linebacker. But Young ended up on the ground after interfering with the ‘backer. However, Helu set him up with a jab step to the outside causing the ‘backer to lean wide. Then Helu cut back inside for the long run. Excellent feet. On another run, a quick inside toss, Helu started up to the right causing LB Tracy White to sprint to the hole. But two yards from the hole, Helu bounced to his left and then ran for 14 yards. Actually, when he got to the hole it required a second slight bounce. But he does it fast. I like that for a guy who has quick feet and bounces, he doesn’t waste time or dance in the backfield. He had one carry in which he lost yardage.
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WR Jabar Gaffney. Before I get to the receiving numbers, I need to mention his blocking. The Redskins ran those quick inside tosses a few times and Gaffney served almost as an H-back on those plays, coming through and sealing the safety on the backside. Gaffney did this on three plays and each time the Redskins had a positive gain. In fact, those plays gained a combined 22 yards, helped in part by Gaffney’s blocks. Another block on the outside took out two defenders on a four-yard run. And then he added six catches for 92 yards and a touchdown. Gaffney was targeted eight times so his percentage was pretty strong. He excelled at finding soft spots in the zone – on one reception, he sat down in an area where he was surrounded by four Patriots (not all were too close, but it was the soft spot of the zone). And on his touchdown catch he did a good job taking the defender to the middle, then cutting back to the outside for a wide-open score. He then found a wide open seat in the stands. He was reliable and he made big plays.
WR Brandon Banks. Hey, the guy played two snaps and threw a touchdown pass. It wasn’t even a pretty one, at least not for a guy who played QB in high school. The Redskins did a good job of not tipping off the Pats that something was up by using Banks on a running play in the red zone in the first quarter. Really, the play call is what made this work because Santana Moss was about 10-15 yards from the nearest defender when he caught the ball.
QB Rex Grossman. I have one major beef with Grossman and it cost his team seven points. The sack/fumble was definitely more on him than rookie left tackle Willie Smith. Yes, Smith played it poorly. But a veteran QB should never sit in the pocket that long in his own end zone. You’re begging for trouble. Sure enough, he held it for 3.14 seconds and never stepped up. Never. Where’s that internal clock? But without his arm, the Redskins don’t have a chance to win in the end. Grossman had two terrible series and then played a strong game. Yes, the Patriots have a terrible defense with a weakened secondary. Also true: nobody still expected the Redskins to score 27 points with an offense that included two-fifths of the original starting line and had just lost their top playmaker in TE Fred Davis. So they rode Helu’s legs and Grossman’s arm. His 50-yard bomb to Donte Stallworth ignited the offense and the rest of the day he was pretty much on target. Grossman got away with a bad decision when he threw off his backfoot as he was being hit by Andre Carter, resulting in a red zone interception. Luckily for Grossman, they made a bad call on Carter and gave him new life. But Grossman threw more in rhythm, probably because he knew he wouldn’t be pressured too much and that if he was patient the receivers would find holes. Grossman also did a better job selling the play-action than he did vs. the Jets. A couple times the Pats’ linebackers oversold to stop the run, creating nice lanes. Grossman also eluded pressure on one dumpoff to Evan Royster. Grossman stepped up and ran left before throwing the ball. On the next play he held the ball too long before trying to hit Gaffney, but overall he played well enough to win. And this is one time where I can honestly say: the interception was not his fault.
Duds
WR Santana Moss. He caught the 49-yard touchdown pass from Banks so he clearly made a big play. A good play by Moss, no doubt. But on the final drive he made two mistakes that obviously proved crucial. First, he pushed off the defender before catching an apparent five- yard touchdown pass. From looking at the replays, it was clear that Moss had extended his arms. If the officials are looking for it, then it’ll be a flag every time. They were; it was. That said, there was a play earlier in the game in which Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez extended his left arm to get away from CB Kevin Barnes. No call. The inconsistency is what bugs players and it’s hard to blame them. Regardless, it’s a penalty and it was called. The DB Julian Edelman might have flopped a bit; couldn’t tell the true impact of the contact. Two plays later Moss bobbled a ball that was intercepted by LB Jerod Mayo.
LG Maurice Hurt. He looks better I suppose than when he first started playing, but he’s still struggling and still looks like a player who is a year or so away from really helping. Occasionally he’s the last lineman off the snap, which is hard to believe considering he’s right next to the ball. Saw that at least two or three times. Really, I don’t want to go over too many of his plays because he is what he is: a rookie pressed into service. He needs a good offseason in which he can lose some of that fleshiness (as described by draft experts last April). Sunday, he was stood up several times and was knocked back a couple times in the run game. Had he maintained his block on the linebacker on one red zone run on the final drive, Helu would have gotten inside the 10-yard line and possibly to the 5. Hurt was called for holding twice and allowed one pressure in which Grossman was hit.
RG Chris Chester. When you’re one of two original starters along the line and you’ve played in every game, more is expected than batting .500 (or worse). Chester has played better games and maybe the strategy of playing the D-line a little more off the ball hurt him when it came to cut blocks. Whatever the reason he missed too many. The biggest complaint I’ve heard from scouts or evaluators about him is that he just doesn’t move guys (which is why he’s a better fit in the stretch zone). But even in this offense that is sometimes necessary and there were too many times where his inability to move a defender led to a clogged hole or a tackle. On one run to the right he was driven back three yards by Vince Wilfork. I know, he’s a big fella. But Chester is too and that’s who he’s paid to block. He did seal the linebacker well on an early run. But he had a tough time getting to them overall. His pass protection was solid; didn’t see any major issues there at all. The run blocking wasn’t his best.
TE Logan Paulsen. For a second straight game Paulsen started strong only to fade in the second half. On Helu’s 26-yard run, Paulsen took care of Andre Carter and then hit the safety. A good job. And he helped with some other early blocks as well. But he also jumped too soon on third and inches near the goal line, which eventually caused Washington to settle for a field goal. Yes, the Patriots could have been flagged for encroachment with their last-second shift. But Paulsen was the only one who jumped. In the fourth quarter, in one five-play sequence (which included the first two plays in a new series), Paulsen lost his block four times; Carter came off him on the third one for the tackle and on the next play he set up too wide in pass protection, allowing Carter to get inside. Good start; tough finish.
LT Willie Smith. I was going to cut Smith some slack, but they’re paying him and they’re playing him. So….. All things considered I don’t have much of an issue with Smith. I actually saw more promise from him than I have from Maurice Hurt in any of his starts. Thought Smith made a terrific block on a four-yard Helu run up the middle in the first quarter. Saw Smith drive his man several yards downfield on another block. And on an 8-yard run, Smith turned his man inside and drove him. I know it was his first start, but if he’s playing that means he needs to be graded accordingly. He had some problems in protection, starting with the sack/fumble. Again, more of the blame goes on Grossman. But the fact is, Smith lunged at Carter, was bent at his waist and allowed the ex-Redskin to get around him. He didn’t get enough push on some other blocks. Smith allowed Carter to get some other pressures and hit Grossman as he threw. But I’ll stress: there are things to build on with him for the future.
Notes
…Have to also give credit to receiver Anthony Armstrong for a downfield block on Helu’s 26-yard run. Also, FB Darrel Young had a mixed day blocking; started slow but improved and finished strong. One thing he needs to do: set up defenders better on the screen pass. He had two blockers ahead of him on his one screen, but grew a little impatient and should have set up the defenders. Still, Young blocked fairly well.
…The Redskins have mostly been a stretch zone team that occasionally runs inside. I’m going to give you a stat but first a caveat: it can be tough to know how another service tabulates its stats and how they define an inside run. That said, according to NFL Game Statistics Information System, the Redskins have run the ball 222 times at the tackles or outside; they’ve run it 77 times between the tackles. Like I said, I haven’t tabulated it myself, but based on watching them this year it’s obvious they like to run the stretch zone and often get wide. Are those stats accurate? Don’t know, but it is probably a decent reflection of what they’ve done.
But, on Sunday, they ran 17 times between the tackles for 77 yards while running outside the tackles 14 times for 93 yards.
For those wanting to know how Tyler Polumbus did, he was OK. But the Redskins only ran around his side three times – and on one of those he was shoved back four yards, leading to a one-yard gain in the red zone. However, he didn’t have any major screw-ups and for an emergency start he was more than passable.
…Why the heavy running inside? Because the Patriots ends lined up wider than they normally had in previous games (so say Redskins players). And often times the Redskins could spread them out, leaving the Pats with six defenders in the box. It’s not like they ran better up the middle, but it was more available. And of their six runs for 10 yards or more, four went to the outside.
…Also, Pats’ nose tackle Kyle Love played a yard deeper than the ends, something he had not always shown (against the Jets, another run team for example, did not see him do this on the plays I was able to watch). They also had their linebackers a little deeper at times (5-6 yards) so they could read the play better. Their line as a whole often played a little deeper. Consequently, the Redskins cut blocks were not as effective. It gave the D-linemen a little more time to read and avoid them.
…Center Will Montgomery was solid, but those snaps will need fixing in the offseason (if they don’t just find another center). He had a couple half-second snaps again, which is too long. Fortunately for him it didn’t make a difference. But when you see Grossman starting back too soon it’s for one reason: the ball is slow getting back.
…For what it’s worth, Andre Carter did not chop down on Grossman’s arm to get the ball free. Rather, he just drilled him on that side of the body. But with Grossman, his hands aren’t as big as some other QBs so when he gets hit like that, the ball typically comes free.
…Want to know what probably started Moss’ frustration? On the first series of the game, Devin McCourty covered him. Approximately 10 yards downfield, McCourty grabs Moss as he turns to come back on his route. Moss had a tough time planting and coming back for the ball (probably because of the bad turf). Was it a bad miss? Maybe not. But if this happened a bit, then it explains his frustration after the game.
…Running back Evan Royster is definitely someone who needs more time to get into a rhythm. And he looked like he had a better one Sunday. In the preseason too often he stutter stepped his way to the hole, seemingly lacking confidence as to his cut. That wasn’t the case Sunday. He’s not a game-breaker, but he did help. On his 15-yard run in the third quarter, for example, Royster never hesitated with his plant and cut, following Darrel Young through a narrow opening. He got 16 yards after contact.
But sometimes you see where the extra time helps. For example, on a four-yard run inside to the left, Royster hit the hole hard. But he cut back too soon after the quick toss, allowing the linebacker White to come over the top and make the tackle. Earlier in the game, Helu froze White by pressing the hole another yard or two and prevented him from making the play.
Royster was OK in protection; did see him put his head down and whiff on one pickup. Saw him do better this summer in one-on-one drills in practice, but it’s a little different in a game.
…One reason I didn’t think the time of possession would matter in this game? Because of this: Washington held the ball for 36 minutes, nine seconds. But the Pats’ offense still scored 27 points. They had three scoring drives of 60 yards or more; none of them took more than seven plays. Going on long drives is helpful if you’re scoring touchdowns, but it’s not helpful just in terms of controlling the clock.
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