Studs
RB Tim Hightower. He was on his way to 100 yards rushing before he was hurt (of course, the way the Redskins started needing to pass he might not have cracked the century mark). Have to say, the blocking on some of his runs was excellent and in most cases the holes were large. So the credit goes to the blocking as much as to his runs. For example, on his first 17-yard run Hightower wasn’t touched until… he ran for 17 yards. Tight end Logan Paulsen, left tackle Sean Locklear and left guard Will Montgomery all had key blocks. On another 17-yard run during the same drive, tight end Fred Davis doubled the end then headed to the linebacker. So good blocks were made. But Hightower’s the guy with 88 yards on 17 carries so he gets this slot. There was a run or two in which Hightower looked like he could have gotten more, if not for a stutter-step through the hole (costing him speed and power; he’s not an explosive cutter). For the most part though he was solid. And his pass protection skills were at their best Sunday. In other games he missed a block or two, but not Sunday. The good thing about the way he blocks is that he stones linebackers because he’s so violent. When, say, Roy Helu blocks them there’s nowhere near the violence. That’s not a knock on Helu as much as it’s praise for Hightower. Helu basically tries to get in the way; Hightower tries to destroy guys.
TE Fred Davis. Just mentioned his blocking on the 17-yard run, but Davis also had the key block (along with Darrel Young) on a 10-yard run during the opening series. I know he had a drop in the second half and he lost a block a few plays before that, leading to a short gain. But the offense started to work when he was more involved. He’s the only target who can often run away from his coverage and create separation. Sometimes it’s because of the action of the bootleg, but not always. On a third and 2 (before the failed fourth and 2), Davis got himself free against the linebacker with ease. John Beck threw elsewhere, but Davis was open. On his touchdown, Davis ran at the linebacker and pivoted inside, creating enough room for a 7-yard score. He finished with six catches for 80 yards.
Duds
WR Jabar Gaffney. I like Gaffney and think he’s been a nice pickup. Not a playmaker (51 yards after the catch this season), but a reliable guy. However, his fumble late in the first half gave Carolina three points late in the first half. For that play alone, Gaffney ends up on this side. It was hard to tell if on the previous play he should have made the catch on a deep ball from John Beck. The DB appeared to get a hand in there, but Gaffney was in position to make a terrific catch (inside the Panthers’ 40) and couldn’t. Again, he’s a decent receiver but the Redskins need a guy who can make that sort of catch.
C Erik Cook. He admitted to some missed calls up front, which isn’t surprising given his experience. That’s correctable. And on the fourth and two, it was not necessarily his fault there was pressure and a sack (see below). My problem is that too often Cook gets moved back. My first reaction always has been to blame his height, but perhaps it’s just a quickness issue. Maybe experience. The Redskins only ran the ball four times in the second half so this problem was not pronounced. But it did hurt some plays in the first half. I won’t bore you with all the mishaps, but there was one play in which he was moved four yards back – the tackle quickly got into his pads and started driving — forcing Hightower to cut much deeper and sooner than desired. The fact that he gained five yards was all on Hightower. Last thing on Cook: On the first series of the second half, a 6-yard Hightower run could have been more had his block been made on the middle linebacker, who made the tackle. On the next play, Cook was moved back three yards again, forcing Ryan Torain to cut back much sooner than he wanted (and preventing a chance to press the hole). This is an issue worth watching, to see if Cook improves. Maybe he will. By the way, on the last play I talked about, it didn’t help that left guard Will Montgomery missed his block, too, (on the linebacker who made the play). But Torain was forced there by the penetration allowed. Cook handled pass blocking fine, though the Panthers rarely sent more than four rushers.
RT Jammal Brown. Like Cook, Brown had some issues in the first half. And the one real negative play resulted in a fumble by QB John Beck. Brown simply had no chance to get rusher Antwan Applewhite, who lined up wider than usual. He just used speed to get around Brown. Tight end Fred Davis was inside of Brown, so all he needed to do was force Applewhite back inside but Brown’s lack of foot speed hurt him on this play. On the first series he was moved back, but other blocks still enabled the run to work. In the second half, Brown did not allow a big negative play and overall the protection up front was sound. But he got moved back too far on consecutive plays in the third quarter, once preventing John Beck from stepping into his throw. There was one play in which it appeared Brown tried to block his man with his shoulder, not his arms. His arms were lowered when he engaged his man, leading to pressure.
LT Sean Locklear. For most of the day he was actually decent. And I wasn’t going to put him on here, but he did not finish strong. Yes, he had a holding penalty in the first half in which the man he was blocking was offsides. He really had no chance on that play. Later in the game he drew another holding penalty against Charles Johnson. But give Johnson credit. He completely timed the play based on the center’s movement: Beck lifts his leg up and down (triggering right guard Chris Chester to alert Cook); the center looks back under his legs, then back up at the defense and after a one-second count he snaps the ball. Johnson went exactly one second after Cook looked up. He had it timed and simply beat Locklear. Still, two holding penalties. On the Redskins’ last drive, Locklear did not play well. On the first play, the Panthers jumped offsides, but the play doesn’t stop. Locklear did. Two plays later Johnson got into Locklear, spun and recorded a sack. Locklear tried to shoulder bump him. Next play: he tried to cut Johnson and whiffed. Again, Locklear was solid in the first half.
Notes
…Thought John Beck was OK, which is what I initially thought after watching the game. There were some plays that showed his strengths. But he, too, makes mistakes with the ball. He’s fortunate not to have been intercepted by the linebacker on an ill-advised pass to Fred Davis. The pass was behind him, too. Thought the defense read his eyes a couple times, like on one tipped pass on a third down inside the 10. And keep in mind that this pass defense had struggled before this game. Have to give him a few weeks to see what he can really do and Carolina did not put him under duress all that often.
A couple plays by Beck that stood out:
1. I liked how he slid in the pocket on the Redskins’ third series, creating a better lane for an 18-yard pass to Gaffney. A nice display of subtle athleticism. You don’t need to run 25 yards downfield to be an athletic QB. It’s all about creating better situations for yourself. He did.
2. He made a good throw to Gaffney down the left side late in the first half (right before the fumble). Beck gave his receiver a chance to make a big play.
3. Didn’t like how, on third and 2 (before the failed fourth and 2) he didn’t look for Fred Davis, who clearly had the best matchup (facing a linebacker). That should have been automatic, right?
4. Beck escaped one pressure in the fourth quarter by spinning out and dumping a pass to Roy Helu for a two-yard gain. It beat the alternative. And the ability to keep plays alive with his legs was necessary for this offense. Rex Grossman could not. Yes, Beck’s TD run was another example of this. He looked right, nobody was open and he headed left. Know what helped on the play? Davis was on this side, but turned and ran to the back of the end zone; two defenders ran with him and Beck made it in safely.
5. I wish he’d called time out before the fourth and 2. The Panthers showed a look they hadn’t used all game. Better to be safe and sure in this situation, especially with young center.
…Of Beck’s 279 passing yards, 98 came when the Panthers took a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter. Take it for what it’s worth: he piled up some yards in a loss, but he still threw for 181 through three quarters. So not everything came in garbage time.
…Carolina sent an extra rusher only nine times (four times they sent six defenders) on 42 dropbacks. Beck completed five of nine passes for 62 yards against an extra-man rush.
…Beck was sacked three times, but he was only hit on three other pass plays; two of which were mild hits. Sometimes he avoided hits by unloading the ball quickly and he eluded pressure with his feet a couple times. But for the most part he was not under a lot of duress.
…Against mild or strong pressure, Beck completed four of 10 passes for 36 yards. And, yes, he was sacked three times and fumbled. That means he was 18 of 27 for 243 yards when facing no pressure.
…Another for what it’s worth: The Panthers sent only three rushers on three occasions (all after the 17-point cushion). The Redskins gained only 16 yards on these plays and were sacked once.
…After Beck’s interception, you could see him in the picture after Chris Gamble was tackled looking in the direction of Leonard Hankerson with his arms extended and palms facing up, as if to ask what happened. Yes, a miscommunication. But the time to start asking questions is not when the play just ended. Wait for the sidelines.
…Initially, I did not like the Redskins going for it on fourth and 2 in the third quarter. At this point, it was a 9-6 game and though the defense wasn’t playing great, the game was tight. So play to your strength, punt the ball, pin them inside the 20 and keep trying to force Cam Newton into a mistake – the sort he, and the Panthers, have made in every game. Also, if you’re going to try and pick up two yards, and you’re running the ball well, that should be one of the plays, right?
The Redskins’ passing attack wasn’t working when it needed to work, yet they tried to pass on third and fourth down. Their inexperience showed. On third down, tight end Fred Davis had the best matchup against a linebacker and broke open. But the ball was thrown to receiver Terrence Austin, who did not get free vs. Chris Gamble. On the same play, Anthony Armstrong could not get off his jam (the DB basically jammed him for the entire five yards). The receivers just aren’t beating defenders at the line. Then, on fourth down, the Panthers rushed in a manner they had not shown out of this alignment. They had four down linemen, with a tackle over Cook. They walked a linebacker up to rush between the center and right guard; and a safety blitzed through the gap on the other side of the center.
Cook blocked neither guy; he waited for the nose tackle to rush who instead took a step toward him then dropped into coverage. Roy Helu went to pick up the safety, trying to cut him (not a good cut because the safety kept coming). The left end dropped into coverage, leaving guard Chris Chester and Brown double teaming the tackle. And that left the linebacker free on his blitz for an easy sack. What also didn’t help were the routes. Beck, in shotgun formation, had no quick options. None of the receivers had even turned around until he was about to be sacked.
…In the end, it really was a good call by the Panthers.
…In the fourth quarter, the Panthers sent two linebackers up the middle on a blitz. It was a different alignment by the D-line, but the Redskins handled it better as Cook (with no nose tackle over him) stepped to his left to pick up one linebacker and Helu did enough to stop the other linebacker. Beck threw incomplete.
…The Redskins lack a receiver who can consistently beat man coverage (stop the presses, I know). Every window is a tight one. That’s not always the case for other teams.
…TV replays showed Armstrong wide open on one route in the second quarter (right before they kicked a field goal). Trouble is, Beck is making such a quick throw, he has no chance to scan the field. It’s unfair to say he missed a guy because he just has to get the ball and let it rip. The problem on this play is that the linebacker read Beck’s eyes and drifted into the passing lane. And Gaffney got no separation from the corner.
…Didn’t seem like it during the game, but both teams had 10 plays of 16 yards or more. But Washington’s offense managed one play for 30 yards or more compared to three for Carolina. Before you think the Redskins had all their big plays late, think again. Of their five biggest gains, four came in the first five minutes of the third quarter. And four of the other 16-plus gains came in the first half.
…Helu did an adequate job picking up the blitz. He does not attack defenders the way Hightower does, but few do. Helu, though, is still learning how to get any force on his blocks. On one blitz he more or less just got in the way of a linebacker. But it helped. He failed to cut the safety on the fourth and 2, leading to more pressure. But he’s trying to be creative with how he picks up blitzes, sometimes cutting, just to keep defenders guessing as to what he’ll do. I don’t know yet how much Buffalo blitzes up the middle, but that’s what I’d do.
…Nearly put Brandon Banks as a Dud, but it’s not all on him because he’s reliant on the blocking. But Carolina did a good job vs. him. On the one kickoff he returned, for 25 yards, they made sure he got no further with their contain on the outside, forcing him to the middle. He had one punt return for minus-4 yards.
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