Post-game thoughts following the 23-0 loss to Baltimore:
1. More on Brian Orakpo. He learned a lesson on his first snap of the game. I’ll have more on this in a day or so, but found it interesting. On the first snap, he read run: he noticed the linemen had set hard and saw that they were looking inside. That suggested run. So he came up hard on the play — and Heap ran past him. Orakpo was lucky the pass went the other way. Now the key for him is: knowing what to look at in the future. When it says run, how can you tell it’s a pass? That’s the learning curve.
2. More on Mike Williams. I thought he set flat on a couple plays, but perhaps that was by design. Williams’ troubles more often than not come with his hands. Sometimes he’ll set a little flatter depending on the drop; on a three-step drop he’ll set flat to prevent an inside rush, for example. The guy is improving. How much so? Hard to say until he faces top-level guys.
3. Colt Brennan looked, uh, not like the summer of ’08. Brennan had it tough; even one staffer told him as he was in the locker room that no one could have succeeded behind that line. He admitted that the interception prevented im from taking chances later in the game. Brennan was off; he’d throw to his right only to discover that someone on the other side was open. And on the pick, he actually made the right read and throw. The problem was that the receiver, Marques Hagans, slipped. Also, he’s small so the defensive back ripped through him for the pick. Perhaps a bigger guy would have been physical enough to either make the catch or break up a pick.
4. Some backup D-linemen looked sharp. J.D. Skolnitsky — who knew? He looked pretty sharp at end with a sack and some pressure. But the guy who jumped out was defensive tackle Antonio Dixon, who consistently seemed to cause problems in the middle of the defense. Teammates love his story and are rooting for him to do something. He’s still a practice squader at best, but that would be a good start for him.
5. Todd Collins looked the best of the QBs. Jason Campbell did not have a chance to get into a rhythm, though he missed a wide open Hagans on the left side. Campbell has a tough time throwing to the pint-sized receivers. Hagans is at least an inch shorter than his listed height of 5-foot-10. Collins looked the most comfortable. He had one throw to his right that was nearly intercepted. It appeared he could not step into the throw, but he still got lucky.
6. There was a definite buzz about Michael Vick. Word filtered through the locker room at halftime about Vick’s signing with the Eagles. One good thing is that they already game plan for a running quarterback vs. Philly. The scary thing, though, is if the Eagles use both he and McNabb on some plays.
7. More on Fred Smoot, the safety. Smoot took a bad angle on one run by Willis McGahee and admitted afterward that he’s still getting used to coming up on a run from the safety position. That’s a matter of experience and Smoot will take extra reps in practice to get used to that.
8. The wedges on kickoffs. With the change in wedge blocking on kickoffs, there is a timing issue that must still develop. For Rock Cartwright, it’ll be more like running the ball as a back. He has to show simiilar patience and not try to bust out too soon or get too close to his blockers. They used a two-man wedge followed by another two-man wedge and then the returner.
9. The linebackers will have coverage issues. Orakpo will be tested in this area and we still don’t know how he’ll respond. There will be growing pains. But London Fletcher completely missed on the 34-yard big play by Baltimore in the first half. Though he’s good side to side, teams will try to get him matched one on one with backs. And Alfred Fincher had his problems, too. On the big pass he allowed, he just missed the tight end coming off the line. And Rocky McIntosh already has trouble in this area.
10. The quarterbacks had better watch out. The biggest problem in camp was an issue during the game, especially as it got late. But Jim Zorn had his fingers crossed with Jason Campbel in the game. He got hit once when the Ravens only rushed four guys — and the Redskins blocked with seven. But Chris Cooley allowed the defender to get inside. Zorn’s offense will have no chance of succeeding without a better effort up front. And if Zorn’s offense doesn’t succeed, his tenure likely will end after this season. Zorn was upbeat after the game, which is his nature. But he knows the line has to block better.
