Studs
LT Trent Williams. I’ll refrain from the jokes because, well, they’re too easy. Besides, it’s a shame that his season will end with four games left because he had just started to play at a level everyone anticipated when he was the No. 4 overall pick in 2010. I’m not going to go to an extreme and call him a leader. He’s still a maturing kid in many ways, evidenced by the suspension but also by his on-field antics at times. A captain? Nope. A good player? Yep. It’s why he’ll be back next season. You don’t give up on athletic left tackles for these sorts of mistakes. It’s a talent-based league after all. But the Redskins would be wise to bring in some sort of strong veteran to mentor him. They don’t have that person now. The fact that he’s a captain is ridiculous. As for his game, Williams has been more consistent and, actually, playing at a . He allowed one pressure, but for the most part he was solid and quiet much of the game. Did like how he blocked two rushers one time during one of the few times New York rushed seven defenders (the Redskins countered with just six blockers. His ability to take two neutralized the rush). Tough to replace.
TE Fred Davis. His blocking isn’t very good. I know he worked on it and he’s improved. But he’s still lacking in this area, but he wasn’t going to get paid this offseason because of his blocking. That’s a bonus. Of course, his suspension will cost him guaranteed cash (but not opportunities). In some ways this might work out well for the Redskins; they can re-sign him for less than they might have otherwise. And, yes, I’d expect them to try and keep Davis. If you rid the locker room of all the guys who smoked marijuana, you’d be in trouble. The stupidity is in getting caught multiple times. That aside, Davis showed once again that he’s a playmaker. He accounted for nearly 33 percent of Washington’s total yardage (99 of 304). He did drop two passes, but he made plays after the catch, gaining 21 yards one time after his grab.
RB Roy Helu. Yes, he fumbled. Last week Rex Grossman threw two picks and was still a stud. Had the fumble led to points, then I’d look at this differently. But the Jets didn’t score after his fumble (a missed field goal; bit lucky). Like Davis, he accounted for most of the offense. Helu finished with 142 yards of offense, including 100 on the ground. The Jets rarely used an eight-man front to stop the run (only three times) so it’s not like they feared the Redskins’ ground game. But Helu hurt them with, once again, his yards after contact. He unofficially gained 69 yards after first contact on his 23 runs. Afterward, Jets linebacker Calvin Pace said, “He was one of the hardest running backs to tackle we have faced all year.” Helu has done a better job of keeping his legs moving and lowering his pad level. Pace, for example, had a tough time stopping him. A couple times Pace would get off a block, but was too upright; Helu would lower his pads as he ran past, leaving Pace trying to tackle him too high. This enabled his feet to keep moving and gain extra yards – or break free. Helu again did a decent job in protection, though he did lower his head and miss a safety blitz. Don’t fret: the Jets’ LaDainian Tomlinson, considered an excellent pass protector, did the same Sunday. Besides, Helu crossed Rex Grossman’s face one time to pick up a blitz from the other side.
PK Graham Gano. I know, bad kickoff. The hang time on his failed bloop was 3.09 seconds, a good second less than on his earlier blooped attempts. It was bad. Here’s the thing: Donte Stallworth could easily have filled the hole to make the tackle and stop the return at the 30-yard line. Stallworth was on the outside but when Josh Baker grabbed the ball, but he easily could have gone inside as he started his return. Anthony Armstrong tried to do so, but was blocked. Stallworth could have and it would have stopped the return at the 30. But Gano’s kickoffs also led to good coverage for the entire game. New York’s Joe McKnight averages 32.4 yards per kick, but averaged 13.0 yards on his three returns Sunday. On one, Gano had a perfect kick along the right side and, thanks to good coverage, McKnight was stopped at the 8-yard line. Gano also made four field goals.
Duds
QB Rex Grossman. It’s hard to top a four-interception game so maybe Sunday’s effort vs. the Jets wasn’t Grossman’s worst game of the season. But this one, too, would be hard to top. He had a handful of drops (unofficially four), but all those would have done is give him a 50 percent completion percentage. Instead, he finished 19 of 46 for 221 yards and an interception. He could have been picked off three other times. Another one was wiped out by a dubious penalty. Grossman rarely looked comfortable in the pocket, especially as the game unfolded. Didn’t like his mechanics (throwing too often off his back foot). Didn’t like his decisions (throwing to small double-covered receivers downfield like David Anderson or trying to throw through three defenders to find Santana Moss in the back of the end zone). There were a handful of times in which he ran play action where the fake was so blasé – no real hint at deception – that the linebackers didn’t budge forward. So they weren’t fooled and the plays weren’t open. David Harris nearly intercepted a pass because the fake was bad, he held his ground and broke on the ball and nearly grabbed it. Another time he threw to Davis as he fell to his left – he wasn’t about to be hit – and the pass was high and behind him. There were plenty of times Grossman had few options because receivers weren’t getting open, especially when the Jets used man coverage. There were a few times where, even after three seconds, Grossman had no one open to hit. But Grossman failed himself – and the Redskins curiously kept trying to ride a quarterback who had no rhythm with receivers who weren’t getting open. The one interception I don’t fault him for; yeah it was a bad decision but it was late and he simply tried to give Davis a chance to make a play. It was irrelevant to the outcome of the game.
RT Jammal Brown. One play ruined his day, but it happened to be a huge one. Aaron Maybin took him upfield then cut inside and Brown was too slow to react. Maybin then drilled Grossman for the sack-fumble that effectively ended the Redskins’ chances of winning. On the play, Williams allowed Calvin Pace to start getting inside him. But his feet enabled him to recover. Brown was fine for much of the game, though he did allow several other pressures. He also buried the end on one run for Helu.
TE Logan Paulsen. He started off strong, even though a failed block on the second play of the game nearly led to a two-yard loss (Helu turned it into a three-yard gain). But Paulsen had three really good blocks on the first drive, including on the touchdown when he showed excellent footwork in getting on his man (end Muhammed Wilkerson). Wilkerson waited for Helu to cut wide, but because Paulsen gained the advantage, Helu cut inside. But Paulsen did not have the same second half and when tight ends miss blocks, it leads to bad plays. The nature of the position. He allowed linebacker Jamaal Westerman to get inside him and drop Helu for a four-yard loss (after a first down run for five yards). Killed momentum. On the next series he allowed Westerman to get around him for a sack. In the fourth quarter Calvin Pace went around him, chasing Grossman out of the pocket. And on the next series he was moved back by Garrett McIntyre, forcing Helu up. A play later Pace moved him back (though Davis’ man made the tackle). Paulsen showed promise early; he struggled late.
WR Santana Moss. In his second game back Moss was unable to provide much production, despite 12 passes thrown his way. He caught just five for 42 yards, but more importantly he dropped two on a late drive that ended in a field goal (cutting the lead to 27-19). The first drop was around the Jets’ 23 with 2:34 left in the game and would have resulted in probably five more yards or so. The second one came on the same series and would have given Washington a first down inside the 15-yard line.
WR Jabar Gaffney. He’s their second leading receiver, and the leading pass-catcher among the wideouts, but was only targeted three times and didn’t catch a pass. We pinged Anthony Armstrong for a lack of production in a game a few weeks back. Well, Gaffney has to do more. Yes, Darrelle Revis covered him, but not on every snap. And not every time that Revis lined up across from him was he in man coverage. To sum it up, the Redskins starting wideouts combined for 15 pass attempts and only five catches. There was just not enough separation.
Notes
…Wasn’t thrilled with Kyle Shanahan’s play calling, but it’s not like every play call was a bad one. The Jets’ defense had a lot to do with their troubles, using a lot of man but mixing in zone in numerous situations. The problem is, the offense lacked any sort of rhythm. He was fairly balanced with his first down calls as Washington ran the ball 12 times on first down compared to 18 throws – but six of those throws came after the Redskins trailed by two scores. The runs averaged 4.42 yards per first-down carry; the passes averaged 5.1 yards per attempt.
It wasn’t just about runs vs. pass. Helu had 11 first-half runs and 12 in the second half. Of Grossman’s 46 passes, 15 came after the Jets took a 20-16 lead and 12 came when they went up by 11. But the Jets rarely used an eight-man front, making this a good time to run more than 23 times. Didn’t like the sequence early in the second quarter (after the interception that was negated by a penalty). The Redskins had a first and 10 at their own 47 and had shown that they could run well. But the next three passes, with an inconsistent Grossman, were incomplete and they had to punt.
They passed the ball six of their first eight plays in the fourth quarter, but they also moved from their own 14 to the Jets’ 40. And Shanahan, especially late in the third and in the fourth, seemed to try and hit the Jets with first-down throws vs. their base front and try to run against their nickel. It didn’t work well enough.
…The Redskins ran 12 red zone plays and gained 34 yards, but 14 came on the first trip inside the 20. Overall, they ran four times for 14 yards and a touchdown and threw eight times, completing four, for 20 yards – and no score.
…Did not like Will Montgomery’s shotgun snaps at all. So I decided to time each one: the fastest got back to Grossman in .28 seconds, which is OK. But of the 31 shotgun snaps, 21 took .40 seconds or longer to reach Grossman. One took .89 seconds to reach him while four others took at least .50 seconds. That’s an eternity when you’re in the pocket and it can mess up the timing of the drop back and the routes. On a handful of occasions Grossman was already moving backwards when the ball arrived. For what it’s worth, on the snap that took .89 seconds, Grossman still completed a seven-yard pass to Moss. But this is an issue. There were too many blooped snaps.
Contrast that with Nick Mangold’s snaps to Mark Sanchez. I wasn’t going watch every one of his shotgun snaps. But of the 10 I watched nine were sent back to Sanchez in .28 seconds or less. The longest one took .31 seconds. Every snap I saw of his was received right in Sanchez’s midsection.
…Since we’re in a shotgun mode: Grossman completed 12 of 30 for 150 yards and an interception from this formation. He was sacked once and fumbled.
…The Redskins started four drives from their own 43-yard line or better and managed just three field goals. And two of those drives started at the Jets’ 18 and 31, respectively. Those both ended in field goals.
…The Jets were aggressive but it’s more based on deception and overloads, allowing them the feel of blitzing yet still covering with six or seven.
For example, on the third play of the second half (a third and nine), their look caused confusion along the left side of the line. Aaron Maybin lined up in a four-point stance wide of left tackle Trent Williams. Maybin started upfield, then cut back inside. A safety and another linebacker (Calvin Pace) trailed him, causing running back Roy Helu to block to the outside. Typically, a running back’s job is to pick up the most dangerous man (the guy rushing inside). But Maybin’s path was created in part because of linebacker David Harris. He took two steps at guard Maurice Hurt, drawing his attention. With two other defenders behind Maybin freezing Williams, a path opened inside. He did not sack Grossman, but his pressure resulted in a hurried incompletion. So only four rushers, but three were sent at or near left tackle and a fifth’s deception served as an extra rusher.
