Donovan and Distance-- Mr. McNabb threw for 236 yards and a touchdown... but went just 10-of-19 with and interception after halftime. It is refreshing to see him throw long--something that didn't happen with Jason Campbell at the controls. Eleven of his nineteen completions went to Santana Moss and Chris Cooley-- but that's more of a reflection of the quality of his receivers than McNabb's ability to distribute the ball.
Eighteen... I don't like it-- Indianapolis Colts President Bill Polian said the league moving to an 18 game schedule is "fait accompli"... and I can't get excited about extending the best pro regular season. More games means more injuries and shorter careers. More games means the Colts sandbag their last month instead of just the last few weeks. More games turns a perfect race into a monster marathon.
Second Half? You can have it-- Sunday the Skins were outscored 16-3 in the third and fourth quarters. And this isn't an isolated incident-- this fall the team's been outscored 46-13 after intermission. One would think that after a more rigorous training camp this team would be stronger in the second half-- and so far that hasn't been the case.
Timing is everything-- this past Sunday San Francisco played a 1pm Eastern time game in Kansas City (actually noon local time)-- 10am in California. Oakland had a week one game in Tennesee at 10am Pacific time. Seattle and San Diego also have a few 1pm ET starts... not just messing their body clocks but putting their games front and center when the bulk of their casual fan base won't be watching. The league should have whenever possible- no 1pm ET kickoffs for Mountain and Pacific teams.
Third Down and Out-- once again the Skins had issues moving the chains... 1-for-10 on third down. The team is 6 of 33 for the season-- at 18 percent the worst in the NFL. In the postgame press conference Coach Mike Shanahan credited Rams quarterback Sam Bradford for playing well, saying "quarterbacks make their money converting third downs-- and he made the plays"... not exactly throwing Donovan McNabb under the bus, but still...Moore, Moore, Moore... or Safety First-- Kareem Moore's return to the lineup provided instant impact... his interception of a Sam Bradford pass averted a first half meltdown (skins were trailing 14-0 and just had a punt blocked)... the team's lone true free safety notched 5 tackles and an assist as well.
Tracking the Triumvirate, or what's left of it-- the Downsized firm of Thomas & Davis posted a pair of catches (both by Fred) tallying 11 yards. While Devin returned six kickoffs for an average of 28.3 yards with a long of 31, he's yet to catch a pass this fall...bringing the group tally to 3 for 73 on the year-- a pro ration of 16 catches and 389 yards with no touchdowns. Shades of 2008.
Dissecting the Division-- Philadelphia leads the NFC East at 2-1 after smacking Jacksonville in the mouth 28-3... and looks very good with Michael Vick at the controls (3 touchdown passes plus a TD run against the Jaguars). The Skins own the tiebreaker with Dallas and the New York Giants for second place thanks to their week one win over the Cowboys.
What's a Haynesworth?-- The 100 million dollar man tallied no tackles, sacks or sideline arguments for the second straight Sunday. Although this week he wasn't de-activated so I guess more is expected. He did draw a double team that helped Brian Orakpo notch the team's lone sack. Meanwhile the new 3-4 defense is ranked last in the league.
Not so Special Teams-- St. Louis blocked a Graham Gano punt in the first half-- yes, you read that correctly. Gano was punting as Josh Bidwell injured himself in pregame warmups (Gano punted in college). But for the third straight week a there was a major special teams breakdown.
No comments:
Post a Comment