I dont want to pump the Brakes but this Win did not impress me one bit, the exception being Cooper showing he is a true #1 and our Young LBs.
Reasons:
- Dak is still bad. Throwing Technique is awful, no Field Vision, Dances around under Pressure, No Pocket Presence, Takes idiotic Sacks instead of throwing it away, misses wide open Guys left and right.
He played a solid 2nd half and the TD Run was very nice in which he showed what things he can do on the field but Overall hes been bad this game and still doesnt improve. Im at the point were im close to giving up on him. I think he reached his ceiling. He actually had better Vision, Pocket Presence etc. in his Rookie Year. He declined really badly.
His Stats look good this Game cause of Coopers Work. Those Big "Throwing TDs" were literally 10-15 Yard Passes that Coop took for the big gain by himself.
- Linehan Needs to go quickly. Again Cooper saved his butt because the playcalling was again pedestrian and predictable. I dont know how many times he forced Zeke to run into a 9man Box. I called out 80% of the Plays from the Couch knowing exactly what was coming up. This is the lamest offense ive ever seen. First half might have been the worst called Offense ive seen. Calling three Passes on 1st & Goal not running Zeke one time then we get sacked back 20 Yards for a FG. Watching paint dry is more exciting than his stuff.
- D-Line doesnt get Pressure. The D-Line didnt really get to Colt McCoy besides playing mostly JAGs on the Skins O-Line. They should have murdered him all game Long. Besides D-Law and sometimes Crawford there was literally no pressure. Been like this for a few weeks now. If they dont get pressure next week Brees will throw for 500 easily.
- Our Secondary cant catch and cant cover the middle. We still have no clue how to catch a Ball. The INTs that McCoy Threw were gifts right in the Hand. They should have gotten atleast 3 more that Game. We cant cover TEs to save our life. Awuzie is terrible. Dude got Stone Hands. He should have around 5 Picks for the Season by now.
- Playing a depleted Skins Team. This should have been a Blowout ala JAX. They literally have half a Team of Backups now with all the Injuries. McCoy had the jitters all game long. We should have put the Game away much much earlier. This should have been a Blowout. Yes i know NFCE Games are never easy but this game actually was and it was from the Start. The Commanders probably couldnt believe that they were still in it until the last Minute or so..
- Garrett still has no clue how to manage a Lead in the 4th. We wasted basically all our Timeouts for stupid reasons and gave the Commanders free breaks. Cant have that against good Teams. They were not even trying for 1st Downs in the last Minutes of the Game. Mr. Ultra Conservative strikes again.
- O-Line is bad. The Left Side got destroyed. 2nd half was way better but against a good Team we trail by 14+ in the first Half with them playing like this. Need to get serviceable Backups this Offseason especially since T-Smith is the Sean Lee of the O-Line.
- Special Teams are horrendous. Thank god the Commanders never really took Advantage of all the great Field Position all Game. Calling Fair Catches inside the 10 without Defenders behind multiple Times. Not letting Balls go out of Bounds...giving up huge Returns. Cant have that against better Teams.
- Penalties. We got away with huge penalties for the first time in a good while. If they call them like they happened this might become a different game. The stuff we did was beyond dumb like the helmet to helmet murder at the end or the blatant hold from our Secondary on that last McCoy INT. Also that stupid Zeke / Dak Salvation Army Bucket Thing literally gave them free 7 Points...Cant have that.
On a side note: Our LBs are the real deal, well 2/3. Lee should retire and be LB Coach next Season. LVE is the best Pick since Zach Martin.
This Team still screams 8-8 to me which will furthermore lead to no changes that are necessary. Garrett and Dak will get extend in the Offseason, they probably even Keep Linehan if they finish 8-8 or even squeeze into the Playoffs.
