Chuck 54
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1. Are we still really an "NFC East" team? For the past 3 decades, at least, the NFC East has been considered one of the best divisions in the NFL. The NFC East has much more "black and blue" than the Black and Blue division. It is easily argued that the reason the Skins, Giants, and Cowboys have so many Lombardy Trophies (and the reason the Eagles are always competitive and have won the division and made it to the Show) is because it's a physically demanding division.
The NFC East, whether they have the stars to win it all or not, beats up on the league because they always play physical, hardnosed defense and they run the football whether they run it well or not...they run it and run it and wear teams down by the 4th quarter.
So my question, despite last year's 13-3 season, are we still an NFC East team. Even in our lowly 5-11 seasons, our smallish defense with its thin secondary, played tough, hardnosed football and made teams earn every yard, often ranking high in total defense even when wearing down in the 4th.
Our offense ran the football, even when Troy Hambrick was the best RB we could send out there...we still ran and ran and ran.
Our defense looks good on paper, but certainly the toughness, both physical and mental, looks like anything but an NFC East team, and our offense no longer has the WILL and determination to run and run and make it work.
I think we have become a finese team, and while I loved putting up big points last season and at the start of this season, our team hasn't been physical or punishing for a long time...the closest we got to being physical was last season when we'd bring MBIII in to spell JJ...then it seemed the OL and everyone else wanted to hit someone.
2. What hurts our running game more, the OL or the lack of a really good FB? There aren't that many teams who run the ball exceptionally without a FB...unless they have one of the top OLs and RBs in the league. I love MBIII, but we do not have a super star RB, and I really believe our offense would run the ball better with a true FB rather than with two TE's. Cricket has his fans, but this guy is not a true NFL fullback. I'd love to see MBIII getting a better head start with a stud FB taking on the first guy through the hole rather than hoping our TE or one of our OLmen can get on the backer.
3. Why is it that every year we laugh at the Skins' draft because they never do anything about their weak DL...every year we think they can't rush the passer and have no one to stop the run...so why is it we can't run the ball down their throats? I hope tonight's game allows someone to log on and make fun of me for this question...I'd be thrilled.
No more questions...win or lose tonight, my questions remain. Our lack of physicality on both sides of the ball really bothers me, especially in our division. Even in our victory over Philly, our win was really all about big plays by our offense. I love big plays, but it seems to me that while we have most of the high draft picks and big names, we lose the battle at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball when we go up against our NFC East rivals. That's not all about coaching, I don't think. Our guys just seem to still think that being "good" is good enough.
I hope they've learned that this is not true. I hope we come out and win the LOS tonight. I hope we win big and in an impressive fashion. Frankly, I hope it's not all about Romo, TO, Williams and Witten tonight. I would love nothing more than to wake up tomorrow morning smiling and thinking about MBIII and our OL.
Until we start winning in the trenches, the most we can hope for in any game is to win by scoring on big plays...that usually doesn't translate very well in December and into the playoffs.
The NFC East, whether they have the stars to win it all or not, beats up on the league because they always play physical, hardnosed defense and they run the football whether they run it well or not...they run it and run it and wear teams down by the 4th quarter.
So my question, despite last year's 13-3 season, are we still an NFC East team. Even in our lowly 5-11 seasons, our smallish defense with its thin secondary, played tough, hardnosed football and made teams earn every yard, often ranking high in total defense even when wearing down in the 4th.
Our offense ran the football, even when Troy Hambrick was the best RB we could send out there...we still ran and ran and ran.
Our defense looks good on paper, but certainly the toughness, both physical and mental, looks like anything but an NFC East team, and our offense no longer has the WILL and determination to run and run and make it work.
I think we have become a finese team, and while I loved putting up big points last season and at the start of this season, our team hasn't been physical or punishing for a long time...the closest we got to being physical was last season when we'd bring MBIII in to spell JJ...then it seemed the OL and everyone else wanted to hit someone.
2. What hurts our running game more, the OL or the lack of a really good FB? There aren't that many teams who run the ball exceptionally without a FB...unless they have one of the top OLs and RBs in the league. I love MBIII, but we do not have a super star RB, and I really believe our offense would run the ball better with a true FB rather than with two TE's. Cricket has his fans, but this guy is not a true NFL fullback. I'd love to see MBIII getting a better head start with a stud FB taking on the first guy through the hole rather than hoping our TE or one of our OLmen can get on the backer.
3. Why is it that every year we laugh at the Skins' draft because they never do anything about their weak DL...every year we think they can't rush the passer and have no one to stop the run...so why is it we can't run the ball down their throats? I hope tonight's game allows someone to log on and make fun of me for this question...I'd be thrilled.
No more questions...win or lose tonight, my questions remain. Our lack of physicality on both sides of the ball really bothers me, especially in our division. Even in our victory over Philly, our win was really all about big plays by our offense. I love big plays, but it seems to me that while we have most of the high draft picks and big names, we lose the battle at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball when we go up against our NFC East rivals. That's not all about coaching, I don't think. Our guys just seem to still think that being "good" is good enough.
I hope they've learned that this is not true. I hope we come out and win the LOS tonight. I hope we win big and in an impressive fashion. Frankly, I hope it's not all about Romo, TO, Williams and Witten tonight. I would love nothing more than to wake up tomorrow morning smiling and thinking about MBIII and our OL.
Until we start winning in the trenches, the most we can hope for in any game is to win by scoring on big plays...that usually doesn't translate very well in December and into the playoffs.
