Alls I know is LaRon Landry was all over the first quarter
The Redskins win a shortened game on a weathery night at home 13-7 against the Ravens. I turned on the game a few minutes before 8pm Saturday night and was mildly pissed surprised to see CBS channel 9 sports director Brett Haber in a director's chair inside the tunnel (never seen that before so that was pretty cool) yap yap yapping away about a weather delay. For most of the previous two hours, Curly R worldwide headquarters in Alexandria Virginia had been buffeted by one of the worst storm cells I had seen in some time and our power had been flickering on and off.
The team had been pulled off the field and the fans been sent back to their cars as lightning was striking everywhere (I mean this was a really bad summer storm complete with wind, lightning, big lightning and when I did the thing from Poltergeist where you count the seconds after the flash before the clap the intervals kept getting shorter and shorter and I moved away from all window where a tree might get me, c'mon it was a scary movie), there were even some car alarms going off on my street our building's street. Brett Haber was complaining that he had been shocked by his earpiece and his bottleblonde co-talking head (Sara? Kelli? Brandi?) still looked fabulous.
I saw Brett do a quickie (lol, pun intended) interview with Chris Cooley, an interview that was interrupted by Mike Sellers who was wearing some mean-looking eyeblack. Chris Cooley is a goof and then Brett landed Chris Samuels who did not seem put off by the fact that the only thing Brett wanted to know about was Jon Jansen's RV. Apparently only offensive linemen and quarterbacks have an all-access pass. E'eyone else got to check in.
Conditions cleared and the team filed out onto the field. Then filed back with more lightning. Brett got hold of Jason Campbell and asked him about his knee, which he said was sore but if it were regular season he'd go (love that spirit...). Brett then hilariously said that Dan Snyder, Redskins team and stadium owner himself, had walked right past Brett's broadcast position to 'personally inspect' the field, to be sure 'his investment' (the team, I guess?) would not be damaged by these conditions. LOL, like Dan Snyder knows turf conditions. Shit the guy probably hasn't pushed a lawnmower since suing his dad in middle school.
At about ten past nine pm the game got started and boy did the Redskins look good...basically. LaRon Landry is a freaking play magnet. On the first drive alone he laid a crushing special teams hit on the opening kickoff return, defensed a pass on the first play and stopped Willis McGahee over left side on the second play. In the Ravens second drive he laid out tight end Quinn Sypniewski and put a pop on Steve McNair in the backfield forcing an incomplete.
Curly R aside to to Brian Billick: if you blitz 70% of the time in preseason because as I heard you say on Sirius NFL Radio, that's the defense we run and we need to see if these guys can run it, and you are aiming to harass opposing quarterbacks and knock them around, don't be too surprised when Andre Carter breaks through the line that he does not let up when ramming his shoulder into Steve McNair's 34 year old sternum.
Somewhere in there Todd Collins made an incredible 40-yard pass down the left sideline to Santana Moss who caught it in coverage like it was a marble rye from the heavens, there were a bunch of penalties, some weak running and then a Shaun Suisham 45 yard field goal, Redskins were up 3-0.
Just as the Ravens were getting the ball back, the second line of storms were heading over me, shorter but more violent and my power, just went out. That was 9:39 pm. It did not come back until 1 pm Sunday. All the evac and game details, I read that and heard that on the radio the next day but did not see it until later that night. The next morning we left for a day trip to Charlottesville.
In one of the most serendipitous occasions in some time, I walked back into my house at about 7:15 pm Sunday from our trip, the power was on and I switched on the TV to Comcast SportsNet (I had seen my wife folding laundry to a replay of the Titans game two weeks earlier, the day after the game, on CSN, yes who is the lucky guy with the wife that loves football? Mm-hmm, me) and guess just what was on? The game, and right at the point of Shaun Suisham's 45 yard field goal. So I hit record on my DVR and went back about my bidness. I'll watch the rest of the game before the Jaguars game and comment here and in the preview thread.
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So as far as the rest of the game, it was an incomplete opportunity for evaluation and the rest of this gamewrap reflects that.
The running game did not have much power (13 runs for 35 yards, 2.5 yards per carry with no runner over 13 yards though my boy Marcus Mason averaged five yards a carry), the passing game was pretty anemic if you take out the 40 yard completion (7 of 14 for 44 yards without that play).
The starting defense was again pretty fierce but did not force a turnover though in fairness I'll take a defense that harasses opponents into conservative play less likely to generate a turnover over a gambling defense that basically lets opponents do as they please hoping for the big play to generate a turnover.
Many of the bubble players did not get the chance to play in this game which is unfortunate since the next to last preseason game is the last place to get a fair shake in action. By the last game the biggest cuts have happened a a lot fewer guys are competing fopr a bunch fewer spots.
Many questions going into the last week of preseason:
What's up with Jason Campbell's knee? So he did not suffer a catastrophic injury. Is his knee weakened ripe for a blowout in a game or two? Who's the backup quarterback? It seems odd to me that Todd Collins is suddenly the go-to guy in Jason's absence when Joe Gibbs done stood by his man Mark Brunell for three seasons when most of us who watched the games knew Mark's arm doesn't have the strength left to pull a greased string through a rat's ass. Such manic flip-flopping can be emblematic of lack of confidence and/or mild desperation.
To be fair, during the weather delay we did see tape of Jason on the field throwing passes, pretty much at full strength, just not running around. I was happy to see Jason looks up to Steve McNair who has tended to Jason as he grew up. Before Steve was an NFL ironman known for getting the shit beat out of him and hanging in he was a record-setting and precedent-setting quarterback at Alcorn State overcoming many prejudgements about his abilities and the quality of competition he faced in college.
Who will be a left tackle? Will Chris Samuels be back for the opener? He has not played a preseason game and if he is not in there for the opener will the Redskins offer up Stephon Heyer even with Todd Wade now no longer hacking it at left guard?
Who will be a left tackle? Pete Kendall is brand new, will he get up to speed or are we looking at Todd Wade or Mike Pucillo to start the season and hoping that Pete gets in there after a game or two?
What's up with Clinton Portis? He hasn't seen any full-speed action and is the team already prepping for the 'getting up to speed' apologies if he flails in the first couple of games? There seems to be a cloud over the running game in general and I think it is unrealistic to pin all hopes of its return on a guy coming back from injury that has not worked with the team in games.
Who's the strongside linebacker? The Redskins waited until the starter dislocated his elbow (ouch!) before cutting the backup with six years experience with the team. The replacement, Randall Godfrey is 34 years old and we don't even know if he'll be ready for the Thursday game against the Jaguars.
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Dillweed at Post Game Heroes continues their new tradition (instant classic?) and breaks down the offensive play which validates they were not awful but could improve and defensive play which validates they were everywhere. MUST READ.
Tom Boswell captures my sense of uncertaintly. Y'know last season everything seemed fit for a Super Bowl run and the team miserably disappointed so why this season is it ok to feel the team has disappointed in preseason but will turn it around when the games go live?
Elder sports statesman George Solomon (who once turned me down for a job) blends the O-line and linebacker situations down into a great-tasting shake.
Next up, Jaguars 7:30 pm Thursday at Jaguars Stadium.
NFL box score, recap, full play by play. Washington Post box score, recap.
Storm at Redskins Stadium: Greg Fiume / Getty Images from here. Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwich: CNN from here.
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