David Gaines Posts

So what have we learned from Sunday's performance now that the fuzzy warm feelings have faded away?

The Redskins are better than the Texans. We already knew that.

Mark Brunell can complete screens and dump-offs accurately. We already knew that.

Clinton Portis completely changes the game. We already knew that.

There has to be something that we've learned, other than Ladell Betts is much better coming off the bench, but everything that was obvious is not what we need to learn to be that team we expected to see during the offseason.

Can Mark Brunell throw downfield? If you take away Clinton Portis' 74-yard scamper in which he did all the work, Brunell only racked up 187 total passing yards. With proper protection he won't throw the ball away as quickly as previous games, but he still seemed to go to his checkdown way too quickly and sometimes not even giving them time to really get in a position to make a play afterwards because the ball came too quickly. And he probably wouldn't have had so much time to throw the ball if the line wasn't called for numerous holding penalties.

The defense played much better, but that's only relative to their pass performances. Playing against a QB who gets sacked on average more than three times a game, it makes you question how the defensive line only sacked him once. And a rookie got a piece of it. As far as the secondary, I thought Reed Doughty put on Adam Archuleta's jersey and simply made rookie mistakes, but it was the $30 million safety biting on play fakes and leaving his deep zone wide open. Texan WR scorched the secondary for 152 yards. Who was covering him? Carlos Rogers, the next coming of Champ Bailey?

So what did we learn? Well, there was Derrick Frost and his booming kicks, averaging 56 yards a kick.

[NOTE: I am resisting all urges to post that I am 100% confident Jason Campbell could've made the same screen passes, short dumpoffs, checkdowns to RBs standing a few yards in front of the line of scrimmage and handed the ball off to Portis. Would Campbell have completed 22 in a row? Probably not. Al Saunders would've probably called a real passing play and went downfield to one of the numerous playmakers, and maybe even connected on one or two. But for now, I'll just trust Joe Gibbs' intuition that Mark Brunell is our best chances of winning a Super Bowl.]

Well it's about time. Only, coming against the NFL's worst defense, what do we make out of it?

In a league in which dynasties are no longer a realistic possibility and every year a team or two rises from the ashes to shock the world, every victory is a hard-fought victory that shouldn't be taken for granted. And from the looks of how the Redskins have performed in the preseason and the first two weeks, beating the Texans the way they did was impressive.

So what was it that brought the Redskins to form? Was it the return of Clinton Portis? Was it Mark Brunell getting some extra time to throw the rock? Was it Al Saunders' play calling? Or was it simply a combination of everything?

Obviously football is one of those games in which there's no such thing as a one man team like the NBA. If an offensive lineman doesn't do his job, the passing and running game suffers. If a receiver drops a key pass, the momentum can shift and the game lost. If the offense scores 35 points and the defense gives up 36, what difference will it make.

In addition to the 22 starters, the backups have to execute as well. What's the point developing a running game if on a 3rd and short, the backup comes in and fumbles. Or the nickel back gets burned. And then there's the special teams. The game is based on field position. If the opponents' average starting position is around the 35, the defense's job already got harder. John Hall has to make his kicks. Derrick Frost has to continue to pin opponents' offenses deep.

And then there's the coaching staff. What happened to the explosive offensive play calling by Al Saunders or the suffocating defense by Gregg Williams? If is just player execution or can the coaching staff make better decisions as to what to call and when? Is Joe Gibbs involved in any of the play calling at all?

All the attention so far has ended up with Mark Brunell. As I watch all the pregame shows and read all the articles on the internet, fingers are being pointed everywhere but eventually being pointed at Mark Brunell. I'm pointing the finger at Mark Brunell.

But I also feel that the other 21 starters, handful of key backups and the entire coaching staff needs some finger pointing. Jon Jansen looked terrible against the Cowboys. I liked him better with two broken thumbs. The secondary is playing like a practice squad. David Carr had an impressive game last weekend, but he was overshadowed by Peyton Manning's performance. If we think Carr is vulnerable (he has the NFL's third best passer rating), he might put up better numbers than the two aging QBs we've faced so far. The d-line spends all game dancing with the o-line. Adam Archuleta is a heat seeking missile looking for the football instead of where the football is going. Andre Carter? Hello?

There are a lot of individuals that can get a finger, but ultimately, it's a team sport. The ultimate team sport. Hopefully the 0-2 start has refocused everyone and instead of spending all week whether or not Mark Brunell should be the starter, let's hope everyone collectively can figure out how to make it easier for him to do whatever he does and win some games. If it's Todd Collins or Jason Campbell back there, everyone still has to do what they do better in order for it to make a difference.

After a successful season last year and another high profile offseason, the Redskins entered the season with some experts saying they could possibly represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Even Sports Illustrated predicted the Redskins to finish first in the division and winning a playoff game.

But after only two weeks, not only are the Redskins looking disappointing, they don't even look like they'll be competitive. One of the key reasons (out of many) is the absolute lack of a running threat. Offensive guru Al Saunders is known for his power running games which set up aerial assaults no matter who was the QB. So far, though, his offense looks no better than Steve Spurrier's offense.

Going into the season some even said Ladell Betts could be a starter on most teams. Others even said TJ Duckett could given a chance. With those two lining up behind one of the NFL's marquee RBs, the Redskins looked like they had one of the best RB tandems in the league. The most productive runner on the team so far is Santana Moss (4 rushes for 47 yards averaging 11.8 yards a carry), only he's supposed to be catching passes. Ladell Betts has more yards but is only averaging 3.3 yards a carry. Ironically, the leading receiver stat-wise is Ladell Betts with 10 catches. The only rushing TD is scored by, well, Clinton Portis.

But it's not too late. Clinton Portis is back, and Saunders is addressing the need to refocus on the run. Joe Gibbs mentioned the reason the passing game hasn't been effective is defenses are keeping an extra man in coverage taking away the deep threat because there is no running game to fear. Mark Brunell has thrown for no TDs and has a QB rating of 67.7. With Portis lining up, though, things are expected to change.

And it helps that we're playing Houston this weekend. Their defense is giving up an average of 127 yards rushing a game (though only two games) and a whopping 350 yards passing (thanks primarily to Peyton Manning). QBs have completed 68.5% of their attempts (73 attempts so far).

This is the weekend for the Redskins to gain some traction and develop some momentum, self-confidence and more importantly, some respect. It all begins with the running game and if it can't be established against the Texans, brace yourself for a long season.

Last year every week, I would check Fox Sports' power rankings and every week the Redskins consistently was ranked in the top 10. Even when they were 5-6, the Redskins would be ranked high enough to make the playoffs. People questioned how this could be, and Fox consistently wrote, "We use a system based off this and that and some other stuff so how the Redskins got ranked that high every weekend, well, we have no idea..."

Sure enough, the formula was right and not only did the Redskins make the playoffs, they even won a game vindicating Fox Sports' power ranking system.

So, I checked them out recently to get an idea of what the HAL of NFL rankings thinks so far, and sure enough, there's been a change of heart. The disappointing thing is that the Redskins are ranked 25th. But there is some good news. The Houston Texans are ranked 31st!

The complicated formula is based a lot on previous games, but not all of them. It's something like the last eight. Since we're only two weeks into the season, maybe the formula is just getting warmed up. So, I checked out CBS Sportsline. They have the Redskins ranked two places higher at number 23, but they have the Texans tanked three spots better than Fox does, coming in at 28th.

Well, let's take it to those who really know football. Those who put money where their mouth is. I checked out Covers.com to see what they think. And slowly but surely we're moving up the rankings already. They have the Redskins ranked at number 20 and the Texans at number 29.

Power rankings are supposed to give you an idea of what a team's season is going to look like when the dust settles and not how it looked in the previous games. Perhaps many people think the Redskins are that bad. They also forget that football is a 16 game season. They're also probably the same ones who predicted the Redskins to win the division during the offseason. After a few victories, we'll revisit the rankings and see who finally decided to base their rankings off how the season is going to end and not how it looks right now.

Well, Clinton Portis is back, but Shawn Springs is going to miss another game this weekend after straining his groin when he tried practicing Wednesday afternoon. Springs had surgery Aug. 14 to repair an abdominal muscle that had torn from the pelvic bone. The injury Wednesday did not aggravate that injury, but how much better is it to have two injuries?

Through the first two games so far, the Redskins' defense allowed two aging QBs to shine, Mark Brunell not one of them. Brad Johnson consistently picked apart the secondary, specifically picking on Carlos Rogers, making sure no one in Minnesota is missing Daunte Culpepper (actually, Culpepper is doing that himself). Then just when Tony Romo was gearing up to be the next Cowboys QB, Drew Bledsoe had a consistent game, stayed off his back and threw his way to a victory at the expense of the Redskins' secondary. And that was without an effective T.O.

Without Springs, the corners will be manned by Carlos Rogers, Kenny Wright and Mike Rumph. Adam Archuleta is going to have to figure out how to play pass defense, Marcus Washington is going to have to keep pace covering TEs and the defensive line is going to have to put some heat on David Carr.

Springs may return week four, but there are no guarantees even that will happen. An MRI revealed an abductor sprain, ummm, whatever that means. All I know is they said something about a groin problem. That can't be good.

If you've never been to a Redskins game at FedEx Field, there is no way possible to describe the atmosphere so that you can understand the energy in the air. When you have almost 90,000 people screaming at the top of their lungs, it's like putting your ears on a vacuum cleaner. The decibel level is shattering!

But not everyone who attends the games can hear. You see, the National Association of the Deaf filed the class-action lawsuit Aug. 31 in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, on behalf of three fans from Maryland who regularly attend home games. The three are deaf. So when announcements are made over the loudspeaker, obviously, they can't hear it.

One of the issues brought up was when a player gets ejected, deaf fans don't know why. All they know is Sean Taylor is sitting on the sidelines when the game is coming down to the wire. It should be obvious if this happens why Taylor is sitting on the sidelines next to Jason Campbell, but wouldn't it be easier to simply read why and know for sure?

One solution being suggested is offering closed-captioning in the stadium. The University of Texas has it for their games, making it obvious that Daniel Snyder can open up his pocketbook and make it possible at FedEx Field. Another idea floating around was providing deaf and hearing-impaired fans with seven-inch televisions, which would pick up captioning in the stadium.

Who knows, maybe they can even give a few of the seven-inch TVs to those fans who have seats in the sections where part of the field is blocked from their view and they have to rely on the big screens to see what's going on.

Let's see.The Redskins traded some draft picks, including first rounders to move up in the draft to select Auburn QB Jason Campbell. He joined a roster with Mark Brunell who had just signed a serious contract though people felt he was washed up after losing his job to a new guy named Byron Leftwich. Competing for the starting position with Brunell was supposed to be the future in Patrick Ramsey, another first round QB waiting patiently for his chance to shine.

And then Brunell began his decline last year after the Giants game (when Ramsey came in and secured the win), and Brunell is continuing his deterioration through last week. Yet Campbell still rides the pine. And Campbell's not slated as Brunell's backup (sorta). If Brunell goes down in a game, Todd Collins hands the clipboard to Campbell and gets to play a little football (and essentially prove why he's a career backup).

Ummm, this is confusing.

I believe in Joe Gibbs. If he decided to coach DC United (the soccer team), I'd put money that they'd win the championship within three years and Freddy Adu would be MVP of the league and the championship. If Gibbs says he's resting Portis for the long season instead of risking any aggravation to his sore shoulder, well, I'll zip my lip and take his word on it. If Gibbs says let LaVar Arrington, Fred Smoot, Antonio Pierce, Laveranues Coles, Ryan Clark and even Patrick Ramsey go that we'll be okay, I'll suck it up and invest some faith in the decision.

But trading away the draft picks and future QB of Washington for someone just to give him a front row seat to the implosion of potentially the NFL's most explosive offense is just a decision that's hard for me to understand.

Now I'm not suggesting Campbell should absolutely be starting next week in Houston. But is he having a hard time learning Al Saunders' playbook (like Mark Brunell)? I'll buy that. Is he having a hard time figuring out the difference between cover two and eight in the box (like Mark Brunell)? I'll take my chances. Is Jason Campbell simply not the QB we thought we were getting (like Mark Brunell)? I'll tolerate the mistakes.

If anything, quit sounding so confident Mark Brunell will lead us to the Super Bowl! If he does, I won't complain, but right about now, hearing how good he performed under pressure in a 27-10 beating to Dallas of all teams makes me start questioning the decision-making process that once brought three Lombardi Trophies to Redskins Park.

If Mark Brunell can't convince anyone that he should still be the starting QB, someone else please educate me before I start assuming that Jason Campbell is riding the pine because he plays like Mark Brunell.

Well, we got a glimpse of him in week one and sorely missed him last week. But it now looks like Clinton Portis is ready to go.

After a seriously flawed offense in week one got worse in week two, the return of Portis brings some relief. Of course, he isn't the QB, nor does he play defense, but as long as he does what he does best, the offense should run smoother and the defense should get more than four or five plays off before they head back to the field.

Without Portis the Vikings and Cowboys were able to keep an extra set of eyes on Santana Moss while bringing some heat. With Moss buried behind opposing jerseys and Mark Brunell not having the time to look for Brandon Lloyd, Antwaan Randle El or Chris Cooley (or anyone for that matter), I'm wishing the preseason was six games long.

With Portis lining up in the backfield, defenses are going to have to cheat up to the line if they don't want him dancing in the end zone. And as soon as they come out of cover two coverage and rolling extra help to Moss, maybe, just maybe Mark Brunell will have more options than sideline, turf and the other team.

Now that the glass half full looks more like it's half empty, let's take a more realistic snapshot of what the Redskins are working with. It's easy to let the 0-2 record get us down, but last year's team, which was less talented (on paper at least) was 5-6 before making a run for the playoffs.

So what's going on this year? Are we really that bad? Is there any hope left for a run for the Lombardi Trophy?