The Redskins will beat the Packers if….
- ….the NFL is what I think it is. Recent NFL impressions are always the most dangerous. What you see one week more often than not looks like something totally different the next. The Redskins seemed to be overly impressed with themselves after their Week 1 win over the Cardinals so Easy Jay had his team ready for a square dance instead of a football game last week against the Colts. This week will probably be different. I expect the Redskins to play with desperation today. With an early bye week on deck and the prospect of complete gloom and doom for two weeks if they don’t play well, this is one of those moments in an NFL season where a capable team rises up. Yes, I think the Redskins are capable. They have players on their roster who have won games like these before. Add to that, they are playing a team with its best player wounded.
- ….they pressure and hit Aaron Rodgers. The Redskins need to make Aaron Rodgers pay dearly today for standing in the pocket with a bum knee and hoping the head referee will protect him. I don’t see the Packers running it easily. Hit him legally, pressure him into awkward quick throws, and then that leads to next key….
- ….they tackle well. Limiting yards after the catch is a major key today. Graham, Adams, and Cobb are going to be targeted and will have plenty of catches but if the Skins’ defense tackles well ensuring 5- yd catches don’t become 15-yd+ catches, it will be a good day. Yes, it would be nice to keep Rodgers from playing pitch and catch but tackling well and limiting big chain-moving plays is a must. Completion percentages will be high for both teams, limiting YAC will be a priority.
- ….if they take what the defense gives them! They didn’t last week. The adjustment this week is not to take deep shots for the sake of taking deep shots but to take what Green Bay gives them. The Packers will play more man coverage than the Colts did which may allow for more deep shots. Then again, after seeing the Skins struggle against an Indy team that played zone exclusively, perhaps the Packers mix in more zone today. Last week, the Skins didn’t take advantage of what was offered up enough. I would start with this. Get the best players on the field more. Jordan Reed played 40 of 74 snaps against Indy. That’s not enough. He, Chris Thompson, Jamison Crowder and I think Vernon Davis need to be on the field and be the players who touch the ball the most. Gruden is usually very good at finding match-ups that work and scheming up ways to take advantage of those match-ups. Cousins riddled Green Bay last week at Lambeau. Yes he has much better receivers but the Vikings had no running game and were still able to throw for 425 yards and 4 touchdowns. I just don’t know what this Skins’ running game is at this point. The Week 1 success in Arizona seems like it will end up being the aberration. I’m not counting on it at this point. Give me Reed (while he’s healthy!) for no less than 80% of the offensive snaps today and get him the ball if it’s there. If the attention is paid to him, get it to Crowder or Thompson or Davis. Why am I not mentioning wide receivers, why would I? Their best receivers are the guys I’ve already mentioned. Gruden needs to work his offense magic and find ways to get his best players the ball. Motion, stacks, whatever it takes. It puts a lot on Alex Smith but Gruden has told us in so many ways that Smith is better than the guy he had here the last few years. Let’s see it today.
Prediction:
Skins 27-23
The Podcast:
Scott Van Pelt, Dan Steinberg, and Andy Pollin were among the guests on Friday’s show. Click below to listen.
Great win by the Skins today! Love AP, Smith and Davis! This could not have come at a better time for them given last weeks performance. Speaking of lame performances, I know you still follow and root for Kirk. Vikings were 16.5 point favorites and he had 3 turnovers while the game was in play. Finished with almost 300 yards but had 61 when the game was a contest. His 13-3 team is 1-1-1. You could argue that last week, he actually threw another game ending 4Q before getting bailed out by the refs. Still only managed a tie. His counterpart for the Skins got an equally bad call today which definitely mattered in the outcome, These RTP penalties are killing the game watching experience. Thoughts on that and the Cousins-Smith performances. It will be fun to watch them all season.