1-13 since 1997
King Kaufman does a great job criticizing the Redskins for their mismanagement of their timeouts in the second half that left them unable to stop the clock after they got into field goal range and could have the tied the game. so i'll let that drop. but i do want to focus on a series of events at thge end of the 1st half that very well may have cost the team game (and which TMQ may have touched on already- i haven't read his column yet).
having been held in check almost the entire first half, the 'Skins march over 90 yards to the Dallas 1 with 1:12 left in the half. on the first play the try to sneak Mark Brunell in, which is just idiotic when you have Clinton Portis who has scored 14 and 15 rushing touchdowns the past 2 years. he gets stuffed. timeout is called and the next play, Portis gets a short gain. after wasting some time, the Redskins call their final timeout with :16 left. now everyone in the stadium, watching at home and on Mars knows the next play will be a pass because they can't risk getting stuffed again and not having enough time to get the field goal unit on. Brunell play fakes, and immediately has someone in his face, batted down, incomplete, field goal, momentum gone. first off, why not have two plays ready after calling timeout on 2nd down just in case you don't make it? that way you can just line back up maybe before the defense can fully set up. secondly, why not just attack with Portis again? from the 1-yard line, running is a surer bet than throwing (just ask Trent Green). hell, i would even consider running it again on 4th down. if they stop you, so be it, but if you can't get 1 yard on the ground in 4 chances against a defense that allows 120+ yards rushing per game, then you don't deserve to win. and lo, they did not win. Coach Gibbs was completely unimpressive the past 2 games and he needs to turn things around fast before the fans sour on him. sadly Tom Coughlin is predictably being blown by the news media for winning two in a row. ugh.
Comments
That division is wide open - is Gibbs just rusty?
Posted by: Mitch | September 28, 2004 10:27 PM
I actually wrote an e-mail to King Kaufman today. (I was bored and restless at work.) I totally agreed with his article, except I thought he should have given Gibbs a harder time for challenging that Dallas TD and thereby throwing away the third timeout, instead of only writing about how wasteful the second timeout was. That one was bad, sure, but when you only have one left your standards should be extra high for using it. Right? And that TD was not questionable from any angle. All of a sudden I am Mr. Football Fan. The Fighting Irish are doing well again. Go ND! And go...uh...Jets, I guess! I think I am making them my pro team. Even though I have barely been paying attention to what the hell they've done the past couple weeks.
Posted by: jim | September 28, 2004 11:25 PM
Not to mention, had Portis got the touchdown, you would have won your fantasy matchup by 800 instead of 700. Damn you, Gibbs!
Posted by: jake | September 29, 2004 09:34 AM
King Kaufman's response to my e-mail:
"Yes, you're right that the challenge was bone-headed. It's just a slightly different issue than the one that really chaps my rear.
Thanks for writing.
king"
When someone in a position like his responds to mail, it makes me feel better about the world.
Posted by: Jim | September 29, 2004 09:42 AM
Jake - that is certainly a reason why i was paying such close attention to the decision making. We were going for the league points record and at that point it was not looking good for us. Fortunately, Terry Glenn was there to pick us up in the 2nd half.
Posted by: jamie | September 29, 2004 10:37 AM