Victor's Week 1 Recap

To me, this game boiled down to a metaphysical question - who are the 2009 Redskins?

Zorn's playcalling was erratic and the central feature of this loss. He didn't commit to the pass, even when it was working and Jason was getting the ball out quick. There were two memorable trick plays that fizzled loudly (the Randle El play, reverse to D. Thomas) and killed the Skins' momentum. The run wasn't there, and I didn't see any solid zone blocks after the first play. Kelly's and Davis' numbers weren't called nearly enough, nor did JZ give Santana a chance to find his groove after the ruckus.

Jason's confidence and rhythm weren't all there. Partly the playcalling, but audibling into a run up the middle on 3rd and 8 was a poor choice, and he threw an INT three yards past the line of scrimmage. I can't fault him too much for the fumble TD - most QBs (not all) would've lost that one. But what bothered me the most was the contrast between the look in Campbell's eyes before the snap ("I sure hope this works") and the look in Eli's pre-snap, which was efficient, penetrating and confident.

The defense was schizophrenic - see Josh's post.

Further, a rattled Moss and stupid penalties really disrupted this team. Everyone looked shaky and bogged down into their own world, rather than displaying the vision that comes from seeing what the other guy's doing and reacting fluidly.

The upside of this is that none of these issues seem permanent, as long as Zorn can come up with a better gameplan and implement a better in-game adjustment strategy.

The Giants are a very good team - if you were to take away Umenyiora's forced fumble and TD return, the Skins win by one. And most teams don't have Umenyiora.

Other bright spots:

• Few to no dropped passes
• Jacobs was limited to 46 yards on 16 carries
• Special teams was solid, with a spectacular fake field goal to boot
• Landry made a big play
• The Redskins are hitting hard - about five blue jerseys were on the ground, all from clean fierce plays
• Jason was getting the ball out real quick, and the O-line looked decent

This was an incredibly frustrating game to watch, but my takeaway is that the frustrations all created teachable moments. Let's just hope that Zorn, Blache, JC and the secondary learn the right lessons.

Grades
Offense: C
Defense: B
Special Teams: A
Coaching: D+