Khun Kao
September-12th-2005, 10:51 AM
I am not a football guy. I've never played the game. But I *am* a 3rd generation Redskins (AND Senators/Nationals) fan and I'd like to be an attention w|-|0r3 and take waste a few minutes of your time with my thoughts and observations of yesterdays game....
I've been a Ramsey supporter since his 1st training camp. I, too, was one of the original group that was hoping he'd get shipped out to Chicago for his holdout (woulda served him right, huh?), but reading how he quickly bonded with his teammates during camp started the warm-fuzzies for him. Then his 1st preseason game where he threw that lazerbeam pass (incomplete), but it was like "HOLY S***!!!! Did you F'ING SEE THAT?!?!?" I've been in his corner ever since..... But, even with my Burgundy & Gold sunglasses I see the reasons for everyones dismay. I try to look at the positives, and settle for the fact that he has been showing a steady improvement each year. But unfortunately, the bad decisions still come......
I am still in Ramsey's corner. I think he'll eventually be fine. My concern is how long we're going to have to wait. He strikes me as someone who will really end up being a late bloomer. Maybe not to the tune of Rich Gannon late-bloomer, but a late bloomer all the same.
I saw only 2 really bad mistakes from him yesterday, offset by some beautiful 3rd down completions and a long bomb to Moss. But those 2 mistakes were still troublesome.
1. That interception. I'm not a football guy, but the announcers were mentioning that the play wasn't very well designed because the pass routes put the defenders in a good position to make a play on the ball. I don't know if this is true or not, but the fact is that Ramsey still overthrew the ball.
2. The fumble. Not the one we lost after he was clotheslined, but the one we recovered. Once again, he held onto the ball too long. We lucked out that time.
I honestly feel that he 'redeemed' himself after those plays. The offense was moving and he was completing passes.... and not of the dink-n-dunk type. But the unfortunate clotheline fiasco has put us in the postion of 2nd-guessing what could have been had he been allowed to return.....
Would he have shaken it off and continued to lead long drives, completing timely passes? Or would the Bears "D" be inside his head, making him hear footsteps and get squirrley in the pocket and make even worse mistakes than he already had?
Hardly any sooner than Brunell gets in the game then he throws a pick! Yes, it was a penalty and was reversed, but how many other of you groaned and thought, "There goes the game!!!"? I know that I sure did! Brunell really dodged a bullet there.....
There are those who are saying that Gibbs played close to the vest, 'cause he's not tipping his hand to the league yet. I think thats a crock of hooey. The games are for real now. You play to win, period. I honestly have faith that Gibbs has not forgotten that.
However, I do believe that Gibbs took into account that because our running game was starting to pay dividends and our defense was shutting the Bears down, that he would leave Brunell in to merely "manage" the game, ala the Trent Dilfer role. Providing Ramsey really is fine, I fully expect to see him start Monday night. I don't think Gibbs would be so underhanded, even if he's giving Ramsey the go against his better judgement. Gibbs has always shown much more character than that. I, for one, would rather see him start Ramsey a few more times and let him play himself out of the job (if that is what's going to happen, which I hope is NOT the case! GO PRAM!!!!)
Moving away from the QB position, I have some serious food for thought.....
What proof do we have that the Bears Defense is any good???
This is the burning question for me right now because it will say a lot about what we may look forward to from our Offense this year. Despite his errors, Ramsey was moving the ball against the Bears Defense. Everyone is saying that the Bears Defense is going to be one of the leagues best this year, but are they really? Was our offense actually effective, or was their defense ineffective? I think this is an important question!
Last year, Portis ran roughshod over them. This year, he put up good numbers as well, though not outstanding like last years were. What proof do we have that its because they don't still suck?
Was our running and passing game succeeding because we actually have improved since last year, or because they really haven't?
Another concern for me is the lack of a pass rush.... I realize our front 4 are not ever going to be known for their pass rushing, but why was our Defense not attacking in the same way we are accustomed to seeing? Since when has Gregg Williams become conservative? I'm not complaining about the results, we came as close to pitching a total shutout as you could hope for, but we hardly seemed to be in the QB's face that much.... What happened to the blitz packages? From everything that I understand, the Bears Offense isn't expected to be much of a threat this year.
When all is said and done, I think we all have a lot of positives to take stock in from this game. Our "D" is still for real. Our Running Game appears to be for real. Our passing game seems to have improved (not saying its for real, but its better than last year). Our O-Line *seems* to be for real as well......
But!!!!
Ramsey needs to step up and silence his critics. Our Special Teams (returns, specifically) need a lot of improvement. And most importantly, I am not confident that the Bears were a true measuring stick for either our Offense OR our Defense!
HAIL 'SKINS! (Go Ramsey, SILENCE THE HATERS & DOUBTERS!)
I've been a Ramsey supporter since his 1st training camp. I, too, was one of the original group that was hoping he'd get shipped out to Chicago for his holdout (woulda served him right, huh?), but reading how he quickly bonded with his teammates during camp started the warm-fuzzies for him. Then his 1st preseason game where he threw that lazerbeam pass (incomplete), but it was like "HOLY S***!!!! Did you F'ING SEE THAT?!?!?" I've been in his corner ever since..... But, even with my Burgundy & Gold sunglasses I see the reasons for everyones dismay. I try to look at the positives, and settle for the fact that he has been showing a steady improvement each year. But unfortunately, the bad decisions still come......
I am still in Ramsey's corner. I think he'll eventually be fine. My concern is how long we're going to have to wait. He strikes me as someone who will really end up being a late bloomer. Maybe not to the tune of Rich Gannon late-bloomer, but a late bloomer all the same.
I saw only 2 really bad mistakes from him yesterday, offset by some beautiful 3rd down completions and a long bomb to Moss. But those 2 mistakes were still troublesome.
1. That interception. I'm not a football guy, but the announcers were mentioning that the play wasn't very well designed because the pass routes put the defenders in a good position to make a play on the ball. I don't know if this is true or not, but the fact is that Ramsey still overthrew the ball.
2. The fumble. Not the one we lost after he was clotheslined, but the one we recovered. Once again, he held onto the ball too long. We lucked out that time.
I honestly feel that he 'redeemed' himself after those plays. The offense was moving and he was completing passes.... and not of the dink-n-dunk type. But the unfortunate clotheline fiasco has put us in the postion of 2nd-guessing what could have been had he been allowed to return.....
Would he have shaken it off and continued to lead long drives, completing timely passes? Or would the Bears "D" be inside his head, making him hear footsteps and get squirrley in the pocket and make even worse mistakes than he already had?
Hardly any sooner than Brunell gets in the game then he throws a pick! Yes, it was a penalty and was reversed, but how many other of you groaned and thought, "There goes the game!!!"? I know that I sure did! Brunell really dodged a bullet there.....
There are those who are saying that Gibbs played close to the vest, 'cause he's not tipping his hand to the league yet. I think thats a crock of hooey. The games are for real now. You play to win, period. I honestly have faith that Gibbs has not forgotten that.
However, I do believe that Gibbs took into account that because our running game was starting to pay dividends and our defense was shutting the Bears down, that he would leave Brunell in to merely "manage" the game, ala the Trent Dilfer role. Providing Ramsey really is fine, I fully expect to see him start Monday night. I don't think Gibbs would be so underhanded, even if he's giving Ramsey the go against his better judgement. Gibbs has always shown much more character than that. I, for one, would rather see him start Ramsey a few more times and let him play himself out of the job (if that is what's going to happen, which I hope is NOT the case! GO PRAM!!!!)
Moving away from the QB position, I have some serious food for thought.....
What proof do we have that the Bears Defense is any good???
This is the burning question for me right now because it will say a lot about what we may look forward to from our Offense this year. Despite his errors, Ramsey was moving the ball against the Bears Defense. Everyone is saying that the Bears Defense is going to be one of the leagues best this year, but are they really? Was our offense actually effective, or was their defense ineffective? I think this is an important question!
Last year, Portis ran roughshod over them. This year, he put up good numbers as well, though not outstanding like last years were. What proof do we have that its because they don't still suck?
Was our running and passing game succeeding because we actually have improved since last year, or because they really haven't?
Another concern for me is the lack of a pass rush.... I realize our front 4 are not ever going to be known for their pass rushing, but why was our Defense not attacking in the same way we are accustomed to seeing? Since when has Gregg Williams become conservative? I'm not complaining about the results, we came as close to pitching a total shutout as you could hope for, but we hardly seemed to be in the QB's face that much.... What happened to the blitz packages? From everything that I understand, the Bears Offense isn't expected to be much of a threat this year.
When all is said and done, I think we all have a lot of positives to take stock in from this game. Our "D" is still for real. Our Running Game appears to be for real. Our passing game seems to have improved (not saying its for real, but its better than last year). Our O-Line *seems* to be for real as well......
But!!!!
Ramsey needs to step up and silence his critics. Our Special Teams (returns, specifically) need a lot of improvement. And most importantly, I am not confident that the Bears were a true measuring stick for either our Offense OR our Defense!
HAIL 'SKINS! (Go Ramsey, SILENCE THE HATERS & DOUBTERS!)