|
|||||
|
Week 4 Sunday 2nd October 2005 |
|||||
|
Are they for real? Turn on any NFL based sports show at the moment, you’ll undoubtedly hear that question asked at least once. Whether its the Bengals, Buccs or the Colts D it’s a clichéd question that sports producers love at this time of the year. But for once it’s valid question as the Hawks make the long trip East to face the Redskins Sunday. Are the Redskins for real? Well you can’t get any better than a 2-0 start but the Redskins have yet to convince many people of their worth. The defense is one of the better units in the NFL. While Gregg Williams didn’t cut it as a head coach in Buffalo, he’s a superb defensive coordinator. Filling that role in the Superbowl Titans and turning the Skins defense into the No1 ranked NFC team last year. He likes to employ an aggressive, blitzing style so the best left side in football better be up to their Kearney destroying best. The Skins D has started this season as they left last and are currently ranked third in the NFL giving up just 66 yards a game rushing. The
offense is where the real question marks lie with the Redskins. Joe Gibbs
changes his quarterbacks as often as he changes his underpants already
benching the underrated Patrick Ramsey for the ex Husky but past his peak
Mark Brunell. He can still throw a great deep ball as Dallas can testify to
but it took over seven quarters for the offense
to get to the end zone this season. Hardly scary. The Skins rely
heavily on Clinton Portis whose had a decent start to the season averaging
4.6 yards per carry. The key to this game on both sides of the ball is the run. If the Seahawks can get Shaun moving the sticks early and often, it’ll naturally open up the passing game which hopefully Hass can exploit. If the Redskins bottle up the run early, it will allow their D to blitz Hass all day and keep the QB under constant pressure. On the other side of the ball, Seattle will try to put the game in Brunell’s hands by shutting down the run. Allowing Portis to run will lead to yet another long day in the office for the Hawks D. I can see this being a low scoring contest as the Skins have only scored 23 points this season and the Hawks will be up against one of the best defences they will face this year,. Hawks to sneak it 13-10. Radio
Commentary available via Field Pass: http://www.nfl.com/fieldpass
(Subscription required) Brendan Jones (Smugsy) |
|||||