Review of Baton Rouge Trip

I finally did it, I got to see a game at LSU something that I had wanted to do since I first saw a game on tv there.  Besides the 17 hour drive it was a great experience.  Pulling into the lot we thought we were going to find some of our WVU buddies, but with 92,000 people tailgating it was pretty hard to find them.  So we started walking around the stadium, we received a little heckling by chants of "Tiger bait, Tiger bait," but it was all good.  We passed bye a lot, near the track stadium, and they had a tv up that had the Arkansas Bama game on.  We watched in the back for a little bit, then some of the LSU fans noticed us and actually said hey guys come over have some food and beer.  So we had grab a beer and some food and though that would be it for the night, but surprisingly they told us have as much beer and food as you want to.  So obviously I dug in, had a variety of different beers, cold cuts,  hot stuffed peppers wrapped in bacon sausage and cream cheese.  Some of the best food I had in a while, the only problem was we didn't come past any gumbo or jambalaya.  Despite not having purple with the going with the gold, almost all of the fans were extremely friendly; we talked to the LSU fans about there history and what not, and they told us "if you want to take our 2007 national championship banner back to Morgantown with you, you are more than welcome to."  They hate Rich Rod as much as we do up here, the LSU fans basically told us that Rich Rod blew that Pitt game for us.  

After eating some good and some good drinking, we found our way to the seats and settled in to watch the game.  We sat in row 4 of the upper deck and the seats weren't bad at all.  Then there was one drunk LSU fan sitting about 4 seats down from us that was chanting "We are Marshall" at us which of course made no sense, but that was the only heckling we received throughout the night. Honestly I thought the crowd would be louder than it was Saturday night, but then again it wasn't an SEC game so that might of been a factor.  The crowd was about NFL stadium loud. 

On our way to Baton Rouge the road took us through Tuscaloosa, AL, the home of the national champion Crimson Tide.  So of course we stopped by to see the stadium.  As soon as we hit the actual campus we saw a frat house bigger than some of the academic buildings at WVU, don't know if that's bad about WVU's academics or good for Alabama's partying.  After the frat house we drove over the hill an lo and behold a giant ass space ship pops up. Bryant Denny Stadium all 105,000 seats this was definitely the biggest stadium I've saw.  The gates were closed so we were only able to take pics outside the stadium.  

 







Overall it was a great experience, I finally got see what my favorite sport is really all about by going to a game at a SEC stadium.  From the tailgating to the passion of the fans it was great, and if I did live in the south I would most likely go to LSU or 'Bama.  

 

Podcast Week of 9/23 - 9/30

This week we recap the Redskins loss to the Texans preview the Rams game and start talking some Capitlast enjoy.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/807207448f6e6ac8/ Part 1: Skins week 2 recap

http://www.zshare.net/audio/80720945b2e28152/ Part 2: Skins week 2 recap

http://www.zshare.net/audio/80720989c257b107/ Part 3: Skins week 3 preview

http://www.zshare.net/audio/8072107054e35135/ Part 4: Caps training camp talk

Week 2 Recap: 17 Point Lead Blown

Well the first half was impressive as hell, but as the saying "that's why they play 60 not 30."  So lets start with the good part, Donovan went for 426 yards and threw 1 TD, in his 3rd career 400 plus yard passing game, the Redskins D held Arian Foster to just 69 yards and no TD's and the D had 5 sacks.  The Skins racked up 20 points in a half for the first time in a while.  Now to the bad, 18 rushing yards in total, Schaub 497 yards passing, we knew that Andre Johnson was going to get his yards Kevin Walter had 144 reviving yards himself.  Look I know its week 2, and we really aren't supposed to make to much noise in the playoffs this year, alot of the so called experts predicted us to lose this week, but unless if your playing Peyton Manning there's no excuse for blowing a 17 point lead in any game.  Here's my grades and game ball.

Offense C+: First two drives of the game looked great, but the redzone blues continued as instead of the score being 14-0 the score was 6-0 as the Redskins kicked two field goals and as it played out that turned out to be part of the reason why we lost.  Even a one TD and one FG would've been fine, but like I said all last week our like of TD's in the redzone is going to come back and bite us in the ass and it did today.  Now to the rushing game, 18 total rushing yards in a Mike Shanahan coached offense? The age of Clinton Portis definitely showed today there were at least 2 times that if CP was 3 years younger he could've broke long runs, and age might shown to when CP tripped in the redzoned that eventually lead to a blocked field goal for the Texans.  Time to go after a RB in the draft next year.  And the offense in the final qtr awful as they could not put away the Texans.  Now I'm pretty sure McNabb knows that when you have an opportunity to put that final nail into the coffin you do it.  Maybe McNabb needs to gel with this offense more before we start seeing the Skins put teams away for good.   Now to the good, maybe the Redskins should move to a spread offense because Donovan McNabb is finding his main reicvers in Chris Cooley and Santana Moss combined they had 153 yards and 1 TD.  McNabb also found the caveman Mike Sellers 4 times and 2nd year wide out Anthony Armstrong 2 times for 36 yards.  And o year McNabb went for 426 today.  If the running problems still continue hopefully Mike and Kyle Shanahan will start throwing more.   

Defense C:  Like the Redskins as a whole, the D played well in the first half and were able to limit Andre Johnson's big plays in the first 30 min.  Then the Texans woke up and decided to go after Reed Doughty, I wasn't surprised that the Texans did this infact I knew that the Texans were going to attack Reed Doughty I'm surprised that they didn't do it earlier.  Reed Doughty is by far the weakest starter on the Redskins and it is time for Chris Horton to be inserted back in the lineup and we need to find a FS to compliment Landry in the draft this year.  Doughty was the one the Andre Johnson out jumped to catch the game tying TD.  The Skins gave up 497 in the pass game which shows that our secondary is almost as weak as the o-line, this is the second week in the row that the D has let an opponent back into the game, not a good sign, especially when we play the Colts in October.  Then once again Carlos Rogers drops a game winning pick with about 2:20 left.  How long is this going to last yes Rogers plays CB cause he can't catch but when its the second week in a row that Rogers drops a game winning and ending pick, there's a problem there.  Hopefully a game against the Rams next week will help the D fix the problems.  The good part about the D was they were able to limit Arain Foster to 69 yards and the Skins had 5 sacks on Schaub.  At least we are now getting pressure on the QB and forcing them into bad throws at times, but we still need to get more picks and turnovers.

Game ball, Donovan McNabb:  Really this was a no decision 28 of 38 for 426 yards and a TD, McNabb is turning Cooley and Moss back into starts and this week he spread the ball around as Joey Galloway, Mike Sellers, and Anthony Armstrong all had multiple receptions.  Armstrong might of only had 2 receptions, but both of them were for big gains and possibly McNabb can turn Armstrong into a deep threat and take all of the attention away from Moss, whose had an outstanding year so far thanks to Donovan.  

Keys and Key Matchups for Redskins vs Texans

 Ok time to get over it, the Dallas win was nice, but like I have been saying all week much more work is needed.  This Sunday, at Fed Ex Field our beloved Redskins will be playing host to the other Texas team, the Houston Texans.  The Redskins lead the all time series with the Texans by 2-0.  The last time the teams met was in Houston, in 2006.  Clinton Portis rushed for 85 yards and 2 TD's while QB Marc Brunell completed an NFL record 22 consecutive passes in a  31-15 victory for the Burgundy and Gold.  That was then, this is now the Texans are coming off of a very convincing 34-24 win over the Indianapolis Colts last week.  The Texans win was due to RB Arian Foster's performance as he rushed for 231 yards and 3 TD's last week.  But just because the Texans ran the ball a ton last week doesn't mean that they have forgotten about Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson.  On the defensive end rookie, for the Texans, LT Trent Williams will have another big job as he will go up against DE Mario Williams as he had 1 sack and 4 tackles last week.

Key Matchups:

Trent Williams vs Mario Williams: In the battle of the trenches this week, the key battle will be on left side of the ball as rookie LT Trent Williams will have his hands full for the second week in a row against DE Mario Williams.  Trent Williams did a fairly good job last week against Damarcus Ware, but Ware got injured in the 2nd half so Williams received somewhat of a break.  I highly doubt that Mario Williams will get injured and sit out the rest of the game so if Mario Williams is in the whole game, this will be the first complete test for the rookie Trent Willaims.

Redskins Secondary vs Andre Johnson:  Despite what was a good defensive performance, the pass defense in the final minute of the game looked like complete shit last week.  And Reed Doughty looked like complete shit the whole game.  D Hall will most likely be matched up with Johnson for most of the game, but if Johnson is double teamed or blanketed over the top in cover 2, it'll most likely be Reed Doughty doing those duties and will have to do them well or else its going be a long day for the Skins secondary.



Donovan McNabb vs Texans Secondary: Last week the Texans gave up 419 and 3 touchdowns to Peyton Manning and last year the Texans pass defense was ranked 18th in the league.  This should be a huge plus for Donovan McNabb since it looks like McNabb will be going to Chris Cooley and Santana Moss alot this year.  If McNabb can keep finding Cooley and Moss, look for him to have a big day and just maybe the Skins red zone blues will be cured.

Redskins Front 7 vs Arain Foster:  Despite going up against a very bad rushing Defense in the Colts last week, the Redskins will still have to respect Arain Foster until they prove that they can stop him.  The Skins did do a great job last week of stopping Marion Barber and Felix Jones as they held the Dallas rushing attack to just 103 yards.  I'm going to go out and say that the Skins should not have to much problems stopping Foster, but if they can't it'll be one of those days in Landover on Sunday.

Keys for a Skins Victory:

1. Stop Arain Foster: I'm alot more confident in the Skins rushing defense than I am in their pass defense and this shouldn't be to big of a concern for the Skins, but they still have to stop Arain Foster if they are going to win on Sunday.  It's going to be up to Ma'ake Kemoeatu, London Fletcher and Rocky McIntosh  to clog up the middle and Andre Cater and Brian Osackpo to shut down Foster on the outside.  If the Skins can do this then the D will have to only worry about one thing.



2. Stop Andre Johnson: This is the biggest threat I see to the Skins defense on Sunday.  Like I said earlier the Skins D didn't look to hot in the final minute last week and Reed Doughty didn't look to hot period last week.  This week Doughty is faced with helping cover one of the best, if not the best receiver in the league.  Just because the Texans abandoned the pass last week doesn't mean that they will do the same this week.  Houston mainly ran the ball because the Colts rush D is god awful and to keep Peyton Manning off the field.  Johnson could have a huge day against this somewhat weak secondary.  If the Skins can shut the run down then they will know that all the Texans will do is just pass the ball and that plays right into the hands of Carter and Osackpo.

3.  Continue Passing:  Donovan McNabb was able to find both Chris Cooley and Santana Moss alot last week and don't be surprised if McNabb goes back to them again this week and for the rest of the season.  The Texans had the 18th rated pass defense last year and gave up 400 plus yard last week to Peyton and  company.  If McNabb is able to get protection and find his recievers this should be a big day for him and should go a long ways in being part of a win for the Skins.

4. SCORE A MOTHER F$&*ING TD!!!!: Seriously this is starting to get really annoying, yes it's a new offense and it's going to take time for everyone to get everything down.  But look at they way the Skins were able to move the ball last week, they moved it well until they got to the red zone, inside the 20 its as if Jim Zorn never left.  Maybe this is starting to be mental with the offense since they have struggled in the past, but if this continues its going to be another long fall in DC.









 

Podcast: Skins Review of Week 1/Preview of Week2, WVU vs MD Preview

Redskins get a win over the hated Cowgirls, now time to focus on the other NFL team from Texas, the Houston Texans.  And a rivalry renewed in Morgantown this weekend.  Once again because the computer in the studio is a piece of shit we had to split it up into 6 parts, hopefully the computer problems will get fixed but thats highly doubtful, so this is the best I can do. Enjoy.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/804722041096229d/ Part 1 Redskins Cowboys review Defense

http://www.zshare.net/audio/8047267892790987/ Part 2 Redskins Cowboys review Offense

http://www.zshare.net/audio/804728940d8056a9/ Part 3 Redskins Texans Preview

http://www.zshare.net/audio/80473260b0190a13/ Part 4 WVU MD preview MD O, WVU D

http://www.zshare.net/audio/80473506c8c58cfb/  Part 5 WVU MD Preview MD D, WVU O

http://www.zshare.net/audio/804736019607be5e/ Part 6 WVU MD Preview, Predictions

Nice Win, but Work Is Needed

What a way to start the season!!! Beating the rival Cowgirls on opening night on national TV, the stadium was the loudest probably since the playoff game vs the Lions, the defense played great besides the final minute that’s all great stuff to build off of, but holy shit there is some stuff that really needs work.  Here’s the recap from the week 1 win.

OFFESNE GRADE C-: The offense seemed to move pretty well until once again we got to the red zone.  Donovan McNabb was able to move the ball and get the ball in the hands of former pro bowlers Santana Moss and Chris Cooley a combine 12 times and 157 yards.  This is what we expected McNabb to do, get the ball back into Moss’ and Cooley’s hands and possibly turn these two players back into pro bowlers.  That was all good until and old foe came back to bite the Redskins in the ass, red zone offense.  Once again the Skins offense failed to score a touchdown and the performance in the red zone almost cost us the game.  Moving down the field in the 3^rd qtr leading 10-0 the drive was going all good and it looked like the Skins were going for the nail in the coffin due to the Cowboys multiple penalties.  Once we got into the end zone McNabb went to 4^th string WR Anthony Armstrong twice in the red zone.  The first time Armstrong looked like he had the ball  then the next play the pass goes long of Armstrong.  Then going for the chipshot field goal, the snapped is botched and the score remains 10-0.  If this team is ever going to get back to the playoffs they need to convert their chances in the redzone.  I guarantee next week if we can’t score TD’s, against the Texans, we are going to lose by a lot.  For those of you thinking that the Skins are a playoff team this year remember this, this is once again a new offense it’s going to take time for this offense to develop, but that’s still not an excuse for not finding the end zone on offense.

DEFENSE GRADE B-: Well the 3-4 did the job for most of the game, getting pressure on Tony Homo.  While I would’ve like to have seen more sacks, the pressure did cause bad throws and holding penalties.  The defense pass rush was excellent for most of the night and as team gets more comfortable with this scheme the sacks and turnover should come. LaRon Landry was put back in his natural position at SS and boy did he make an impact as he led the team with 13 solo tackles on the night.  Landry was flying from 12 yards back to stop the run and short passes all night long.   DeAngleo Hall’s forced fumble and return for a TD was key to the game as it became the only TD of the game, but with every great play D Hall makes comes a bad one.  In the 3^rd qtr it was D Hall once again missing a tackle on the edge on 3^rd down and the drive eventually led to a TD for the Cowboys.  D Hall also made mistakes in coverage, but he wasn’t the only one that messed up in coverage.  Reed Doughty was burned multiple times and once again showed why he should not be starting in the NFL.  Another problem was the defense in the final minute of the game given up the big plays a lot were targeted toward Reed Doughty’s way, but also at fault Carlos Rogers who once again drops a pick which could’ve sealed the game.  Shocking Rogers drops another fing pick, this has become a theme since he has been here and if this continues this will once again cost the team games and I don’t see Rogers coming back next year if it does continue.

GAMEBALL BRIAN ORAKPO OSACKPO:  I guess Landry and maybe McNabb could’ve received this award, but if it weren’t for him it would’ve been a 14-13 loss to our rivals.  Orakpo didn’t have the best game stat wise, but the 3-4 isn’t about stats.  Not only did Orakpo draw the holding call that ended the game, he drew at least one other holding call possibly 2 others throughout the night.  If you’re a player that is consistently getting held, you have something special and I guarantee because it was a holding call that won the game for us tonight, teams are going to play Orakpo with caution and the sacks will start coming for him later in the season.

Key Match Ups for Skins vs Cowboys

Since we didn’t have time to go in depth on the podcast about this week’s game here some of the keys to this week’s game.

1.       Dallas O-Line vs Skins front 7:  Dallas will have two offensive linemen out this week.  RT Marc Colombo and LG Kyle Koiser will be sitting out tomorrow night. 6 year vetran Alex Barron will be taking Colombo’s place while 8 year vet Montrae Holland will start in place of Koiser.   Barron has started 75 games in his career while Holland has started in 48.  The questions with this years Cowboys team has been around the o-line and these injuries won’t help at all.   If Jim Haslett can get his run blitzes to work and can get pressure on Tony Homo, I mean Romo, this will be a great advantage for the Redskins and play a big key into getting the win for the Skins.  Over the past years the Skins have struggled to create turnovers on D, switching to 3-4 will help get more pressure on the QB and hopefully cause more turnovers this year.

2.      Donovan McNabb vs Cowboys Secondary:  Donovan McNabb has been known as a QB that can make plays, even though he is older now and can’t scramble like he used to, he still has the pocket presence and if he gets the protection needed from the o-line he can tear up a Cowboys secondary that only has Terence Newman has a shut down threat.  McNabb may not have the star receivers besides Chris Cooley, but if he can get the ball in the hands of Santana Moss, Joe Galloway, Devin Thomas and Fred Davis, McNabb could have a decent day passing.

3.      Redskins O-line vs Marcus Spears and  DeMarcus Ware: First round draft LT Trent Williams is going to get welcomed to the NFL very quickly as he goes up against Marcus Spears and when the Cowboys blitz, the rookie might be assigned to all pro DeMarcus Ware.  Last Year Ware had 11 sacks.  Sine Williams is a rookie, mistakes will be made during this game and during the season. The question is when are these mistakes made? Are they going to be made in the 1^st qtr or in the 4^th qtr during a game winning drive?  If Williams can minimize his mistakes McNabb will be fine on his blind side.  For the rest of the o-line, can they solve last years problems and get protection on the QB? The addition of Artis Hicks and Jamal Brown will be great on the right side of the ball as long as they can stay healthy.  This team lacks depth at O-line so if we have multiple injuries on the O-line again, DC fans will start looking forward to Ovechkin and John Wall sooner than later.

4.      Redskins Secondary vs Cowboys WR’s:  The Skins don’t have that great of a secondary either, Carlos Rogers drops to many pics and DeAngleo Hall seems to play only when he wants to play.  LaRon Landry is back at his natural position at SS, which might explain why he was burned do many times at FS last year.  With Landry back at SS he’ll be able to make those big hits instead of worrying about having the deep part of the field.  If the Skins have problems getting pressure on Romo this week, then it will be up to the secondary to stop the likes of Miles Austin, Roy Williams and rookie Dez Bryant.   With this talent of wide outs the boys have big plays will be given up from time to time, but if the secondary can minimize those big plays the Skins will have a chance to win this game.

Podcast 2010 Redskins Season Preview

Sorry for the long lay off between posts but now we have a podcast up and will be updated every week.  This week we preview the Redskins season, everything from the off season to getting ready for the cow girls.  Sorry its 6 parts but its the only way the comuter would up load it. Its about 50 minutes if  you listen to all 6 parts.  It may take a minute or so to load that's why it may sounded choppy at the start.

part 1: http://www.zshare.net/audio/80270946828a4126/ (Shanahan, Bruce Allan, Donovan McNabb)

part 2: http://www.zshare.net/audio/80271722b2fb4c7f/ ( Fat Ass aka Haynesworthless)

part 3: http://www.zshare.net/audio/802717660c459a7a/ ( QB's O-line)

part 4: http://www.zshare.net/audio/802718115fbd200f/ ( RB's, WR, TE)

part 5: http://www.zshare.net/audio/80274429a37fa648/ (Defense Preview)

part 6: http://www.zshare.net/audio/802744965f14fe43/ (Season Prediction and Cowgirls Prediction)