Monday Night Debacle

So I'm back. For now. I'll try to post more frequently, but that seems to be my neverending chorus. Anyway, a post ...

I had every intention of discussing Monday night's Redskins 19-16 loss directly following the game's conclusion, but I decided to sleep on it. I wanted to make sure I was viewing the events that transpired last night in an appropriate frame of mind. In other words, I wanted to gain some perspective on the Monday night miss. A post last night would have resulted in a bunch of ranting and raving. I would've been a lunatic, obsessing about the result of a game from the first week of the season. It's hard to extrapolate how good or bad a team is after one contest, so I decided to table my thoughts until today, when I could provide a more insightful analysis. Here are some things that stuck out to me about last night ...

1. The Swiss Cheese Secondary: It's quite obvious that without Shawn Springs, the Redskins defense is among the worst in the league. There are several reasons why Springs is so vital to this unit's performance. Let's start at the beginning, which is to say, let's start with the defensive line.

The front four provided no pass rush last night. I know. Shocking. New acquisition Andre Carter was stifled, and Phillip Daniels reverted to his 2004 form. Without adequate pressure, Vikings QB Brad Johnson had the time he needed to pick apart the Redskins secondary. A good defensive line masks a weak secondary. See the Colts and the Cowboys for good examples. A bad one, though, amplifies the weaknesses of a mediocre secondary and makes a solid one look ordinary. Now let's move on to the blitz.

Gregg Williams needs to blitz for his defense to be successful. Here's the problem. He can't blitz if his corners and safeties can't defend against the pass on their own. Carlos Rodgers, Kenny Wright, Mike Rumph and Adam Archuleta have no concept of how to shut down receivers. If Williams can't trust his corners to play man effectively, he has to drop his linebackers into intermediate coverage. (Of course, even with that added help, the Redskins couldn't stop Johnson from converting long passes on numerous third downs.)

And now, we get to the secondary. The corners are just bad. There's no way to overstate that. They lack even the most rudimentary of coverage skills. Without Shawn Springs, this defense -- and thus, the team -- is doomed. When he comes back, the defense will show marked improvement. Next week against the Cowboys, he won't play, so it could be a long 60 minutes.

2. The Especially Abhorrent Special Teams: So much money went into improving the offense and defense, but once again, special teams was overlooked. Now, you don't sign special teams gunners and wedge busters to large contracts. (Although, I wouldn't put it past Snyder.) But the kick-off coverage unit, especially, was porous. It's easy for a team to score points when they only have to go 60 yards.

And then there's John Hall. This guy is finished. How Gibbs fails to recognize the deterioration of Hall's leg disconcerting. I know it's only one game, but Hall's tenure shouldn't last much longer. He doesn't have it anymore.

3. The Offensive Tease: The offense proved it could move the ball fairly effectively. It also demonstrated an utter and fascinating inability to score touchdowns inside the 10-yard line. This game should've been a Redskins laugher, but three field goals that should've been touchdowns blew that opportunity. You have to wonder why Mike Sellers, Chris Cooley, or hell, even TJ Duckett didn't get an opportunity to punch one into pay dirt.

Al Saunders play calling was also questionable. He didn't run the ball enough, and the passes Brunell completed were to the east and west, rather than to the north and south. They need to go up the field, not laterally from hash to hash.

Those are my observations. They're 0-1, and it's a bad 0-1. They shouldn't have lost to the Vikings. But my silver lining is that Springs will return eventually, and that the offense at least demonstrated it could get the football down the field with semi-regularity. If the Skins learn how to get into the end zone, they could be a 25-point-a-game team. Big IF to be sure, but I trust these coaches. I'll start worrying for real in five weeks, if this team isn't playing any better.