Redskins Blog

Friday, November 20: People Still Want Dallas

Matt Terl — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:46:00 EST

Every Tuesday, the crew from Redskins Broadcast Network takes over Gordon Biersch in Tysons Corner to film Redskins Late Night. There's a player co-host, a whole bunch of fans, and it's a generally good time. Everyone has fun, the crowd cheers at the right spots, but it doesn't really get particularly loud.

This week, though, things turned sort of lively when Jason Campbell and host Chris Paul tried to record a promo for the show (which airs at 1:30 Sunday morning on NBC-4).

I happened to be standing just behind the cameraman while this was being filmed, and the "We Want Dallas" cheer was completely spontaneous -- and also chill-inducing. Which led me to believe that watching a few more "We Want Dallas" videos might be a good way to get fired up for Sunday's game.

This also seems like a good place to mention that ESPN980 is hosting a We Want Dallas Pep Rally at Dave & Buster's in White Flint at 6:00 tonight, for those of you in the area. It probably won't match the sheer awesomeness of that last clip, but should be a pretty good time.

Friday, November 20: People Still Want Dallas originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Guess Who Got This Week's Special Teams Hit Stick

Matt Terl — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:44:00 EST

Every game the Redskins win, special teams coach Danny Smith awards a "Hit Stick" to the player who delivered the most crushing shot on special teams coverage. The stick -- which is an actual carved piece of wood that Smith acquired in Jamaica -- then lives with that player until the next time it's given out, sort of like a smaller-scale, woodier Stanley Cup.

Can you guess who got the Hit Stick this week? Hint -- it's the person who said the following: "We have a Hit Stick every week that everyone's trying to get. So guys like H.B. [Blades], me, Mike [Sellers], Chris Wilson, are always trying to make that hit. And this week happened to be my number."

So obviously it's not Blades, Sellers, or Wilson (although you can read an entertaining account of Wilson's time last year with the Hit Stick over at the DC Sports Bog). Here's another hint:

Okay, that was less a "hint" than a "video of the Hit Stick-winning play," but whatever. Lorenzo Alexander is your Hit Stick winner this week for the hit that nearly sparked a riot at Tuesday's charity event.

"Danny's always preaching 'Same foot, same shoulder, more power,'" Sellers said about the play. "Well, in Lamont Jordan's case, that didn't work out too well." (Sellers claims that he "got tired of" winning the Hit Stick and leaves that stuff to guys like Alexander now.)

Rock Cartwright was also a fan of Alexander's hit. "I watched it on film here AND I watched at home," Cartwright said. "That was a MAMMOTH of a hit. It was crazy, because all I heard was a 'BOOM,' like somebody shot a gun or something. Next thing you know I see Devin [Thomas] jumping around, and I see Lamont Jordan on the ground. That was a big time hit."

Devin Thomas is an enthusiastic guy, and he frequently jumps around for no particular reason. That was not the case this time.

"Zo came down to bang the guy," Thomas said. "I was right there in front of the action -- I got a live, up-close-and-personal seat of what happened, and I congratulated my teammate after he made a big hit. It was tight."

And Thomas, unlike Sellers, is still attracted by the siren call of the Hit Stick. "I got the Hit Stick once last year," he said. "I'm gonna try to get me another one this year. It's tough, though -- I gotta find a way to earn one somewhere. We got guys like 'Zo doing that kinda [stuff], though, I'm not gonna get the big Hit Stick. My small [butt] can't hit like he can."

Guess Who Got This Week's Special Teams Hit Stick originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

A Surprisingly Lively Fourth And Life Event

Matt Terl — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:53:00 EST

There's probably some kind of mathematical equation describing how the rowdiness level of room increases as you add teenage boys per square foot, but I don't know the specific math of it. What I do know, after Tuesday's Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation 4th & Life High School Football Forum at FedExField, is that roughly a thousand high school upperclassmen football players squeezed into a relatively confined space = a lot of rowdiness.

The 4th & Life program -- sponsored by Coca-Cola, fact fans! -- is, in essence, a forum for current professional football players to impress upon high school football players just how important education is, and just how ephemeral a football career can be. Tuesday, it was Lorenzo Alexander, Kevin Barnes, Malcolm Kelly, and Brian Orakpo.

They each addressed the students -- who were from all over Maryland, Virginia, and the District -- and then took questions in a Q&A format. Alexander, as the senior player, also served largely as the emcee of the event, but it was Kelly's story that best exemplified the kind of message the players were trying to convey.

"I came in ballin' during training camp [in 2008]," Kelly said. "Middle of training camp, right before preseason's gettin' ready to start, I'm in the starting rotation. Me, Santana Moss, and Antwaan Randle El. I go out there in practice, I was walking back from the huddle -- not out there running around, not out there jumping up and landing funny; I was walking back to the huddle -- I felt my knee give out, I fall to the ground.

"So just like that, it can be over. It can be done with. Luckily, I was able to rehab it and come back, and be able to fight for the number two spot or whatever. But it can be taken away, man, just like that. So you really gotta take advantage of your oppontunities.

"I never really listened to people talk about all that education stuff; I just let it go in one ear and out the other. But at the end of the day, that's the only thing that's guaranteed. That's the only thing that somebody cannot take away from you, man. What you know. The knowledge in your head, nobody can ever take that away from y'all."

And that was a message that the players successfully brought across to a rowdy, fidgety, boisterous crowd of young men, not all of whom seemed to be exactly listening. Which came to a head, when -- strangely -- Lorenzo Alexander was fielding questions.I say "strangely" because Alexander is one of the nicest guys on a team full of nice guys. He's involved in his own charities, and also always helps out with the Redskins Charitable Foundation events. He's the kind of hard-working blue-collar player that would be endlessly praised by announcers if he played for the Patriots, always willing to contribute in any phase of the game.

So he's pretty much the last guy you'd expect to see challenging a high school football team to a hitting drill.

Here's what happened -- and forgive the lack of direct quotes, but it's all just a babble of screaming high schoolers on my recording. During the Q&A, a student from Suitland High asked Alexander what happened on his big takedown of Broncos' RB Lamont Jordan during the kick return following the Hunter Smith touchdown.

Alexander's answer was similar to this one, which he gave to a reporter the following day. "I think it was just a great kick by Shaun [Suisham]," he said. "And [Jordan] wasn't supposed to catch the ball -- he was just the off returner, which really helped me out. And then [Justin] Tryon crossed his face, which kinda hid me. So he didn't even see me, and I just kinda bee-lined off of Tryon's butt and tried to run through him." Similar, except that I think on Tuesday he used the phrase "take his head off."

So when the Suitland student took objection to that and pointed out that Jordan was a proud graduate of Suitland High, Alexander shrugged it off and said something along the lines of I can take you guys out too. This, understandably, was met with raucous booing from the Suitland contigent, which led to Alexander calling each guy out by the number on their jerseys, something like, Come on, 84. 16. 3. All of you, let's go right now! Something like that. This led to a whole lot of yelling back and forth and much more liveliness than you usually get at these sorts of charitable events.

"I can really relate to these guys," Alexander said afterward, "because I was probably being one of those jokesters with my friends, sayin' little funny stuff in the crowd too. You just gotta talk through it; I mean, they hear you, you gotta keep telling them over and over again, and eventually they'll get it, just hopefully sooner than later."

The Lamont Jordan-from-Maryland angle hadn't registered in time, Alexander added. "I didn't know where he went; I knew he was from Maryland, because he used to play with the Raiders" near Alexander's hometown, "so I knew he was from this area. I didn't know he went there. But they were tryin' to call me out so, you know, I'm just lettin' 'em know that if they wanna get up and test me ... I mean, come on. They saw what I can do. Let me see what they can do. You know, you're always trying to call out the biggest and baddest dude you can find, so it was all in fun and games."

The only other player who commented on the incident afterward was Orakpo, who shrugged. "I'd've had his back," he said.

One other guy was also booed during the Q&A: Malcolm Kelly refused to replicate his now-legendary freestyle after the Big 12 Championship game. "That's freestyle, man," Kelly explained over the booing. "You can't just sit up here and do the same thing I did. If I'm gonna freestyle, I'm gonna freestyle, man. I gotta be hyped up. I really gotta be in the zone to do that."

Kelly, however, did not follow up by challenging the questioner to a freestyle battle in the hallways of FedExField, which was something of a letdown.

A Surprisingly Lively Fourth And Life Event originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Thursday, November 19: Dallas Week On CBS, 1983

Matt Terl — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:17:00 EST

In some ways, any rivalry is by definition about nostalgia. It's about the accrual of loathing for a specific opponent over a number of years. Without that -- without the memory of a few heartbreaking losses, a few dominating wins, a few extracurricular events -- you don't have a rivalry at all. You just have what the Redskins used to have with the St. Louis Cardinals when the Cardinals were in the NFC East: a team you play a lot.

So here's a bit more Dallas Week nostalgia for you. For me, Pat Summerall will always be the TV play-by-play voice of these games. The NFL On CBS music brings back early '80s NFC games. The vaguely greenish tint of the video reminds me of what the screen picture actually looked like in the days before HDTV.

Meaning? This is the intro to a Week 15 game between 12-2 teams who had faced off in the previous year's Conference Championship game. Extracurriculars? The game that follows this intro would end as a 31-10 Redskins win, which would frustrate the Cowboys to the point that they broke up the then-traditional Fun Bunch end zone high five. So, yeah, this says rivalry to me as much as anything could, even if it does say nostalgia just as emphatically.

Thursday, November 19: Dallas Week On CBS, 1983 originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Shaun Suisham Was Happy For Mike Sellers (And Hunter Smith Too)

Matt Terl — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:30:00 EST

We'll get to the part where kicker Shaun Suisham WAS happy in a bit, but this story starts elsewhere: Suisham had read on some obscure blog somewhere that Hunter Smith had no intention of throwing him the ball on the touchdown play that ultimately went to Mike Sellers, and he was not pleased.

"I talked to Hunter about that, because I wasn't happy," Suisham told me today, trying very hard to look stern and serious. "I left him a voicemail. My wife told me it was on the website. After further discussion, he says he was joking, and he was hoping the tone came through in the article. So we settled that, and I'm okay with it now."

And, Suisham was quick to assure me, he hadn't even been LOOKING for the ball, let alone waving his hand to declare that he was open. "No," he said, "I was hoping Mike was gonna get the ball."

This is immediately clear when you see the pictures -- like the Brian Murphy masterpiece up above -- from immediately after the touchdown. Suisham was the first guy down the field after the touchdown, and he is beyond enthusiastic in congratulating Sellers.

"That's pretty exciting, you know," Suisham said. "Of course, as a kicker you always want to kick field goals when you have to, but you run a play like that.... You got your buddy throwing a touchdown pass to another buddy for 35 yards out of a break from a field goal formation, AND I'm on the field. I was just glad to be a part of that play."

I didn't even know that Suisham and Sellers were buddies. "This is the fourth season we've been together now," Suisham said. "We sit together in the locker room and in meetings. Mike's a good guy, a fun guy to hang out with. He's a great football player."

(It's rare to meet people in a completely balanced relationship, but here's Sellers talking about Suisham today: "That's the guy I sit beside in meetings. That's the guy I always give a hard time to. We've got a great relationship." I guess those are some memorable meetings.

(I also asked Sellers what he gives Suisham a hard time about, and he shrugged. "Everything," he said. "He's a kicker.")

But still, was Suisham actually trying to HURDLE Sellers, maybe to recreate the Antwaan Randle El-over-Santana Moss pose from last year (as the angle below would indicate)? "It just kinda happened," Suisham said. "It's one of those things where you've gotta see the film to understand what happened. I might've been able to hurdle him, though."

Despite the accolades Smith has received for this play and the earlier rushing touchdown, Suisham claims he's not jealously waiting for his own touchdown opportunity. "I'm happy for Hunter," he said. "It's rainin' all week, nobody's sure if Hunter can punt, and all of a sudden Hunter's activated, the sun is shining, he throws touchdown passes, Special Teams Player Of The Week ... I mean, the Redskins are better off havin' him on the field for sure."

Don't forget to vote for the Hunter Smith touchdown for Sprint's Can't Miss Play Of The Week. And, while you're voting, go ahead and vote for Brian Orakpo for Pepsi's Rookie Of The Week. Why not?

Shaun Suisham Was Happy For Mike Sellers (And Hunter Smith Too) originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Carlos Rogers Remains Positive, Even In Practice

Matt Terl — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:39:00 EST

The way Carlos Rogers' day went on Sunday, it seemed reasonable to be ask if he would be playing again at all. After getting scorched for a 75 yard touchdown pass, Rogers was pulled from the game and did not return. Depending on how the situation with the collective bargaining agreement develops, Rogers may be an unrestricted free agent next season, and there were some who were suggesting that this marked the end of Rogers' tenure in Washington.

But that's not the way he sees it, and it doesn't sound like the way his position coach sees it either.

"I gotta be smart enough as a coach to say, You know what, I'm gonna protect my guy," defensive backs coach Jerry Gray said today when asked about the move. "We're tryin' to win a game. We're not trying to see how many this-and-this we can do. It's all about team."

Rogers also gave all the right answers, even joking with the media that he wasn't going to provide the inflammatory quotes they were hoping for. "I'm here to support the team in whatever," he said. "I'm out there, I'm gonna continue to prepare, practice, continue to study like I am the starter."

He attributes his problems with the long ball at times this season largely to being over-aggressive. "You know, being an aggressive corner -- and not even an aggressive corner, just a corner that don't want passes completed on him," he said. "If it's third down, my mindset is, let's get off the field, I wanna get off the field, they throw this ball to one of their go-to guys, I don't want him to catch it. And that's my mindset. With that, it's just tough, cause you think a route's coming, you've studied the formations and, All right, this is what they do. They do that and, [by the] time you look back to get a pick or to break up the ball or anything it's back there. Sunday, they got about three, and we didn't cover not ONE of 'em. You know, it's tough to do."

But Gray and Rogers have talked, and Rogers feels confident that he knows what adjustments he needs to make. "I'll just stay with my eyes on the receiver longer, and more cushion," Rogers explained. "I'm kind of a guy like, I wanna be ON my receiver, like tight and tough. I just probably need to stay [at] more depth, stay over the top and just keep my eyes on the receiver. That's the only thing I can do, the only thing Jerry told me to do. Don't stop my aggression, don't stop being a physical corner. Just keep your eyes on the receiver and loosen up the cushion."

In today's practice, Rogers ran with the first team defense, and the adjustments seemed to produce the results that Gray was hoping for.

"I think there's a period of embarrassment, and then I think you get past that and you say, Well, Coach, why'd you do it? And you explain it and you go on," Gray said. "He practiced well today, so obviously he reacted pretty good."

Carlos Rogers Remains Positive, Even In Practice originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Wednesday, November 18: A Dallas Week Flashback

Matt Terl — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST

It's Dallas week, and thanks to the win at home on Sunday, it actually feels like it matters. Over at the Redskins.com mothership, the estimable Larry Weisman has composed a nice retrospective of the Redskins/Cowboys feud; it's worth reading as a whole, but here's the section that stuck out for me:

Back in the early 1980s, before the Cowboys began their slide into mediocrity, Dallas Week roused the D.C. area. A radio station went so far as to print dart boards with a picture of [then-Dallas head coach Tom] Landry covered by concentric target circles - don't doubt me, I still have one on my desk.

And it was. I borrowed it and scanned it to share with all of you. Weisman tells me it was distributed with a dart, and if you click the picture for a larger image, you can see the holes where the dartboard was actually used.

Weisman can't be sure, but told me he thinks the radio station doing the handouts was 107. Given the timeline and the number, it had to be Q107, one of the great pop music stations of my childhood. Which is really only relevant for two reasons:
First, as a reminder of how pervasive the Redskins/Cowboys rivalry was. This was a mainstream music station -- not a sports talk station, or even a station with a sportsy morning show -- distributing Tom Landry dartboards between Duran Duran songs.

And second, as an excuse to post the Q107 logo -- which was a ubiquitous bumper sticker when I was a kid -- and to post these completely unrelated links to actual Q107 air checks from the time period in question. If you grew up in the DC metro area and are anywhere near my age, both of those links should be pure concentrated nostalgia.

Which, as Weisman points out, is half of what Dallas Week is all about anyhow.

Wednesday, November 18: A Dallas Week Flashback originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Finally, A Vote!

Matt Terl — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST

Ah, remember the glorious days of the first half of the 2008 Redskins season? There was always a reason to vote for some Redskins player or coach to win some sponsored league honor, from the sublime (Chris Horton, NFL rookie of the month!) to the merely entertaining (EVERYONE for the Pro Bowl!).

This year, those occasions have been sort of thin on the ground. Shockingly, there just aren't as many positives about a 3-6 team. But this week, that all changes: the Hunter Smith to Mike Sellers touchdown has been nominated for Sprint Can't Miss Play Of The Week.

And I think, no matter how frustrated you may be with some things about the team, that we can all agree on one simple fact: when you motion out of field goal formation into shotgun, then roll the punter right while sneaking the fullback left along the line, then have the punter put nearly fifty (diagonal) yards in the air to him for a momentum-swinging touchdown ... well, every time that happens, it's worth voting on for Play of the Week.

So go vote at NFL.com/fans -- polls are open until 3 p.m. Saturday.

Ah, it feels just like the good old days.

Finally, A Vote! originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Quinton Ganther On Brian Dawkins

Matt Terl — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:42:00 EST

When I talked to new Redskins running back Quinton Ganther late last week, one of the questions that I asked him was who he compared his running style to. "You watch, then you can tell me," he told me at the time. It was an uninteresting enough exchange that even I left it out of the post.

After watching him during his limited action in Sunday's game against the Broncos, I feel safe comparing Ganther's running style to a compact lead ball rolling downhill. Probably his most notable play -- the one embedded above, courtesy of Redskins Broadcast Net -- was the eighteen yard catch-and-run that ended with him taking on one of the NFL's great safeties in Brian Dawkins ... and pretty much getting the better of the collision.

Because I hadn't seen the finish of the play clearly from the press box but had heard it about it via Twitter, Iasked Ganther in the postgame locker room if he had actually run over Brian Dawkins. "Something like that," he said, chuckling.

"Man, Brian Dawkins is a guy that I grew up watching," he continued. "I love the way he plays the game, and I love the intensity he brings. He's always around the box and he always has his nose around the football. So I knew what to expect: it was either let him hit me, or I hit him. And I don't like to just be on the receiving end of hits, so I'm gonna deliver the punch."

So, with a bit of in-game action under his belt, I revisited the question of how Ganther describes his running style. "The thing that they don't know about me," he said, "I'm a little shifty in practice, but I'm a hard-nosed player. Football is a physical game, and in order to beat me, you're gonna have to make sure you're more physical than I am. And there's not a lot of people that's gonna bring that to the table."

Ganther also dismissed the question of if he was pleased with his performance, and dismissed it in exactly the way you like to hear. "I did what they asked me to do," he said. "They put me out there, I'm gonna do what they ask me to do. That's the type of person I am. You ask me to do something, that's what I'm gonna do. No matter what my role is, just tell me to get the job done and I'm gonna do it."

Quinton Ganther On Brian Dawkins originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Tuesday, November 17: A Much Better 'Mike Sellers And The American Flag' Story

Matt Terl — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:05:00 EST

Even before the team won on Sunday, it felt to me like there was a sense in the air of setting things right and balancing accounts, like a much-less-violent version of the end of the Godfather. The changing of the sign policy, for example, putting an end to that long-simmering frustration.

But a less-remembered bit of 2009 Redskins awkwardness was revisited on the pregame sidelines, and set just as solidly to rest. Before the Redskins/Patriots preseason contest this year, Mike Sellers carried the American flag during player introductions and unthinkingly threw it aside. This caused a bit of a stir, Sellers apologized, and that seemed to be that.

Sunday, lifelong Redskins fan U.S. Army Staff Sargeant Brian Havens presented the Redskins organization with a flag that his unit flew during their deployment in Afghanistan, and it was Sellers that accepted. Somewhere in my head, that drew the final line under any negative associations between the words "Sellers" and "pregame" and "American flag."

And for Sgt. Havens, it was just a complete thrill.

"It pretty much was kinda like a childhood dream. Everything you want," he told Redskins.com TV. "I mean, growing up, I really don't know anything but being a Redskins fan. So to meet Mike, to see these guys out here, it's a totally different world. It's like, some people look at the military, they say, 'Wow.' They don't know anything about it, but they're amazed by it. It's the same thing here."

Despite being born in Alabama, considering Nashville, Tenn., his home, and currently being stationed in Colorado Springs, Colo., Sgt. Havens has always been a Redskins fan. "I really don't know anything else. It's like growing up and breathing air," he said.

The way Sgt. Havens tells it, he was just returning a favor Sunday. "I pretty much contacted [the team] and I asked them, 'Hey, we're deploying. I'm a huge Redskins fan. We have a couple people in our unit who are huge Redskins fans. Is there anything you can do to support us before we deploy.' They sent us a couple team hats, posters, and other items that we could take with us as we deployed, so we could support our team down in another country. When we got there, that's when we decided, hey, we wanna fly a flag for them."

When Havens found himself on a fifteen day leave, he brought the flag -- along with his wife and three sons -- to FedExField, where he was able to present it to Sellers. And then he was planning to settle in and watch only his third Redskins game of the season."

"I got to see the opening game against the Giants," he told me, "and I got to see ... I wanna say the Monday Night game against the Eagles."

Despite that, Sgt. Havens was completely confident in the outcome of Sunday's game. "We're getting' a win today," he said, with kickoff still hours away. "It's gonna happen."

Tuesday, November 17: A Much Better 'Mike Sellers And The American Flag' Story originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Hunter Smith Did Not Have Faith In Shaun Suisham As A Receiver

Matt Terl — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST

Hey, maybe you heard somewhere that punter Hunter Smith threw a touchdown pass yesterday? It's true!

You've probably also heard by now that Smith was a multiple-position threat at Sherman High School, including quarterback -- "I was a better receiver than anything, and went to college as that," he said after the game, before settling into much more standard athlete-speak. "I just count myself as a punter who happened to be healthy enough to be on the field and threw a ball."

But you may not have realized that -- because the play started in field goal formation --kicker Shaun Suisham was running a route as a receiver on the play. Which is not to say that he was a valid check-down option, of course.
"There was only one option," Smith said. "I wasn't going to throw to Yoder or Suisham, god forbid. [Suisham] was about eight or ten yards deep streaking across the field."

But, Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan asked, what if Suisham had been open.

"It wouldn't have mattered," Smith said. "He could've been open and calling for it with his hand up in the air. I wasn t even going to look at him."

I asked if Smith had known when he signed with the Redskins in the offseason that he would become a primary scoring option, and the only Redskins to have thrown AND run for touchdowns this season. "I didn't," he said, "but it's a pleasant surprise, and it's kinda nice to use your skills; they've lay dormant for a number of years, so it's kinda fun."

In the end, the play did more than score a touchdown; it swung the momentum of the game, completely and irrevocably, toward the Redskins. "They definitely got the momentum," Broncos defensive end Vonnie Holliday said, according to the AP's Joe White, "and from there on, it seems like we never got the momentum back."

Casey Rabach agreed. "You know, crazy [special teams coach] Danny Smith," he said, "he always believes in everything, and sometimes it worked in practice and sometimes it didn't. But to see it come to fruition in the game and give us a little swing of momentum, that's huge."

And, appropriately enough, it was Hunter Smith who summed this point up. "We felt like we had a good play," he said. "That's all it comes down to. If you have a good play and you've got a situation where you spotted them a touchdown, and you need a spark ... I think at this point, with the way things have been going, it's a thing where you wanna get out there and have a spark and do something to get your team moving forward, and I think it did that."

Hunter Smith Did Not Have Faith In Shaun Suisham As A Receiver originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Brian Orakpo Talks About The Sack Race

Matt Terl — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:52:00 EST

For all that went well for Brian Orakpo yesterday, there were a couple things that could've gone a little better. For example: he broke the Redskins rookie sack record, but he did it after the team's PR staff and a large chunk of the media contingent had already gone down to the locker room. So there was no announcement of the feat -- in either the press box OR the stadium.

Which also meant that the press didn't realize there was anything specific to discuss with the rookie, so he got dressed and left, talking to only a couple of people and avoiding the usual media hordes. Which is, of course, why he didn't actually get any say in my post from yesterday about the sack competition that's developing between him and Andre Carter.

I thought leaving in a hurry might have been a deliberate move, actually. Orakpo had been extremely frustrated after the Falcons loss, and it was possible that he just didn't feel like facing the press even after a win. But, based on his demeanor at his press availability today, that didn't seem to be the case.

"You just feel so much better," he said, when asked to describe the atmosphere at Redskins Park today. "Everybody's just so upbeat, you know, everybody's real excited. You can use this as momentum to the next game, 'cause it feels so good when you win. At the same time, you don't wanna feel like, that's it, we're done, and then go back and lose four more. We gotta continue to keep progressing as a team, take this game as motivation, and keep moving forward."

And, fortunately for this imaginary sack race that I've been babbling about, he also addressed Andre Carter's 2009 sack total.
"He's stealing my sacks," Orakpo said, which is exactly what Carter said he'd say. "Nah, I was just having a little fun with that, but that's a guy I've looked up to and admired ever since I stepped on this turf being a Redskin. You know, that's what keeps great pass rushers hungry and able to improve each and every week is competing. You don't want one guy doing all the workload, like Dre had, what, 4.5 last year and nobody really was even close. So you keep guys having sacks and sacks and you keep guys competing and it keeps everybody hungry."

Carter, as the TV announcers never hesitate to point out, is a physical specimen, and he works hard to maintain that physique. Not only by leading grade-schoolers in basic calisthenics, although he does that, but through mixed martial art training, a strict dietary regimen, and who-knows-what else. So someone followed up by asking Orakpo if he had a similar program.

"I do my normal routine as far as keeping my body in shape," he said, "and then once football's over, I'm done with football. When I go home, I'll relax. You know, I don't need to do all that extra stuff. But Dre has to, though, because, you know, veterans, they have to keep it up. They gettin' old, you know?"

And the (possibly imaginary) sack competition continues.

Brian Orakpo Talks About The Sack Race originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Monday, November 16: When Does The Offensive Line Stop Being Makeshift

Matt Terl — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:24:00 EST

For weeks now, any discussion of the Redskins offensive line has been prefaced with the word "makeshift". Between guys being lost to injury and guys being shuttled from position to position in relief, there's been very little continuity on a unit that -- according to conventional NFL wisdom -- thrives on continuity.

Of course, no one has particularly WANTED to see continuity in an offensive line that seemed at times to be actively forcing Jason Campbell to run for his life, and that Clinton Portis had been unable to run behind. But that changed yesterday, when the combination of mid-season free-agent acquisition Levi Jones, season-long starters Derrick Dockery and Casey Rabach, 2008 third-round draft pick Chad Rinehart, and roving lineman Stephon Heyer finally seemed to click.

This group managed to go through the entire game together, surrendering just three sacks (all in the second half) and opening holes for the Redskins backup running backs to rush for 174 yards against what had been the eighth-ranked rushing defense coming into the game. So I found myself asking when people could stop using the word "makeshift" to describe these guys."I don't know," Heyer said. " When they want to, I guess. I don't know."

Casey Rabach was a little more forthcoming. "When we win a few more football games," he said. "Not yet."

But Rabach believes this group could gel. "I definitely do," he said. "I think is a salty group, I really do. I think Levi's got somethin' to prove, he's playing with a little chip on his shoulder. I think Chad's got somethin' to prove: third round draft pick that's kinda been pushed off to the side a little bit, and today I think he played really good. A guy in Stephon that's taken a lot of criticism in the last couple of weeks, he played his butt off today."

Jones certainly talks like someone who's got something to prove. "I just listened to what Coach is trying to me all week about my techniques," he said, "what he was trying to get done and what he wanted out of me, and I just went there. I knew the one thing I could control was my effort, so I just made sure I went hard on every play."

That sounds more like the street free agent that Jones actually is now -- all the talk of effort and listening to coaches -- that the first round pick he was in Cincinnati. But Jones is another one who thinks the "makeshift" label could come off soon -- all it takes, he says, is time.

"Soon as you get repetition and guys get in there together and get that consistency going, you can gel with anybody," he told me. "I mean, YOU can come in and play next to me and we do it enough, we'll figure out something to where we can ...." He trailed off briefly, as the image of me lining up at left guard formed fully in his head. (For those of you who haven't seen me, I look even less like an offensive lineman than you would guess from the cartoon version of me on my Twitter page.) "We can," he said, trying to finish his previous point, " ... um ... try to get something done."

"Yeah," I suggested, "you block my guy as well as yours."

He laughed, but stuck to the thought. "But, yeah, we just definitely need to get in, get together, and continue to work together and get to a point where we're consistent. So gellin' is with the repetition."

Here's what my imaginary Official Redskins Blog Stylebook says on the subject: if an offensive line has a successful game, and the same line returns for a second consecutive game, at that point you can remove the makeshift tag. So if these are the five we see next week, I'm not going with makeshift anymore.

(And I don't care HOW long I play next to Jones or anyone else, there is nothing that we're going to "figure out." Nothing.)

Monday, November 16: When Does The Offensive Line Stop Being Makeshift originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Todd Yoder Attributes His Success To Chris Cooley. Sort Of.

Matt Terl — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:09:00 EST

It's been awhile since Todd Yoder had two touchdowns in a season. "In a season?" he said. "Tampa, my fourth year, actually, two in the same game -- in this stadium. Washington."

The date was October 12, 2003. Outkast's "Hey Ya!" was climbing the charts. The Red Sox and Yankees were in the middle of a heated ALCS, which the Yankees would eventually win, thus prolonging the story of the Red Sox "curse" and launching seven years of non-stop Yankees/Red Sox coverage on ESPN.

And young Todd Yoder came to FedExField with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and caught the first two touchdown passes of his career from Brad Johnson, ending with 28 yards and two touchdowns. From the ESPN game recap:

The unlikeliest hero was tight end Todd Yoder, who got wide open for his first two NFL touchdowns after starter Ken Dilger left in the first half with a sprained right ankle. Yoder, known more for his special teams play, also set up another touchdown by dragging Champ Bailey and David Terrell past the first-down marker on a third-and-8 deep in Washington territory.

Today, he recorded his second touchdown of this season -- and his second in two games -- as he continues his development into one of the main redzone targets of the 2009 Washington Redskins.

Or not.

"Actually, it's kinda funny, that play," Yoder said. "Really I'm supposed to help block down and seal the edge, and I really didn't have anybody to block, 'cause [my guy was] the guy that spiked across the front. And I was just like, 'Well, might as well just get over here and get open,' and he found me."

He added, "It was just kind of a bootleg play; it just happened that I kinda was able to come out of it and Jason [Campbell] found me. I'm really not even the primary target on that, and I just think me and him got a little chemistry going now where he finds me and sees me and throws me the ball."

And -- as he's previously noted on this blog -- he attributes much of this recent success to his mohawked hair. "It's definitely" the mohawk, he reiterated today, "so we're gonna keep it and we're gonna ride it out. We're gonna see where it goes."

I suggested that other players on the team might benefit from a similar power haircut, and Yoder seemed skeptical. " I don't know if anybody else'll rock the mohawk," he said, "but I'm definitely gonna get my barber -- who is Chris Cooley -- to maybe re-trim it up, and we might dye it again. You never know."

Wait a second. Your barber? "Yeah," Yoder said. "Chris Cooley's my barber. He mohawked it; you can see the straightness of it."

So there you have it: Todd Yoder's offensive explosion is directly attributable to Chris Cooley's skills. At shaving hair in a straight line, but still.

Todd Yoder Attributes His Success To Chris Cooley. Sort Of. originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Andre Carter And Brian Orakpo Continue Their Sack Race

Matt Terl — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:01:00 EST

Andre Carter came into this game leading the Redskins with 6.5 sacks on the season, 2.5 more than he had in all of 2009. Brian Orakpo came into this game leading all NFL rookies with 5.5 sacks -- trailing Carter by one for the team lead. The Broncos, meanwhile, had allowed 13 sacks all year. Something had to give ... and what gave turned out to be Denver quarterback Kyle Orton's ankle.
"The reason why Denver was able to have [success] when it came to giving up sacks," Carter explained after the game, "is because they're able to release the ball so quick. Just the connection between the quarterback and the receiver, they're just like, '1-2-3 go! 1-2-3 go!' the quick three-step drop."

On the last offensive play of the first half, Orton scrambled out of the shotgun and was taken down by Orakpo for a three yard gain. But he came up limping and never returned to the game.

Enter backup QB Chris Simms, who did not have the same 1-2-3 go! rhythm with the receivers that Orton did, and who would finish 3-for-13 for 13 yards and an interception, for a less-than-stellar passer rating of 7.5. Oh, and he was sacked three times: once by Carter, once by Orakpo, and once by Carter and Orakpo.

The two got their shared sack first, so the gap at the top of the Redskins sack tally was stuck at one. "I always tell him, 'Man, you need to stop jumpin' on my sacks,' and he always says the same thing," Carter said.

Then, on the Broncos desperate final drive, Carter got a sack on first down, stretching his total to eight and his lead over Orakpo to two. That lead lasted two plays; Orakpo's sack came on third down, forcing the Broncos into a fourth-and-17 and cutting Carter's sack lead back to one.

I asked Carter if the two were having a competition, and he laughed. "We are," he said, but added, "we take pride in each other, we work hard, and he's having a great year, an exciting year. One thing, though, is that it's definitely a tribute to [Albert] Haynesworth, whoever's in those two tackles. They're pass rushing their butts off, so as far as one-on-one matchups, Brian and I, we HAVE to get there."

Which prompted me to ask the obvious follow-up question: with all of the lying-on-the-field-gasping and ankle injuries and going-to-the-sidelines, is Haynesworth worth it?

"It is worth that," Carter said. "Because one thing about him, when you watch the film and analyze it, is he sacrifices his body. I mean, he's a big man, so when you see him dive for a tackle, that's 300-plus pounds of man there, so sometimes you get banged up. But one thing about him: he'll tape it up and come back."

Photos by and courtesy of Brian Murphy.

Andre Carter And Brian Orakpo Continue Their Sack Race originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

DeAngelo Hall Still Feels Good About Pitching The Ball

Matt Terl — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:12:00 EST

When DeAngelo Hall pitched the ball to LaRon Landry at the end of his interception return, I was skeptical -- and I wasn't the only one. Professional Redskins critic John Riggins, presumably tweeting from the woodpile behind his house, wrote "you can't win with guys that think like D-hall...it's all about them...."

I didn't feel quite that strongly about it, but as far as I'm concerned, the fewer moving parts on a play like that, the better. The key, to me, is not losing the ball.

And this wasn't a play that had gotten a lot of work in practice. "Nah, man," Landry told me. "It just happened. I asked him to pitch it." Landry shook his head. "I didn't think he was gonna DO it, though."
To hear him tell it, Hall's reasons for pitching the ball couldn't have been further from what Riggins speculated. "Tryin' to get more yards out of it," he said. "We needed a stop there, needed to change the game. To make that play was huge for us."

It's not like Hall pitched the ball and got out of the play, either. When he got rid of the ball, he was about to get hit, hard, and he knew it. In fact you can probably see it in his eyes in this excellent Brian Murphy photo:

"You saw me get blown up after I tossed it," he told me, "and I was gonna get hit regardless. I was gonna get HIT. So, I just figured I'd pitch it to LaRon and make a block. Really got my clock cleaned, but I got crushed out for pitchin' it in the first place."

I hadn't seen the hit on Hall, and I hadn't fully realized the effort that Landry put into running once he had the ball.

In the end, after rewatching the play and talking to Hall and Landry, I found that I was a lot less skeptical of the play. Hall, of course, never doubted his action, and he had simple numbers to back him up. "Extra ten yards," he said. "Got that extra ten yards."

DeAngelo Hall Still Feels Good About Pitching The Ball originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Redskins vs. Broncos - Fourth Quarter Thoughts

Matt Terl — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:51:00 EST

Intern Jay summed it up as he set off for the locker room: "Two words," he said. "Much. Needed."

That's about all there is to say. The Redskins ran the ball, scored points, and -- shock of shocks -- won. I'll have more later; now it's time to go down to locker room and post-game interviews. Which should be happy, for once this year.

Redskins vs. Broncos - Fourth Quarter Thoughts originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Redskins vs. Broncos - Third Quarter Thoughts

Matt Terl — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:18:00 EST

Via Fanhouse, the Redskins' second-quarter, fourth-and-20 Hunter Smith touchdown pass, because it is awesome.

Unfortunately, nothing quite so awesome happened in the third quarter. In fact, there was only one play that I thought was worth of particular note, and it wasn't a positive one.

With 4:37 left in the third quarter and the Redskins facing fourth-and-a-VERY-short-1 on Denver's 28 yard line, the team lined up to go for it. Everyone I could hear in the press box was calling for a quarterback sneak. Everyone I've heard from on Twitter was calling for the QB sneak. Jason Campbell appeared to check out of the play, and the play that was run was another stretch play down the line for minus-2 yards.

Here's what I don't like:

First, you're trailing by three. You're in Shaun Suisham's range. Take the tie and continue to play. So, one, I'm not a fan of going for it.

Second ... the makeshift offensive line has been doing a heck of a job opening up holes for Ladell Betts and Rock Cartwright. The edge runs haven't been quite so scuccessful. If you need to check out of the QB sneak -- if that's even what happened -- the running play along the line of scrimmage just ... just by sheer geometry, that's not the route to the first-down marker that makes sense.

Other than that, honestly, there was a lot to like about this quarter. But I REALLY didn't like that.

Redskins vs. Broncos - Third Quarter Thoughts originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Redskins vs. Broncos - Second Quarter Thoughts

Matt Terl — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:37:00 EST

This photo of Hunter Smith doesn't actually show what was so interesting about his return, of course. By throwing a touchdown pass to Mike Sellers on fourth-and-20, he becomes the first non-QB to throw a touchdown for the 2009 Redskins, the first member of the 2009 Redskins to both throw AND run for touchdowns -- AND he records his first NFL pass. Not too bad.

There were, despite the fact that the Redskins trail by 3, even more positives in the second quarter:

The revamped offensive line still didn't give up a sack.
The defense seems, for the most part, to have stopped giving up long touchdown to Brandon Marshall.
Fred Smoot is seeing increased playing time, which will hopefully lead to the end of his media boycott.
Brian Orakpo continues to make good plays, although he too is without a sack through the first half.
Quinton Ganther, the guy I referred to as an "infinitieth string" running back, was able to contribute a bit, including a very nice block.
Lorenzo Alexander continues to have a good game, forcing a fumble and making a huge tackle on special teams.

But the best thing -- by FAR, as far as I was concerned -- was how nice it was seeing, for the first time in what seems like forever, the fans stand up and cheer the Redskins off the field in the first half. Now if the team could just take those positives -- and that fan goodwill -- and turn it into a freakin' win....

Redskins vs. Broncos - Second Quarter Thoughts originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Redskins vs. Broncos - First Quarter Thoughts

Matt Terl — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:42:00 EST

Yes, the team is losing. Yes, the cornerbacks look more or less completely perplexed by the idea that some little-known guy named Brandon Marshall has caught the ball deep for two touchdowns. Yes, the offense has looked frustrated in their last couple possessions.
But hey! It's at least drastically different from what we've seen the last few weeks. On the first drive, at least, the offense looked sharp and dynamic, moving Jason Campbell around in the pocket, rolling him out, and using Ladell Betts and Rock Cartwright to more than make up for the absence of Clinton Portis. They looked like a real NFL offense, and they looked resilient doing it in the face of a disheartening showing by the defense.

But disheartening is definitely an understatement, and -- as the defense tries to find answers in the secondary -- it looks like the offense is going to need two or three more drives like that to turn this game around.

********

Before the cheerleaders were introduced, there was a moment of silence for the passing of former Redskins cheerleader Jennifer Fritsch-Williams, who passed away unexpectedly last month. Rebecca Mejia of Redskins.com TV, who remains close to many of the cheerleaders, put together this memorial video for her.

Redskins vs. Broncos - First Quarter Thoughts originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments