- When: Sunday, September 29, 2013, 4:25 p.m. ET
- TV: FOX
- Radio: ESPN 980AM, XM Internet 831, XM 228 (Internet 822)
- Last regular-season meeting: December 13, 2009 (Washington 34, Oakland 13)
The Washington Redskins have a tough task ahead as they battle both jet lag and the 1-2 Oakland Raiders today. The goal will be to begin the process of digging themselves out of a hole by going into their Week 5 bye with a win. No one envisioned this team being in this situation one season after winning the NFC East Division but there it is.
The opener against their division rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles is a blur. The Philly offense came in with fast, high-octane play under head coach Chip Kelly’s new offensive scheme and had the defense on its heels the entire first half. The Redskins’ offense spent most of the first 30 minutes on the bench, holding the ball for a total of only nine minutes. They looked confused and on their heels.
The team did actually look more like the Redskins-of-2012 in the second halves of all three of their regular season games (they scored 20 points in the second half of the Eagles’ game and might have won were it not for some untimely penalties and mistakes by skill-position players). But, against all three opponents — the Eagles (33-27), the Green Bay Packers (38-20) and the Detroit Lions (27-20) — a huge issue has been that quarterback Robert Griffin, III is knocking the rust off of both his physical self: his surgically repaired knee, his natural mechanics and his reaction time; and his mental self: reading defenses, reacting and his progressions. Having not played a down in the preseason, these early games are his first real-time game reps and it’s going to take time for him to get back to the Griffin that RedskinsNation knows and loves.
Professional football players don’t just forget how to play football. The more Robert plays, the better he’ll get. But that won’t happen, obviously, if the Washington defense doesn’t get off of the field on third down and they have not done this well in any of the first three games. The front line has a lot of talent in nose tackle Barry Cofield (especially!), ends Stephen Bowen and Kedric Golston, and bookend linebackers Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan. But for a couple of signature pick-six plays by Kerrigan and cornerback DeAngelo Hall’s heads up interceptions, the first level of defense has not been able to consistently pressure opposing quarterbacks or stop the run even as the front three have had outstanding individual play at times. The secondary, which includes safety Brandon Meriweather, cornerbacks Josh Wilson and DeAngelo Hall; and two rookies: safety Bacarri Rambo and cornerback David Amerson; has been a mixed bag and good and poor performances. Where there have been glimpses of the talent that landed these rookies on the roster, we have also seen the typical youngster mistakes of bad angles on tackling and terrible execution throughout the first three games. But this squad, like the offense, has shown improvements in the second halves of all three games when adjustments to coverage have been made.
Today, Griffin needs to continue to get into his groove and Kyle Shanahan needs to both run the ball and to call plays that let his quarterback play his game. Skill position players — both on offense and defense — must both execute and make plays. The team is 0-3 but there has been improvement shown every game.
As of this morning, there is some confusion about whether the Oakland Raiders’ quarterback, Terrelle Pryor — on the mend from a concussion and having been cleared to play — or back up, Matt Flynn, will start against the Redskins.
Regardless of who calls the Silver and Black’s offensive plays, they have a defense that ranks 16th in passing yards allowed per game. Even so, this is a transitional year for the Raiders… they began 2013 with nine new starters on defense and have already lost strong safety Tyvon Branch in Week 2 against Jacksonville.
What’s bugging Oakland right now is that they rank 28th in takeaways, having zero so far in 2013. Hopefully, Griffin and offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan will take little comfort in that. Don’t think the Raiders are not salivating over the Redskins’ quarterback’s troubles right now. A tactic they might use on defense to capitalize on the signal-calling issues in D.C. would be to load the box, try to take the run game away and force RGIII put the ball in the air, where he’s had nominal success so far this season. Griffin’s increasing comfort level will be important today because the few times he has used his legs, the plays were successful. The Redskins need get the play-action going and let Robert be Robert. IF he is more confident in his abilities than he has been, Griffin can wreak havoc on a defense.
Wouldn’t we love to see that?
“I think for the most part, you would like a guy that’ll sit back there and not have that threat of running,” Raiders’ veteran safety Charles Woodson said of Griffin. “But you don’t get it your way all the time. That’s the one thing he brings is that he’s a dual threat. He can throw and there’s always the possibility of him running.”
If the Raiders play Pryor (in 2013 has completed 53 of 81 passes for 624 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions), it will put more pressure on the Redskins front line because he is a more mobile quarterback than Flynn. The latter, on the other hand, is thought to be a more accurate, more experienced pocket QB. That doesn’t mean he’s a better passer though… his arm isn’t as strong as Pryor’s.
The latest word is that Flynn will be starting. That could be good news for the Redskins. Although they are used to the zone-read-type offense that the Raiders run when Pryor is starting, Washington has not been consistent against the run. In three games, the defense has allowed an average of 155 yards per game. At least, if Flynn is starting, they likely won’t see much option from the former Green Bay Packer and should have better luck.
Kicker Kai Forbath is listed as questionable on the latest injury report but Shanahan suited him up last week and will again today. At least fill-in kicker, John Potter, made the two field goals (43 and 21 yards, respectively) against Detroit (he missed a 50-yard attempt the previous week vs. Green Bay).
INJURY REPORT
Washington
QUESTIONABLE: TE Fred Davis (Ankle), K Kai Forbath (Right Groin), LB Brandon Jenkins (Ankle), CB Jerome Murphy (Not Injury Related), TE Jordan Reed (Thigh)
PROBABLE: WR Leonard Hankerson (Hamstring), LB Ryan Kerrigan (Knee), S Brandon Meriweather (Shoulder)
Oakland
OUT: S Tyvon Branch (Ankle), T Menelik Watson (Knee)
QUESTIONABLE: QB Terrelle Pryor (Concussion) DE Jason Hunter (Quad), G Lucas Nix (Ankle)
PROBABLE: CB Tracy Porter (Concussion), RB Jamize Olawale (Ankle)
STAT OF THE WEEK (h/t Louis Musto):
Since 1990, only three teams have started the season 0-3 and made the playoffs. Only one, the 1992 San Diego Chargers, has started the season 0-4 and still earned a playoff berth.
KEY MATCHUP: Robert Griffin, III vs. Lamarr Houston,
It is because of this match up that the younger Shanahan is going to have to call more option plays for his quarterback. If his offensive line does not execute and if this second edition of RGIII remains a pocket passer, Raiders’ defensive tackle Lamarr Houston is going to eat the Redskins’ signal-caller for lunch.
Houston (6’3”, 300 lbs.) would be overlooked if one just read his stats. They don’t tell the story. So far in 2013, he has two sacks and 10 tackles (five assists) but on he goes, consistently and efficiently pressuring quarterbacks. Last week he sacked Peyton Manning for a fumble in the third quarter after being a nuisance to him all day. The game was already over but it didn’t lessen his desire to make himself known.
Griffin needs to be himself if he’s going to avoid a similar fate than Manning. That means read-option plays, running the ball and pistol formations. Hear that, Kyle?
FACTOID: With six receptions today, wide out Santana Moss can pass Redskins’ legendary receiver Gary Clark for third-most receptions with the team.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“We have a big plane. We actually run these guys up and down the aisle – it’s about 100 yards, something around a 100-yard range – so we’ll get some exercise on the plane [laughing].”
Redskins Head Coach, Mike Shanahan on if the length of the flight is a concern for guys that are battling injuries.
Hail.