Redskins @ Jacksonville, 3rd quarter review

1st quarter review
2nd quarter

THIRD QUARTER

G.Gano kicks 61 yards from WAS 30 to JAX 9. D.Karim to JAX 28 for 19 yards (P.Riley).

Jacksonville Jaguars at 15:00, (1st play from scrimmage 14:55)

1-10-JAX 28 (14:55) R.Jennings up the middle to JAX 25 for -3 yards (P.Buchanon).

Due to twins WR to the right the TE is the left-most player of the formation, so when he blocks Alexander there is no one left to stop Bucanon from coming off the edge, especially since the fullback goes the opposite way to cut off the backside.

2-13-JAX 25 (14:19) (Shotgun) D.Garrard pass incomplete deep middle to M.Lewis.

Alexander and Chris Wilson come off either edge but the the OTs manage to carry them upfield. But Carriker, Holliday, and especially Anthony Bryant each bulldoze an interior lineman and drive this wall of bodies into Garrard, forcing a bad throw. As much as I enjoy watching improved line play, I am still greatly irritated that it took injuries to give this trio the bulk of the playing time. This should have been the starting defensive line all year.

3-13-JAX 25 (14:14) (Shotgun) D.Garrard pass incomplete deep left to M.Thomas (P.Buchanon).

Excellent break on the ball by Philip Buchanon to knock away a pass to a WR who thought he had settled into a very large hole in the zone.

4-13-JAX 25 (14:07) A.Podlesh punts 43 yards to WAS 32, Center-J.Cain, downed by JAX-T.Brackenridge.

Washington Redskins at 13:58

1-10-WAS 32 (13:58) R.Torain left end to WAS 34 for 2 yards (A.Lane; R.Allen).

I point this out every time, and I wonder if this is a routine mistake on zone blocking teams or if it is a special trick of the Redskins offensive line. Trent Williams and Lichtensteiger each chip the LDE, then climb to the second level to find LBs. Neither sustains the block on the end, which is rather important.

2-8-WAS 34 (13:20) R.Grossman pass short right to A.Armstrong to WAS 37 for 3 yards (D.Carey).

3-5-WAS 37 (12:39) (Shotgun) R.Grossman pass incomplete short left to R.Williams [Da.Smith].

Redskins get fooled by a zone blitz. The RDE drops into coverage and the offensive line fails to adjust. Heyer blocks the LDE, who he should have left to the unoccupied Montgomery, so the blitzing OLB flies past him. Rex reacts about how you would expect Rex to react to unexpected pressure – with sheer panic and a very awkward attempt to throw the ball away that easily could have led to a disastrous turnover.

4-5-WAS 37 (12:32) S.Paulescu punts 52 yards to JAX 11, Center-N.Sundberg. M.Thomas to JAX 10 for -1 yards (A.Armstrong).

Armstrong is the gunner and gets inside of the double team they have on him, so he is able to race down the field untouched and make a good open-field tackle. Anthony gets a smiley face on his paper for that one.

Jacksonville Jaguars at 12:20

1-10-JAX 10 (12:20) D.Garrard pass short right to J.Hill to JAX 26 for 16 yards (A.Carter).

1-10-JAX 26 (11:45) (Shotgun) D.Garrard pass incomplete short left to M.Thomas.

Dropped screen pass. And a good thing, too, as the rushers got sucked in completely, and the blocking was set up perfectly. Would have been a big gain.

2-10-JAX 26 (11:40) D.Garrard scrambles right end pushed ob at JAX 28 for 2 yards (A.Carriker).

Carter, at LOLB, drops into the middle coverage zone to cover a blitz from Fletcher that completely fools the Jaguars O-line. He comes untouched through the (enormous) left B gap and wraps up Garrard, who is inexplicably able to slip out of his grasp and make a run for the sideline.

3-8-JAX 28 (11:10) D.Garrard sacked at JAX 19 for -9 yards (R.Jackson). FUMBLES (R.Jackson), recovered by JAX-E.Monroe at JAX 13. E.Monroe to JAX 13 for no gain (A.Carter).

I’m not trying to take anything away from Rob Jackson, who did play well. But it’s Fletcher who makes this play. The DLs line up with wide splits to allow a blitzing lane for the ILBs. Rocky crowds the line then attacks across the center’s face to open a lane for Fletcher, who absorbs the RB’s block but fights through him (and gets held I think) to dive at Garrard’s feet, holding him in place so Jackson, who had been driven pretty wide by the LT and wouldn’t have gotten any pressure if Garrard had had room to step up, can hit him from behind and knock the ball out.

4-23-JAX 13 (10:27) A.Podlesh punts 49 yards to WAS 38, Center-J.Cain, out of bounds.

Washington Redskins at 10:19

1-10-WAS 38 (10:19) R.Grossman pass short middle to F.Davis to WAS 47 for 9 yards (R.Allen).

2-1-WAS 47 (9:38) R.Grossman pass incomplete short middle to F.Davis. PENALTY on WAS-R.Grossman, Intentional Grounding, 12 yards, enforced at WAS 47.

Oh lord, Rex. The RDE reads the bootleg and gets in Rex’s face. As always, you can see the panic set in. Rather than continuing in his bootleg Rex stops, backpedals, shifts about trying to get a clear lane to Davis at the LOS. When that fails he drills it into the ground for an easy grounding call. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a career backup quarterback.

3-13-WAS 35 (9:33) R.Grossman pass short left to C.Cooley to WAS 45 for 10 yards (Da.Smith) [T.Knighton].

Keiland commits too early to his block, chipping the RDE who is rushing inside against Trent. Neither is able to adjust to pick up the DT who stunts around to the outside and gets a clean shot at Rex, who to his credit gets a nice throw out to Cooley before geting drilled.

4-3-WAS 45 (8:58) S.Paulescu punts 34 yards to JAX 21, Center-N.Sundberg. T.Brackenridge to JAX 22 for 1 yard (D.Young).

2.9 seconds hang time. I cannot believe how terrible the punting situation has been all season.

Jacksonville Jaguars at 8:50

1-10-JAX 22 (8:50) D.Garrard pass deep middle to M.Thomas to JAX 46 for 24 yards (V.Harris).

The blitz gets nowhere, but this play is worth watching to see Anthony Bryant awkwardly drop into coverage.

1-10-JAX 46 (8:12) R.Jennings left end to JAX 49 for 3 yards (D.Hall).

(7:31) D.Garrard sacked at JAX 41 for -8 yards (L.Fletcher). FUMBLES (L.Fletcher), and recovers at JAX 41.

The Redskins line rushes to the offensive left, while Carter at LOLB goes very wide. This leaves an enormous gap in the lien right in front of Fletcher. When it becomes evident that he will have no one he needs to covers, he races in clean and meets Lorenzo Alexander at the quarterback.

2-7-JAX 49D.Garrard to JAX 41 for no gain (L.Alexander).

3-15-JAX 41 (6:55) (Shotgun) D.Garrard pass deep right to J.Hill pushed ob at WAS 22 for 37 yards (D.Hall).

Rob Jackson threatens the LT to the outside, then makes a hard move to this inside that would have taken down Garrard before the throw if not for a subtle hold of the jersey.

1-10-WAS 22 (6:29) R.Jennings up the middle to WAS 20 for 2 yards (A.Carriker).

Bryant holds the line against the C and Darrion Scott, at RDE, absorbs a chip from the LT that allows the LG to get a little bit of push on him but its only minimal. Carriker is able to come across the backfield and make the play. So refreshing. In any of the previous 15 games Ma’ake Kemoeatu and Kedric Golston would be five yards off the LOS and Carriker’s efforts would be in vain. One more time: How did it take all season to start giving playing time to anyone other than Ma’ake and Golston?

2-8-WAS 20 (5:50) M.Thomas left end to WAS 16 for 4 yards (L.Alexander).

3-4-WAS 16 (5:09) (Shotgun) D.Garrard pass incomplete short right to J.Hill. Penalty on JAX-B.Meester, Ineligible Downfield Pass, declined.

Rocky and Carter both read the screen and adjust to take away the RB and wreck the deployment of the blockers.

4-4-WAS 16 (5:01) J.Scobee 34 yard field goal is GOOD, Center-J.Cain, Holder-A.Podlesh.

WAS 10 JAX 10, 8 plays, 62 yards, 3:53 drive, 10:03 elapsed

J.Scobee kicks 60 yards from JAX 30 to WAS 10. B.Banks pushed ob at WAS 32 for 22 yards (L.Hart).

Washington Redskins at 4:57, (1st play from scrimmage 4:49)

1-10-WAS 32 (4:49) R.Torain left end to WAS 49 for 17 yards (D.Carey).

Montgomery successfully cuts the MLB, and Lichtensteiger gets a solid second level block on the WLB, so Torain has yards to gain after breaking a tackle at the LOS by a DE who had fought past Trent.

1-10-WAS 49 (4:25) R.Torain right end to JAX 49 for 2 yards (R.Allen).

Could have been more here – Trent whiffs on a second-level cut block on the backside LB, otherwise the blocking was set downfield and there could have been a good gain.

2-8-JAX 49 (3:45) R.Torain left end to WAS 48 for -3 yards (D.Harvey).

Cooley lets the RDE get by him too easily – I think he may have been expecting help from Trent, but he goes straight to a LB.

3-11-WAS 48 (2:58) (Shotgun) R.Grossman pass short middle to S.Moss to JAX 40 for 12 yards (D.Carey).

Nice adjustment to the trail blitz. Lichtensteiger engages the lead LB enough to slow him down, before passing him off to Keiland and sliding back out to pick up the trail guy.

1-10-JAX 40 (2:16) R.Torain left end to JAX 35 for 5 yards (A.Lane).

Heyer and Rabach both get beat by their DLs, so this is another example of Torain fighting through a messy line of scrimmage to salvage a decent gain.

2-5-JAX 35 (1:29) R.Torain up the middle to JAX 33 for 2 yards (J.Mincey).

3-3-JAX 33 (:48) (Shotgun) R.Grossman pass short left to S.Moss to JAX 19 for 14 yards (C.Greene).

The much-maligned interior line continues to get work done – Montgomery prevents the DT from stunting behind his partner, which means Lichtensteiger is available to bail out Trent after he gets beat to the inside.

1-10-JAX 19 (:09) R.Grossman left end to JAX 14 for 5 yards.