Remembering 2008, and Looking Ahead to 2009

After a long hiatus, mostly due to a busy semester during last season, I'm back to talk some Redskins football.


Re-reading my last post brought back all the highs and the lows I felt last season. I truly believed the Redskins were a serious contender in the NFC at the midway point last season. They played mistake free football on offense, solid defense, and were pounding teams to death in the fourth quarter with Clinton Portis. It was a recipe for winning, and at 6-2, they were doing just that.


With MVP and playoff talks swirling around the nation's capital, The Redskins had a chance to prove themselves on the national stage with a Monday night showdown against the Steelers.



After a humiliating 23-6 loss in which the Skins were physically dominated in all facets of the game, it became clear that a different team showed up for the second half of the season.



The offensive line, with a combination of age and injury, could no longer control the pace of the game. Clinton Portis went from a 1,000-yard first half of the season to a 500-yard second half. Protection breakdowns in the passing game halted our offense further and led to a sub-par performance from Jason Campbell in the second half of the season.



The gameplan for beating the Redskins was clear: crowd the line of scrimmage, bring pressure, hit them hard, and they won't be able to keep up. The result was a 2-6 finish, in which the offense averaged fewer than 13 points per game, and another season out of the playoffs.



Following a dissapointing finish to the 2008 season, most offseason talk concerning the Redskins' success in 2009 has centered around Jason Campbell. I feel he is more of an x-factor than a key component to their success. Without good physical line play protecting him well and creating a running game to support him, I don't think that Campbell will have the chance to succeed.

He has shown that when he is protected well, he is capable of being a good "game manager" and even hit a big play or two. That said, I think Campbell still has some accuracy and pocket presence issues which he needs to work out, and entering his third full season as a starter it is time for him to take his game to the next level.



After watching the collapse of the Redskins at the end of the 2008 season, my top concerns with the team heading into 2009 is with their ability to physically control the game on the line of scrimmage and stay healthy at those positions. The additions of Albert Haynesworth and Brian Orakpo should help tremendously on the defensive side of the ball, but doubt still lingers with the offensive line.




After the first preseason game two weekends ago against the Ravens, the Redskins picked up where the left off in 2008. They were physically dominated by the Ravens. Last weekend against the Steelers, aside from a field goal drive that was sparked by a fake punt for a first down, the Redskins offense looked very inept in the passing game once again, although the line provided a good push in the running game.


Heading into the second half of the preseason, we will get to see more action from the first team. I am anxious to see how the offensive line performs, particularly in pass protection, and see if Campbell begins to show any improvement. I would also like to see if one of the second-year recievers, Malcom Kelly and Devin Thomas, begin to stand out and take the #2 receiving spot. So far, Kelly has shown tremendous hands, and at 6'4 225 he is a big taget over the middle of the field and in the redzone.


Aside from those three question marks, I think that the Redskins have a team built to compete at a high level in the NFC. Their #4 overall defense has added some new playmakers, so we can only expect a repeat performance or perhaps improvement. Clinton Portis has proven to be a top back in the NFL when healthy, and Chris Cooley has proven to be a top tight end over the last four years.

There's an old saying that football is won in the trenches, and the Redskins need to show that they can win those battles if they want to compete in the NFC East.