The Redskins finished the season on a good note by beating the Vikings in the final week of the season. The win for the Redskins showed they have heart and a positive attitude for next year. It was a disappointing year for the Redskins, but they showed hope for the next season. The score of the game was misleading for the actual game. The Redskins controlled the ball on both sides of the game, and the game wasn't close until 2 seconds at the end with a Viking hail-mary. Betts ran well in place of Portis, and Ramsey played well enough not to lose the game. The defense was great again and didn't allow Culpepper to go off. The Redskins were helped out by dropped balls from the Viking receivers as well. The Redskins finished off the season winning one more game than last year. However, the feeling around the Redskins was a positive one unlike years past. The season had its ups and downs. Here is a look at the Skins by position. Quarterback: The Redskins signed Mark Brunell in the offseason from Jacksonville and traded a draft pick. Mark Brunell was a huge disappointment for the Redskins. He could not throw the ball with any accuracy or power. He was constantly overthrowing or underthrowing the receivers. Brunell was benched after 9 weeks for Patrick Ramsey. Ramsey made his mistakes deep down field and across the middle of the field. He looked strong in some games and bad in others. Ramsey looked the worse against good defenses and great against bad defenses. Patrick Ramsey had 1665 yards, 62.1 completion %, 10 TDs, 11 INTs, and a 74 rating. Joe Gibbs has said that Patrick Ramsey will be the QB for 2005. Running Back: Clinton Portis was traded from the Broncos for Chump Baily in the offseason. He has been great for the Redskins this season falling just short of rushing for 1500 yards for another year. Gibbs and Portis did have a learning process to go though. Portis is a middle back because he has great speed but is tough enough to go up the middle. The best play to run with him is a zone run which Gibbs found out later in the season. Gibbs likes pulling linemen during runs and Portis wasn't patient enough for them. The Redskins also found out that Ladell Betts is a descent backup for Portis, for Portis went down against the Dallas Cowboys. Betts ran for 118 yards and a TD against the Vikings. receiver: The receivers were one of the most disappointing parts of the Redskins. They all had problems catching the ball and dropping balls constantly. The worse receiver is Rod Gardner, for the only time he wanted to catch the ball was when he was in the endzone. He has never amounted to the receiver worth picking up in the first round in the draft. Coles was the most dependable receiver for the Skins with 950 yards. Rod Gardner is going to become a free agent this coming offseason and the front office should let him go. I have backed up Gardner for a few years now, but I have just gotten fed up. The brightest spot for the Redskins was Chris Cooley. He is a rookie picked up in the late rounds of the draft. Cooley caught 37 receptions for 314 yards and 6 TDs. What a great find. Offensive Line: The offensive line needs the most work during the up coming offseason for the Redskins. It took a major hit in the first preseason game when Jon Jansen got injured for the season with an Achilles tear. That injury set the tone for the whole season. Jansen was suppose to be the anchor of the line and he was gone. Samuels didn't live up to his contract this year, but he will get his money from the front office because the Redskins can't take a chance of not having someone average at left tackle. Right tackle was just a big rotation that never got solidified. Randy Thomas at right guard did his job and will be back next year, for his name wasn't mentioned much which is a good thing for linemen. Center and left guard needs to be upgraded badly. Cory Raymer is just not doing a good enough job their at center, and Derrick Dockery is not talented enough to handle Gibbs responsibility. Defensive line: The line was suppose to be the weakness of the Redskins going into the season and became a solid foundation for the defense. Cornelius Griffin was the star of the line with 6 sacks and a tackling machine. The other members were a bunch of no names that got the job done. The Skins should not touch the line at all. Linebackers: The linebackers were the most amazing part of the defense this year. Gregg Williams could have put anyone in their and they would be stars. Antonio Pierce was the surprise of the defense being so versatile. He learned every linebacker position, so when Williams asked him to be the QB of the defense at MLB. He exceeded everyone's expectations by leading the team in tackles at 112 tackles. Michael Barrow was brought in to be MLB and is now a liability with his huge contract on the bench. Marcus Washington was the other free agent pick up and a good one. He was second on the team with 107 tackles at strong linebacker. Weakside linebacker was a rotation door when Lavar Arrington went down with a bad knee in week 4. It wasn't a stand out position but was solid. Secondary: During the offseason the Skins traded away Chump Bailey, so the pressure was on Fred Smoot to be the shut down corner. He rose to the challenge and became the corner the Skins thought he would be. On the other side, the Redskins brought in Shawn Springs who was know for always being injured. Well, he wasn't this year. Springs has 6 sacks and 5 INTs. He was great at run support and a physical corner in the secondary. He was a great addition during the offseason. Sean Taylor was drafted last year and blossomed in a good hard hitting free safety as a rookie. At times, Taylor was a caught out of position, but that is expected from a rookie. At strong safety, Matt Bowen started off the year at this position. He got injured and put on injure reserve early in the season. Andre Lott was then put at strong safety and he too was injured and on reserve. Finally Ryan Clark was placed and finished at strong safety. All three did a great job at this position. This will be a great rotation or trade bait for next year. All of these guys did a great job this year. The Redskins needs to bring back everyone from the defense and tweak the offense this offseason. If the Redskins can stay away from the overrated players and make some solid additions, they could be a real contending team.
Posted by helimech24 at January 3, 2005 07:14 PM | TrackBack