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Redskins-Seahawks Winners & Losers
By Jamie Mottram | November 23, 2008
Handing out labels following Skins games. Today: a 20-17 win at Seattle.
WINNERS: Jim Zorn – The offense gained 386 yards, picked up 24 first downs and put 20 points on the board as he got the much-needed win in his return to Seattle, and his decision to kick on 4th-and-inches from the 5 with 9:19 left was the right choice (even if I cursed it at the time).They love him in the Pacific Northwest, and we could learn to here in the Mid-Atlantic.
Clinton Portis — Came in with a bad knee, left with a strained hip and rushed for 143 yards in between. Welcome back to the front of the MVP race, Mr. Portis.
Jason Campbell – The passing numbers were just OK, but he scrambled for first downs and never turned it over.
Rocky McIntosh and Lorenzo Alexander – Recorded a sack each, and, in the Redskins’ defense, that’s to be celebrated.
LaRon Landry – Made a great catch on that interception, which led to a TD.
Shawn Springs – Long-time Seattle guy picked one off to seal the deal.
LOSERS: Ladell Betts — Fumbled the ball with 1:42 left and the game in-hand, and I’m still trying to figure out how.
The front seven – A weak pass rush and porous run defense (Maurice Morris went over 100 yards for the first time in two years) won’t get it done.
Shaun Suisham – He was a loser last week for coming up short on a 46-yarder, and he’s a loser this week for coming up short from 43. I’ve defended the guy before, and I’d love to again, but that’s just embarrassing.
Ryan Plackemeier – Averaged 28.3 yards per punt, including a 25-yarder.
Special teams — The kicker stinks, the punter stinks and the Danny Smith-led squad gave up a 55-yard return to open the second half.
MEDIUM: Mike Sellers – He played a great game, he really did, until dropping the play-action pass on 3rd-and-inches that would have at least given the Skins a first down inside the 5.
Santana Moss – Dropped another tough deep ball and was called for unnecessary roughness in the red zone, but led the team in receiving with 72 yards and is the only wideout the other team has to worry about.
Chris Cooley – Dropped a pass that would’ve made Suisham’s aforementioned FG a little shorter, but also caught five balls for 54 yards.
Matt Vasgersian and JC Pearson – They’re pretty bad, and Pearson especially so, but they’re not Buck, Moose and/or Goose.
NEXT: New York at Washington Sunday 11/30, 1 p.m. ET
Topics: Redskins, Winners & Losers | 6 Comments »
November 23rd, 2008 at 10:46 PM
This may sound bad and then again it may not. But isn’t Mike Vanderjagt not kicking in the NFL right now? I mean hell, the Redskins did sign Jose Cortez a few years ago. Vanderjegt can kick it from distance with accuracy and he can regularly put it at the 5 yard line or end zone on kick offs (opposed to the 10 yard line or worse)
I wonder if Cooley has dropped Suisham as his kicker on his fantasy team yet???
November 23rd, 2008 at 11:47 PM
Shouldn’t the front of the MVP be occupied by someone on the Giants? Or, since everything seems to be spread around, is there no one obvious candidate?
November 24th, 2008 at 8:23 AM
Re: the kickers — Vanderjagt was worse in Dallas than Suisham is now, and I’m not sure it’s at a point where you address it in-season anyway. Good thinking though.
Re: the MVP race — The best skill position player on a playoff team wins, so right now it’s between Portis and Kurt Warner. The Giants’ best candidate is probably Brandon Jacobs, but it’s tough for a RB to be MVP on only 16 carries/game.
November 24th, 2008 at 8:42 AM
1. I don’t know if its carries per game as much as it is value to team, so Jacobs would be number three behind Portis and Warner.
2. Winner- Baltimore Ravens for getting it over with early against the Eagles.
November 24th, 2008 at 8:52 AM
Jacobs is a great player, but the other Giants RBs (Ward and Bradshaw) maintain 5.0-plus yards/carry averages, while the other Redskins RBs (Betts and Alexander) maintain sub-4.0 averages. So a big part of Jacobs’ success comes because of the team he plays on, while Portis’ comes despite it.
November 24th, 2008 at 11:04 AM
Two weeks in a row, Suisham kicks a ball, I turn to my wife an proclaim “Good!” only to feel like an ass when it bangs short from the crossbar.
I have never felt confident in him and lately he just is embarrassing himself, and the team costing us points. Detroit would’ve been an 11 point win, missed and the Dallas game could’ve been totally different.
Who was the last reliable kicker we had? Chip?
Oh well, at least Kelly got some targets. Did he already equal Thomas’s season total for receptions in one game? Sad…