Courtesy: extremeskins.com
The Washington Redskins pulled out a victory on the road to improve to 2-2 against a much better 1-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers team in person than they are in the standings. The game was close but did not need to be. Here are my thoughts.
The Kids: Robert Griffin III and Alfred Morris are continuing to have rookie seasons to remember. RGIII just crossed off another item on the rookie year checklist and that is leading a late fourth quarter comeback. He threw for over 300 yards for the second time already this season and shares the league lead in rushing touchdowns with four. His backfield mate, Alfred Morris also has four and as a sixth round pick Morris may end up being the surprise of the entire draft. He rushed for a career-high 113 yards and joins Larry Brown, John Riggins, George Rogers, Earnest Byner and Terry Allen as the only backs in team history since the 1970 merger to open a season with at least 75 yards in each game in the first four weeks of a season
Courtesy: Washington Post
The Kicker: Billy Cundiff officially scares me. He did kick the game-winning 41-yard field goal exorcising the demons of last year when he missed a clutch chip shot that would have put Baltimore in the Super Bowl. But if he didn’t miss 31 and 41-yard attempts earlier the team wouldn’t have needed his heroics. He also missed a 57-yard try, which brings to light something obvious that we first saw at the end of the St. Louis Rams game. He just doesn’t have the long range needed in the field goal game. The Baltimore Ravens don’t make too many mistakes in the personnel department so you have to wonder why they let Cundiff go if all he did was miss a fluke kick at the end of the season. There is something there that just doesn’t sit right with me.
The Coverage: Four pass plays of 20 yards or greater by Jim Haslett’s group and it just doesn’t look like this issue will ever get under control. Josh Wilson gambles too much for my liking and DeAngelo Hall, despite his interception, is just not as quick in the cover game as he once was. It’s going to get really interesting as the next five opponents before the bye week (Atlanta, Minnesota, New York Giants, Pittsburgh and Carolina) have quarterbacks and wide receivers that can cause major problems.
Oh and one other side note. What kind of craziness was that before the game when Brandon Meriweather collided with Aldrick Robinson during warm ups knocking both of them out of the lineup? This season is too wacky already and we are only a quarter of the way through it.
*Also posted at: http://www.masnsports.com/holder_on/2012/10/the-kids-the-kicker-and-the-coverage.html *
