October 6, 2011

Synaptic Shotgun: 3-1 Washington Redskins

I don't get to write very often these days. But there's so much to write it's driving me crazy keeping it bottled up. So I'm going to try the shotgun-style thing for a while. Again.

In no particular order, and definitely not exhaustively ...

DC Jim Haslett

Few doubted Haslett earlier or more pointedly than I when the Redskins brought him in to implement the transition from a 4-3 to 3-4 defense last year. And, through the end of last season I had seen little to change my mind. But fair is fair, and credit where it's due:

Mr. Haslett, the product you have put on the field so far in 2011 has been a revelation. I am happy with the game-planning, happy with the rotation, happy with the halftime adjustments, happy even with almost all the playcalling. My only nitpick is with still too-often telegraphed blitzes that don't get there. Even then, I understand that kind of second-guessing is easy for armchair coordinators. And I recognize that the view from the living room is a little different than the view from the sidelines. In the same way, for instance, as planning to get in shape, and actually getting in shape, are a little different.*

Hell of a job so far. For the record, I would like nothing more than to see you continue to rub it in the faces of doubters like me for a long time to come.


QB Rex Grossman

... is perhaps the only 3-1 quarterback in NFL history to garner a lower approval rating in his own home town than the sitting President. Well, there is nothing like raising the bar on preseason team expectations to make everyone forget that the current trigger man was never going to be more than a placeholder to begin with. Crawl a couple games above .500 and suddenly it's not "rebuilding year," we're talking Super Bowl.

Sigh.

But back to Rex...