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Monday, November 3, 2014

NFL Week 9

I'm coming off a high last week with my Redskins beating the Cowboys, our biggest rivals. Two of my fantasy football teams are going to need some help with Matt Forte on his bye week, and my other top running back Gio Bernard down with an injury. Please pray for the welfare of my fantasy teams this week. I'm just starting this blog post at about a minute until halftime, so I have a lot to say about the game as it has gone so far.

Redskins vs. Vikings


The Redskins offense so far has looked good with RGIII back under center. Alfred Morris has been running harder than I have seen him all year. He had 50 yards and a touchdown through the first quarter. RGIII makes his first bad throw of the game which results in an interception. I'll go more into that when I go on to talk about the refs. RGIII is holding onto the ball way too long. Take what the defense gives you RGIII! The Redskins take the lead again on a drive featuring some hard running with Morris. It's clear that the Redskins offense should run through Alfred Morris even if he doesn't get 8 yards a carry. The pass might be sexier, but the running game opens everything esle up. Some bad blocking has bottled Morris up which stalled a drive. Redskins settle for a field goal, and currently have a 6 point lead. RGIII just made 2 very impressive plays. He changed a running play to switch to the other side to turn a potential loss to a 7 yard gain. Then he hit Desean Jackson in stride for a big gain. Morris ends the drive with a 4 yard run for his second TD of the game. The Redskins go for 2 with a pass. RGIII holds onto the ball too long and loses the ball. The attempt fails. There is only three and a half minutes left in the game, and Alfred Morris is not in the game. What are you thinking Gruden?!? The offense runs through Morris. RGIII struggles and misses an easy throw on 4th down that would have given the Redskins a first down.

The pass rush and run defense has looked good for most of the first half. Bridgewater has missed on some wide open receivers running in the secondary. I've been worried about our secondary all game, and it's justified. Right before the half the Vikings finally hit for a TD to make the game 10-7 going into halftime. The first drive after that half and all of a sudden the Redskins can't stop the run. Bridgewater has been very inconsistent, but for the most part has made good decisions. The Vikings offensive line has not looked good, and the Redskins defenders have been in Bridgewater's face almost the whole game. The Vikings just went down the field with Teddy Bridgewater picking the Redskins apart. The Redskins put no pressure on him at all that drive and they give up an easy touchdown. The Redskins are doing a bit better on putting pressure on the Vikings QB, but they are leaving multiple receivers wide open for some inexplicable reason. The Redskins can't seem to stop Asiata or anyone else for that matter on the Vikings offense. I think it's obvious that the Redskins play man to man better than zone, and they are playing zone over and over again. The Vikings take the lead again. They also convert on their 2 point try to make it a 3 point lead.

The refs have singlehandedly brought the Vikings back into the game before halftime. They took away a clear interception from the Redskins. A few plays later when the Redskins have the ball they give an interception to the Vikings when the ball clearly bounces off the ground. They are now reviewing a play for a TD throw to Desean Jackson. It's clearly a touchdown and the call stands. This officiating crew hasn't overturned a call on the field yet today. It seems like certain crews don't care how bad their call is, they aren't going to overturn it.

I put this loss squarely on Jim Hazlett's shoulders. There are times when he will call a perfect game like last week when Dallas inexplicably decided to pass and pass some more when the Redskins could not stop Demarco Murray. Then there are other times, like today, where the players on defense look lost out there. There did not seem to be a gameplan on defense today. They started off by putting lots of pressure on Teddy Bridgewater, and the Vikings needed the refs to make a couple of bad calls in their favor to score 7 points. Then the second half comes and they let him off the ropes. Teddy finally gets into a rythm and picks apart our secondary who weren't playing within 5 yards of anyone. This is such a disappointment after such a great game last week.

Surprises

The Dolphins are destroying the Chargers. Phillip Rivers who has been one of the most efficient QBs in the league has thrown 3 interceptions. What is going on here? I knew the Dolphin defense has been decent all year, but this is crazy. 37-0 victory for Miami.

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