Sports

[Spurt]

Some thoughts---

I agree with former Redskin, Brian Mitchell---RGIII SHUT UP AND PLAY!!!

Some interesting predictions from Warpath Magazine for the NFC East---

Eagles-prediction 11-5  They cite a healthy Sam Bradford, and Murry, Mathews, and Sproles will make the Eagles successful.....and if the Eagles front 7 can remain healthy, they can be one of the best in the NFL, and their secondary is vastly improved.

Giants-prediction   8-8  The Giants lost OT Beatty for a long spell due to injuries.  And their defense is a work in process. 

Cowboys-a SURPRISING prediction of 6-10 citing Cowboy's runningbacks McFadden, Randle, and Dunbar aren't the same caliber as one DeMarco Murray......They also cite that the Cowboy's biggest playmaker on defense McClain is supsended for 4 games---and the 4 games are big ones---Gaints, Eagles, Falcons, and Saints (who may also be in running for a playoff berth come the end of the seasons)

Redskins many think 6 wins is the best Redskin fans can hope for---and I agree.  The team is building up the O line but it will take time for young players to step into their roles.  And although the defense was improved with some free agent signings, the secondary still needs lots of work....and then their is the QB position---nuff said!

Redskins will play the Lions in their preseason game---expect more ground and pound with the running game as the team looks to set up shorter 3rd downs.....

[gardenman]

I've got a feeling you'll see RGIII moved in the next week or two. The Bills and Jets need a quarterback badly and RGIII still has some minimal trade value. (Likely a guaranteed fourth round pick that could transition into a second or third based on performance.)

I saw a report today that a publication owned by Daniel Snyder had several negative articles about RGIII in it, and they'd never written anything negative about him before. It's being assumed that the publication of those stories shows that Snyder has lost patience.

RGIII reportedly alienated many of his teammates over the last couple of years and without their trust a quarterback will have a hard time leading a team. We could see an EJ Manuel or Geno Smith go back to the Redskins and maybe the change of scenery would be good for each of them. 

It would make some sense for the teams mentioned to unload their failed first round pick quarterbacks, and get something in return. None of them will get anything like what they invested, but something in return is better than nothing.

[gardenman]

Well, RGIII is certainly trying to play his way off the Redskins. He dropped back to pass eight times last night, got hit six times (one gets the impression the o-line isn't especially motivated to block for him) took three sacks and had two fumbles before leaving with a shoulder stinger and a concussion. That's at least his second concussion as a Redskin. With a contract that locks in if he's on the roster week one, things aren't looking especially rosy for RGIII right now. With the NFL concussion protocol it's unlikely that RGIII will play in pre-season game three, so the Redskins will largely have to make their decision based on what they've seen so far. I'm not sure they've seen nearly enough to justify the money he's owed.

[gardenman]

Just giving this a bump to the top so it doesn't get lost.

[Spurt]

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@gardenman wrote:

Well, RGIII is certainly trying to play his way off the Redskins. He dropped back to pass eight times last night, got hit six times (one gets the impression the o-line isn't especially motivated to block for him) took three sacks and had two fumbles before leaving with a shoulder stinger and a concussion. That's at least his second concussion as a Redskin. With a contract that locks in if he's on the roster week one, things aren't looking especially rosy for RGIII right now. With the NFL concussion protocol it's unlikely that RGIII will play in pre-season game three, so the Redskins will largely have to make their decision based on what they've seen so far. I'm not sure they've seen nearly enough to justify the money he's owed.

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@gardenman  Hey GARDENMAN---Some inexperience along with some lousy O line performances contributed to Robert's poor performance. 

First of all pro-bowler Trent Williams wasn't in the lineup to help protect RGIII.  In his place was Willie Smith (5 year guy from East Carolina) who looked out of his league against the Lions.  On many occasions, Smith  failed to contain his man. On one play RGIII got rid of the ball, but Smith didn't get a block on the DE who got a hit on RGIII.  And on a couple other plays Smith got pushed back into RGII. I can't believe Smith has managed to last in the NFL for 5 years!!!!

Next was rookie Scherff who struggled --- he played too high, got off balance, no hand leverage, got beat on some inside moves.  Center Kor L. bailed him out a couple times.  He's a rookie learning a new position so it's to be expected. But he will learn and gain experience and fix these problems hopefully.

On one play, RB Chris Thompson ran his route rather than picking up the blitz and Lions safety got a clean hit on RGIII  Although Thompson did a good job of picking up the blitz on another play. ....

There were a couple of plays where RGIII could've thrown a pass to Garcon, but waited on a route that Andre Roberts was running.....with the blitz coming, that route took too much time to develop.....Then there was the fumble (rolling my eyes)

I agree with LaVar Arrington on the NFL Network (and Arrington is a Redskin that I just do NOT like), but agree with him, he said RGII continues to hold on the ball TOO LONG!!!  He also said the blame lies also with Jay Gruden, and O Line Coach!!!

And in other news---after the Redskin GM said he wasn't going to sacrifice the Redskins future with draft picks to pick up a TE.  But I guess he changed his mind because the team picked up TE Derek Carrier from the 49ers for a 2017 5th round pick.  Carrier has been around he's spent time with the Raiders and your Eagles, GARDEMAN, before landing with the 49ers....Last year he had 9 catches for 105 yds and contributed on Special Teams too....

.

[Spurt]

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@gardenman wrote:

I've got a feeling you'll see RGIII moved in the next week or two. The Bills and Jets need a quarterback badly and RGIII still has some minimal trade value. (Likely a guaranteed fourth round pick that could transition into a second or third based on performance.)

I saw a report today that a publication owned by Daniel Snyder had several negative articles about RGIII in it, and they'd never written anything negative about him before. It's being assumed that the publication of those stories shows that Snyder has lost patience.

RGIII reportedly alienated many of his teammates over the last couple of years and without their trust a quarterback will have a hard time leading a team. We could see an EJ Manuel or Geno Smith go back to the Redskins and maybe the change of scenery would be good for each of them. 

It would make some sense for the teams mentioned to unload their failed first round pick quarterbacks, and get something in return. None of them will get anything like what they invested, but something in return is better than nothing.

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@gardenman  Now GARDENMAN---please NO NO NO GENO SMITH---ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NO!!!!   Like throwing a bucket of water in a place that's already flooded.....

Yep, RGIII burned his bridges by pointing the finger at his teammates, instead of taking responsibility for his poor play and putting the blame on himself....

But if Danny Boy has given up on RGIII then his days are certainly numbered.  And yes a change of scenery might do Robert a world of good!!!  Personally, I agree The Redskins should cut their loses and move on........

[gardenman]

That RGIII situation in Washington is interesting. I believe he'll get $16 million if he's on the opening day roster. Is he worth $16 million? Probably not. The Redskins probably can't trade him with that big of a cap hit either. Do they have the cajones to cut him? Do they bite the bullet and keep him on the roster knowing he'll be a huge distraction? Will he meekly assume the backup role? Will they keep him the starter and hope he shows signs of intelligent life? How many losses until that becomes untenable? Will RGIII surprise everyone and return to his rookie year form? This is going to be one heck of an interesting year in DC. It kind of looks like the outcome of the year depends on a player the coach and his teammates don't particularly like, trust, or believe in. You don't often find that in professional sports.

Meanwhile, back in Philly, we have game two of the preseason tonight and we're likely to finally see Sam Bradford (who I keep wanting to call Bradshaw) as the starting quarterback. The quarterback play in game one was pretty bad, but the Eagles still managed to put up 36 points against the Colts (i'm not sure how much that says about how good the Eagles offense is or how bad the Colts defense was, but we'll see) and now with a hopefully competent quarterback at teh helm things could get pretty darn interesting.

I still think the first six to eight games of this season won't give us a real feel for what this Eagles team is. There are so many new players in key roles that haven't really had a chance to fully mesh yet, that it's likely to be the halfway mark before they all synch up and start playing up to their potential. If we can get to the halfway mark at 5-3 or better, it's likely to be a very good year for the Eagles.

[gardenman]

A very good first half for the Eagles as they got out to a 24-0 lead. Terrell Suggs is likely to hear from the league office this week for that low hit he made on Sam Bradford early. That could cost him some pretty significant cash. You don't go after any quarterback's knees in this league any more and definitely not Sam Bradford's.

[gardenman]

And the Eagles finished the night with 40 points. So we scored 36 on the Colts and then 40 on the Ravens. We're now averaging 38 points per game on offense. That's not a bad average. If we can keep that up, we'll win a heck of a lot of games this year. It's not like the offense has been clicking perfectly too. There have been plenty of glitches, but we're still scorng a ton.

We'll get a better feel for things next Saturday when we travel to Green Bay. Another good game there will be impressive. I don't know what kind of adjustments Chip's made to the routes this eyar, but we've got receivers running wide open all over the field. Green Bay should game plan to stop us though and we'll see if they can.

[Spurt]

@gardenman  I know it's only preseason, but I've been impressed with the Eagles......