Jaguars vs. Redskins: What Are Experts Saying About Washington?
It's been a long season for the Washington Redskins. Red-zone turnovers have haunted their offensive drives, while the defense and special teams have surrendered big plays just when they needed to hold firm.
What's that you're saying? It's only Week 2?!
Oh.
The 2014 Redskins appear to have molded themselves on the 2013 Redskins, but there is some hope ahead. Robert Griffin III showed evidence of growth, staying in the pocket and making sharp decisions under pressure. The defense, meanwhile, looks re-energized, and Keenan Robinson is set to play a big part in that.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are the Week 2 opponents, but don't skip to Week 3 with Washington at 1-1. There's change happening in Florida, and Gus Bradley is building something worthy of respect.
Just because J.J. Watt isn't lining up opposite Tyler Polumbus, the Redskins offensive line won't have it easy. The Jags sacked Nick Foles five times and forced three turnovers against the Eagles, so it's going to be a tough matchup.
What's the general consensus around the nation's beat reporters? Read on to find out.
John Keim: Injuries and Mistakes Could Halt Progress
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ESPN.com's John Keim isn't the sort to make wild predictions before each game.
However, after the defeat to the Texans, he listed five questions that the Redskins will need to answer in order to get back on track:
- When will Jordan Reed be healthy?
- Can Chris Baker handle nose tackle?
- Will they continue to throw short passes?
- Will Bacarri Rambo continue to start?
- Will the special teams ever get it right?
The absence of Reed will be a big loss for the Redskins. Mike Jones at The Washington Post quotes coach Jay Gruden as saying there is "very little" hope that the tight end plays against Jacksonville.
Reed is a genuine game-changer and was expected to be a huge part of the offense's success. Niles Paul doesn't offer the same speed or catching reliability of Reed, as demonstrated by his fumble in the red zone last Sunday.
Keim has no concerns about Baker, although he does note that Baker and Barry Cofield made for a better combination than Baker and Jarvis Jenkins. Jenkins has looked better this year, but he still has a lot to prove after injuries, suspension and poor performance since being drafted.
Washington seemed to address special teams in the offseason, and there was a lot of hope surrounding Ben Kotwica's new unit. The tackling has looked better, but blocked punts and blocked PATs are unwelcome throwbacks to 2013.
Liz Clarke: Jackonsonville Is a Must-Win Game
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Liz Clarke at The Washington Post spoke to some of the Redskins players to see how they were approaching the Jaguars game. Ryan Clark was especially forthright in his appraisal of Jacksonville:
"No matter what they did against Philadelphia, you have to respect this team. Last time I checked, we were supposed to pick before them last year [in the NFL draft, by virtue of having just three wins to Jacksonville’s four], so this is not a team that we can come in and take lightly at all.
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Clark is absolutely right. Despite being seen by many people as an easy win, the Jags are not going to roll over and surrender. They will be equally desperate to avoid a 0-2 start to the season, and the pressure they dialed up on Foles will be present again.
Washington can take heart from the way Philly rebounded in the second half and the way Jacksonville faded as the game went on.
However, the Redskins are not good at playing from behind. This will likely force Gruden back to throwing the ball out of desperation, when Washington's strength is clearly on the ground.
The offensive line, too, is a much better group when setting up lanes for the backs. This will also ease the pressure on the quarterback and allow Griffin to take some shots downfield.
Gruden lamented the fact that he didn't call more running plays last week when they were clearly working—he can't afford to make that mistake again.
Thomas Johnson: It Won't Get Any Easier in Week 2
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Fresh off a 0-1 start, a recovery game against Jacksonville will be necessary for the Redskins. The Washington Post's Thomas Johnson is not so optimistic, however:
"There’s a fair chance that this iteration of the Jaguars is significantly improved in the one area that affects RGIII’s most glaring weakness— quick decision-making. Last season, the Jaguars finished 22nd in weighted defense (via Football Outsiders), an adjusted metric that better reflects how the teams were playing at the end of the season, by decreasing the importance of early season games. The Texans? They finished 23rd.
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It's dangerous to put too much stock in what happened last year—no team is the same once the next season begins. The Jaguars look better, and we don't yet know how Washington will be under Gruden.
Johnson's point that the game will not be any easier than the Texans one is certainly valid, but it's not as if Houston blew out the Redskins, either.
If Griffin can build on his mostly mistake-free performance in Week 1 and start to make some big plays, Washington can get a good lead and start to carve up the Jaguars defense with Alfred Morris and Roy Helu.
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Andrew Walker: Rhythm, Turnover Battle Will Kill the Game
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Even before the Houston game, the prediction was that Tyler Polumbus would struggle to contain J.J. Watt. The fact that he did isn't a cause for concern, but there will be calls for Morgan Moses if Polumbus repeats his Week 1 performance in the home opener.
Right tackle was a position of weakness going into the offseason, and not much has changed. Moses hasn't looked ready to assume a starting role, but he might be forced to change that very soon.
Polumbus is a good run-blocker, but so is Moses. Both struggle in pass protection, and at some point it's going to be in the interests of the team to get the rookie on the field and let him learn by doing.
Andrew Walker at Redskins.com thinks that can be avoided with a strong rushing attack that highlights the offensive line's strengths. It certainly seems to be the best way to keep the chains moving while Griffin grows into his new role in the pocket.
Walker also notes that winning the turnover battle will decide the game. Chad Henne may have thrown two touchdowns last week, but he converted just two of 14 third downs and had two passes tipped at the line of scrimmage in the second half.
Mistake-free football should win this one comfortably for Washington. Unfortunately, mistakes tend to follow the Redskins around.
Ken Hornack: Johnathan Cyprien's Absence Could Sink Jaguars
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Johnathan Cyprien was a big part of Jacksonville's first-half shutout of the Eagles. The second-year safety did everything asked of him and looked strong.
As Ken Hornack at Fox Sports noted, Cyprien's replacement, Josh Evans, was erratic and out of position as Darren Sproles stormed in for a touchdown. Washington has so far struggled to hit receivers with the deep ball, so Morris should have a big part to play.
Hornack also points out that the Jaguars gave up three pass plays of 25 yards or more after Cyprien left the game. Don't be surprised to see Griffin air one out early on in the game to try and get DeSean Jackson involved.
There's a theme developing here: Grind them down with the run and open them up with the pass; make no mistakes on special teams and win the turnover battle.
That might sound like an incredibly basic formula that can be applied to any football game ever, but the basics are things that Washington failed to cover last week.
There has been an emphasis on fundamentals in practice, but the errors left too many points off the board when the game really mattered.
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