RG-III or RG-Knee- why the Redskins are struggling this season

Over the past 4 years, 30 teams have started the season 0-2. None of them made the playoffs. Before the season began, there was a lot of speculation about the Washington Redksins and how Robert Griffin III would perform. But the fans remained optimistic following on from their first division win since 1999.
     But two weeks have passed now and the Washington team have sank to a disappointing 0-2 record. Whilst that may not be the end of the world for fans, something that could be a cause for concern is the fact that they have allowed over 1000 yards in just two games. Here are the five reasons in my opinion, why the Redskins are struggling this season.

The name RG-Knee has been floating around since a big loss against rivals Philadelphia, the Redskins Quarterback has not been playing to the same level as most fans and players alike expected him too. This is probably down to the fact that he is still recovering from his Knee Surgery and is at about 80%. When you have a rookie of the year at the helm and a man who should be as dangerous as Mike Vick when it comes to scrambling and accuracy, he needs time in the pocket to complete a few passes and build up the confidence.
    Unfortunately that hasn't been the case and both the Packers and the Eagles were getting to Griffin too easily halting any chance of a big play. When Robert finally got the ball away, it was either incomplete or worse an interception. 33 incompletions and 3 interceptions over 2 games isn't exactly a statistic that fantasy football players will be drooling over.
           Griffin has shown a trend over both games to improve in the second half but at this stage it's too little too late. He HAS to attack from the start and work out how to get the ball away quickly so he has less time to get hit and more importantly reduce the risk of getting injured. 
   
        There is no point in being able to score on every drive if you concede the very next one. And having only scored 23 points in the opening two games, that means that if the Redskins had any chance of winning it had to come from the defense. Again this hasn't happened and Washington look vulnerable at the line. They have allowed an enormous 1023 yards over just two games and are currently 32nd in the rankings on defense. Something HAS to change.
   Arguably they have had two very difficult games against a hurry up college offense in Philly which subjected them to a first half from hell giving them 53 snaps in one half and then traveled to a ticked off Green Bay who lost against the 49ers in week one and desperately wanted to get that first win on the board. But the defense look like they are being coordinated by a 9 year old!
   There is a lot of confusion between plays and when they finally get to the quarterback through the blitz, the very next play the give up massive yardage and the momentum goes. The defense are in an SOS situation and need one solid game to get their season back underway. But facing the Lions next week and more importantly facing Megatron Calvin Johnson himself is not going to be an easy task. DeSean Jackson made mince meat of the Line Backers, Corners and Safety's so what exactly is a man who had an amazing game against Minnesota going to do? He has unrelenting pace and the ability to shake off some big tackles. Another area where the Redksins are struggling.
     Not all of the blame can be placed on the defensive line, if anything it's the men behind the line who need to be making the big tackles. But none of them are succeeding, two games in a row the tackles are being shrugged off like it's nothing. The main flaw that I have spotted is that when entering a tackle the heads are down. How are you supposed to make a tackle if you aren't looking at what you're hitting? If a player spins away and you're admiring how green the turf looks then the chances of bringing him down are close to nothing.
 
The bottom line is that the entire team needs to find their form and find it quick if they have any hope of making the playoffs this year. There is a small glimmer of hope and that is that all three of the other teams in the NFC East lost this weekend so they just need a single win to be back within contention as no team is running away with the division at this early stage on a 2-0. Against an impressive Lions Defense, RG III needs to show us what he can do, we have seen how amazing he can play throughout the 2012 season but if you live in the past then you will stay there. Griffin needs to focus on the games ahead and get himself in the best shape he can as he fights his way through recovery.
As for the defense, well they need to start completing tackles, collapsing the pocket quicker and more importantly make the right calls at the right time. If they lose another 500 yards against the Lions I fear this could be the beginning of a very long and difficult road for the Redksins. It's do or die this Sunday.

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Philadelphia Eagles 2013 season preview

Two years since the so called superteam shook up the NFL and a year since the Eagles went a disappointing  4-12, they come back with a new play style, new lineup and a new head coach. But are these changes going to help restore the team to their former glory and maybe to a championship?

Chip off the old block-

After having the worst season in the Andy Reid era, the Eagles have found themselves a new head coach who is ready to completely revamp the team. Ex Oregon coach Chip Kelly is the man in charge, a man who won 46 games in 4 seasons with Oregon including three championships and two BCS bowl games. Chip is expected to bring his uptempo style to the team and increase the amount of running plays used per game. He has already altered the training programs with different workouts and even involving music. Some teams would react horribly to a drastic change but the players have nothing but praise and respect for their new coach. With fans worldwide eager to see how the new Eagles lineup fair in the pre-season, Chip could be the change the team so desperately needed.

Vicktorious- the battle of the quarterbacks.

Michael Vick had a somewhat disappointing season in the six games he played prior to injury. Completing under 60% of his passes and throwing interceptions far to often meant the Eagles were relying on their defence to get them out of sticky situations. However not all of the blame can be placed on the pride of Virginia Tech, the offensive line were not helping and receivers simply could not find the space for the ball to be thrown to them. 

    The second half of he season saw rookie Nick Foles fill the injured Vicks shoes and they were big shoes to fill. Throwing 1699 yards and 6 touchdowns is a fairly respectable statistic for the number 88 draft pick of 2012. What Foles lacks in mobility and agility he makes up for in decision making. Nick is very good ad getting the ball out of trouble, making short passes and throwing it out of bounds if needed. 

  The attention has been on Nick this pre-season as he has seemingly shifted the gaze of head coach Kelly back to him after a very successful training day completing 15 out of 18 passes with 2 long touchdowns. Now this is either a blessing or a curse for Vick. Kelly wants competition he wants to see raw determination to earn your spot in the team, it won't be gifted to you on a plate or perhaps as easy as it has been in previous years. Vick has already been working overdrive to prove his worth and there is nothing like a threat from an underdog to spur you on to work harder. We won't know for sure who will be the starting QB until after the pre-season which makes the next few weeks crucial for both Foles and Vick.

      The Eagles have also signed Matt Barkley in the draft, a QB who helped to beat Oregon in the past. Chip saw his potential first hand and signed him up. With a style very similar to Foles he is probably going to spend his first season as a third string QB but may make the odd appearance to see just what talent the kid has. He isn't expected to shake up the league but saying that neither was a certain Tom Brady when he was drafted.

    The bottom line is the race for the first string QB spot is hotter than ever which is exactly what the new coach wants. The only question left is who will be the man leading the offence this season?

Time is running out-

Every coach has their own style but Chip will be bringing a more aggressive college style play book to the field this season which theoretically means the running game will prove to be more of a factor, something that the Eagles lacked last season having failed to utilise the full potential of LeSean McCoy. It has been speculated that the running game could be used up to 60% of the time. If you have the pace of McCoy with the unpredictability of Vick this again could be a huge improvement for the team.

Maclin out-

With so much momentum going into this season it was almost too good to be true, and that it was. Jeremy Maclin, the top receiver for the team last season is out for the entire year with an injury. This means that Cooper is going to have to step up much like Foles did at the QB last season and again they are big boots to fill. Cooper is a solid receiver but does not have that creativity and outside the box mentality that Jeremy had. With Jackson's pace and all the focus being shifted to him it allowed Maclin to find holes in the defence and sneak through. 

  But with the new college style playbook the team have to keep moving forward. They need to not let this dampen the spirits and keep the chemistry high. It also means that the players like Celek have to slightly change their style with the new rotation system. Every position is being contested so players have to show now more than ever that they can play well in numerous positions but only time will tell how much of a hole Maclin's injury has left.

Overall the team has been completely reshaped and will go into this season with the hopes of making the playoffs. There is still much to be decided but the Eagles have to make an impact this season or the next few years could be very difficult.

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