Skins lose - the good, the bad, and the ugly

Tough loss. There was good. There was bad. And there was ugly. I will start with the good.

Good:

1. Beck was decent. I must admit that I wasn't expecting much from him and he was a concern for me but he certainly held his own and I thought he played well. He threw for nearly 300 yards and accounted for two TDs. He had some very nice passes and was able to elude some rush and make plays that I don't think Rexy could have. It is one game but I was pleased with his play.

2. Strong running game. Hightower was off to a great start and it was good to see him get going after being out a couple of weeks. It was also good to see him do it behind a make shift line that held up well.

3. O line play. Sean Locklear and Chad Cook were inserted as new lineman. I thought Locklear played very well at the LT position and having to go against Charles Johnson. Cook was okay but made a couple of mistakes. Still, on in all, I was very happy with the line play.

4. First half game plan. We ran the ball effectively and ate up time. I didn't expect this to be a high scoring game as I think the game plan was run the ball and control the clock and keep Carolina's offense off the field. We did that pretty well in the first half. The problem was on third and shorts, we did not convert them and had to settle for FGs. That hurt.

Now for the Bad:

1. DEFENSE. Just bad in the second half. First half, we held Carolina to 9 points (should have been 6 but Gaffney fumbled late). We got 4 sacks on Newton and largely held them in check. Was pleased with the play in the first half. The second half was a different story. Not sure if they made adjustments but we just couldn't stop them. I will say that I give full credit to Cam Newton. I had not seen him play before but he made some very nice plays and he did so with his arm. He made some passes that good vets can't make but still the defense needed to do better and that was disappointing.

2. There were some questionable coaching decisions but I didn't have a huge problem with that. The bad is pretty much on the defense.

The Ugly:

1. Poor officiating. This was some of the worst officiating I have seen in a while. Poor calls made that affected both teams but some just egregious calls and non calls that should put this crew under review by the NFL.

2. Injuries. The injury bug seems to have finally caught up to the Skins. We were already w/o two starting O linemen and Atogwe but we lost Moss, Hightower, Fletcher and Doughty was playing hurt. Tough to lose all those guys but it happens.

To wrap up, I thought there were three key plays that determined this game. They were:

1. Our first drive of the third quarter. We march it down to the Carolina 40. On a third and 2, we do a quick button hook to Austin who was mugged by Gamble. It looked like a clear pass interference. Fine, no call so we go for it on 4th and 2. I didn't mind going for it on 4th but if we believed it was four down territory, I would have rather run it on third. Anyway, sets up 4th and two and with Moss out, there was a mix up with the WRs and Beck had to direct Austin where to line up before the play clock ended. He hurried and snapped the ball and the offense was really set and it resulted in a sack. The play just looked rushed and bad and I didn't like it as it was happening. The turnover in downs gave Carolina good field position and they quickly scored a TD.

2. The other play that I thought won the game for Carolina was the 2nd and 17 at our 37 and Newton threw what I thought was an unbelievable pass to Steve Smith at the one yard line. Josh Wilson had great coverage and Doughty was a tad late to get over (wonder if Atogwe could have made the play) but the ball was thrown perfectly. It had a nice arc and couldn't have been put in a more perfect spot. It was a good catch by Smith as well but that play killed the Skins.

In the end, the Skins find themselves at 3-3. I am okay with that. I still like the make up of the team and feel like we have made strides. 3-1 gave most fans false hope. We are rebuilding. I was disappointed with the defense but I still believe we are taking steps in the right direction and even if we don't win more games than last year, I think we are a much better team than last year because we have guys that are young, talented, can grow and that we can build around. We were never going to get all the pieces this season. As muddled as the NFC looks this season, I believe we can compete with pretty much any team.