Skins beat the Queens

Exciting game yesterday.  Again, a tremendous game by RG3.  This guy is unbelievable.  Aside from the obvious physical talents, he is an incredible leader both in terms of his actions and his words.  The team and fans have really rallied around this guy.  He is WAY better than advertised and the trade we made for him looks more and more like a bargain. After six games, it appears that we have found that franchise QB to build around.  He is the face of the team and a guy willing and capable of putting the team (and the city) on his shoulders.  Here are my thoughts/grades on the game:

1.      Offense:  A. Putting up 31 offensive points on a solid defense is impressive.  The offense has been good all year and yesterday was no exception.  I have already mentioned RG3’s performance.  Outside of his early INT, he had a great game.  His passes were on the money and his two TD runs were tremendous runs.  He threw for nearly 200 yards going 17 for 22 and spreading the ball to eight different receivers.  Morris was largely held in check only rushing for 47 yards.  However, I did feel like the O line played well and you really never heard Jared Allen’s name so great job by Trent Williams for keeping him silent.

2.      Defense: B.  For the second straight game much improved.  They started out a little shaky allowing the Vikings to march down the field but at least they held them to FGs instead of TDs.  The turnover right before the half that led to a TD was huge.  Instead of being 10-9 at halftime, we were able to go in 17-9 that was a HUGE swing.  Madieu Williams pick 6 was another big defensive play.  We got good pressure on Ponder for much of the game.  The only downside was giving up a couple of TDs in the fourth quarter but I imagine this was because we were playing softer with the lead.  It’s not an outstanding secondary but they played better than that stretch where they were really sucking.

3.      Special Teams: B+.  This grade is largely because of Forbath.  It was his first career NFL game and to open up his career with a 50 yard FG was pretty special.  He was perfect in FGs and PATs and his leg on his attempts looked strong.  I will say that his kickoffs were a little short and he admitted that that was a part of his game that he needed to work on.  Punt and kickoff coverage was sound and return teams were fine.

4.      Coaching: B.  Kyle Shanny seems like he knows exactly how to use RG3 as the offense and RG3 appear to be thriving.  Haslett looked like he is getting a better balance of aggressiveness  and dropping guys to help the secondary.  After early season struggles, the special teams are looking more like Danny Smith led teams. 

All in all, a very solid game.  The best part is that given the Eagles and Cowboys loss, we find ourselves only one game behind the Giants.  Now I am not expecting to win the division but it’s nice to be competitive and improved.  That is all I expected out of this year.  I have maintained that since the draft.

HTTR!!!