Eli Whalstrom, our colleague covering the Arizona Cardinals at The Cardinal Report wonders if the red birds made a mistake by not drafting running back Adrian Peterson. The Cardinals drafted tackle Levi Brown out of Penn State to shore up an offensively bad offensive line. Peterson was picked up by the Minnesota Vikings.
Last Sunday, Peterson exploded for over 200 rushing yards and set up the winning field goal with his punt return to steal a victory over the Chicago Bears. There is no such buyer’s remorse in Washington over first round pick LaRon Landry.
On draft day, Redskin fandom was unanimous in the conviction that the Redskins needed to take a pass rushing lineman. DE Jamaal Anderson and DL Amobi Okoye were popular choices. The Skins took Landry, billed as the best athlete of the top ten choices. Coach Joe fed us some crap about a better secondary improving the pass rush, with Landry, Capt. Fred Smoot, and a healthier Shawn Springs figuring in the mix.
Hokey as it sounded, it worked. The third-ranked Redskins’ pass rush, and everything else about the defense, has improved beyond our wildest expectation. I expected the defense to be in the upper half of the league. Top three seemed beyond our grasp. Did I actually say “crap?”
No-Blitz Pressure Gregg Williams has always brought pressure, hearkening back to his Buddy Ryan days. But, this defensive roster is so capable, that it brings pressure from the defensive line alone, while dropping the corners and safeties in coverage, presenting a challenge to quarterbacks of where to throw the ball. That’s worked well against Detroit and Green Bay. One result, we don’t think about woulda-shoulda on the defensive line.
We like the combination of Landry and Sean Taylor, who has grown from a big hitter to a baller. The pair is informally known as Area 51 for their jersey numbers [21 + 30]. It’s a combo you want to keep together for awhile, so I hope the front office is thinking about the next deal for Taylor and locking him up before he gets anywhere near free agency.
Landry, who holds no bitterness over that paintball assassination attempt, covers as well as he hits. I’m ready to extend his contract now.
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The Cardinals may not have Adrian Peterson, but Edgerrin James is still on the roster. David Elfin at The Washington Times reports that James is something of a mentor to Clinton Portis going back to their days together at the “U.” For Portis, that’s extra incentive to out-play James come Sunday.
Speaking of Portis, Bram Weinstein at Covering the Redskins reports that Portis again said he might not be with the Redskins after this season if he did not perform.
“This is reality, we have great players here and if we can’t win as a team here, reality is they might rebuild.”
Excuse me, but isn’t that a GM-like statement? Portis is already known for recruiting players to the Redskins, taking player suggestions for new plays to the coaches, fostering cooperation with Ladell Betts, the man who takes his touches, and candidly calling out other players without rancor. Now he shows awareness that poor team performance might lead to roster changes. Portis shows all the instincts of a coach or GM. I won’t be surprised to see him on that career path when his playing days are over.
For the record, losing Portis would leave a gaping hole on the roster. Dumping him would not fix any problem with winning.
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Last and least, Anthony Hall at Vikings War Cry pointed me to the story on outsports.com Lloyd implies Aikman is gay. That’s our Brandon Lloyd doing a “T.O.” on Aikman following Aikman’s critique of Lloyd’s skills during the Packers game. Players are sensitive to criticism like everyone else. But Lloyd, who is trending four receptions for the whole season, criticizing anyone for anything is so . . . , well you get the idea.
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