Hog Heaven wracks its brain to recall when a pro team named new team captains mid-season. Oh yeah. We’ve never seen this before. Like, never…in the history of Earth.
I am surprised that the professional class didn’t dig deeper into news that the Redskins named Robert Griffin III, Stephen Bowen and Barry Cofield as “additional” team captains.
I am 100 percent certain I read somewhere that DeAngelo Hall is (or was) a team captain. D.Hall’s name wasn’t mentioned in any of the press clippings about the new captains. The silence is deafening, and it speaks volumes if Hall has been shoved aside for players with genuine leadership qualities.
That would be impressive enough if Coach Shanahan did it, and all the more so if the players did it on their own.
Hall talks a good game and says the right things. That makes one a spokesman, not a leader. When real team leaders are pulling you off game officials to keep you from hurting the team more, well … must I say more?
There’s a connection. I’m sure of it. Good employers never speak of these things in public.
Redskins fans have had it to here with Hall. Few fans would mourn or miss him if the Redskins cut ties to him after the last game.
Eagles at Redskins – Stats worth watching
Hog Heaven pays attention to three stats when it comes to projecting Redskins performance in live games.
QB Passer Rating Differential – Cold Hard Football Facts insists this is the single best predictor of the outcome of games.
Redskins QBR 91.9, Opponents 95.4, Diff -3.5
Eagles QBR 79.7, Opponents 85.4, Diff -5.7
The negative differential explains in a nutshell a pair of 3-6 teams. When Washington gets in the positive range, they will win titles. Fos Sunday’s game, they have to be less bad than Philadelphia. Robert Griffin III alone cannot balance out a flawed team any better than Tony Romo can.
The Eagles could not protect Michael Vick from assault in every game. The result has been high turnover and poor performance. Rookie Nick Foles entered in place of Vick against Dallas and had a better performance. It was a small sample size. As my friend Forrest Gump would say, Foles is like a box or chocolate. You never know what you’re going to get.
The Eagles would have us believe that Vick will be out. The Redskins don’t do well against quarterback’s they’ve never seen before. Still, we think the advantage goes to the Redskins on this one.
Turnover Differential
This is one of two stats that Richie Pettibon says are the only one he pays attention to.
Redskins +6
Eagles -11
Philly’s turnover issue goes hand-in-hand with quarterback performance. Nick Foles will help the Iggles a lot if he protects the ball as well as RGIII does. Until we see Foles do it, lets give the advantage to Washington.
Defensive Third Downs Allowed
Redskins – 49/112, 43.8%
Eagles – 40/114, 35.1%
The Redskins have trouble getting opponents off the field. Teams are already thinking they can contain RGIII on the sideline via time of possession. The maligned Philly defense, now led by ex-Redskins DB Todd Bowles, is better at this by far. Advantage; Eagles.
Superior quarterback play and turnover differential will carry Washington to a narrow win. New factors — Brandon Meriweather for the Redskins, Foles for the Eagles — also point to Washington. My Magic 8 Ball says Redskins .. Without a doubt.
Redskins 30, Eagles 28. Total – 58. (If in Vegas, take the Eagles and the points, but you didn’t read that here.)
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I will broadcast my fan reaction and comments during the game by PC again, thanks to the technomagic of LetMeHearYa.com. Kickoff is 1:00 PM ET. Join me at 12:55 PM. Don’t be alarmed if there are moments of silence at points. I’m watching the game just like you. I am not doing an audio rebroadcast or any of the stuff the NFL says not to do in that legal stuff on TV. A man is entitled to his opinion. I’m sharing mine.
Point your PC or other device to my LetMeHearYa Profile page, click a few buttons and we are golden.
HAIL
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