Crib Notes: Release the Kraken

Omarion Hampton is the key on Sunday versus the San Diego... the Los Angeles Chargers. 

Omarion Hampton is not Bijan Robinson. 

Maybe not. But he can do what Robinson did against the Commanders.

Do we believe the Commanders can stop a good running back from scoring on the wheel route? 

It is not a good bet right now. 

Where does the Commanders pass rush come from? Put Newton at end? Preston Smith? Dexter Manley? 

I wish. Who has Manley-type energy on this team? Kinlaw, I think. Payne, Newton or Kinlaw at end. Goldman at tackle. And a Buffalo Nickel at linebacker. A hybrid. Hybridize that sucker.

Last win versus the Chargers was in 2013. 

Time for Kain Medrano (4.46) on third down? Tyler Owens at linebacker? Some speed on third down would be good. Some tackling would be better. 

The Defense needs the same emotional turnaround Coach Raheem Morris got from his football team last Sunday. 

The Chargers lost their ball game last week. They did the cross country losing thing. They're home like the Falcons were last week.

Could be bad timing again for Washington. 

The Washington Defense needs to think everybody thinks they suck. Everybody on defense is getting cut or fired. 

Because the Chargers are going to check that gut. Harbaugh is going to ask you: Have you hit rock-bottom or are you a bottomless pit? 

Should Robbie Anderson . . . uh Robbie Chosen play? Chosen's career. Name change story. 

Can he still make plays?

And I guess the question is: Would the Chargers consider Chosen a threat? Or another fading elder statesman?

If the Chargers do respect Chosen, yeah. I guess play Chosen. If only to get the Chargers thinking. Thinking equals stinking. We want the Chargers to stink. Stink of overthinking. Overthinking is like Peanut Butter. It gunks up the engine.

Or should Ja'Corey Brooks play? 

Brooks would make plays. He's a playmaker. Not a GRE taker. Like Donovan Edwards.  

Edwards is a playmaker. He can't block? You don't put him in to block. 

You put Edwards in to run the ball. To catch the pass. To throw the halfback pass. To take it to the house. He's a threat. Defenses react to threats. Once they react you've got ways to manipulate them. 

Edwards also played for Harbaugh who may overcompensate when he sees Edwards in there. Thinking he will do to me what he and I did to Ohio State. 

I think the Chargers will think Jayden Daniels is the only threat. Most people would agree with them. Including Commanders fans. 

He's the Kraken. Release the Kraken. 

The Offense doesn't need fixing? 

No. It needs more octane. It is going to have to score even more points. Multiple threats are required. Jayden equals more points. But enough points?

Seems we are in Air Raid Philosophy. 55-50 type games required.  

Long trip west. Early arrival to defray fatigue? Is mental energy on defense going to be possible given cross country travel? Does confusion on defense clear up with jet lag? Or will the defense still lag behind?

Good news for anti-public bettors. Chargers are scheduled to win according to 80% of the Public. The Chargers are -3 favorites according to Wunderdog.

Congratulations to the Chargers for their victory in advance.  

Cowboys Over Philly and Commanders Go 9-8

Dallas is plus 8 at Philadelphia. The over/under is 47.5. I like Dallas.

Not just to cover. But having the out-and-out gall to win. 

Philly often opens like they just got out of bed. It isn't that Dallas will win on skill. It's another kickoff return for a touchdown and they win 21-20.

Nicki Jhabvala made waves predicting an 8-9 Commander Season. That sounds reasonable. I'll go 9-8 on the strength of a late season surge. They are going to get bunched with the Giants and Cowboys while Philly makes another Super Bowl run.

I have questions about the defense. I'm a little worried the scheme is not right. Or out of date. Is it a match for an up tempo offense? The depth does not appear to be good. Which retards platooning. And discourages the necessary playing time for improvement to germinate. This offense seems to gas its own defense. That makes for entertaining 45-40 AFL-type games. But the Super Bowl? 

No.  

The way teams beat John Elway was to get so far out in front his endgame magic couldn't win. That's how the Eagles beat Jayden. That's how teams will try to beat the Commanders this year. And if there has been no progress on defense, a standard NFL Offense could beat the Commanders using that strategy.  

You are assuming you will outscore everybody. And if you can't platoon an older defense, it will be done well before the playoffs. 

The preseason in no way prepared the team for the season. That lack of preparedness will hurt the early going. They'll be tempted to grab wins by playing the Vets. That might work. But that equals a late slide to my mind. A Ron Rivera type year.

They haven't prepared. The toilets aren't clean. The floor hasn't been swept or mopped. The walkie talkies don't have batteries.

Like the Eagles, they haven't gotten out of bed and are already late for school.

Ergo, they start 0-2. Last place. Where they'll be until midseason.   

That's when coffee is served. 

We Don't Have Time to Play Lego With Another Wonder Boy

Rumor mill's abuzz with visions of Kirk Cousins and Russell Wilson dancing in the sugar plum fairies' heads. 

It would be nice to see Kirk again. Maybe he mentions D.C. as a possibility because he is looking to get a coaching gig. He'd be a good coach. Washington has some brains on staff. Maybe he's thinking I get a playoff run. Pick those self-same brains. Then see who needs a young coach.

But I think he's too banged up sad to say.

Russ has a rep as a prima donna. But he is a veteran QB. He has worked with DQ. These are two devils who know each other. His detractors say he's not a seven-footer. He's Flutie II. Too small to play QB. Won a Super Bowl and he's too small?

He produces. I don't care if he's Ant-Man.

I am all in on Veteran QBs. You saw what Jacoby did last year. They'd be smooth to start Jacoby. But pattern blindness rules in the NFL. They want Flash Gordons and the New Wonder Boys. When the Vets can get you to the Super Bowl. A.K.A., Billy Kilmer. Doug Williams. Tom Brady.

The thing that is ruinous in Washington is the idea that it is OK for whoever comes in here to LOSE. It is not OK to lose. I'm not giving these guys any slack whatsoever. The goal is to win the Super Bowl. And before that make the Playoffs. And before that win as many games as you can. 

Your deadline is today. 

People say we tanked deliberately last year so we could get the Number 2 Spot. We have to have the Wonder Boy. For what? More losing? You see your projected win total with Wonder Boy? Funny how tanking reproduces itself. 

There is always some future undisclosed time in an undisclosed location when and where the Washington Football Franchise will be victorious once again. It is stupid to want to win when contemplating the football heaven that will one day come.

Radio bull hockey. There are guys here who want to win. Let them go. Before free agency. They're too good for you. They got better things to do with their time than play Lego and Tonka Toys with your Wonder Boys.

I don't personally have time to watch yet another Boy QB struggle with the blitz. With reading defenses. Most of the QBs coming out today don't read defenses at all. They read grass. The mathematics at the line of scrimmage has been deleted in College in favor of speed and intuition.

College Coaches used to have some time to teach some of the Pro Game. Not today. Not with the transfer portal. You draw the play in the ground and go. 

I mean, I see what the Air Raid Dudes are saying. Who has time to do the NFL's job for it? It is mind pollution. Gunks up the engine. We want to win. My guys go full throttle. Everybody go long. If the middle opens up run it like Josh Allen. Otherwise heave it deep.

It's an oversimplification. But losing to develop the latest phenom is an overcomplication especially if there are Vets out there who CAN read defenses and CAN get the ball in the end zone just as quick as the grass cutters.

I can see drafting maybe Joe Milton. In the later rounds. Give him a few years to study. Then Kliff Kingsbury takes him to the Giants and they win Super Bowls. Competing mainly against Sam Howell and the Jets.

If the new staff is here to develop, it is Rivera 2.0. He was quite the development, too. I ain't gonna bother spending money on them if that is the case.

We need offensive linemen more than we need Wonder Boy Quarterbacks.

Here's some dudes to ponder.

Maybe IT IS Caleb Williams

By way of an explanation for first-time-herers: This is a kind of inside baseball blog on the Washington Commanders, some music, and some food. It is not a serious work of journalistic scholarship which repeatedly runs a lengthy "interduction" on every post.

That said, skipping to the Franchise QB selection matter at hand: Maybe for the Commanders, in the upcoming NFL Draft, the Pick IS Caleb Williams, despite the potential Kings Ransom it might cost them.

Have a look at Bob Stoops's interview of new Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury.

Did it seem to you Kingsbury was gushing about Williams?

Here's that 2016 Oklahoma v. Texas Tech Game. Kingsbury was the Tech Head Coach. Stoops coached the Sooners.

Veteran Skins Pundit Kevin Sheehan was hobnobbing with sidekick and Sports Reporter Hall of Famer Thom Loverro musing about the Commanders Drafting a QB and Sheehan fantasized about the Commanders doing a trade for the top pick to nab Williams during the upcoming League Meetings. 

Imagine. You get the top pick and you can even begin negotiations on the contract.

Is the NFL really that efficient?

That would definitely be evidence that the new GM has some pull around the League.

Forewarned is Forearmed

Things to ponder about the Air Raid Offense and the Offensive Line:

Top Ten Offensive Lines in College Football

How Air Raid Offense Conquered College Football

Inside the Mind of Joe Alt

Picking up the Blitz in the Air Raid

Pass Protection Schemes in the Spread

What Life is Like as an Air Raid Defensive Coordinator

Bruce Feldman: Life of a Defensive Coordinator YouTube Interview

Takeaway: I can see why Dan Quinn has hired an elite level defensive staff. He's going to need one.