Smoke Signals: “These boots are made for walkin’” edition

http://dcprosportsreport.com/?p=1937

Okay, le’ts get straight to the big news. DE Andre Carter and MLB London Fletcher both underwent MRI procedures yesterday to determine the severity of their respective foot injuries. Carter’s MRI confirmed a sprain of his plantar fascia and he’s wearing a walking boot on his right foot. Fletcher has a contusion and sprain in the lower part of the foot and is limping badly and wearing a walking boot on his left foot. [Why do they call it a "walking boot"? What other kind of boot is there? Do they make a "skipping boot" or a "boogie-ing boot"?] Both players are day to day and refused to rule themselves out of the Giants game on Sunday. H.B. Blades would replace Fletcher at MLB and while Blades is not a downgrade when he’s playing in place of Marcus Washington, he’s not an adequate replacement for Fletcher, who may not be replaceable at all. 

The Giants have the top-ranked rushing attack in the NFL and the Redskins don’t want to face that juggernaut without their leader and leading tackler, London Fletcher, who has started 130 straight games. 

SLB Marcus Washington will miss the Giants game with his high ankle sprain and it remains to be seen if he’ll play again this season. DT Kedric Golston was on crutches Sunday after playing through a significant amount of pain on Sunday due to an injured bone spur. One bit of good news: Expect to see DT Anthony Montgomery back in action Sunday. He’s recovered from his achilles tendon injury.

TB Clinton Portis is injured [new rib injury this past Sunday], as usual, but, also as usual, will play.

The Giants have some injury problems of their own, with TB Brandon Jacobs missing last Sunday’s game. WR Plaxico Burress also missed most of the game. The Giants are hopeful that both will play against the Redskins, though nothing appears to be certain — apart from the fact that the Giants are pretty good without those guys and VERY good, maybe great, with them. Head Coach Tom Coughlin is being tight-lipped about the playing status of both players. Jacobs was listed as “probable” going into the Arizona game, but was placed on the inactive list on game day, leading the Cardinals to complain of deliberate deception. 

Giants star DE Justin Tuck gave his view of the Redskins:
 

“I think Week 1, we got them early in the season and obviously in a new offense and things of that nature, but they have had time to put it together and I think it is going to be an offense that is playing very well together, obviously, from the team we saw in the first week.

“We definitely have our hands full with this team and we know what it is going to be like as far as going down there. It is always tough playing down there and plus the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants are always going to be that rivalry where both teams are going to get up for it and it is just going to be a good game. We just have to continue to prepare and get ready for them, it is as simple as that.”

The Redskins have struggled to score points this season. You knew that already. They’ve struggled to score against good defenses like the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers [7 points and 6 points, respectively]. The Redskins even struggled to put up points against Dallas [10], which is in the bottom half of the league in scoring defense. The NFL scoring average is 22.3 points per game. Washington is averaging 18.3 points per game, which puts an enormous strain on an offense that has so far mostly lived up to the challenge. Only 3 teams have not scored 30 points in a game this season: Washington, Detroit and Cincinnati. 

The Redskins will face good defenses in the next two weeks. This Sunday they face the NY Giants and their 5th-ranked defense. The week after that, the Redskins travel up I-95 to Baltimore and its 2nd-ranked defense. All this leads QB Jason Campbell to say: ”Our best is still ahead of us. We still haven’t played our best game offensively yet.” Let’s all hope he’s correct. 

BY THE NUMBERS

Let’s have a look at how the Skins stack up statistically:

The Skins now rank 14th in total offense with the running game carrying the load. They are third overall in yards per carry and rushing yards per game, while ranking 21st in passing yards per play and passing yards per game. Jason Campbell continues to lead the NFL in fewest interceptions.

The big thing, as we all know, is points. And the Skins are 27th in terms of points per game. The Skins got a few TDs in the red zone Sunday, but still rank 27th overall in red zone scoring efficiency.

Clinton Portis leads the NFL with 1,206 rushing yards - he’s on pace to destroy his own franchise mark - with 4.9 yards per carry.

Campbell now ranks 12th in passer rating, at 90.2. He’s seventh in fourth-quarter passer rating at 97.1.

…

Defensively, the Skins moved up from fourth to third overall following the win in Seattle. They rank seventh in rushing yards allowed per game… and are fifth against the pass. They rank fourth in first downs allowed per game and are tied for fifth in points allowed per game. The Skins rank 23rd overall in red zone defense.

The Redskins play well during the daylight, terribly after dark.

Not only are late-season night games not conducive to passing — an aspect of football at which the Redskins are better than the Ravens — but look at Washington’s record this year. Jim Zorn’s Redskins are 0-3 under the bright lights, having lost to the Giants, Steelers and Cowboys by a combined 53-23. In contrast, the Redskins are 7-1 in daytime, having outscored their foes 178-146. And if not for the goofy catch/fumble by Pete Kendall that turned into a St. Louis touchdown in Week 6, Wsahington would probably be 8-0 in day games.

I guess the Skins prefer to devote their nighttime hours to partying, not playing football.

The Redskins Blog keeps you up to date on the Sean Taylor auction of his vehicles. It’s for a good cause.

Finally, Clinton Portis is a fashion model. No, really. See for yourself.

More at DC Pro Sports Report.