First, as a newbie online chronicler of the Burgundy and Gold I tip my cap to my senior brethren, who got their stuff up so quick. In retrospect, I should have stayed up after the game and done my homework. I kept on the ball last season when game recaps were an ancillary aspect to my first blog. Lesson learned.

You will notice in those recaps that I gave letter grades to the offense, defense and special teams. I will revive that metric during the regular season.

HOF Introductions

The current incarnation of the Redskins did Art Monk and Darrell Green proud at the Hall of Fame Game. Antwan Randle-El and Chris Cooley, among others greeting Art and Darrell as they were introduced, was a nice connection between the two eras.

Now to the game itself:

Rich Tandler live-blogged the game, he has the blow by blow account.

Team Performance

I don’t have much to add to the analyses at Curly R and Hogs Haven. The starting offense looked smooth and the touchdown on the opening drive was impressive. The offensive line gave Campbell plenty of time and opened huge holes for Rock Cartwright. I must say the players looked more at ease with Zorn’s offense, more so than under Al Saunders. For all of Campbell’s self-criticism of his work in camp, he looked sharp. He was 5 for 5 for 61 yards and a touchdown. Todd Collins was not as sharp, but still 5 for 6, Colt Brennan, had an outstanding performance 9 for 10, 123 yards and two touchdowns. Marcus Mason and Rock Cartwright rolled for 156 yards.

The starting defense was stout against the run. The pass defense was weak allowing the Colts to convert on third down way too many times. Fred Smoot blew a sure pick in the end zone.

More importantly, outside of some minor dings, no serious injuries WHEW!

Zorn definitely showed more of the offense than Gibbs ever would have in a preseason game. However, I think he had to for both the players and the fans. He’s off to a good start as a head coach. Let’s hope

Individual Performances

Zorn’s influence on the quarterbacks was readily apparent, especially Campbell. Colt Brennan stole the show. The touch pass to McMullen on his first attempt was a thing of beauty, as was his touchdown pass to Maurice Mann. I did enjoy the fact that Colt lofted that touch pass just after Madden said Zorn was going to run the ball for the duration of the second half.

To those who are thinking it. There is no quarterback controversy. Jason Campbell is the starter, this is his team. Colt, while very impressive is still raw talent. He could very well throw two picks against Buffalo next week. Colt may wear Heath Shuler’s number but I think he can hold off a bit on filing his papers with the Federal Election Committee.

Marcus Mason ran the ball well, but I tend to agree with the assessment that there just isn’t a roster spot available for him.

Stephon Heyer and Chad Rhinehart looked ok, but they got beat by the Colts’s reserves. I still think that they will learn from this and get better. I think they are the next generation of Hogs.

The secondary, especially safety Stuart Schweigert, looked horrible, which explains why he was cut today.

Brian Horton stood out among the rookies with his heads up recovery of the onside kick and sack of the Hefty Lefty Jared Lorenzen who played college ball at the University of Kentucky (Fried Chicken).

I’m excited to see Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly in action. Looks like it will be a while longer before Kelly gets back on the field.

Nice to see Jason Goode catch a ball too.

So What?

The team looked good, despite an uneven defensive performance. Like many are saying, this was just the first preseason game, and there is a lot more football to be played. Show me more.

Topics: Hall of Fame Game

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