Studs
CB DeAngelo Hall. Guess this is an obvious one. But Hall gets out of the Dud column for the first time in several weeks. The Bears used a lot of three-step drops so the reads probably came a bit easier for Hall. But he displayed all of his skill set. He read well on his first one and then made an adjustment few DBs could make; he broke hard on another and made a terrific one-handed grab on the one he returned for a touchdown. The last one was just easy. The Bears WRs did not help out QB Jay Cutler, but give Hall credit for always pouncing on a chance for a pick. That’s what he does best. Hall trusts his instincts and in some games gets burned by them. Not Sunday. I also loved how he tackled. The Redskins prevented the Bears from getting a lot of yards after the catch and Hall was a main reason. His open-field tackling was the best its been all season.
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DL Albert Haynesworth. He played a spirited game. Yes, he still made some mistakes and always will. He still turned sideways on one run while slanting to his left. That effectively takes him out of the play. But let’s not quibble. The Redskins will take this sort of game every single time from him. Of course, he did it vs. a bad line, but still. I’m guessing Chris Williams has never been dumped on the QB the way he was on Haynesworth’s sack. He also went over the top at the goal-line to stop Cutler (why on earth did they call a QB sneak from beyond the 1-yard line? Odd. And no challenge? Even odder). He finished with two tackles for a loss, one coming when he burst inside the center moving to his left. A display of power and strength. Also liked that on a couple blitzes, Haynesworth slanted
LB Brian Orakpo. He can be invisible at times, but when he makes plays they’re typically big. He finished with two sacks, two tackles for a loss and two quarterback hurries. It’s the sort of game they expect from him. He should have drawn a holding penalty on one rush; but the officials called it on the other side on the same play so it’s no big deal. Orakpo’s sacks came on rushes where he did the unusual: he never dipped his shoulder, that’s how fast he got by the tackle. On his second sack (in the third quarter), Orakpo’s hands were as active as any other time I can recall. He got them inside the tackle, they were flying fast and he powered his man out of the way.
P Hunter Smith. This is an odd choice, but I’m putting him on here for his selfless punting. He destroyed his average, but did so to help the team. Yes, that’s his job. But trust me on this, several punters from here in the past would not have angled the ball so much out of bounds. They would have tried to squeeze every last yard. Smith probably could have done a little better, but he allowed 12 return yards on seven punts vs. Devin Hester. Five went out of bounds and only once did the Bears start a drive beyond their own 30-yard line after one of his punts.
LB Rocky McIntosh. Saw a couple missed tackles, but McIntosh had a huge strip that gave the Redskins possession at their own 25-yard line in the fourth quarter. He also had a sack of Cutler, though that was forced by pressure from others. Still, he got him down.
RG Artis Hicks. Somebody on the line had to do something for Ryan Torain to run like he did. A lot of his success came on runs to the right. Hicks had his issues, getting run over one time by Brian Urlacher among them. But he handled some stunts well and on Torain’s two biggest runs early in the fourth quarter (for a combined 45 yards), Hicks did a nice job turning his man and helping to clear a lane. On the second one, he drove his man completely out of the play. Later in this series he controlled his man again and if not for a flubbed block elsewhere it would have been a decent gain. Finally, on Torain’s 27-yarder to clinch the win, Hicks drove his man out again. In all honesty, I had a hard time finding a stud from this group, including FB Mike Sellers and TE Chris Cooley. Each had their share of good blocks, but each also had their woes. So Hicks gets the call for the group.
Duds
RT Jammal Brown. I know he’s hurting so I’ll put a figurative semi-asterisk next to him. I worry about him going forward, too. Will he ever be healthy? How long does it take for a hip to feel right – after all, it’s been more than a year since he had surgery. That can’t be a good sign. Regardless, he has a hard time moving laterally, a big problem at tackle. Sometimes he’s opening his shoulder pretty fast and, Sunday, that led to some pressure. He allowed pressure by Julius Peppers when he was simply knocked back and slipped. The Bears used Peppers more on the left side than usual just because it was a good matchup. The Redskins wisely did not leave Brown one-on-one with him too often, opting for tight ends instead. One time, he played Peppers too wide and let him get inside because his feet just don’t react fast right now. Another time, Israel Idonije got by him; Brown had his hands in tight which is great, but he just couldn’t move his feet. Other times he stands too upright; a function of not being able to bend his knees perhaps? He also had a holding penalty. Brown did do some good things; but it’s clear that he’s not himself. I’m guessing he could use a couple weeks off just to recharge for the remainder of the season.
LG Kory Lichtensteiger. Let the defensive tackle go through him on one play in the first quarter. Just missed the guy. On the end around to Santana Moss, he pulled and failed to hit his man and then bumped into TE Chris Cooley, throwing him off stride. Because of that, Cooley could not get to Peppers. And because of that Moss was dumped for a loss. Another time the DT got through him partly because Lichtensteiger opened up a little bit too much with his left foot. Israel Idonije steamrolled him on another play. And he didn’t handle a stunt well.
WR Anthony Armstrong. Sometimes it only takes one play to land on this list. And that’s the case here. You just can’t drop a deep one like that; not when it might have gone for a touchdown. Also couldn’t hold his block, allowing his man to come off and punch the ball from Ryan Torain.
QB Donovan McNabb. He’s landing on this side much more than you would think. I don’t think he’s been horrible; he does lend intangibles that are helpful (leadership; confidence). But, man, he seemed to lack awareness on too many plays Sunday. The first interception was a bad decision (ya think?) and McNabb should have taken the sack. Thing is, if it’s not tipped by the defensive lineman, and if there’s too much air under the ball on the pass to Chris Cooley, then Brian Urlacher might have picked it off as well. Another time on a similar play that was tipped, had McNabb realized a guy was in his face and dumped it over the top, Cooley would have had a big gain. If you’re not leading long drives, you’d best take care of the ball. It didn’t help that the Bears seemed to figure out the bootlegs and did an excellent job keeping him in the pocket. When that happens, McNabb is ordinary. Very ordinary. McNabb also made a bad choice on the interception down the middle; Joey Galloway was never open. McNabb was victimized by a couple drops and made a smart throw to Cooley on the last drive for a first down. But it’s safe to wonder at this point just how far McNabb has progressed in this offense.
PK Graham Gano. I love the guy’s kickoffs; he’s a big reason they do so well in coverage. He kicks it high enough to give players time to run down and he’s also adept at kicking to a side. But, man, he’s paid big money to convert field goals and a struggling offense needs every point it can get. The doinked 37-yarder makes you wonder how consistent he’ll become. Mike Shanahan said he has confidence in him. But Gano is now 13-for-18.
WR Joey Galloway. In fairness to him, he really didn’t do anything. But that’s also the problem; he really didn’t do anything. Galloway now has eight catches in seven games. Sunday, as the No. 3 receiver, he caught no passes and was thrown to twice. He had no chance to break up the interception, but he also seemed unaware the ball was coming his way. Galloway is a fellow Buckeye who has had a good, long career. But his first seven games confirm what many thought coming in: You don’t get better at age 38 and he hasn’t done much the past couple years for a reason.
DE/LB Andre Carter. Carter did have a tackle for a loss in which he came backside down the line. A nice play. But he was left in a decent amount of one-on-one situations and wasn’t getting to the quarterback. There were a few times he was doubled as the Bears used some max protection. However, Carter doesn’t seem to have the same burst as last season. It also seems he’s not getting into blockers fast enough for his hands to be effective.
Suds (Half stud/half dud)
RB Ryan Torain. Yes, I know he rushed for 125 yards against an excellent run defense. For the most part he ran with patience; he does an excellent job letting holes develop and then making sound cuts. He again broke tackles, partly linebackers are left to lunge at him using their arms and DBs get run over. That’s all good. But he fumbled twice, losing one. In a tight game, that’s tough to stomach, especially because the lost fumble occurred at the Bears’ 7-yard line in the fourth quarter. Also, Torain whiffed on a blitz pickup leading to a Donovan McNabb fumble and missed another block in protection. Will experience solve these issues?
LT Trent Williams. I liked a lot of what he did when matched vs. Julius Peppers. A couple times Peppers tried to overpower him and Williams’ base prevented that from happening. Williams could match his power; again, that stems from having such a good base. But Peppers did get through him for a couple pressures and Israel Idonije did as well. He also got pushed back on a couple run blocks. Overall, considering he’s a rookie, Williams was pretty solid but just a notch below studly.
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