Rams Vs. Redskins: A Closer Look At This Week's Opponent

The Washington Redskins have a new young QB named Ol' Bobby Bob Bob Babaloo Griffin Number Treso Queso. He sure is a sight to behold, a runnin' and a gunnin' and whatnot.

I wanted to learn more about said young QB, but the media just wasn't talkin about him. DANG YOU, MEDIA!

So to get a bit more insight on RGTQ and the Redskins as a whole, I linked up with Kevin Ewoldt from Hogs Haven, the SB Nation community for fans of the Skins.

Obviously, everything is RGIII right now for you guys. The praise is justified; I watched the game mid-week, and he played very, very well. What holes in his game did you see? Did the lack of experience manifest itself in anyway that you noticed? Are there any concerns at all with his development under Shanahans 1 and 2, or has the euphoria just been too enjoyable to look for warning signs?

It's hard to find flaws when RGIII posted a 139 QB rating with 0 turnovers. The knock on him all pre-season was that he held the ball too long. So, what does Shanny do? Start the game with all short passes and option plays. The Saints couldn't stop it and the Redskins were off and running. My biggest concern is that including tackles, he got hit 13 times. Michael Vick never evolved his game like Aaron Rodgers, so I'd like to see RGIII cut those hits down some. I can't see RGIII lasting an entire season with hits like that, so keeping him upright is my only concern right now.

How do you feel about the offensive line? If there was one major concern I had about the Redskins' offense this season, it was the line. Did they give Morris, Royster & Helu room to operate? How did you feel about their protection of RGIII?

The OLine played great. The fanbase was up in arms when Shanahan revealed Jammal Brown injured both hips, but in reality, he was never healthy on this team. The week one Redskins starting OLine were all starters at one point last year, so there is continuity, which is so key in productivity. With Trent Williams playing at a Pro-Bowl level, life is good. It'll be up to RGIII to protect himself because the OLine does let through their share of rushers. As for the rushing lanes, they have been there, but I credit that more to the Redskins passing game being so good.

Where are the concerns on defense? Was the New Orleans game a bit too pass-heavy to read much into the Skins' defensive performance (52 passes, 10 rushes)?

The Redskins have arguably one of the best front sevens in the NFL. The safety positions have been a huge concern all off-season though. The Redskins cut Atogwe due to our cap penalty and Landry was let go. Madieu Williams had a poor game at FS, but backup SS, Dejon Gomes, played admirably last week. He was all over the field and he proved he has progressed from his rookie year with a key interception late. In short, we're good, not great. The front three were in Brees face most of the day...if they keep that up, the secondary mediocrity won't matter. Carriker is playing very well by the way.

One of the more interesting storylines to me as a DC-area resident but not a fan of the Skins was the Shanahan-RGIII arcs. If RGIII plays well this year and the Redskins end up on the better end of a .500 winning percentage, certainly Mike Shanahan remains the head coach. If RGIII plays well but the team doesn't do so well, I could see him staying. But should this season get ugly in a hurry and ESPECIALLY after the week one performance, I wouldn't be surprised if he was (in my best Lane Pryce voice) "sacked in the interests of the firm." How does the fan base feel about Mike Shanahan right now, and how much did that week one win change his rep?

Shanahan's rep is VERY much intact here...even if we lost that game (which we almost did). If you look at all the Redskins teams in the Dan Snyder era, it's free agent after free agent. There was no youth and certainly no depth. The Redskins, thanks to Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan, finally have players that want to show up to work and play. Long gone are the days of the Redskins being the place to get your last big paycheck. The new players are film room junkies and most of them were team captains at the collegiate level.

Dan Snyder is perhaps the biggest a-hole in the sporting world. How do Redskins reconcile their love for the team and their passion for the franchise with a guy who was petty enough to go after a paper for writing this? P.S. Dan Snyder is a bucket of poop.

It hasn't been easy, but the thing is, it's not like we're the Rams where we annually have ZERO HOPE of winning a Super Bowl. At least Snyder is shelling the money to try and make it happen, he just has no clue what's he doing. He finally handed over ALL decision making to Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan, like he did with Gibbs, and the quality of the roster validates that. There are only 10 guys left on the roster from when Shanahan inherited the team in 2010. Crazy.

Thanks again to Kevin for taking the time to answer these.