Post Game Diesel Fuel: Washington vs. Baltimore

Two down and two to go, as we look at the B&G preseason. My thoughts thus far are; we are watching mediocrity. This is not necessarily a bad thing at this point in time, but after watching the Ravens game Friday night, for me it's an easy conclusion. (Mediocrity may be a generous term actually, see Jets on Friday night.)

Let's start with the Trade. By now everyone should realize, Donny Mac is literally a loose cannon as a passer. What we're seeing now is what we'll be seeing in December. He is by all accounts a step up from Jason, but I don't see him as a miracle worker, unless jersey sales and club seats count. 

He will need all the help he can get from the running game and pass protection. If those items get checked off, he could excel to his Peter Principled position. But, when I heard team super salesman and my former teammate Joe Theismann compare him to Joe Montana, well, either my critiques are correct and I'm crazy, or Joe has a new passion for Purple Drank.

I don't know, if Larry Johnson got a fair shake having to go against the Ravens in a "last chance saloon" audition, but he did not make the most of it. After reviewing most of the first half, he should sue his offensive line and Mike Sellers for non-support. Boy, did they stick it to him, and don't you know the two times they got something done Clinton had the ball. Portis is the back in the opener against Dallas, but he'll only be as good as his last game, so LJ may get some work before it's over. Oh yeah, warm up Willie. Rex and his merry band of miscreants have a little something for him this Friday up in the Big Apple (actually it's the Big Crab Apple, it's Joisey for crying out loud.

Gotta go to work, but there'll be more soon.

RJR

On Grimm and Not "Real Pretty Football"

Transcript from "The John Riggins Show," August 5th, 2010

Lou Holder:  There was a time when the whole league knew counter-trey was coming, and they couldn’t stop it (laugh), they couldn’t stop it.  Randy White, you can’t stop it.  We’re running it right at you.

Riggo: It was a play that, I don’t want to say struck fear in anybody’s heart, but it was a play  that they got tired of having to try and stop, because you had Jacoby and Grimm in your face, and Donny Warren, if that was the heavy side over there, and with these guys, already the pile started to move, and then when I got there and slammed it, it moved a little bit further, and the next thing you know, you get up from the scrum, and you’re about 3 or 4 more yards down the field.  Not real pretty football, but certainly dominating football.

It’s funny we’re saying this, because I was thinking about, when you think of the fear that different backs , and I don’t want to put myself in that category, but there’s a difference between a power back and a finesse back.  I remember Howie Long talking about Barry Sanders --- uh, I mean your worst nightmare, having Barry Sanders out there.  And that is a fear --- Barry can go the distance in any given moment.  But with the power backs, those are the guys, that really ... it isin’t necessarily fear, but it’s where they actually steal your manhood... that’s where it’s mano e mano, it’s down in the pitt, and that’s what crushes team spirit, and that’s what crushes the will to resist.  I remember George Dickson, the running back coach, that was here back in 78’,  George told me, “You know, eventually during the course of a game, one team breaks the other team’s will to resist.”  And that’s what those teams were back then, that were led by guys like Russ Grimm.  There was no finesse.  We weren’t a west coast offense.  I mean we could throw the ball down field, make no mistake about that, we could throw the ball down field against anybody, but it wasn’t necessarily what we did. Everything was predicated off of hitting somebody and continuing to hit somebody, until they finally started to give.  You know you just keep hammering away,  what do they say?  it’s like when you take a block, a big rock, and you start hammering it with a sledge hammer, it doesn’t break on the first blow, it may not break on the tenth blow, but sometimes, all the sudden, that 50th blow, it turns into rubble.  And that’s kind of the way that offense was. 

And as I say that, the defense was very similar in the same regard. The turn overs. Richie Petitbon had guys comin’ from all over, you never knew really what was going to happen out there.  There were guys that were playing at a very high level... had their motors runnin.’ 

We go back to those days, and everyone remembers that fondly.  Isin’t that human nature? Once you get a taste of something, and once you’ve been there,  this privilege becomes a right,  and all the sudden when you get it yanked away, all the sudden, it’s not so much fun anymore.