Reality Bites!
 

It is time to look at the 2004 Washington Redskins for what they are. They are a 4-9 football team that fully deserves to be 4-9. This is not a bunch of future Hall of Fame players who have been snakebitten by the football gods and bad referees and dumb coaching this year. This is a football team that loses twice as often as it wins and that is exactly what it should be doing.

Yeah, I know that last night they "fought hard" and were "in a position to win" and they "stood toe to toe with the best team in the NFC". If that makes you feel good, have at it. I watched that game and looked at the paper in the morning and checked on the NFL website and I saw that it was a loss. Not a moral victory; not a close-but-no-cigar loss; it was a loss.

The Skins scored in the first minute of the game. Their next score came with 12 minutes to play in the 4th quarter. If my calculation is correct, that means they went 47 minutes with zero points. And somehow this happened even though folks around here assert that this team has a wide receiver corps that is in the top three in the league and even though Patrick Ramsey played QB and they gave the ball to Clinton Portis 23 times.

To everyone here who wonders why Darnarian McCants doesn't get a lot of playing time, go back to the tape of that game and watch the sumo hold/take-down techique he used on his block with a referee standing about 15 feet from him. That was possibly the single stupidest play in the league this year.

To everyone here who thinks Sean Taylor is great player. On the Eagles TD drive in the 3rd quarter - you know, the one that won the game for them - it was #36 who missed a tackle on Westbrook to give the Eagles a 1st down to keep the drive alive. It was #36 who arrived just a bit late - as he usually does - on the pass to Greg Lewis to put the ball on the Skins' 1-yard line. It was #36 who hit Dorsey Levens at the one-yard-line but failed to use his arms to tackle Levens so that Levens spun in for the winning TD. Oh, and by the way, since Taylor is such an intimidating force, how come Greg Lewis wasn't quaking in his boots by the 3rd quarter when he went over the middle to catch that ball to put it on the 1 yard line?


With two minutes to play, the Skins had the ball in range for a field goal to tie and they had Patrick Ramsey at QB. All the complainers here who say that they have to throw the ball down the field more often need to go and look at that play over and over again. With more than sufficient time to throw, Patrick Ramsey threw into double coverage in the end zone. That was the second stupidest play of the night; that is why they Redskins don't throw deep more often. That is why Patrick Ramsey is a below average QB in the NFL as of this date. It may take the training staff three days to work out that brain cramp!

Still the Redskins got the ball back for one last shot. A sack/fumble and a grounding the ball led to 4th and 26. Last year, the Eagles had a 4th and 26 against the Packers in a playoff game and they were behind at the time. What did they do? They converted the play. What did the Redskins do? They wet the bed.

This team is a long way from contention. It needs upgrading on the sidelines with regard to clock management and with regard to teaching players about the mental aspects of the game. (I didn't even mention Sellers' two penalties that were dumb as toast.) It needs upgrading at QB and WR. The QB upgrade might come from improvement on Ramsey's part, but it has to come from somewhere. The WRs - as they exist now with Coles' no longer a deep threat and not getting lots of separation out of his cuts - is mediocre at best. The OL will get better with Jansen coming back but there are at least two guys there who need to be replaced even if that means - horror of horrors - rookies. The two safeties have to play better either by improvement or replacement. The place kicker better be a whole lot better next year or he should be shown the door.

The first plerson who tries to write this season-long disaster off to injuries need only look at last night's game to see what depth can do to a team that worries about that. The Eagles were down to the point where they were playing Grasmanis at DT and he had been inactive for all but one game all year long. You'd think that super-star Clinton Portis would have run wild against these second and third stringers. Except he only averaged 3.5 yards per carry. How'd that happen?

The Redskins will win next week against SF. They might beat the Cowboys the week after that because the Cowboys are as much a house-of-cards as the Skins are. And they might beat the Vikings in the final game of the year because the Vikes are unraveling and don't like to play outdoors.

We should all root for that NOT TO HAPPEN !! Because if it does, the team will be 7-9 and then the coaches/front office will begin to think that they might be just one or two players away from the conference title game and approach free agency with the idea of "one or two flashy signings". That will doom the team next year too. So, strange though it may seem, I want the Skins to lose that final game of the season by 4 TDs - after they actually do beat the 49ers and the Cowboys - so that the coaches and the front office are not tempted to live through the off-season in a delusion.

As Gomez Addams used to say, "But I'm feeling MUCH better now..."

You said it. This is not a very good team and not nearly as talented as most redskin fans believe. I would like to see this team gutted and some of the overpriced-overhyped talent traded.

This is business, not personal....
 

Things aren't looking good, no there not, but Jesums Criminey, your making this thing look alot worse then it is, which leads me to believe that your letting your emotions get way to invovled. Yesterday was a heart-breaker, I was at the game I dropped 250 bones in tix and beer, and I was crushed, but damn man...if we won, you never right that email, and we would still be only 5-8.

In this day in age of football, HOW IN THE WORLD CAN YOU PAINT SUCH A GRIM PICTURE OF THE REDSKINS??

1998 Rams 4-12
1999 Rams 13-3 super bowl champs

1999 Ravens 8-8
2000 Ravens 12-4 super bowl champs

2000 Pats 5-11
2001 Pats 11-5 super bowl champs (didn't win there division)

2001 Bucs 9-7
2002 Bucs 12-4 super bowl champs

We are not great, we are not even good, but dude, we got a freaking awesome Defense, a QB who is young but marginally promising, a TE who is amazing, a great RB, a real good WR, and oh yeah, Jon Jansen, Lavar and Matt Bowen aren't bad....Am I optimistic? yes, but am I unrealistic?....no

Progress can be measured in more ways than your won and loss record. I don't think that the coaching staff has any illusions. This team is making real progress. If you are pulling against the Redskins, you are no longer a Redskins fan, so I hope you don't do that.

However, we have to make the decisions about who is going to play and who is going to stay based on performance and fair competition at every position. No way in my view should we give "Nervous Pat" ;) a free ticket to ride, for example.

Players play best when they know that getting the job is based on who plays best, not on who gets paid best, or who is most popular or who is there when you get tired of uncertainty at a position.

It takes time to restore a franchise that had been so off course for so long. By the time Joe Gibbs found the Redskins again, we were without a compass and lost in the south seas. It takes awhile to get the ship back to Super Bowl winning waters.

we are better than this season's record, that kind of thing DOES exist and matters in a span of seasons not just one.

to think rookie Taylor and born-again rookie Ramsey won't improve is myopic. and having losses that are consistently CLOSE means you are CLOSE to contention. no2 defense in the league is absolutely nothing to sneeze at, and almost by itself makes you a contender.

can't see how you deny the offense's VAST improvement since Brunell was benched, and have no idea why you insist it won't stop improving. think you're just trying to live up to your name SC.

Do you think we're on the right track, or just spiraling into oblivion like years past?

I think we're on the right track. Yes, we lost, but we played the 'premier' team in the NFC (some would argue all of football) very closely and have showed signs of improvement over the past few weeks.

You often write a very skewed outlook on the Skins that is in some ways on the opposite end of the spectrum compared to others on this board. I think that you are right on on some of your stuff, but also believe you try to go out of your way just to tick off other people with some of your statements. It just seems like that no matter what happens in the game, you would come on here and start blasting away at something.

You're a mean one, mister curmudgeon. You're as cuddly as a cactus, you're as charming as an eal, mister curmudgeon.

Merry Christmas You Grinchy Bastard.

:joke:

he's just tryin to shake things up

SC just keeps it real, thats all. It might sound mean, but it's gotta lot of truth behind it.

Well, there's always two sides to each story and surprisingly SC decides to take the glass is half empty look at that game.

I'd rather look at last night's game in the context of the entire season.

If we had played the Eagles in the first half of the season the Skins would have been blown out of the water. Just look at the improvement from the first Skins-Eagles game a few weeks ago. In my eyes the team is making progress and the only thing they need is more time in this system.

SC, first you point out the 'Skins inability to score. Well, couldn't you take the same take of the Eagles? Here's a team that dropped 40+ on a playoff contending Packers team a week ago, and they got taken to the wire against a 4-8 team? What can be said of them? The Eagles don't have a joke of a defense, even though they are banged up (much like our own D) as long as they have Johnson calling the shots on the sideline they always field a tough defense.

I'll agree with you on McCants, boneheaded play.

Nobody is saying Taylor is a great player yet... but he's well on his way. Does he make 100% of his plays 100% of the time? No, but show me someone who does. Consider for a moment the impact he's having as a rookie. The bone crunching hits, the INT he caused, the WR's thinking twice over the middle. Do you think Pinkston perhaps thought it was Sean Taylor closing in on him on that embarrassing play where he alligator-bodied the ball? I think it's a strong possibility.

As for Ramsey outside of that horrible decision, I thought he played pretty well. I would put him in the 'average QB' category right now, not 'below average'. Since he took over as starter his TD to INT ratio is 4-3 and he's hitting on 65% of his throws. Plenty of room for improvement I agree but a world of difference over the Ramsey we saw this preseason and in a brief appearance against the Giants.

I don't see where you're coming from on Coles, he had a nice game with 12 catches for 100 yards, despite getting knocked around like a pinball. The guy plays with heart, I don't know how anybody can't love a guy like Coles after last night. Why no mention/love for Cooley? (Oh that's right, because he played well maybe ;)) 5 catches for 75 yards and was just a finger tip away from a TD catch. Give the kid some love SC, I know you've got some love somewhere in that crusted heart of yours! LOL

I'm assuming you want to replace Raymer and Dockery on the OL. Raymer I agree with, Dockery can still be developed in my opinion.

For your argument as to why didn't Portis run wild on a depleted Eagles line, I ask you why haven't teams exposed our own injury depleted defense all year?? Answer that and you have your answer as to why the Eagles were shutting down Portis. Sometimes coaching and schemes do matter more than talent.

As for rooting for us to lose these last 3 games I have to disagree. I guess you're saying we need to blow the team up next year? I don't think we need major changes at all. Haven't we done the roster makeover thing year after year with no positive results? Why not try the opposite approach, keep our core group of guys intact and make some minor tweaks here and there, and count on guys improving with time and experience in the system? Seems to work pretty well for other teams like, well, Philadelphia.

[QUOTE=Redskins_P]SC just keeps it real, thats all. It might sound mean, but it's gotta lot of truth behind it.[/QUOTE]

yeah we should dump Taylor, Portis, Ramsey, and Coles next year as SC suggests and rebuild again. by sideline replacements SC, are you including Gibbs?

oh and lets all cross our fingers and hope to lose some of our last games. good thinking.

[QUOTE=illdefined]yeah we should dump Taylor, Portis, Ramsey, and Coles next year as SC suggests and rebuild again. by sideline replacements SC, are you including Gibbs?[/QUOTE]


Ill, I don't think he was saying that we should dump all those guys. Maybe I misunderstood him, but I think he's was just trying to get us to take of our burgundy colored glasses.

I might not agree with some of what he said, but I can agree that we still have players making stupid mistakes (Mccants, and Sellers) and that nobody expected that from a Joe Gibbs football team.

[QUOTE=Redskins_P]Ill, I don't think he was saying that we should dump all those guys. Maybe I misunderstood him, but I think he's was just trying to get us to take of our burgundy colored glasses.

I might not agree with some of what he said, but I can agree that we still have players making stupid mistakes (Mccants, and Sellers) and that nobody expected that from a Joe Gibbs football team.[/QUOTE]

those guys are more than cuttable, and we've seen Gibbs cut guys without breaking a sweat already this season.

SC isn't pinning our record on those guys though. he's laying the blame squarely on the guys i mentioned. he claims they make us no better than our record, so why would we want those guys next year?

[QUOTE=illdefined]those guys are more than cuttable, and we've seen Gibbs cut guys without breaking a sweat already this season.

SC isn't pinning our record on those guys though. he's laying the blame squarely on the guys i mentioned. he claims they make us no better than our record, so why would we want those guys next year?[/QUOTE]


I hear ya. Like I said, maybe I mistunderstood him.

Wow, I thought I was the site's official pessimist.

I think you're definately taking the "glass is half empty" approach. We're not far from contention as you claim.

We deserve to be 4-9 because that is what we are. That doesn't mean we're far from contention by any means. Until our loss yesterday, we still had a shot at the playoffs. Had we won (which we didn't), we'd have a damn good shot at the playoffs (if undeservedly so).

First of all, I did not say I was rooting for the Skins to lose their last 3 games. I said they would win against SF and that I wanted them to beat the Cowboys. Then if both of those games are wins, I want them to lose BIG to the Vikings so that they don't go into the off-season thinking they are only a player or two away from a championship. They are not! Hence the title of this thread - - Reality Bites !!

Go check out my picks for the NFL this week and you'll see that I took the Skins with 9.5 points in the game. I collected on the game; I did not lose anything. So I'm not complaining about this from a personal loss standpoint; I'm fed up with poor play on the field by a lot of guys who are not performing like competent NFL players.

Oh, and I'm not overly thrilled with some of the coaching calls either...



gortiz:

The reason I paint such a bleak picture is that the Skins have also been terrible over that peroiod of time that you chronicled in your note. And I don't see them on the list of miraculous turn-arounds yet. The reason it hasn't happened is that the team always thinks that a flashy free-agent signing and a big press conference and a lot of TV time and pics in the papers in March is what the team needs. Well, that has not worked for the last 5 years and it ain't gonna work this year either. And if they get full of themselves with three straight wins at the end of the year and begin fantasizing that they coulda/shoulda beat the Eagles in week 13...



illdefined:

You are what you are. And the Redskins are 4-9 after being 5-11 last year. That means they lose twice as many times as they win.

The offense has improved since Ramsey took over in terms of statistics but in terms of wins and losses, the improvement is less than spectacular. Look, I remember when Sonny Jurgensen was putting up monster numbers every year for the Redskins and they just kept losing and losing and losing. It was fun watching Sonny fling the ball all over the lot, but in the end it did not amount to a pinch of pigeon poop come "playoff time".

And by the way, even with St. Patrick of Ramsey at QB, the Redskins have still only gotten over 18 points once...

Here is the priority order for starting QBs:

1. Win games 2. Score lots of points 3. Accumulate gaudy stats.

Remember, Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer won Super Bowls in the last five years. They had great defenses around them; Ramsey has one this year that is holding opponents to low scores. The difference? Ramsey - and Brunell as his predecessor - don't score enough to win even with the opponents being held in check. If you don't think that is "reality" go look at the standings one more time...


cpayne5:

Do I think this team is spiralling into oblivion? I hope not. But I am afraid of what they will do if they win the last three games of the year - which are all winnable.


Matty:

The problem is that lots of people here are saying that Taylor is a great player. You read the posts here; you know I'm right about that. He's an intimidator; he makes great plays; he's going to lay out Donovan McNabb; no one will dare go over the middle on the Skins because they will fear him. Sounds good but it is fantasy. Taylor is a head-hunter who makes highlight reel hits. And he gives up lots of big plays and the ones he gave up last night lost the game for the Redskins.

BTW for everyone who is cackling about the Todd Pinkston "alligator-body play"; that was Clark who "scared him"; if you look very carefully at the tape, you will see that it was Sean Taylor who was beaten on the play by about 5-7 yards and who would have wound up chasing Pinkston into the end zone had not Clark "saved the day".

And Matty, you surely remember the postings here where someone went to look up Ramsey's stats in his first 16 or 18 starts and compared them to same games by Favre and Peyton Manning and John Elway. Lo and behold, Ramsey's stats there were declared to be better than all of them. Now what is the implication of that kind of research and analysis. I infer that the person meant to say that Patrick Ramsey is in the same category as those QBs. He might be some day in the distant future, but as of today, he is not as good as Carson Palmer, Ben Roethlisberger, Byron Leftwich, Michael Vick, Chad Pennington, Jake Delhomme, Brian Griese, Aaron Brooks, Joey Harrington, David Carr, or Drew Brees just to name some of the YOUNG QBs in the league at the moment. The jury is out if he is better than either Rex Grossman or Kyle Boller. Please note, I am not comparing him to Favre and McNabb and Culpepper and McNair who have been around so much longer than him; I've also left Brady off the list even though he too is a young QB just because that would be just too embarrassing a comparison to make; I am only comparing him to young QBs. And he is "below average" on that list.

Ramsey has been starting on-and-off for two and a half years now. What is his record in games that he started? I'm asking only because I'm too lazy to go and look it up. I'll bet a sizeable amount of money that he has not won 10 games yet and I would not be at all surprised to find out that he wins one game for every two he loses. Since that is what the team does, that means that his presence at QB is not any better for the team than whomever else he has replaced. And for everyone spring-loaded to quote stats to me here, I'm talking about winning games not completing two out of three passes that are within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage.

Coles can't run anymore; that is the problem. He still plays hard and hustles and gives 100%. I love that. That does not make me fail to see that whatever injury he has to his ankle/foot/toe makes him a whole lot slower now than he was at the beginning of last year. Watch the game tapes and forget how much you admire his tenacity and his guts; just watch him try to outrun CBs or watch him try to accelerate away from them after a cut. He can't do that today; he did it all the time at the beginning of last year. He's hurt and he is the still the best receiver by a wide margin on this team and that tells you why the passing offense for the Skins is miserable.

I'll give Dockery a chance in training camp but I really want them to bring in a solid young OL to push Dockery. He has improved, but he still makes some really boneheaded plays and sometimes gets beaten like a drum. There isn't any gas left in the tank for Raymer. If Samuels does not renegotiate, he has to be cut because he is not worth $11M against the cap next year - period end of message.

I want the overpaid dumbass players cut; I want the younger ones to look at that situation and realize that this country club they call a football team might just cut their dumb asses too if they don't figure out how to play this game intelligently; I want the scouting staff to find draft picks that will all make the team next year AND have at least four of them contribute to the team in something other than punt return blocking duty. And I want the practice squad to have players there who can actually come to the team and plug a hole if necessary. That's the scouting dept's job so why not ask them to earn their money too.

There was a team in the NFL last year with a proven head coach, a conservative game plan, a young QB, an All-Pro RB, decent but not spectacular WRs and a suspect defense that finished 4-12.

But with essentially that same core of players look at the San Diego Chargers now.

So why can't that be us next year? We're essentially where they were in 2003 with the same type of team. Plus, we already have a good defense in place

SC, I'm still not quite understanding why you want them to get blown out by the Vikings.

What would that accomplish?

by your logic, no.2 defense in the league and close games vs practically all our opponents including two of the top tier teams in the league is the same as getting completely blown out.

in terms of playoff reachability this season yes, of course, but we're arguing that the manner of those losses counts much in broader terms, like next season. to think all 4-9 teams are equally 'bad' is completely simplistic.

you know what? why even have wildcard teams in the playoffs? shouldn't just team's records determine the champion?

we've improved over the course of the season; we've got players adjusting, coaches adjusting, which is to be expected from a new staff. anyone who thinks a revamp is in order should just be ready for 3+ more yrs of this same old crap. an L is an L sure, but the eagles are the best team in the nfc, and the 'skins are not. we lose by 3 pts, in part b/c of the mistake of a young qb. yeah his sophomoric leeway is subsiding, but i think we're getting on track with PR and the guys we have. if PR had started the whole time maybe at this point he'd finally be clicking. anyways i dont think anyone should worry too much, let's just win out, and get our butts in gear for next season.

Sports, you're of course right about the record: numbers don't lie.

But I'm not sure about what your overall point is. JUst focus on the defense of this team. Other than your complaints about Taylor (which I for one am willing to chalk up to the learning curve as of yet), aren't you getting just what you asked for? No name players playing intelligently and pratice squad players plugging holes, etc? And here they actually have had significant injuries. No offense to Ryan Clark, but Bowen is better. Remember his performance in week one when it looked like "Year of the Bowen." So maybe the team is only half broken, and with a good model of how to get better.

As for Ramsey, do you really see no change in his play since he came in for Brunell? No sign of improvment? And you say he's been "starting on and off for two and a half years," but how many games is it, and how may in a pro system (no offense to Daseal and Spurrier)? Last night's int was terrible, no doubt. But he's played 4 games, in this stretch and 3 have been against Pitt and Philly. Those teams have excellent defenses. Let carson, Carr, Brian, etc have a go against that lot. My guess is that they'll make some big plays and blow some big plays. The jury is still out on Ramsey, but I for one am encouraged.

As for the o-line, upgrade if you can. Find a better available QB. Get some good WRs. But you speak against splashy free agent signings, so you must mean draft them. My guess is that's just what they'll do, coupled with a few less exciting FA pickups. They've got to re-sign Smoot and Pierce, and deal with Samuels, so they won't have any real cap space anyway. I figure in the end you'll get your wish about the direction of this team: it sounds a lot like the sorts of things Gibbs and Buges say. So things are looking up, Mr. Curmudgeon! Turn that frown upside down! ;)

Taylor is well on his way to being a great player in this league. Once the mental part of his game catches up to his physical part he's going to be extremely dangerous. I don't understand all the negativity towards him, SC. He's a rookie and playing pretty damn well for a rookie. There are 31 other teams that would love to have a young player of his caliber. You like to pick out the 1-2 negative plays he has per week and put them under a microscope. How about the INT he caused? Why does he seem to always be around every tackle? The way you talk about him one would think he's a complete bust.

Are you willing to let him develop, or since he's not all-world and playing flawless football in his rookie season you're ready to replace him?

Same for Ramsey, yes he's been here for 2+ seasons but he's also in his second system, one that is radically different than the one he spent his first two seasons in. He has 4 starts in this current system and less than 20 for his career.

He's already much more consistent under Gibbs than he ever was in his first two seasons. Personally I'd like to see us commit to him for next year. Otherwise we're going to be grooming yet another QB next summer and probably going through the same growing pains as yet another QB has to learn the system.

[QUOTE=smootsmack]SC, I'm still not quite understanding why you want them to get blown out by the Vikings.

What would that accomplish?[/QUOTE]
I think SC's fear - and it's valid - is that if we win four of our last five, we will stand pat, or worse; we will add three or four "superstars" to make the next step. The problem with that thinking is that we really aren't that close to being dominant, we are that close to being mediocre. There is one dominant team in the NFC right now - two pretty good ones and three mediocre ones will be playoff bound. Our goal for next year should not be to be one of the three mediocre teams that makes it to the playoffs. That turned into an admirable goal for [u]this[/u] year, but we should be aiming higher than that for our future.

One thing I have to (shudder) admire about the Eagles is that they've been unafraid to jettison their mistakes. Even if the player stays on the team, no one is starting because of their draft position or salary. Freddie Mitchell's no good? He won't start, then. I wish we had the same fortitude and could sit Gardner, or Samuels, or Dockery. Maybe a wake-up call would help them be better players. I don't think it's Gardner's fault he hasn't improved. I think all Gardner's learned is that he can drop balls without fear of losing his job. Maybe that's because we haven't pushed him, or signed guys who will push him for us.

Guys, I really wanted to win out and show the naysayers how wrong they were. They're still wrong, I believe, but it has to be a matter of faith now. Going 7-9 isn't going to validate the return of Gibbs, but being a better team in year two will.

[QUOTE=JWsleep]Sports, you're of course right about the record: numbers don't lie. [/QUOTE]

yeah we don't need a superbowl. whoever has the best record is clearly the best team.

Someone said I wanted everyone - here and at Redskins' Headquarters - to take off their burgundy glasses. Thank you for understanding. That is exactly what I want.

What is the purpose of wanting the Skins to get blown out by the Vikes in the last game and finishing 6-10? Let me say it again. I do not want any of the geniuses in Redskins Headquarters who have tried to build this team through the splashy free agent signing mechanism to get the idea that they are "close to getting it right this time" and just need to do it once more. I want them to go into their magical post-season skull-sessions with the idea that this is a work in progress and that the team has to be built to win in 2006 and not necessarily in 2005. It will be great to make the playoffs in 05, but the goal should be to get there in 06 and to win a game or so once they are there.

So that takes a plan. And a plan is not simply a linear extrapolation of the recent past. You don't do this March what you did last March just because "we've always done it that way." Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So I want the Skins' braintrust to do something different this time.

I want them to look at this team really critically and make some tough decisions about who should be back next year and who can be REASONABLY be projected to be a real contributor to a winner in 2006. That allows them to look critically at a Derrick Dockery and to decide if they think he will continue to improve because he is coachable. Or it could lead them to conclude that this is what you are going to get from him...

It gives them the opportunity to ask the same questions of players like McCants, Jacobs and Gardner. I like McCants and Jacobs for their physical skills; I think both of them are seriously flawed when you think of them as cogs on a winning football team. So, can you fix the flaws or not...?

Can Coles overcome this injury that seems to have dragged on for next to forever now? If so, he's part of the core for the future as the #1 receiver. If not, then maybe you have to find/draft a #1 WR and have Coles as the #2 guy. This is part of a planning process not a "quick-fix".

There has to be a new center next year so somebody has to go out and find one. It does not have to be someone from the All-Pro team, but it has to be an upgrade from what has been there for the last two years. OK, who has the assignment to identify that player?

There has to be some depth on the OL. If anyone mentions Man Mountain Kenyatta or Ray Brown in terms of a winning team in 2006, dismiss them from the room and do not let them back in. How good are these young OL? Maybe we should play them a lot in the last three games just to see? Or can we tell from the practice field? Can you count on Vaughn Parker getting over his injuries sufficiently to start? How about as a back-up? Can he play multiple positions effectively?

Oh, by the way, what is the deal with Chris Samuels? Is he going to renegotiate or not? If he does not, what is the plan? Do the Skins suck it up and live with that monstrous cap number or do they try to trade him or just cut him and move on? Suppose the only way to get cap room to sign Smoot and Pierce is to cut him??? What's the plan, gentleman? This is not as complicated as finding a path to peace in the Middle East, but it is something you do have to think about just a little bit...

There is ONE tight end on this team who can catch a football reliably. That is not enough. So, I understand how important it is for a Joe Gibbs tight end to be able to block, but there has to be some kind of way to upgrade the catching abilities of the tight ends without making them utterly useless as blockers. Cooley is a keeper. All the other TEs should understand that they are one bad mistake removed from a pink slip.

Obviously, you have to keep Patrick Ramsey as a QB and if Hasselbeck is still under contract and comes for the league minimum, you keep him also as the disaster QB. Now what to do with Senor Brunell? That's a tough one. If you cut him, you will take a cap hit that could be really bad. If you keep him - and pay him his roster bonus in April - then you are one big hit on Ramesy away from going through a multiple game stretch with Brunell at the helm. I'd keep Brunell next year because my vision is that next year is not the important one; 2006 is the important one. But after 2005, I think I'd have to suck up the cap hit and ditch Brunell in order to get a real back-up in place for Ramsey.

Notice, I've assumed that the coaching staff has confidence that Ramsey will develop into a serviceable starting QB. However, if they are convinced that Ramsey is nothing better than a career back-up, then they need to find a way out of the QB morass they have created for themselves and they need to find that way out creatively and quickly.

On defense, they need to re-sign Smoot and Pierce and at least a couple of the young DL players whose contracts are up. They have to look carefully at the safety position and figure out if Taylor/Ramsey/Clark/Lott is the core of a trio there that can be the last line of defense on a winning team in 06. Notice I said a "trio" because they have to think about depth and not just a starter who has some kind of flashy past credentials. I'm not convinced; I'd be looking to draft help here, but I'll defer to the braintrust if they approach this with a long-range planning focus.

Here is a simple question for them. Is John Hall still worth it as a kicker? Let's just say the results this year have been less than stellar and he is making more than the league minimum and you can find a whole lot of kickers who will play for league minimum. In addition to limited field goal productivity, his kickoffs have been kinda - - short.

The focus in 05 should not be on stars and starters; it should be on building a solid roster for 06. It would be nice to break even in 05 and maybe sneak into the playoffs, but if the cadre is in place and growing on 05 and the team is ready to make a push in 06, that will be fine with me.

[QUOTE=sportscurmudgeon]Someone said I wanted everyone - here and at Redskins' Headquarters - to take off their burgundy glasses. Thank you for understanding. That is exactly what I want.[/QUOTE]

That would be me SC! I'll take all the credit for that.

:D

WOW! SC, bitter, party of one, your table is now available.. I understand the frustration of another lost season and yet another tough defeat and the unabshed optimism of some of us on the site but I don't know that all of that was warranted.. Your glass isn't half empty, it's shattered on the floor..

Yes we are 4-9 and we are what we are. That being said, I think that if we played all season like we played the last 4 weeks then we would have at least 3 more wins. Fact is we didn't so that's why we are 4-9, but if you don't see improvement recently I don't know that we are watching the same games. Yes it's making excuses, but in the past 3 weeks we've lost by a total of 12 points to teams that are a combined 24-2! That indicates to me that we aren't too far off. In either one of the past 3 games if we scored 21 pts we'd have won. If we scored 21 pts each game we'd have 6 more wins! I know if wishes were :drink we'd all be drunk, but let's try to have some perspective here.

Every team has players that do dumb things. McCants penalty, while stupid, didn't actually hurt us. The next play Ramsey hit Cooley at the 1 yd line. Sellers on the other hand should have been cut by now. He makes dumb, selfish decisions, on and off the field (arrested in Cleveland, served a 4 game drug suspension) with no regard for the team. He hurt us on 3 occasions last night alone. Overall as a team and a coaching staff, everyone needs to be smarter and crisper. Hopefully continuity with this staff and team will make that happen.

While you can't throw out Ramsey's stats under Spurrier, I don't think that it's really a fair assessment of who he is as a QB to judge him on those games. He had NO running game, no protection and was a sitting duck so he was banged up a lot. Over the past 4.5 games I think, OVERALL, we have seen improvement. I would like to see him throw the deep ball better, but his pick was no worse than I've seen Favre or Marino or even the walking Jesus himself Peyton Manning throw. If he's making bad reads consistently and missing open receivers at mid-season next year like he did last night with McCants, who I thought was open in the middle on that pick, Portis, who was open on the Cooley overthrow and Coles on the sideline, then I will say it's time to start looking at a different answer at QB, but he has made 20 starts in the NFL. That's less than Kyle Boller, Joey Harrington, David Carr and I don't see them setting the world afire either. You listed a bunch of QB that you think are better than Ramsey, at the same stage in their careers would you make that same assessment? You listed such digintaries as Brian Griese, who was cut by 2 teams, Aaron Brooks, who does some of the most mind boggling things I have ever seen and Drew Brees who was a holdout away from being a camp casualty.

You say Taylor gives up big plays. Show me a rookie DB who doesn't. He gets sucked in by play action, which he will hopefully learn to grow out of. I only remember him being beaten on 1 TD, the Anderson pass to Glenn in the Cowboys game. He makes more plays than he gives up IMO. Sure he should have wrapped on the Levens TD, but Levens was already being wrapped up by one of the LB and he was looking for the kill shot. Not to excuse the missed tackle but again, that's something that he will hopefully learn from.

You say you want to see the overpaid dumbass players cut, specifically who should be cut? If Samuels doesn't renegotiate then I agree he needs to be let go because his salary doesn't match his production. I don't know that this team has anymore players that are grossly overpaid (other than Brunell obviously) that consistently hurt the team.

My offseason wish list would just be for continuity, return to health of Morton, Bowen, Arrington, Coles and Hall, the development of Jacobs who needs to step up and contribute to the passing game, the addition of depth along both lines and a solid draft. The tear-down and rebuild of this team that you seem to be proposing has shown over the past couple of years that it just doesn't work.

Taylor is way overhyped. if it wasn't for him our defense would be no.1 instead of lowly no.2

:rolleyes:

My glasses look pretty clear, and I see a lot of gray.

Some black.
Some white.
Not burgundy.
Could be half-empty or half-full.

But a lot of gray.

Maybe it's just that gray time of year... you know, that time of year when it gets really gray and cold, and once again, the Redskins aren't in the playoff hunt? That time of year when we begin pondering what was, what is, and what ever shall be?

And the curmudgeon, once again, is our Scrooge.;)

I agree with most all of SC's points and posts like that are the reasons I enjoy reading his threads more than anyone else. He's brutally honest and able to display his emotion in a nice fashion that people as myself don't quite accomplish.

Also, for those of us who wanted to throw more, I can't go totally against that playcall, I liked it and it was on Ramsey to check down or throw away, but that point in the game I think I would have tried to run some clock and kick a FG. Short passes and runs, I don't like the timing of a lot of the play-calls. However, I see why he'd go for it there.

SC's posts are just as emotional (and at times non-sensical) as the rest of ours, only on the negative side of things.

i don't see what about Gibbs would keep players like Samuels, Gardner or even Coles if they aren't doing their jobs as he expects them to. Ramsey was a hyped Skin fan favorite and the FIRST thing Gibbs did was sit his ass down cuz he thought it was best for the team. even if Brunell was a bust, Gibbs never drank the same kool-aid we do.

illdefined:

You may think my posts are nonsensical; that is your prerogative.

I can assure you, however, that they are not emotional. They are based on what I see on the field of play and not what I wish I would see on the field of play.

The same koolaid that may have prevented death instead of accelerating it? Brunell was horrible, and very few people on this board want him. In this day and age you can't just cut everyone. Our salary cap could turn into more hell than it already is if we just cut everyone.

Sc's posts are well thought out and backed up with plenty of good facts. I know people hate to hear people say anything somewhat negative about Gibbs, but so far this season, he deserves it. Gibbs is his own hardest critic, so anything we say isn't something he hasn't told himself. That being said, I think he'll turn it around and he has three years to show improvement, implement his system, and get the players he needs. Does that mean he can't be criticized in the process? Absolutely not!

One thing I've always wondered SC, when you watch a Redskins game do you go into it thinking "I'm going to find things wrong with the team and that's all I'm going to look for"

Because, and it's probably just me, but that's the impression I get sometimes.....so longer as they cover the spread right?

ok dude just lists off about everyone position as needing improvement. i'm sure a buncha of teams would like improvement everywhere all the time. now, a good coaching staff is going to make the best of its players as there is not unlimited money, and no matter who you bring in it takes time to develop them. 16 games is it for a season. us skins fans of all ppl should know the problems with constant offseason changes. the position we're in, especially if we finish 7-9 isn't all that bad. our biggest acquisition in the offseason should be continuity, no sending some lame msg by wanting us to lose to MIN.

ive been doggin gibbs all yr, keeping in mind the whole time that he will get it in gear. if we finished 7-9, thats about what we expected, and we've only lost a few games badly. a strong finish puts us in gear for next yr. let's get some chemistry for once and stop being idiots.

[QUOTE=Daseal]Sc's posts are well thought out and backed up with plenty of good facts.[/QUOTE]

With all due respect, the posts may be well thought but he doesn't exactly pepper us with facts. More often than not you'll see something along the lines "I'm too lazy to look it up but I would guess..."

If we finish 7-9 this year, that's still an improvement over last year. Not that we should be happy about it, but at least it's going in the right direction.

whoa whoa. this isn't a pro-Gibbs thread, in fact most here blame Gibbs not Ramsey for that 4th quarter INT cuz of the playcall. and who here thinks Brunell was a good idea?

i'm just proving that Gibbs never fell for the hype SC blames all of us of perpetuating.

i think its reverse Kool-Aid to completely dismiss the fact our defense was no.2 in this league WITH all of the injuries, as is denying any offensive improvement since Ramsey has come in. empirically, to judge a team solely by it's record doesn't make sense, there are too many variables, and thats precisely why the team with the best record doesn't automatically win the superbowl.

I Have To Say, Since I've Been A Member Here, That Is The Worst Post I've Read From Sc. He's Always Mr. Negative But Damn , That Was Pethetic. Sc, If You Don't See The Difference In This Years Skins Team As Opposed To The Last 5-6 Years Then Your Either Completely Blind Or Just Not A Skins Fan. This Has Nothing To Do With Wins And Losses And All To Do With Heart And Wanting To Play Hard For Your Coach, Your Fans, Your City And Yourselvs. I Never Expected Gibbs To Make The Skins Superbowl Champs In 13 Games But I Do Expect Him To Turn Them Into A Very Competetive Team That Plays Hard Week In And Week Out. The Skins Are Getting There. I Can See It And I Know Others Do Too.

smootsmack:

I start each game looking for positive outcomes. In the past three or four years, those things tend to be very rare and the negatives tend to be very common. So I get "upset" with the negative things and wonder why they have not yet been elimimated.

I do not wager on every game. Part of being successful in gambling is picking and choosing your spots. Obviously, when I do make a wager, I greatly prefer to win as opposed to lose. I doubt that makes me significantly different from anyone else here.

When I say I'm too lazy to go look something up, that merely means I am not going to make up some BS and toss it out there as if it meant something. If I were ever waaay off on one of those guesstimates, I feel certain that half a dozen folks here would be eager get the real numbers and let me know how dumb I am. For example, earlier today I said that I THOUGHT that Ramsey had not won 10 games that he had started and that however many games he had won, he had probably lost twice as many. If I am way off on those assertions, I expect to be corrected - and not particularly politely either.

As for the devotees of "continuity" from this year to next, let me remind you that if you had held to that position last year, our DL this year would have Lionel Daulton and Darryl Russell playing DT. Remember last year when the DL could not stop anybody?

What happened was that they got rid of just about EVERYBODY (save Wynn and Haley who hasn't played much at all) and signed ONE free agent and then got a bunch of guys who hustle and do what the coaches tell them to do. BIG IMPROVEMENT. But that improvement came by blowing up the DL because it sucked wind last year. Don't be too afraid to look objectively at other parts of this team and think the same thing because it can be REALLY beneficial. I'd put the Wide Receiver corps under a microscope just to see if there might be a huge improvement to be made by saving only one of that batch...