Here comes one sports writer's apology letter to Gibbs

[hurrykaine]

Four coaches who fall short on credit
Clark Judge

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9173075

Joe Gibbs, Washington
It was at the NFL owners' meetings last March that Vinny Cerrato, the Redskins' vice president of football operations, asked me what I thought of his club and its playoff chances. I thought he was joking.

"Playoffs?" I said. "You won't win more than six games."

And I was right ... if the season ended Nov. 27. But there were another five games to play, and Washington -- 5-6 at that juncture -- won all of them. I still don't know how the 'Skins did it, but Gibbs can take a bow. This was a team that had no business making the playoffs, yet somehow, some way, it did.

Then it won there, too, beating Tampa.

I thought Washington would have problems at quarterback, and it didn't. Mark Brunell, who seemed washed up a year ago, breathed life into an offense that was listless for most of 2004. I thought the trade for Santana Moss was wrong, and it wasn't. All he did was score nine times and set a franchise record for yards receiving.

I thought Washington couldn't replace Antonio Pierce, and it did. I thought it couldn't replace Fred Smoot, and it did. I thought the team's offseason moves were reflections of a club that was lost, and it wasn't. It knew exactly what it was doing.

In short, Gibbs proved me -- and other detractors -- wrong with a late-season rally characteristic of the Hall of Fame coach. He did it the hard way, too, with his offense short-circuiting down the stretch, but that's why Gregg Williams makes the big bucks. Williams' defense carried Washington in its last two wins.

Did I say wins? Imagine that. For the first time in six years Washington had a winning season. Now you know why he's no ordinary Joe.