From NFL.com "Part 1: Answering the burning questions"

[Dave Butz Baby!]

By Chris Collinsworth

...
5. Can Joe Gibbs lead the Redskins to the Super Bowl?

Absolutely. One thing we have learned in the era of the salary cap is that a head coach can be a tremendous tie-breaker. How many times do we have to see it before we believe it? Look at Mike Holmgren in Seattle. The Seahawks have a chance to go to the Super Bowl this year. Dick Vermeil led the Chiefs to a 13-3 record last year. And of course, there is Parcells and what he did in Dallas.

Coaches make a difference.

I put Gibbs in that illustrious class of NFL coaches along with Bill Walsh, Vince Lombardi, Chuck Noll and Jimmy Johnson. The critics might say that he's been away from the game too long, but I don't buy that. You don't lose your skills as a football coach. You can either coach or you can't, and Gibbs can coach.

I worked with Joe at NBC and he always had this one saying that I still use today: "If you can protect the quarterback and keep him from getting hit, there are 40 or 50 guys that can play in this league. If you can't keep your quarterback from getting hit, there are only four or five that can play."

That's why he has won a Super Bowl with three different quarterbacks. The year Mark Rypien led the Redskins to the Super Bowl, he was sacked only a handful of times.

With Mark Brunell in Gibbs' quarterback cocoon, I expect big things from him. Remember, the NFC is wide open this year. There is not a dominant team. The Redskins are one of many teams in the NFC that have a legitimate chance to go to the Super Bowl.


http://www.nfl.com/news/story/7582518