Propping up the sky around here

[Paintrain]

Originally Posted by djnemo65

What I think is so frustrating to people is not so much the collapse of a season but the collapse of an era. This year is shot but there is no reason to believe we'll be able to contend for several years. What we are seeing is the final dissolution of a team that first started to come together with the Portis trade, the Griffin, Washington, and Springs free agent signings, and the addition of several other key players through the Gibbs years: the core Redskins. It's busted and we are (hopefully) going to be starting over from scratch next year with one playoff win and only a few key young players to show for it.

In today's NFL, there is absolutely no reason for teams to lose for prolonged periods, with the salary cap and draft structured to punish winning and award losing to an extent. Throw in the tremendous monetary advantage the Skins enjoy and you have a team that, at the very least, should be above average over any 5-10 year period. But here we are, in exactly the same position we were in when Spurrier split, with a team falling apart, lacking discipline, lacking leaders, lacking any sense of direction or purpose. And we have precisely one playoff win to show for it.

This is a tough pill to swallow and it's not so suprising to me that the angst is starting to bubble over. But doesn't it make us all feel better to come here and commiserate? The most awesomest Shakespeare play King Lear talks about such shared grief quite well.

When we our betters see bearing our woes,
We scarcely think our miseries our foes.
Who alone suffers suffers most i' the mind,
Leaving free things and happy shows behind:
But then the mind much sufferance doth o'er skip,
When grief hath mates, and bearing fellowship.
How light and portable my pain seems now,
When that which makes me bend makes the king bow,

Two quick points. There's no reason we should flail for years to come after this season. We've got a very good defensive base for the next few years. If we re-sign (or find suitable replacements for) Rogers and McIntosh to combine with Haynesworth, Hall, Orakpo and Jarmon we're going to be ok on defense.

For as terrible as the offense has been, Moss and Cooley are two weapons most teams would love to have. I am interested to see what a new staff does with Thomas/Kelly. The O-line needs to be remade and we are probably looking at a new backfield but the cupboard is nowhere near as bare as the Spurrier era.

[djnemo65]

Originally Posted by Paintrain

Two quick points. There's no reason we should flail for years to come after this season. We've got a very good defensive base for the next few years. If we re-sign (or find suitable replacements for) Rogers and McIntosh to combine with Haynesworth, Hall, Orakpo and Jarmon we're going to be ok on defense.

For as terrible as the offense has been, Moss and Cooley are two weapons most teams would love to have. I am interested to see what a new staff does with Thomas/Kelly. The O-line needs to be remade and we are probably looking at a new backfield but the cupboard is nowhere near as bare as the Spurrier era.

Fair point about the defense, we have some quite decent young guys at safety as well. But the offense is not going to be good anytime soon. First, we'll be starting over with a new qb and system next year (Campbell is goner than gone) as well as an OL rebuilding project that is likely to take at least two years, assuming we draft perfectly. Moss is north of 30, I doubt he'll be a factor when this team gets back on track. Thomas and Kelly might get it together I guess but I'm not counting on that either.

So I see an offensive rebuilding project that is bleaker than what Gibbs had after Spurrier, where JG took over a solid line (almost the same as today's only five years younger) a proven playmaker in Coles (who became Moss) and a stud corner with trade value who became one of the best young running backs in the league. Also, Spurrier's left over defense ranked third in the league the year after he left and clearly had more talent than we realized.

So I don't know, I still think we're in bad shape, especially without a qb.

[RedskinRat]

Originally Posted by Paintrain

......but the cupboard is nowhere near as bare as the Spurrier era.

We didn't even have a cupboard at that point.

[Lotus]

Fletch has been tearing it up and Doughty has been surprisingly effective. If Hunter can be one of those punters who play until they collect Social Security, we are set at punter for some time to come, thus overcoming our long-term run of mediocre punting.

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by Paintrain

Two quick points. There's no reason we should flail for years to come after this season. We've got a very good defensive base for the next few years. If we re-sign (or find suitable replacements for) Rogers and McIntosh to combine with Haynesworth, Hall, Orakpo and Jarmon we're going to be ok on defense.

For as terrible as the offense has been, Moss and Cooley are two weapons most teams would love to have. I am interested to see what a new staff does with Thomas/Kelly. The O-line needs to be remade and we are probably looking at a new backfield but the cupboard is nowhere near as bare as the Spurrier era.

Hixon will teach them the old college try. (he will be here cuz you KNOW he's got those pictures)

[Beemnseven]

Originally Posted by Paintrain

Two quick points. There's no reason we should flail for years to come after this season. We've got a very good defensive base for the next few years. If we re-sign (or find suitable replacements for) Rogers and McIntosh to combine with Haynesworth, Hall, Orakpo and Jarmon we're going to be ok on defense.

For as terrible as the offense has been, Moss and Cooley are two weapons most teams would love to have. I am interested to see what a new staff does with Thomas/Kelly. The O-line needs to be remade and we are probably looking at a new backfield but the cupboard is nowhere near as bare as the Spurrier era.

See, I'm not even sure we have that. All along, we've been led to believe that apart from all our failings, at least we have our D. Guess what? That's been sub-par, and the upcoming opponents are going to shred us alive.

Haynesworth was supposed to open things up for a jail-break type pass rush, and it just hasn't materialized. And how is it that adding a guy like Haynesworth has marked the decline of our run-stopping abilities? That just doesn't make sense. Until you realize that Cornelius Griffin is winding down, and that Golston and Montgomery aren't as good as we thought. Defensive end, finally, looks to be in relatively good shape if Jarmon, Orakpo, and Wilson are as good as advertised.

Then we've got a transition period approaching with linebackers -- Orakpo doesn't belong there, Fletcher is nearing the twilight of his career, and behind that you have ... Rocky McIntosh and H.B. Blades ?? Not good.

All along I suspected that we may have a problem in the secondary, and so far I've been right. Rogers is probably gone, Smoot needs to retire and DeAngelo Hall isn't going to form much of an intimidating cornerback tandem.

So in reality, we've got good safeties and a few good DEs -- we hope anyway. There's work to be done on the defensive side too.