What's wrong With this Team?

[KLHJ2]

Our team is not that bad at all. [URL="http://www.profootballhof.com/assets/default/W-L_Start_of_2007_Final.pdf"]

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by atomicnixon

It is the system, not the players. You're very misguided in listening to Adam Archuleta. Gregg Williams defense was always superior, he went to a Super Bowl with the Titans with an amazing defense, turned around, went to Buffalo, and had another amazing defense. Williams landed here in Washington with mostly players that were already here, and had the 3rd ranked defense. So it is the system, the other part is the will of the players to accept that.

This is some strong, solid evidence for a point I generally disagree with; that a system can take an inferior team and better them substacially, or take a great team and worsen them substancially.

So how would I address this inconsistency in my argument?

Well, the Washington sample is easy. Grilliams had a bunch of players in the prime of their careers in '04. He lost some talent to free agency, and some of the returning players regressed in 2005, yet the defense was able to upkeep its top 10 status due to good fortune and timely turnovers. IN 2006, he lost even more talent to FA and injuries and many players in the front seven greatly regressed. Really nothing Williams could have called would have mattered. I would at least have made Carlos Rogers start pressing more often...but that wouldn't have changed a whole lot.

But you cite additional evidence for his Tennessee and Buffalo tenures that I would have to somehow discredit to support my assumption. I don't know much about the defensive roster makeup of those two teams. I know who the stars were, but that doesn't help all that much. What I can do, at the very least, is see how good these defenses were under Williams.

Buffalo was a very poor defense in Williams' first two years as HC there, but improved to be one of the league's best in his third. This is a complete inverse of the Washington sample. Very similarly, his super bowl year in Tennessee, his unit ranked in the bottom half of the league. The next year, it rose to second.

If scheme/coaching was responsible for the success of Williams' teams and also responsible for the failure of his teams, it doesn't make sense that his first DC stint and his HC stint produced defensive rosters that bettered every year he was in power, while Washington worsened. A much more plausible answer was that while Gregg Williams has a track record for sqeezing the most possible production out of little talent, consistently outcoaching your opponents isn't possible. Eventually, even the most ignorant of opponents will outscheme you. The one constant in successful sustained defense is great production from your defensive players.

So that's where I'm coming from. You find a coach that could have gotten this 2006 defense to play decently, and I'll lead the campaign to get him inducted into Canton tomorrow.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by angryssg

All of this talk about what's wrong with our team has got to end. There are at least 20 teams in the NFL that have to ask themselves that same question every year. Its not just us. Competition in the NFL is great. The Saints beat every team in the NFC East excecpt us. But, we were the only NFC East team that didn't make the Playoffs.

I absolutely agree. Problems abound for all teams, not just the Redskins.

[hagams]

Well, so much of this thread can be true, but the only way we'll be able to tell for sure is when the season starts. But for now getting the QB ready menatlly and physically, putting a solid D-line together, and building the teams relationship should be our top priority's. Danny just needs to stay out of the off-season unless he's signing checks for players that are needed, not wanted. This year, as I said before should be better just because they've played together for a season, and now they get to perform what they've learned. If that don't work, fire everyone minus your impact player, and build around them.(again)

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by RedskinPete

What's wrong with this team now is we forgotten who we are as a team and as fans! Team isn't about getting the beat free agents or the next great college star in the draft! It's about getting parts that fit that makes a team! I just watched the NFL networks America"s Game About the 82 Redskins. What we have lost is the sighted is it's not about getting a team of all star together but getting players that fit what we wanted to do. There is no substitute for hard work and throwing money at what you wanted isn't going to make it happen. What we need to get back to is look for players that fit what we wanted to do. As coaches find what we wanted to do. As a Owner look at what has worked and throw off what hasn't!

Another thing that hit me watching that show we will never be the Cowboys and would never wanted to be. The media is never going to love the Redskins! I like it like that ..... us against the world and that's the kind of owner,coaches,players and fans we all need to be! So when they say bad things about us.... who gives a shit!

So what do we need to do in free agentcy and the draft? Find players that fit what we need to make it work. If one is a so called star so be it. If one is a rejected from some other team so be it. What ever it takes! We as a team need to get back to what makes us great Redskins and that is us against the world mentality.

I didn't know that everyone hated the skins as you mentioned. One thing you forgot is back in the 80's there was know cap it only took Gibbs to convenes Cook to open up his check book to obtain a player. So if they made a mistake on a player they could get rid of them only costing cook money and not impacting a cap as it does now days. It would be interesting to see how we compared to other teams back then on spending.

[Rajmahal33]

Someone said earlier that it starts at the top with the owner and trickles down. I couldn't agree more and I think that b/c the owner is so hands on it puts added pressure on the coaching staff (in a town like Washington where there is already a tremendous amount of pressure). The coaches can't focus on building a team over a couple of years cuz danny boy wants to win NOW and he might go out and decide to get the next hot college coach to "solve" the problems. This in turn trickles down to the players who have no type of job security b/c a) the salary cap is so tight year in year out that they could be casualties at any point if they don't perform & b) the owner could just bring in a big name free agent to take their spot during the next offseason. With all this added pressure on the players and coaching staff along with the yearly roster overhauls nobody can really vibe with each other and there is no continuity. When is the last time we had the same coach and clear starting QB in consecutive years. I can think of two times in the last 10 years...Norv Turner and Brad Johnson...and Gibb's and Brunell. I don't think its surprising that those were also the only two times we have been to the playoffs in that span. Don't get me wrong i don't think either of those situations was optimal but even their mediocre talent succeeded with a little rhythm

[The Zimmermans]

Skins last three years were a team from the 80s playing against teams from the present. Behind in gameplan, behind in personell, behind in passing game, behind in defensive athleticism but ahead in character and coaching loyalty. If we could just combined the two, we could have a team. Right now things are not looking good, especially since it's quite apparent that good ole Dan Snyder has not learned anything since he took over the team years ago. I'm starting to think that maybe he's not stupid, just greedy

[djnemo65]

i used to fancy myself a pessimist around here, now I feel like a blind optimist. This is a team that is one year away from being discussed as a superbowl contender. If we can shore up the defense, there is no reason to believe that our offense won't improve markedly as well. We have so many weapons, plus we are entering the second year in Saunder's system. Moreover, we have improved more than any other team in our division, particularly on defense. SKINS rule!

[724Skinsfan]

Sure enough dj, Gibbs will go out as a back-to-back SuperBowl winner and restore our franchise to its proper resting place among the NFL's elite.

Pessimism to me is ssuch a worthless trait to have for one's behavior. I have yet to find a pessimist who's a happy person and fun to be around. I say go for restrained optimism.

[GusFrerotte]

Losing does happen, but it sure does help if you get good contributions from as many players as possible now doesn't it. Just look at our overhyped receiving corp. Only Moss and Randle El can truly say they positively contributed, while Patten and Lloyd were practically non existent. Look at any sport NBA, NHL, and NFL. Every title team usually had an unsung hero or two(or 3) that stepped up his game when it counted to get his team to the promised land. In 2005 when we could have made a serious run Mark's arm became a noodle, and we had no offense. Team chemistry and the will to win are of the utmost importance in a champion.

[GusFrerotte]

"Sure enough dj, Gibbs will go out as a back-to-back SuperBowl winner and restore our franchise to its proper resting place among the NFL's elite.
Pessimism to me is ssuch a worthless trait to have for one's behavior. I have yet to find a pessimist who's a happy person and fun to be around. I say go for restrained optimism"

I hope you are right 724. Whatever we do on draft day and post June 1 of this year will have a lot do do with making your prediction a reality. I was a total optimist with regards to the Skins til after Spurrier year one, then I spiraled down to the pessimist that I am today. Just too many bad FO decisions have hampered us to date. At least we have dumped Archuleta with minimal finaincial strain on us. The FA sigining seem to be solid also thus far. So maybe they have learned. I hope so, the past couple seasons were ripe for the picking for us only to see Brunell falter in the playoffs in '05 and his stint in '06.