My return and thoughts on the season.

I'm too lazy to look up the stats but we were pretty close to a top 10 offense last year, weren't we?

I remember our redzone offense was close to the top 5. We fizzled because of a lack of recieving options and a QB that only had 3 looks; two to the passrush and one for moss... Good D's could key in on that and we could be stopped.

I agree the last two games were abismal, but up until that we looked good. Watch some of the clips of the home games...

I'm not saying our O won't be better next year, or that Saunders was a mistake, but other than the last couple of games last year it didn't seem as if we had improved all that much.

#11 last year, yes it fizzled late, we all get that. But to say the offense was a complete flop just because of the last couple of games is really overstating the issue. That being said I agree we should, and will, stick with Saunders.

Turns out I’m not nearly as mentally strong as I thought. I found myself reading thewarpath a bit, along with the parking lot, and I couldn’t stay away. After the game last night I kept thinking about the off-season and who I could talk to about stuff. Turns out, most people I know really don’t care about football that much, so I need a venting grounds! The break rejuvenated me, and gave me a chance to back away. Hopefully the offseason will kill a lot of the bad threads/dead weight.

Heck, we all could have told you you're not that mentally strong ;)

Coaching Staff
Joe Gibbs: He’s had three years and to be honest, hasn’t impressed me. If he had any other name, we’d be wondering who the next head coach of the Washington Redskins would be. He’s done less with more than anyone I’ve seen. A lot of our recent losses look like the Joe Gibbs football we’ve been seeing since he came back. Get up by 14 or so points, start trying to kill clock in the 2nd or 3rd quarter, then lose the game. I’m willing to give him another year, but I’m still not sold Joe Gibbs has the killer instinct needed to be a coach now day. I think the old adage of run and stop the run is starting to become outdated. Don’t get my wrong, both are extremely important aspects in the game, but have lost significance since Joe Gibbs last coached. For instance, during the Giants game, why isn’t he ordering us to go deep. The Giants got pass interference after pass interference. It was obvious the officials wanted to call ticky tacky fouls, and we didn’t take advantage of it. We need to be more aggressive through the air and not stop playing. I don’t care if the other team feels bad because they had so many scored on them. I’ll give him one more year, but I’m currently not exactly happy with what he’s brought to the table this go around. One point my stepmother brought up about Joe Gibbs was that he probably doesn’t relate very well to young, rich, and mainly black athletes. She used Eddie Jordan as an example of someone who really connects with his players. Has Joe Gibbs lost touch with these players?

Seemed to me like we were airing it out when the opportunity presented itself. Our offense was excellent (save the last drive) in the second half in my opinion. Plus don't forget what a great drive we put together at the beginning of the game before Betts fumbled. As for what stepmother said, no offense but WTF?? Doesn't relate well to mainly black athletes? And maybe you could remind her of the "close bond" Eddie Jordan and Brendan Haywood have.

Greg Williams: Asking for this man to be fired is ridiculous. He’s had a top 10 defense nearly every year he’s been a coordinator. In my opinion, he’s entitled to his down year from time to time. We need a little more talent. Some big injuries in the secondary totally changed the way this defense played early in the year. I think later in the year we played much better. Had trouble with Tiki and Steven Jackson, but for the most part did well. As always, offense and defense go hand in hand. Even if our defense plays good, they need our offense to put together a few long drives to give them some breathers. This defense could be much better, but we need to either get Springs to restructure, or bring in someone like Nate Clements to take over for him as the #1. Springs has been a glass cannon this year. He’s been a real force when he’s been in, but he’s also been broken a lot.

"glass cannon" I like that. Why is Williams entitled to a down year, but not Gibbs though? I agree he shouldn't be fired though.

Al Saunders: I think it’s funny people are talking about how we need to go back to Joe Gibbs offense. His offense was one of the worst the league had seen last year. In the playoff game against Tampa Bay, they should have just disqualified both teams and pulled the 7 seed up as the winner. Al Saunders’ offense has been very good in Kansas City and I feel it will translate to Washington. He got a year to see how his offensive line worked, his new quarterback, and his receivers. I expect him to slightly retool the offense and get it going. That said, as the year went on we seemed to do great when we were trying to score. I think the team finally started to understand his offense. If we work on our red zone offense and keep going and not start trying to kill clock in the 2nd quarter our offense will be much improved. Run, run, pass becomes very easy for the opposition to stop. I don’t know who is in control of this. The way I understand it, Saunders calls the plays and Gibbs says the basic plan and tempo of the game. I don’t know who makes these calls, but they need to change.

The offense is a strong point on this team heading into next season I think

I agree the last two games were abismal, but up until that we looked good. Watch some of the clips of the home games...

Our offense last year was what Portis and the O-Line could do. Portis got banged up, we had to use Mark Brunell and fizzled.

Seemed to me like we were airing it out when the opportunity presented itself. Our offense was excellent (save the last drive) in the second half in my opinion. Plus don't forget what a great drive we put together at the beginning of the game before Betts fumbled. As for what stepmother said, no offense but WTF?? Doesn't relate well to mainly black athletes? And maybe you could remind her of the "close bond" Eddie Jordan and Brendan Haywood have.
Our offense put together great drives, but do you disagree they stopped playing once they got a lead? St. Louis was painfull watching run, run, pass. I wanted to vomit. Even I could have called the Rams defense at that point. As far as Gibbs relating to young players. Do you really think he does? I doubt he does, he seems like a grandfather to them. Just my opinion, I dont expect everyone to buy it.

"glass cannon" I like that. Why is Williams entitled to a down year, but not Gibbs though? I agree he shouldn't be fired though.
In my opinion, Joe Gibbs last up year was 1992. I haven't seen anything spectacular out of him since his return. Poor clock management, mediocre offense, and overall a mediocre three years. As I said earlier, if his name wasn't Joe Gibbs, would he still be our coach? My guess says: no.

Holy crap, what a long post.
Good assessment though. My thoughts are slightly off, but the majority is right on...have a great night.

I knew you would be back, but I'm not going to say I told you so.........

You are officially the Jay-Z of the warpath Daseal.

what went really wrong:
-archuleta ($30mill personal punt protector!)
-lloyd (one big play, then he dissappears)
-duckett (a big back that doesn't run people over... great)
-defense
-wasting draft picks
-horrible cap situation
-letting glue guys go (clark, harris, stoutmire)

what went wrong:
-brunell
-carter (average, but paid like a supertar)
-injuries/depth
-clashing coaches

what went right?
-one high draft pick (#5?)
-offense looks better
-todd wade was a good sixth man on the OL
-betts signed sorta cheap (could have saved 4mill if they signed him earlier)
-special teams (blocks, returns, especially coverage).


We're deep against the cap, and to move forward, we'll have to let guys go. I had a bad feeling about the guys we brought in this year (except for fauria, who turned out to be either injured or washed up, and todd wade, who's a grade-A backup tackle). moving portis, brunell, archuleta, lloyd, wynn, etc to clear cap room would be nice, but the bonuses prevent moving everyone at once :(. Carter is incomplete as a DE, since he can get pushed around so easily (freeney has the same issue vs the run, but freeney is crazy fast and a better player), however, he's probably got to stay since he's sort of produced.

dockery should be resigned, but he's going to be much more expensive now. Once we opted not to use our #2 or #3 pick on an OG last year, he should have gotten an extension. We don't have a #2 or #3 this year to draft a guy with, so re-signing him is probably the best option.

rogers had two good games, and i don't think he'll ever be as good as springs in coverage or tackling (or catching). he's okay, he's cheap, but we need more depth at db. Getting Prioleau back and the two safeties we picked up should help.

I do like how the playcalling/offense is starting to work (run, run, bomb). Hopefully it improves for next year and we get the defense fixed.

free agents/draft?
last year i really wanted DE kampman and WR wayne, but neither made it to the market :(.

I'm still up on adam gaines (DE). Trading down might be worthwhile, but it depends entirely on which players are going at those spots. the best DE (short term) from last year was kiwanuka, down in the late first round, so it might be possible two get two quality starters out of that pick, so long as your not passing up a superstar in the process.


the biggest FA name this year is clements, who is very good, but probably gets 7.5mill a year... swapping out springs would get you younger and less injury prone, having both would be even better, but i don't think it'd leave you enough money going foward. Smoot might be cheap and available after a terrible year in minnesota, which would be a huge upgrade...

re-signing wade for another year of backup duty would be a good idea too.

LB - we need at least two signing, one mid level starter, one depth. there''s lots of FA LB depth in that range this year, but its a must.

Portis IS much better than betts, but price/production-wise, it'd be worth seeing what would be offered in a trade. If you can get a mid first round pick, it'd be worth considering.

LDS is still involved in negotiating deals with players right? maybe that's why everyone we sign is so vastly overpaid compared to market price/performance deals...