Call me crazy...

It was mostly wishful thinking of Gibbs coming back and dominating right away again, but with our young stars on both offense and defense, we are closer this year than we have been in a long while. After the team was had a bit more time under the offense Gibbs has brought in, we will have the most balanced team we've had since Gibbs left. This season is looking pretty down but in years past, during some of these games, the team pretty much would have caved but through all of the teams(mostly the offense) troubles, the players fight and claw to atleast be in each and every game. I'm still holding out hope that this season can still be somewhat repaired, but I'm always a hopeless optimist when it comes to the skins.

[QUOTE=skinsfanthru&thru]It was mostly wishful thinking of Gibbs coming back and dominating right away again, but with our young stars on both offense and defense, we are closer this year than we have been in a long while.

Let me preface this by saying what do I know, but I don't think it was wishful thinking to expect a playoff caliber performance from this squad this year. I look at a team that is rich in talent at nearly every position, especially on offense. Injuries have hamstrung us to a degree, but there's still no excuse for our offensive ineptitude.

If you had told me in preseason that we would be dominating teams on defense, yet losing because of our offense I would have thought that was insane.

I guess I am still in a state of shock regarding how wrong I was about this team.

I know it was wishful thinking on my part because even with the talent on the team, I failed to realize how much time learning the offense and building team chemistry on the offense would take. I know I wanted Gibbs to return us from the depths of the league right away cuz of how tough the past 10+ years have been. but I too would have thought our defense would be the part of the team keeping us in games and our offense would at times be like a group of highschoolers playing in the pros and thats why I think in the later part of this season and next(with a fully healed jansen) our offense will be in the top 12 in the league.

Mattyk, I don't think that the question is having trust in Gibbs. I think what he said on his show the other day is what his philosophy is on quarterbacks. That is completely backing the "1# guy" up and exhausting all possibilities as to why the offense is not working and then as a last possible move change quarterbacks. It is as if he has a promise that he feels he can't break regardless. I really believe that in a sense (though this is not intentional on his part) that he feels obligated to (his choice of quarterback) try to make it work. As a byproduct of this philosophy he has (in my opinion) placed Brunell on a pedistal whereas everyone else on the team are held to different (higher) expectations. At this point, the team is really starting to suffer, and instead of weather the storm, moral might become an issue. I hope that is not true for the Redskins sake, but it really seems to be time to see if (and I certainly believe in him) Ramsey would add the necessary spark to this struggling offense. As Riggo also said, it is also time to put pride aside and own up to what has transpired so far in the quarterback position, whether it is deteioration of skills, a mental block etc. Let's try to get this team on the right track, it is not about expectations, it is about watching the effort that is transpiring on the field and the contributions being made by the team in general with the exception of a few weaknesses. One of which is blatantly obvious at this point.

Very sad season for me, as I was one with very high expectations. Makeing the playoffs for me wasn't the ? but how far we would go was, what I mean is with a gibbs team in the playoffs anything could happen, because of him being a great coach and to see this season going not well is heart breaking for me as I'm sure it is for all the fans of the Redskins. Qb, well I really don't want to go there since everything just about has been said, but who ever is to blame ( Brunell the most I think for offense) this team has not had an error free drive even if we scored. I mean look at the drop balls, false starts, ilegal movement, personal fouls. and of course turnovers, all of this almost happens in 1 drive, and every game which kills us and never gets us into a rythm/flow . Just my .02 worth

On another note the defense is playing very well and I would think can only get better when we get everyone back from IR. But for Williams I sure hope we don't loose him at the end of this season to another NFL team looking for a New coach. Seems like the same thing happend when we had Marvin Lewis, and of course he took the Bengals job ( I think williams is better then Lewis) But since Williams just lost his coaching job Less then a year ago and for this reason I hope teams won't go after him, or he will turn a Head coaching job down if he is offerd one.

Thanks

Skins1573

Mattyk, I don't think that the question is having trust in Gibbs. I think what he said on his show the other day is what his philosophy is on quarterbacks. That is completely backing the "1# guy" up and exhausting all possibilities as to why the offense is not working and then as a last possible move change quarterbacks. It is as if he has a promise that he feels he can't break regardless. I really believe that in a sense (though this is not intentional on his part) that he feels obligated to (his choice of quarterback) try to make it work. As a byproduct of this philosophy he has (in my opinion) placed Brunell on a pedistal whereas everyone else on the team are held to different (higher) expectations. At this point, the team is really starting to suffer, and instead of weather the storm, moral might become an issue. I hope that is not true for the Redskins sake, but it really seems to be time to see if (and I certainly believe in him) Ramsey would add the necessary spark to this struggling offense. As Riggo also said, it is also time to put pride aside and own up to what has transpired so far in the quarterback position, whether it is deteioration of skills, a mental block etc. Let's try to get this team on the right track, it is not about expectations, it is about watching the effort that is transpiring on the field and the contributions being made by the team in general with the exception of a few weaknesses. One of which is blatantly obvious at this point.
So it's not about trusting Gibbs, but in the same post you're basically questioning his judgement in keeping Brunell in the lineup? Sounds like a lack of trust if you ask me.

This is just a general statement so don't take offense skinsfan0201, but since when did this board become full of NFL scouts and assistant coaches?

Somehow we know that Ramsey is the answer yet a Hall of Fame Coach with 3 Super Bowl rings can't see it?

I love Ramsey and I still think he's got a solid future in this league, but to me the writing is on the wall. If he was the answer to all our troubles I just find it really hard to believe we wouldn't see him in the starting lineup.

Maybe I'm being naive like some would say, maybe I'm blindly following Gibbs, maybe I'm gulping down the kool-aid, or whatever. All I know is with Gibbs' history I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

If he says Brunell is the starter, I'll say alright and root for Brunell. If next week Gibbs says Ramsey is the starter, I'll say ok and root for Ramsey. But what I'm not going to do is sit here and pretend I'm Coach Kyer and demand that Ramsey should be starting, Ramsey is the answer, Brunell has lost it, what is Gibbs thinking, Gibbs is stubborn, ignorant, the game has passed him by, etc.

I call that trusting the coach. I might not agree with it 100%, but I'll rally behind his decision.

I'll stick with him, of course. What else are we gonna do? I think we're not as bad as our record, and with a few decent additions and some more time, we'll be a pretty good team soon, by the end of this season, I figure. And then it's on to next year with the same staff and players in place for the first time in a long time. And then we'll see.

But you need a good QB to win in this league.

Again, Mattyk72 we are all human, including Hall of Fame coaches. He knows better than all of us put together of course, but sometimes even experts are not perfect (not implying that a fan would be though). I trust the man, especially considering the fact that I have worshipped him since I was five, but sometimes old habits die hard and it is my opinion (and not lack of trust) as well as numerous others at this point that our current quarterback's failure to get the job done is costing us games. I like Brunell as a human being and I wish him well in life and I hope whatever crazy thing seems to be possessing his ability to see the field clearly and to accurately deliver passes, even with a little pressure, will evaporate into thin air.
On the other hand, trying not to be too bias (though I know I am to a large extent) I think that Gibbs really did not see what Ramsey's true capabilities were because he was not there to see them in the flesh. I know that he has film of Ramsey, but that is not the same as being his coach and seeing how he handles situations. Hopefully the fact that he is young but has been in the league now for long enough to understand it will become more and more pronounced if Brunell continues to struggle. There are coaches in this league that also are of the opinion that Brunell might need to sit and give the kid a shot. No one is right or wrong at this point, it is just frustrating to see our 40 million dollar quarterback not earn his dough.

Gibbs has three championships, he's in the hall of fame, he has one of the best all time winning %'s. With credentials like that, you can be sure that this team is totally buying into what he's building. You add to that one of the best defensive coordinators in the league and you have the foundation for a championship football team. To all those who question or doubt Gibbs, you should consider the fact that he inherited a bad 5-11 team that was in disarray after Spurrier left. So to expect him to turn it around so quickly would be unfair to him (or any coach). Let's be patient afterall, he's done it before (building a championship team) and IMO he'll do it again before he retires for good.

Somehow we know that Ramsey is the answer yet a Hall of Fame Coach with 3 Super Bowl rings can't see it?

woah... all that's been said is the brunell IS NOT the answer, and i think thats pretty accurate... you can also trust gibbs to turn things around, but question what looks like a suspect move... he hasn't really given an honest answer as to why brunell should remain the starter other than "until he starts giving up 21 points a game himself, he's good enough"...

there's no way any QB should be praised for turning in a sub 100 yard 1 int day... yet brunell was... twice i believe... if we're all so far removed from reality that we have to think that gibbs is completely infallible, that's pretty sad... cause if he was, we'd be 7-0 right now.