Wilbon's article

he had a 30 and 50 yard return in a single game and penalties brought them BOTH back... then he got sent to IR... talk about star-crossed... meanwhile everyone here seems to think its entirely his fault that no one is blocking for him.

Is it just me or is Wilbon always really anti-Ramsey??

I don't get it, he says in the WP chat yesterday that the Skins need to find or develop a QB, well how about developing Ramsey? Or does he have Ramsey all figured out after 18 career starts and he's determined he can't be groomed into a quality NFL starter?? It just seems like he's not willing to give him a chance at all.

Silver Spring, Md.: Mike,
Am I the only one who was impressed by Patrick Ramsey's throws? It seems as though he gets the ball in the right place with an adequate amount of time. Do the recievers need more time practicing with Patrick? It's almost as if they're not used to catching a ball with that much heat on it.

Michael Wilbon: Let's not turn Patrick Ramsey into Peyton Manning, okay? Ramsey missed a whole lot of throws, and more than a few bonced off the hands of Steelers defenders. Ramsey's throws were okay. He's got an arm; we know that. He had a few drops. But he makes some bad throws...It's not like he's putting it on a dime all the time. If he did, he wouldn't have been 19-for-34 or whatever it was yesterday, for a buck 38. The Redskins still need to find or develop a quarterback.

Yeah I've noticed that too. He says let's not turn PR into Manning, but I don't think anyone was. I don't what exactly he has against him? I remember when Brunell was still the starter he was saying that Hasselbeck should be playing?


He says we need to develop a QB. Ok....why not Ramsey? He's only 25.

There has been a big push for every free agent QB to end up here, and I just don't see it happening. If Patrick finishes the season as the starter, he should get a short term renegotiation which befits his status. Brunell isn't going anywhere with his contract, and he isn't going to drop to third-string (whether his play indicates he should or not). Our QB picture is what it is for the next year, unless something absolutely crazy happens.

QB aint the main problem here... ramsey could have been more accurate yesterday, but the WRs dropped soo many damned balls...

Redskins P:

I could not agree more. The players should be accountable for losing.

On another thread here, someone actually did go and dig up Ramesy's stats for his first 15 or so starts and comapred those stats to Manning and Favre and a whole bunch of other QBs and showed how Ramsey's stats were better. So, let me echo Wilbon here. Ramsey is a decent young QB with a whole lot to learn and with a whole lot of improving to do before we start to call him "above average". Let's not make him out to be Manning.


To several folks here:

Are you sure that Spurrier "quit on us" or was he "encouraged to leave" much the same way that Butch Davis and the Browns have just parted ways? If you are certain of that, please explain how you know that...


bedlamVR:

Danny Boy fired a Norv Turner when the team still had a shot at making the playoffs - and it went into the tank on him. What was the issue? Starting Jeff George at QB which is what interim coach Terry Robiske "decided on his own" was the thing to do as soon as he got the job. How'd that work out?

Oh, BTW, which genius brought Jeff George here in the first place? HInt: It wasn't Norv or Charlie Casserley or the Tooth Fairy. Is that the same guy who is so focused on winning that all he does is make the team better every year? Same question applies to Darrell Russell last season. Oh, and Deion too at the end of his career. And keeping Bruce Smith around an extra two years so he could break the sack record as a Redskin helped a lot too. Remember when Smith was not starting and he ran to Danny Boy who told the coach to make sure Bruce got his PT?

How do the Patriots manage to win without paying what you call market value and what I call the "Redskins' sucker price" for free agents? They don't seem to wind up with what you call a "fat wallet" AND a team of players who seem to be able to win. Same with the Eagles and the Steelers. Danny Boy winds up with a huge payroll and a team of players that can't find a way to stop losing. Remember, the Redskins with all the great signings you attribute to Danny Boy over the past two years are 8 - 19 over those two seasons. The Redskins have had the highest payroll in the NFL for both of the past two years and the result is 8-19. If anyone other than the owner had produced that record, he'd be fired and most of the people here would be volunteering to tar and feather the dope on the way out of town. But since he's the owner and you know he ain't leaving, you just suck it up and try to rationalize his moves - - and you secretly pray that his next ones work out about 300% better than the last ones.

After the great Jetskins raid, what happened to the Jets' record and what happened to the Skins' record? Given what we paid to their players and given that we gave them nothing in return, I know I'd expect results that were a bit different from what happened. Unless of course, we didn't take their really top-drawer talent from them...

SC: How do you know Spurrier was encouaged to leave?
Dude from mid season last year he was scouting situations vaccent he stopped bothering to turn up to meatings with Snyder and Vinny and other coaching staff and barley knew what players were on the team. Does that sound like a man engaged with his jobs?.

Also given the number Marty did on the Skins regarding severance pay if he was encoraged to leave you would have thought he would have taken a sizable suitcase of Snyder money with him what did he get? Partial rembursment of relocation expenses?

Sorry to pick up on a couple other points.
The Eagles have a great roster true but who have they beaten again this year two teams with winning records? What is more important who has beaten them. Do the Eagles look strong or are they flattered by the competence or lack therefore of their opponents? The last two games they have played were us and the crumbling Giants where they ran the score up late in the game in both cases.

Yes, Norv did have a chance to take us to the playoffs when he was canned but he had plentiful chances to take to the promised land before hand. He should have been canned after taking us 0-8 in 1998 and his piss poor record before that like taking us 7-1 and then crumbling missing the playoffs at 9-7. And that might have been Snyders darkest hour hell the entire 2000 season was a bad move by Snyder but he has learnt and moved on from that I cannot see why certain fans don't move on as well.

Finally the Saints had the highest payroll last year we were 6th and in 2002? We had the 22nd highest payroll with the Jets topping the official list (USA today). To go 8-19 with the player coaching and mentality changes we have been through isn't that suprising. Also the guy who contributed 5 of the wins and 11 of the losses has been run out of town well run in the fact he did the running. We still have 5 games to go this year. It is absolute fantasy to say we win all 5 but hay anything is possible and who wouldn't be happy 8-8 right now?Even 6-10 would be great hell it's an improvement.

Yes, Norv did have a chance to take us to the playoffs when he was canned but he had plentiful chances to take to the promised land before hand. He should have been canned after taking us 0-8 in 1998 and his piss poor record before that like taking us 7-1 and then crumbling missing the playoffs at 9-7. And that might have been Snyders darkest hour hell the entire 2000 season was a bad move by Snyder but he has learnt and moved on from that I cannot see why certain fans don't move on as well.

Good points

I have no idea if Spurrier quit or was nudged out of the nest. But since others here declare it as a fact that he quit, I wonder how they know that.

The Eagles have played in the NFC chanmpionship game three years in a row and are 10-1 this year. If you want to feel a little less bad about the Redskins' miserable performace this year by saying that the Eagles have not played a monstrously difficult schedule, hold onto that fact. I think that most Redskin fans would love to have been in the playoffs in each of the last three years let alone to have advanced in the playoffs in all of those years. And I believe that the Redskins have been "home for the Holidays" in each of the last three years.

The Redskins victories this year have come over Tampa, Detroit and Chicago. Those teams do not have winning records either. In fact, they are all 4-7.

The Redskins have played 4 teams with winning records. Their record is 0-4. It makes little sense to try to pick nits with the performance of a team that is 10-1 in order to try to build up the stature of a team that is 3-8.

BTW, I have no problem with firing Norv Turner; I do not think he is a very good coach and he had a much longer run here than I would have preferred. but to fire him in December when your team still has a real shot at the playoffs because he would not play the QB Danny Boy went out and got is a demonstration of ego being more important than winning. And you'll notice how long Jeff George survived the next season...