Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Redskins vs. Dolphins)

I agree with your disagreement. We have a bevy of young draft picks in the fold, and another chunk of picks upcoming in this years draft. We're in good shape with the salary cap, and we don't have a lot of money tied up in older players right now. We're getting younger.

However, I'm beginning to lean towards Mike Shanahan not really being too much of a positive right now. Hiring Kyle is looking like a mistake, and he's totally wet the bed at the QB position. But I do think there is reason for optimism in the coming seasons IF IF IF we land a blue-chip QB.


Yep i agree with this but i also agree with mredskins a bit too. Personal wise i think we are a lot better then we were before Mike got here. However coaching wise we seem just as bad, maybe worse. Defense seems at best equal and offense seems just as bad maybe worse.

I think our offensive coaching is just as bad as it was under Zorn. Mike is susposed to be a quality controll head coach. If Kyle's play calling sucks step in and take over, thats where he is susposed to add value. Dont get me wrong Zorn sucked and was in way over his head, but im not sure if i can say he was worse then Kyle.

All that said i do see the light at the end of the tunel, i just cant tell how far it is.

Kyle gets my smackdown. Althogh i dont think we could/should have run on 3rd and 2 in the redzone as i belive that a zone blocking running game only works when you have a lot of field in front of you on short yarage situtations. BUT to have the QB drop back 5 steps was just retarded.

Yep i agree with this but i also agree with mredskins a bit too. Personal wise i think we are a lot better then we were before Mike got here. However coaching wise we seem just as bad, maybe worse. Defense seems at best equal and offense seems just as bad maybe worse.

I think our offensive coaching is just as bad as it was under Zorn. Mike is susposed to be a quality controll head coach. If Kyle's play calling sucks step in and take over, thats where he is susposed to add value. Dont get me wrong Zorn sucked and was in way over his head, but im not sure if i can say he was worse then Kyle.

All that said i do see the light at the end of the tunel, i just cant tell how far it is.

Kyle gets my smackdown. Althogh i dont think we could/should have run on 3rd and 2 in the redzone as i belive that a zone blocking running game only works when you have a lot of field in front of you on short yarage situtations. BUT to have the QB drop back 5 steps was just retarded.

Zorn's record through his first year and a half is right there with Shanny's in the same time frame. I know Vinny is not here calling the personnel shots, so that's a huge upgrade, but win's and losses, thus far, Zorn = Shanahan.

As a enormous Redskins fan, I'm just shocked as hell to find out that Mike Shanahan, two time Super Bowl winning head coach, doesn't know QBs. He coached Joe Montana, Steve Young, John Elway, Jake Plummer, and Jay Cutler. As a offensive coordinator and head coach, he won with those QBs, right?

Now let's fast forward to Mike Shanahan's tenure as head coach of the Washington Redskins. He cuts Todd Collins, doesn't re-sign Jason Campbell, trades a 2nd and 4th round pick for Donovan McNabb, trades for John Beck, signs Rex Grossman, and then trades McNabb. Then the worst of all decisions that he could possibly make results in him not drafting a QB in the 2011 draft, and not signing Matt Hasselback or another veteran QB that has played in the west coast offense after the NFL lockout was finished. That's eight TERRIBLE decisions that Mike Shanahan has made right there that's resulted in nothing but mediocrity at the quarterback position.

SHANAHAN HAS GOTTEN IT HORRIBLY WRONG WITH ALL OF THE DECISIONS THAT HE'S MADE PERTAINING TO THE QB POSITION SINCE HE'S BEEN THE HEAD COACH OF THE WASHINGTON REDSKINS!!!!!!!!!!


Let's review the bidding here:

Joe Montana had been a QB in the NFL of no small accomplishment for a decade before he met Mike Shanahan.

Steve Young had been in the USFL and the NFL for more than 5 years before he met Mike Shanahan.

John Elway had been in the NFL for more than a decade - - and had gone to the Super Bowl with only average talent around him - - before he met Mike Shanahan.

Jake Plummer improved under Shanahan's tutelage AND THEN he retired from football completely saying that playing QB for Shanahan was a nightmare because Shanahan demanded perfection. Rather than take millions of dollars to finish out his contract, Plummer retired because Shanahan drove him nuts.

Jay Cutler played just well enough in Denver under Shanahan to miss the playoffs a few years and get Shahanan fired.



The question is this:

Did he win "with" those QBs or did he win "because he had" those QBs?

I agree with your disagreement. We have a bevy of young draft picks in the fold, and another chunk of picks upcoming in this years draft. We're in good shape with the salary cap, and we don't have a lot of money tied up in older players right now. We're getting younger.

However, I'm beginning to lean towards Mike Shanahan not really being too much of a positive right now. Hiring Kyle is looking like a mistake, and he's totally wet the bed at the QB position. But I do think there is reason for optimism in the coming seasons IF IF IF we land a blue-chip QB.

I don't think there's a coaching staff out there who would look good with this roster. There are legitimate criticisms: Whiffing on McNabb, thinking that Beck or Grossman had a chance to be effective... but even then you have to ask what the options were. Kevin Kolb? Throwing every draft pick you have at the Bengals for Carson Palmer? I just don't know.

I still maintain that what we're seeing now is a natural progression for a franchise in the state that it's in. A 3-13/4-12 type season was bound to happen after 12 years of incompetence and dysfunction. There isn't a collection of front office or coaching professionals that I know of who would have fared any better at this point.

I don't think there's a coaching staff out there who would look good with this roster. There are legitimate criticisms: Whiffing on McNabb, thinking that Beck or Grossman had a chance to be effective... but even then you have to ask what the options were. Kevin Kolb? Throwing every draft pick you have at the Bengals for Carson Palmer? I just don't know.

I still maintain that what we're seeing now is a natural progression for a franchise in the state that it's in. A 3-13/4-12 type season was bound to happen after 12 years of incompetence and dysfunction. There isn't a collection of front office or coaching professionals that I know of who would have fared any better at this point.

But we were a 6 win team last year with even less of Mike's personnel moves on the team. It's a clear regression. We have the worst offense in the national football league.

Zorn's record through his first year and a half is right there with Shanny's in the same time frame. I know Vinny is not here calling the personnel shots, so that's a huge upgrade, but win's and losses, thus far, Zorn = Shanahan.

Which is very sad.

I agree with your disagreement. We have a bevy of young draft picks in the fold, and another chunk of picks upcoming in this years draft. We're in good shape with the salary cap, and we don't have a lot of money tied up in older players right now. We're getting younger.

However, I'm beginning to lean towards Mike Shanahan not really being too much of a positive right now. Hiring Kyle is looking like a mistake, and he's totally wet the bed at the QB position. But I do think there is reason for optimism in the coming seasons IF IF IF we land a blue-chip QB.


Kyle's brain is still in Houston and his playcalling still reflects that at times.

But at the same time, one aspect of the Redskins offense is difficult to pin on him, at least imo. That aspect is the red zone offense. Most of our redzone scores have either been passes or 1 yard TD runs. A lack of a big possession receiver like Colston or Burress and an Oline that doesn't emphasize pure strength is going to result in that under most coordinators, imo.

On Matt Hasselbeck -- would the results be any different? He still would have sub-par protection from the O-line, no running game, and absolutely zilch from the receivers.

Substitute any QB you want; Carson Palmer, Kevin Kolb, Matt Moore, ... Then you ask yourself if any of these guys are the QB of the future for this team? If anybody else were remotely more effective, wouldn't that just mask the true state of this team?

But we were a 6 win team last year with even less of Mike's personnel moves on the team. It's a clear regression. We have the worst offense in the national football league.

I would say last year's team didn't have as many young, inexperienced players as it has now. There's been way more re-shuffling of the O-line this year, no Santana Moss, no Chris Cooley, Trent Williams was out for three games...

With regard to the Skins' radio team:

Larry Michael is a competent broadcaster and it is OK for the local radio guy to be a homer. That is why I will gladly give him a pass for his game day broadcasts. However, his daily performance on "Redskins Nation" or whatever that daily TV abomination is called is beneath contempt. My cat could provide an equal amount of insight and the only sound my cat makes is "Meow!"

Sam Huff was never a great radio commentator. Those who think he was great in the 80s are remembering how great it was to listen to the accounts of those games when the Skins were winning about 75% - 80% of the time. He was never insightful. Nowadays, when you listen you just hope that he does not implode on the air and start talking about something having nothing to do with football in no known language.

Sonny Jurgensen is still very good on the radio. His "homerism" is tempered by the fact that what he sees on the field is embarrassing and he cannot hide his embarrassment for a full three hours. Listen to him as the offense comes to the line. He will mutter in the background - - as Larry Michael is saying that there is trips right or something like that - - "This play is going left." or "There is a lot of room down the middle." And you know what, he is right about 90% of the time. He sees what is going to happen before it happens. That is why he is worth listening to...

Doc Walker is a one-trick pony. The world is made up of "ballers" and "other people". When someone puts on a Redskins jersey, that person immediately becomes a "baller". Some folks here must love him because as soon as the Redskins sign some guy off the street who was moving pianos for a living for the last 9 months, that guy instantly becomes a "stud". Doc's sideline insights are no better than the sideline insights from every other useless sideline reporter on radio or TV.

Joe Theismann is a motor-mouth and a know-it-all. Like Sam Huff, if the Skins are winning 80% of their games, you can listen to his non-stop chatter. If the Skins are losing 80% of their games, listening to him is like getting a root canal without novicaine.