Not much to say today. At least we didn't get humiliated by the Steelers, but our games are tough to watch.

[QUOTE=joecrisp]I was completely dumbfounded by the "strategy" of punting to Randle-El. Whatever happened to directional kicking, and kicking out of bounds, to prevent long runbacks like the ones that absolutely killed the Redskins today? Even if you punt it 35 yards and out of bounds, it's still better than punting it 55 yards and letting Randle-El take it back 40 yards. Special teams had improved so much over the course of the season, but they took three huge steps backwards today.[/QUOTE]

Crisp, did you hear B-Mitch talking about Tupa in the Comcast post game show today? He was talking about how Tupa has just been punting darts right down the field with no hang time at all. Basically said the same thing you're saying. Better to have a short directional punt with hang time then a bullet right down the middle.

At least nobody can say we didn't try to go downtown with it! Just got to get some guys in there who wants to catch the football more than 40% of the time.

[QUOTE=skinsguy]At least nobody can say we didn't try to go downtown with it! Just got to get some guys in there who wants to catch the football more than 40% of the time.[/QUOTE]


I want to see the ball in the hands of Chris Cooley alot more (I'm starting to LOVE this kid); and I'd like to see Jacobs/McCants more involved because they just dont drop the ball. In all seriousness, I want Coles to get the hell out and go get surgery. I defintley understand why he is reluctant, and I defintley would be too, but he is no where near his capability. Gardner...hes proboly outta here next year so whatever.

yeah, punting coverage (including lack of hang time and aiming for R-El) was bad and gave them at least 3 short fields... that really hurt us.

I really couldn't understand why they kept kicking it to Randel-El either. Sonny and Sam were begging them to boot it out of bounds.

We were doing so well in the directional punts against Detroit....but then again your kicking in a dome compared to being outside and it looked to be sort of windy yesterday so maybe the directional punting wouldn't have worked so hot.

I want all the folks here who are calling for the Skins to kick the ball out of bounds instead of kicking it to Randle-El to remember these comments the next time anyone says what a huge surplus of talent we have on this squad.

If you are more competent/talented than the opponent, you should kick it to him every time because it is only dumb luck that allows him to overcome your physical superiority and break a 60-yard return.

But if you have suspicions that maybe the other guys are just a bit better than you are, then you kick the ball out of bounds as a way of minimizing your regrets after he catches the punt... :banghead:

SC, anytime you're facing a dangerous return man the wise thing to do is keep the ball out of his hands, no matter how great your coverage team is.

Our ST coverage has been pretty mediocre all season, but even if we had the best unit in the league I wouldn't want to kick it right to someone like Randel-El time after time.

I don't think anybody has ever claimed we are overflowing with talent, but can you honestly say talent alone has been our main problem the last few years? We've had enough talent to win more games than we have, that's all I know.

There are plenty of teams who do more with less, while we tend to do less with more.

SC, he had 6 returns and 4 got nearly 0 yards, but tupa didnt give the gunners enough time to get downfield and pittsburg double-teamed thrash every time...

randal el just isn't a guy to kick to, just like dante hall, it doesn't really matter who you are.

[QUOTE=That Guy]SC, he had 6 returns and 4 got nearly 0 yards, but tupa didnt give the gunners enough time to get downfield and pittsburg double-teamed thrash every time....[/QUOTE]

Not to mention that on one of the long ones, Thrash was held as he was coming up behind RE before he really got going, but of course it wasn't called....but I'm not gonna blame the refs for another loss..... :banghead:

Word out of Pittsburgh was that they were double teaming Thrash the whole time......

Matty:

Here is what I believe about the Redskins' talent level the last couple of years:

The Redskins have plenty of players whose names you recognize and whose individual/rotisserie stats were good the year or two before they signed on here. But I don't think that they have nearly the talent level that they are/have been hyped to have.

I'll be glad to go through the units for you if you want. But when I think about all of the factors that have led to the cumulative 8-19 record over the past two years it breaks down like this:

Talent on the field 50% of the problem last year
70% of the problem this year

Assistant Coaches 20% of the problem last year
5% of the problem this year

Head coach 10% of the problem last year
5% of the problem this year

Front Office 20% of the problem last year
20% of the problem this year

That's my opinion; I can't prove it scientifically.

That Guy - we did stop Bettis for the most part, at least until the 4th quarter. We held him to 2/3rds of his normal rushing yards!

I don't understand the lack of balance on offense. It's either all run or all pass wtih Gibbs. Let the two work of each other. Hopefully we can build some confidence on a bad D in the Giants.

I really think this team has underachieved over the last few years, but most of that fault goes to the constant turnover in staff and personnel. I just don't buy that we've gone 8-19 over the last two years due mainly to a lack of talent.

Look at a guy like Arrington who's been in multiple systems, he's never had the chance to grow in to a scheme. Every summer it seems these guys show up and a new playbook is handed to them, and half the players are meeting each other for the first time, new coaches, etc.

I'd really like to see what this team can do with some stability, from the top of the organization to the bottom, and Gibbs will bring us that.