Nothing New!!
 

Same ol' problems. I can't say that I'm too upset over the game. I thought the team played rather well considering. The offense continues to have problems....WRs dropping passes and being inconsistant. There were a few PI penalites on the Steelers that were not called in the first half, but for the most part the WRs just dropped passes as usually. I thought Ramsey did okay against the #1 defense in the league.

Just a couple things, I don't think anybody can say we didn't try to go downfield today, nor can anybody say that the receivers are not part of our offensive woes. And we couldn't stick with the running game today because we got down by 13 points and considering you're playing against a tough defense like the Steelers have, 13 points is alot to be down by. So, we had to abandon the running game to a certain degree.

I think our special teams were responsible for the Steelers' scores though...you can't let the Steelers start deep into your own territory muliple times and expect to stop their o every time. Take away the long run backs and this game could have been much different.

Ah well.... 8-8? 7-9?

I doubt that we'll win another game, I'm sure they'll be agonisingly close though. I'd like to see us beat the Giants and Cowboys though. I'm not sure how many more losses to either team I can take.

[QUOTE=RedskinRat]I doubt that we'll win another game, I'm sure they'll be agonisingly close though. I'd like to see us beat the Giants and Cowboys though. I'm not sure how many more losses to either team I can take.[/QUOTE]
damn, nice optimism! i'd have to say that bill maas is probably puffing on roethlisbergers johnson right about now... that guy makes me physically ill. we need to remember to hand the ball off instead of passing it all the time, when the qb's do hit the WR's they drop it 9 times out of 10. just aggrivating as hell. we need to bench, coles and gardner for the rest of the season. that tandom has to be leading the league in dropped passes. Ramsey did a good job given the circumstances... playing against the best D in the league and the playcalling completely abandoning the run. The team put up a solid effort against THE best team in the nfl right now.

[QUOTE=d151b]damn, nice optimism! .[/QUOTE]


I really haven't seen anything from the offense that would make me more optimistic at this point. How are our WR's STILL dropping passes? It's not preseason.

a better question would be, why have they not been benched? honestly, i've never seen anything like it before... get someone else a chance. the season is done and they've proved that they cannot catch the ball. i feel it's time to start jacobs, mccants and thrash. those guys are hungry, and they can catch too...

d151b:

If the Redskins had a half-decent record, this game would have been a feature game for FOX and Bill Maas and Sam Rosen would not have been allowed near it. You get the JV announcers when you have a JV record.

I guess you don't belong to the contingent of posters here who think the Skins have one of the top three or four wide receiving corps in the league. You happen to be absolutely correct.

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.

The receivers did indeed add to the offensive problems today, as they have most of the season.

Ramsey looked solid in there, stood tough against the pass rush, got the ball to his checkdowns and didn't make too many stupid mistakes (the intercepted pass intended for Coles and the bad pass for Koz in the end zone stand out as poor plays).

I was pretty impressed by Mark Wilson's performance at right tackle today, in his first NFL action. He looks like he has a bright future under Bugel, and I hope he continues to progress this season with the time he should get while Thomas and Jansen are out.

This team made progress on offense in the second half, and had the special teams not handed the game to the Steelers, the offense may have been able to do enough to win the game.

The Redskins are still capable of winning a few games here at the end of the season, with the Giants, 49ers and Cowboys all presenting opportunities for victories. The Eagles and Vikings will certainly be tough, but they may even be able to pull off an upset against one of those teams, playing at home. That's highly unlikely, though.

I look for the Skins to get 3 more wins, and finish at 6-10. If the offense continues to progress with Ramsey, that will at least give the team some hope for next year.

4-12 will be the final record. we will beat the niners.

You can't discount playing the Vikings in week 17, that's like a gimme game.

i don't know why you kick it to a guy after the first 60 yard runback... he had at least 3 really nice runs on special teams against us...

our run game completely dissappeared :( i haven't seen anything resembling the zone blocking that was working so well these last two weeks... is it the D lines we're up against? the fact that we were starting a rookie and switching Oline positions?

the WR drops were bad... pass protection wasn't very good either (though they did alright all things considered). Ramsey could have been a bit more accurate, but he did a lot more to help then most of the O... I was glad to see cooley more involved; at least he doesn't drop balls.

And like JC, I think we're looking at 6-10 right now... maybe 5-11... i just wish we didn't have an entire pro bowl team sitting on IR right now :( only carolina's been hit worse.

Oh yeah, and i'm optomistic, Ramesy manages a better game, someone lights a fire under the WRs rear-ends and they hold onto the ball. We beat Philly in a close one, we blow out the Vikings and win like we should against the Giants, Cowboys and 49ers. Redskins finish the season 7-9.

I'll tell you what I want to see. Coles should get his surgery right now. He is not the same reciver he used to be, flat out. He' s nothing more than a sligtly above average reciver right now.

Gardner... is Gardner, I think he'll be elsewhere next year so whatever.

We should get McCants, Jacobs more involved in the offense and see if maybe they can be a # 2 type reciver. I hate to say it, but do we go reciver in the draft if Mike Williams is around?

yes, if mikey is up and its our turn, we take him without a second thought... then we might have 2 guys that can hold on to the ball (the other one being cooley... we should definately use him as more of a pure pass catching tight end)...

[QUOTE=joecrisp]
I was pretty impressed by Mark Wilson's performance at right tackle today, in his first NFL action. He looks like he has a bright future under Bugel, and I hope he continues to progress this season with the time he should get while Thomas and Jansen are out.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for some news on Wilson, I didn't hear anything about him all game long, but then again that's a good thing!

we held roth to a 45% completion ratio today (ramsey was at 56%)... if we had a better offense or could stop bettis...

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.

SC. Why was Spurrier a worse coach? He was brought in to direct his offense. He averaged 18.6 PPG, which isn't great but that's our max right now. Both coaches basicly leave other coaches to do their job. Why is there a huge gap between the two as far as responsibility.

Spurrier left early but put up points. Maybe Gibbs should buy a set of clubs.

Also, Spurrier sent Coles to the pro bowl and suffered from a bad defense that often wouldn't get the ball back. I don't see a single member of our offense making the pro-bowl this year and the offense has changed VERY little. Portis is the main change and that does nothing but help Gibbs make the team better.

Not to mention Gibbs playcalling has been worse, in my opinion, than Spurriers. Last game was better, we didnt run as much as I would have liked to see, but I think field conditions were the main cause for that.

Look at how long Gibbs left Brunell in. How many people think that we could have won at least a few more games if Ramsey would have been playing? I know I do.

[QUOTE=Daseal]Maybe Gibbs should buy a set of clubs.[/QUOTE]

to beat you over the head with :smashfrea

daseal, we didn't stop bettis, we slowed him down... he's a 3ypc kind of guy... randal gave them 2 short field and they walked away from those with 10 points... the way we had roth playing, i don't think they would have gotten more than 3 of those without their return game.

Where is Spurrier again this year? Oh that's right, back to college ball.

I just wish it wasn't taking so long for coach gibbs to get reaclumated with the NFL.

Little to say but Patience is Necessary
 

How many years after Gibbs left did we as fans have to endure this lackadazacle play, I believe it was 12. Therefore much of our frustration is not at Gibbs (we know from past experience what a great and capable coach he is, and no to whomever wrote that he is simply a manager of his other coaches, I sincerely doubt that considering his many successes with different players and coaches) it is the fact that we have had a less than our typical Superbowl once every four years average and playoffs about every year, and average 10.6 or 11 game victories per season winning streak that we experience during his first tenure. Remember that while Gibbs had not been a head coach before his stint with the Redskins, he had still been constantly exposed to football for many years in a row.

Remember also that Spurrier although he was a college head coach was constantly involved in football before he came to the NFL. I like Coach Spurrier a lot as a person and a coach, but to have high expectations after numerous seasons of debackle and numerous coaches from season to season, changing schemes and philosophy, righting the ship in one season, just simply does not happen regardless of the calabre coach, philosopher, genius you are. Instead, I think we need to praise the constant effort and beginning of possibilities for the team instead of scorning and constantly critisizing every minute detail that is not perfect yet.

It is ok to critize constructively, but why not start to realize some of the positives and progress that we are making.

Think about this: and I realize these are different teams and matchups, but for two of the highest calabre teams in the NFL, didn't Philadelphia and the "last 25 out of 26 victory" New England Patriots get trounced by Pittsburgh and they are all supposed to be on the same level. That was certainly not the case during each of their meeting. I believe that the Redskins played the Steelers one of the toughest games they played all season.

Skinsfan - we've kept the games close. Take away Greg Williams and we're not even close to any other team in the league. I was hoping we'd go playoffs this year, but I totally would understand losing because it does take time. My problem is I'm seeing very few changes going in the right direction. Many of the problems fall on Gibbs. There has been a problem with execution, I don't deny this. But this isn't the 80s where you can tell the athletic defenses of today where you're going and still get there.

Matty - Spurrier could have won as a headcoach and there was an article posted here with 2 or 3 NFL GMs saying that Spurrier could easily be a winner elsewhere if given some... time. You know, the same stuff you want for Gibbs. Honestly, you guys act like every coach but Gibbs should right the ship in a year!

Like every coach, I give him 3 years to show progress.

From all indications Snyder was willing to give Spurrier another year, with the condition that he made changes to his staff. But he chose to walk away, I don't buy that he was pushed out, I've never heard any hard evidence to suggest that was true so call me crazy but I'll continue to believe he quit.

I wasn't against Spurrier coming back for another year. I was willing to give him more time. 3 years is a perfectly reasonable amount of time to see if a coach can get it done or not. I don't know where you get this idea I wanted Spurrier out, I certainly wasn't calling for his head during his first season, unlike people in the media who think Gibbs should quit before his first season is done.