Lombardi's column
 

[url=http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81ccc5b0/article/shanahan-must-reevaluate-how-he-runs-washington?module=HP_cp2]NFL.com news: Shanahan must reevaluate how he runs Washington[/url]

I think he makes a lot of great points.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

Very true. Larry Johnson did not deserve to make the team when performed against 4th stringers. However, even on this board, there was a lot of jumping from joy from that performance. However, I distinctly remember him completely whiffing on a block. It didn't matter because they guy was adequately blocked, but that shit should not fly simply because it didn't make the stat sheet. He looked slow.

The only guys they got right was a handful of guys like Jason Campbell(jettisoning him=good), Lorenzo Alexander, Laron Landry, etc.

The 2001 Broncos's payroll also broke our 2000 payroll record, so don't pretend that Shanahan has been the toast of GM'ing.

Donovan McNabb is quite literally on his last legs. Without his mobility, he is not that great of a quarterback, and he's losing it fast due to aging.

Our o-line is in shambles - by the time everyone clicks on their, like the new rookies and stuff, yeah McNabb is either sitting on IR or released.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

So true, I've been saying this since the moment he got hired. Great coach, horrible with personel matters. We have zero talent on our team with GAPING holes on the D-line, O-line, and WR core. Trading a second and a third for McNabb was a joke; it is the same thing we've been doing for years. Trading away the future to attempt to be in mediocrity forever. Sometimes it works are we are mediocre, but mostly it doesn't and we suck. McNabb just doesn't have the talent around him to do anything. I do believe we are better with him, but our goal is to reach a superbowl, and to attempt to do anything but build a team that has potential to make it there is horrible. It is clear that we are a few years away from even hoping to get to that status. And believe me you, I will be super pissed if we as much as swap 7th round picks in order to attain a veteran that will not be around 3 years from today.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

It is refreshing to read a sports writer that has enough intelligence to jump off the AH hate bandwagon and talk about something more important, like what it will take to get this team going in the right direction. It is almost like this guy has been on our sight and reading some the more productive posts.
This team is not showing any signs of continuity or small amounts of improvement. Especially the defense which is chasing it's tail. The AH distraction is gone and it is time for the normal process of grading our coaches, players and scouts.
The switch to the 3-4 was a big mistake and created more player needs and seriously reduced the over all level of play on our team. Shanahan can't un-ring that bell now. If we are going to stick to the 3-4 we will have even more player needs added to our ever growing laundry list of positions we will have to fill.
It is refreshing to have someone lay a little blame on the coaching staff and FO.
Shanahan needs to guard against coming off as an unbending inflexible little dictator like the recently fired Denver coach Josh McDaniel. Nobody is perfect and Shanahan needs to admit and man up when he is wrong.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

Bruce Allen has done a fantastic job at the job he was brought in here to do. Unfortunately, he does so with the title of GM, and he's doing about 40% of the duties of an everyday NFL GM.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

While it's clear in hindsight that this team did not have the personnel to run the 3-4, the assumption that we had the personnel to run the 4-3 is based on another assumption that Albert Haynesworth would have been both a good soldier, and a dominant player in the scheme. Perhaps, but I don't think it's any more likely than it would have been running the 3-4, but without the feud between Shanahan and Haynesworth in the offseason.

I think the assumption is that we would have put Orakpo at DE in the 4-3, but we would have had the same problem against the run then that we did this year, not enough run defenders to keep blockers off Fletcher. That changes if Haynesworth eats blockers...but, you know, that could have happened in the 3-4 as well.

We're caught in between two defensive fronts right now, and need to go one way or the other in the offseason. No riding the middle.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

I really respect Lombardi's opinion and he's 100% correct in his article. Shanahan and Allen have made some poor decisions in their first year. Gotta blow it up and start over, like Tampa Bay did....and somewhat how New England is doing with their defense.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

Shanahan is a respected offensive coach. Shanahan went from being a QB to being an offensive coordinator to being a Head Coach that ran offense. Shanhan has never coached a defense and has zero experience coaching a defense.
Rather than hiring a very qualified defensive coordinator and letting him run his own defense, he took upon himself to dictate what defense his team was going to run and then hired a coach. Kind of like when Snyderatto hired Zorn to be offensive coordinator before hiring the head coach. No respected defensive coach will come into that kind of situation where he is dictated what defense he has to run.
This is a case where Shanahan got involved with something that he has little experience doing. In fact none of Shanahan's defenses in Denver were base 3-4 and the Redskins have never been a base 3-4. Most of the players on the Redskins defense have not played in 3-4 as the base defense. Not a good marriage.
I will be curious to see if Shanahan will show any flexibility going forward.
Or will it remain his way or the highway?
Snyder learned the lesson, let professionals that know what they are doing run your team.
Is Shanhan open to learning the same lesson?
Shanahan should let defensive coaches run the defense, personnel men run the FO and he should stick to running to what he knows best, running the offense.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

He makes good points but the BIG PROBLEM is lack of talent people.. It's not hard to figure this stuff out, talent wins games and the Redskins roster isn't a winning roster. Shanny has done a decent job but give him and BA time, I HATE losing every season but if we finish 7-9 that would be a good season for us, Baby steps folks.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

[quote=skinsfaninok;767391]He makes good points but the BIG PROBLEM is lack of talent people.. It's not hard to figure this stuff out, talent wins games and the Redskins roster isn't a winning roster. Shanny has done a decent job but give him and BA time, I HATE losing every season but if we finish 7-9 that would be a good season for us, Baby steps folks.[/quote]
On that note, I think it's fair to note that there are 19 players on the roster now with 1 year or less experience. And a lot of them are getting playing time. The one thing I wish that Allen and/or Shanny would have done this past off-season is tell the fans give us 2-3 years.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

[quote=rypper11;767395]On that note, I think it's fair to note that there are 19 players on the roster now with 1 year or less experience. And a lot of them are getting playing time. The one thing I wish that Allen and/or Shanny would have done this past off-season is tell the fans give us 2-3 years.[/quote]

That may have been a hard sell when you consider all the damage that was done to the fan base last year. Ticket and merchandise sales took a tumble, in an effort to repair some of the damage, selling the team as a retool as opposed to a rebuild would serve better towards getting fans back in the stands.

The writer extracted the words of his article from my mouth. The truths he recite is/has been common knowledge to just about everyone who closely follows the Redskins. As a result, I'm not totally committed to blindly following the resume of Shanahan and Allen. They both have to prove their worth HERE, never-mind what they did someplace else. I am however, willing to give him time because that's what he's going to need.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

[quote=Longtimefan;767400]That may have been a hard sell when you consider all the damage that was done to the fan base last year. Ticket and merchandise sales took a tumble, in an effort to repair some of the damage, selling the team as a retool as opposed to a rebuild would serve better towards getting fans back in the stands.

The writer extracted the words of his article from my mouth. The truths he recite is/has been common knowledge to just about everyone who closely follows the Redskins. As a result, I'm not totally committed to blindly following the resume of Shanahan and Allen. They both have to prove their worth HERE, never-mind what they did someplace else. I am however, willing to give him time because that's what he's going to need.[/quote]

Shanahan may manipulate the public opinion in a lot of ways, but he and Bruce believe in "the future is now" because their actions this offseason are totally consistent with it. Why bother with Ma'ake Kemo as the default starter unless Kemo already "won" the position battle on paper. Offensive line was addressed adequately...on paper...by Hicks, Mike Williams, and Rabach the Cap'n. RB was more than addressed..on paper... by having Willie and Larry be the expected backups to CP. Haynesworth was going to be a superstar NT next to Kemo...on paper. Kareem Moore was adequate to be a FS...on paper. This team did look pretty damn fine on paper this offseason.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

[quote=SirClintonPortis;767402]Shanahan may manipulate the public opinion in a lot of ways, but he and Bruce believe in "the future is now" because their actions this offseason are totally consistent with it. Why bother with Ma'ake Kemo as the default starter unless Kemo already "won" the position battle on paper. Offensive line was addressed adequately...on paper...by Hicks, Mike Williams, and Rabach the Cap'n. RB was more than addressed..on paper... by having Willie and Larry be the expected backups to CP. Haynesworth was going to be a superstar NT next to Kemo...on paper. Kareem Moore was adequate to be a FS...on paper. This team did look pretty damn fine on paper this offseason.[/quote]

I feel ya!! CP....but there's just one little problem, paper can't play...... the future is always now when a coach is hired and feels pressure to win football games immediately.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

[quote=skinsfan69;767387]I really respect Lombardi's opinion and he's 100% correct in his article. Shanahan and Allen have made some poor decisions in their first year. Gotta blow it up and start over, like Tampa Bay did....and somewhat how New England is doing with their defense.[/quote]

The HUGE difference between the way Tampa did business in terms of rebuilding and the Skins is that Tampa [B]accumulated[/B] draft picks and used them proficiently such that there are 15 rookies on their squad.


The Skins have [B]traded off [/B]draft picks so that they don't have very many.


And from last year's draft, they got Trent Williams as a solid contributor and ...

Re: Lombardi's column
 

[quote=Defensewins;767389]Shanahan is a respected offensive coach. Shanahan went from being a QB to being an offensive coordinator to being a Head Coach that ran offense. Shanhan has never coached a defense and has zero experience coaching a defense.
Rather than hiring a very qualified defensive coordinator and letting him run his own defense, he took upon himself to dictate what defense his team was going to run and then hired a coach. Kind of like when Snyderatto hired Zorn to be offensive coordinator before hiring the head coach. No respected defensive coach will come into that kind of situation where he is dictated what defense he has to run.
This is a case where Shanahan got involved with something that he has little experience doing. In fact none of Shanahan's defenses in Denver were base 3-4 and the Redskins have never been a base 3-4. Most of the players on the Redskins defense have not played in 3-4 as the base defense. Not a good marriage.
I will be curious to see if Shanahan will show any flexibility going forward.
Or will it remain his way or the highway?
Snyder learned the lesson, let professionals that know what they are doing run your team.
Is Shanhan open to learning the same lesson?
Shanahan should let defensive coaches run the defense, personnel men run the FO and he should stick to running to what he knows best, running the offense.[/quote]



I truly wish that I was as certain as you are that "Snyder learned the lesson".

True, Shanahan needs to let defensive coaches run the defense' that is not Shanahan's strangth. The problem here is that Haslett is a "defensive guy: and has been knonw as such for all of his NFL tenure.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

Shanny tried to shoot the moon w/ McNabb.
He failed.
Time to dust off and try again the right way.
But, i respect him for giving it a shot.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

[quote=sportscurmudgeon;767410]I truly wish that I was as certain as you are that "Snyder learned the lesson".

True, Shanahan needs to let defensive coaches run the defense' that is not Shanahan's strangth. [B]The problem here is that Haslett is a "defensive guy: and has been knonw as such for all of his NFL tenure.[/B][/quote]

Yes, but it has been overly argued when people defend Haslett from fault is that Shanahan is the one that made the decision to switch to the 3-4. So the guy that made this important decision is not a defensive coach or expert in defense, much has any experience ever using the 3-4 defense on any of his teams. This was a poor decision.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

I'm surprised I'm the only one who really thought that article was ridiculous. I think we all know that it takes more than one offseason to turn around a 4-12 team no matter who the new coach is. I don't think shanahan has really done anything wrong this season - I'm not buying the whole "his ego hurts the team" garbage. Mcnabb trade maybe... but campbell must not have shown a propensity to run his offense.

As far as the 3-4 situation, it's not like he came in here thinking a 3-4 defense would make us better, I think he did understand that the personnel didn't quite match. I think his decision to run the 3-4 was based on the league-wide shift to the 3-4; I bet in 10 years every team will run it because it does have advantages over the 4-3. Unfortunately we weren't able to draft/trade for all the pieces we needed last offseason, but it's a work in progress.

You just can't write an article like that without mentioning that it's only been ONE OFFSEASON since he inherited a god-awful team. Jesus...

Re: Lombardi's column
 

Did you read the comments at the end of the article? Its pretty bad when a cowboys fan is telling us to hang in there

"With all these (snicker!) "experts" posting their analysis of the Redskins' problems and advising of their miracle cures, I don't need to add my thoughts on who might be to blame. Instead, I'll just say that, as a Cowboys fan (and a football fan too), I would like to see all this ironed out in Washington and the 'Skins get back to being competitive, whatever it takes. This team has Super Bowl trophies they've earned, and it's sad to see a proud franchise fall on hard times like this. It happens to all teams from time to time, and I have no doubts that the 'Skins will eventually get it all together and start playing football. I remember times when Cowboys/Redskins games were the ones every fan waited eagerly to see, and that epic rivalry will return. Until then, I advise all the 'Skins fans to keep their chins up...your guys will once again give you something to be proud of. Keep the faith."

Re: Lombardi's column
 

[quote=sportscurmudgeon;767408]The HUGE difference between the way Tampa did business in terms of rebuilding and the Skins is that Tampa [B]accumulated[/B] draft picks and used them proficiently such that there are 15 rookies on their squad.


The Skins have [B]traded off [/B]draft picks so that they don't have very many.


And from last year's draft, they got Trent Williams as a solid contributor and ...[/quote]

Let me finish that SC...

"And from last year's draft, they got Trent Williams as a solid contributor and ..." a conglomeration of used up veterans that have already seen their glory days pass them by but are still collecting one last big paycheck.:)

Re: Lombardi's column
 

[quote=Defensewins;767389]Shanahan is a respected offensive coach. Shanahan went from being a QB to being an offensive coordinator to being a Head Coach that ran offense. Shanhan has never coached a defense and has zero experience coaching a defense.
Rather than hiring a very qualified defensive coordinator and letting him run his own defense, he took upon himself to dictate what defense his team was going to run and then hired a coach. Kind of like when Snyderatto hired Zorn to be offensive coordinator before hiring the head coach. No respected defensive coach will come into that kind of situation where he is dictated what defense he has to run.
This is a case where Shanahan got involved with something that he has little experience doing. In fact none of Shanahan's defenses in Denver were base 3-4 and the Redskins have never been a base 3-4. Most of the players on the Redskins defense have not played in 3-4 as the base defense. Not a good marriage.
I will be curious to see if Shanahan will show any flexibility going forward.
Or will it remain his way or the highway?
Snyder learned the lesson, let professionals that know what they are doing run your team.
Is Shanhan open to learning the same lesson?
Shanahan should let defensive coaches run the defense, personnel men run the FO and he should stick to running to what he knows best, running the offense.[/quote]


I see your point about shanny not being qualified to make defensive decisions, but I do respectfully disagree. If we look at all the defensives in the NFL when shanny was hired, there were 12 that ran a 3-4 and 20 that ran the 4-3. The top 5 scoring defenses were all in the 3-4. 9 of the top 13 scoring defenses were all in the 3-4. Green bay and Denver had switched that year. Green Bay went from the 21st ranked scoring defense to the 7th with the most turn overs, and Denver went from the 30th ranked defense to the 7th. I feel that with Albert being the NT and orakpo being the edge rusher, it looked like we had much better personel than Denver who had an amazing switch (of course that whole albert thing didn't work out, but if you say you expected this to happen you are lying).
From shanahans point of view it was a smart switch. Even now it still seems smart. The three teams that ran the 3-4 that weren't in the top 13 scoring defenses were Cleveland at 21, Miami at 25, and Kansas City at 29. This year, in points per game, kansas city and cleveland are tied at 8th while miami is 11th.
Switching to a 3-4 was for sure the right thing to do. It is the more proven defense, and when hiring a defensive coordinator, it is smart to go with one that runs the scheme that has worked the best. I am happy that we made the switch. I think it will end up paying off for us in the long run, especially with our two young star players, orakpo and landry, performing so well in it.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

[quote=skinster;767460]I see your point about shanny not being qualified to make defensive decisions, but I do respectfully disagree. If we look at all the defensives in the NFL when shanny was hired, there were 12 that ran a 3-4 and 20 that ran the 4-3. The top 5 scoring defenses were all in the 3-4. 9 of the top 13 scoring defenses were all in the 3-4. Green bay and Denver had switched that year. Green Bay went from the 21st ranked scoring defense to the 7th with the most turn overs, and Denver went from the 30th ranked defense to the 7th. I feel that with Albert being the NT and orakpo being the edge rusher, it looked like we had much better personel than Denver who had an amazing switch (of course that whole albert thing didn't work out, but if you say you expected this to happen you are lying).
From shanahans point of view it was a smart switch. Even now it still seems smart. The three teams that ran the 3-4 that weren't in the top 13 scoring defenses were Cleveland at 21, Miami at 25, and Kansas City at 29. This year, in points per game, kansas city and cleveland are tied at 8th while miami is 11th.
Switching to a 3-4 was for sure the right thing to do. It is the more proven defense, and when hiring a defensive coordinator, it is smart to go with one that runs the scheme that has worked the best. I am happy that we made the switch. I think it will end up paying off for us in the long run, especially with our two young star players, orakpo and landry, performing so well in it.[/quote]More "proven"? How about that Baltimore defense that won the Super Bowl? Or the Giants D that helped them get theirs?

Re: Lombardi's column
 

Maybe i'm in the minority here, but these article seems to just be trash: lot of speculation, lot of hearsay, and a lot of talking about nothing.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

[quote=takethecake;767428]I'm surprised I'm the only one who really thought that article was ridiculous. I think we all know that it takes more than one offseason to turn around a 4-12 team no matter who the new coach is. I don't think shanahan has really done anything wrong this season - I'm not buying the whole "his ego hurts the team" garbage. Mcnabb trade maybe... but campbell must not have shown a propensity to run his offense.

As far as the 3-4 situation, it's not like he came in here thinking a 3-4 defense would make us better, I think he did understand that the personnel didn't quite match. I think his decision to run the 3-4 was based on the league-wide shift to the 3-4; I bet in 10 years every team will run it because it does have advantages over the 4-3. Unfortunately we weren't able to draft/trade for all the pieces we needed last offseason, but it's a work in progress.

You just can't write an article like that without mentioning that it's only been ONE OFFSEASON since he inherited a god-awful team. Jesus...[/quote]

Yeah, if this was year 2 of Shanahan, this article would make a lot more sense. Right now it's premature.

Re: Lombardi's column
 

[quote=LongTimeSkinsFan;767434]Let me finish that SC...

"And from last year's draft, they got Trent Williams as a solid contributor and ..." a conglomeration of used up veterans that have already seen their glory days pass them by but are still collecting one last big paycheck.:)[/quote]


Sadly, you are much closer to "correct" than you are to "incorrect". :vomit: