Post Game Thoughts
 

I dont know about everyone else, I'm freaking heartbroken. But I'm damn proud of our guys. We still have alot of things we need to fix, espcially our playbook, Ramsey is still obviously not smart enough yet, that was a horrible decision, but I'm not too pissed at him. I am but there was plenty of blame to go around.

Defensivley, what can you say. Those guys are awsome. Theres really no better way to put it, they are awsome. I really hope Springs is alright.

I dont know, they played their asses off tonight, I'm pretty dissapointed because we had that game. But I defintley think we have alot to look forward too.

Thoughts?

Ramsey made a rookie mistake, and because he missed most of this season, he's rusty. So he has two excuses. I don't blame him.

Yeah, I agree with you Gmanc. Has anyone heard about Springs yet? As far as Ramsey, that was a boneheaded move. He's come a long way with his decision making but he's still not where we need him to be yet. I think that we played an overall good game. This was the class of the NFC that we went up against tonight. We should have taken it to overtime, and while a loss is never good, I believe it did show a national audience that the Skins are a heck of a lot better than their record. I didn't watch the game (I'm at work), can someone please describe the interception? Was it a bad throw, was anyone in a Skins uniform anywhere around? What happened?

MegaKudos to Greg Williams for coming up with nothing less than a brilliant defensive scheme to frustrate the crap out of the Eagles offense. The offense had a few sparkling moments but was sporadic and I think that mostly centered around PRs decision making on the field. There were quite a few plays where the commentators pointed out Ramsey was just missing seeing some wide open targets- Coles a couple of times and CP downfield (on the TD pass that Cooley dropped no less!). I was really confused by the playcalling this game. I hate to say it, but it seemed like we were just trying everything to see what would work. I seriously expected a more cohesive attack than what we had tonight. I was really proud of how well they played the Eagles though and it was more of what I expected of them, but it still hurts knowing that we blew several chances to win this game. I do think that the Eagles left Fed-Ex knowing they got one hell of a gift though and next year (as we have been so apt to say as Redskins fans) it will be a different story.

At the beginning of the season, I said that improvement over the course of the season would be a great sign. I see that.

As for the play in the endzone, anyone else how the commentators went from 'yeah, they've gotta win it. they shouldn't be playing for the tie at this point.' to 'i can't believe they did that when all they had to do was kick a FG' in the span of about 30 seconds?! What idiots.

Anyway. Ramsey has played doggone well, IMO, since he's been in there. All Gibbs has been asking of Ramsey so far is to not lose games. I think Ramsey's done a good job of this. That was a bad interception, but he will definitely learn from it. A game like this is hard, but we did play one of the best teams in the league pretty darn close.

If we keep making progress and keep with the 'continuity' theme, then we will become a team like the Eagles are. I love our defense. The offense needs to play more consistently, attract less penalties, and play with a high confidence level (which I think they are developing each week).

[QUOTE=BleedBurgundy] I didn't watch the game (I'm at work), can someone please describe the interception? Was it a bad throw, was anyone in a Skins uniform anywhere around? What happened?[/QUOTE]
the INT was plain and simple a bad decision. PR threw into the end zone intended for Cooley who was 2x covered. As far as Springs, all I heard was that he suffered a concussion but is OK. Still waiting on X-rays to confirm no serious injuries.

I have mixed feelings.

We played hard and really fought to make it a game. But at the same time we did stupid things to keep it a game when we could have been pulling away. Aside from the horrible PI call on Springs, we had some really stupid penalties that we can't continue to keep making. And Mike Sellers! I wouldn't be surprised if he's gone.

Playcalling was frustrating but not all that different from last week I don't think and that worked like a charm. Granted, Philly and the Giants are quite different. There were a couple of times though that a short play was all they needed and they want for the big play. That made no sense to me. A 3rd and 2 comes to mind, along with the Ramsey interception.

Coles and Cooley were great today. I thought we'd see more of Darkerian since Ramsey seems to like him.

Overall it's a frustrating loss, but hopefully we can build on this and turn these tough losses into wins next season.

Above all though, apparently Shawn Springs is ok and that's what matters most

[QUOTE=cpayne5]As for the play in the endzone, anyone else how the commentators went from 'yeah, they've gotta win it. they shouldn't be playing for the tie at this point.' to 'i can't believe they did that when all they had to do was kick a FG' in the span of about 30 seconds?! What idiots. [/QUOTE]
I totally agree. Who was that fat dude with the mustache anyway? He was flip-flopping so much during the game it became annoying. Did like hearing JT offer his insight from playing under Gibbs though. Allowed you to understand the philosophy behind the decisions better.

As much as I wanted to rip Ramsey's heart out after that int, now that i've cooled off... you can't put all the blame on him. Yes, there were 3 green shirts in the corner and yes, the throw was well over thrown to Cooley, but hey? who the fuck called a deep pass on 1&10 from the 27? That was just a stupid play call. I would have been happy with three runs for a few yards each and hope one broke open or even a few dump off passes, but going for the bomb was totally unexpected, really bad play calling, if you ask me.

Whats more, early during the game, we were moving the ball well, Portis was running okay, the short passes were working, but no deep balls. Our drives would stall around mid field. What's up with that? What ever happened to the play action or bomb? You can't ask a guy (Ramsey) who hasen't thrown a completed deep pass all game to all of a sudden go out and win it all in the end and that's what they did when panic set in and we were down 17-7, then the skins started throwing deep to catch up.

I'm sorry, but as much as I'd like to blame Ramsey for the loss, the offensive play calling sucked, just as it has all season, this was not all just Ramsey's int.

The more I am removed for the game, the better I feel. I'm still really dissapointed, but like Cpayne said, were showing so much improvement. This is the same team that lost to the likes of the Browns, Ravens after we had a 10 point lead, and barley beat the Bears. Were defintley coming along.

Points on indiviuals today....

Ramsey: I'm going to defend him overall, I thought he played a pretty good game, made some great moves when he was under alot of pressure. However, that INT is inexcusable, so I'm not even going to try to defend it. No matter what play was called, you cant make that desicion.

Sellers: Cut him, tommarow. Seriously.

Cooley: Dropped a crutial pass, but did what good players do and came back and made up for it. While you could contribute that one pass to our loss, he defintley did you're supposed to do after a drop and make some big plays. koodo's to Cooley.

Springs: I hope you play again this year, but the hell with all the people who called you a bad signing, you are freaking awsome. Best wishes!

Gibbs: We need to seriously reconsider some of our playcalling, or hire a offensive corrdinator. Alot is on execution, but Ramsey shouldnt have even been in the situation to make that throw. I really like how the team is coming together, and I think that is 100% on you, exellent job wtih your leadership. However, I think your playcalling is not very good.

The main thing for me is how they bounce back. Next week is a weak opponent on the road. Will they play with fire and get a win? And then it's Dallas.

Coles, Cooley, and the whole D looked good. Penalties were a killer; Ramsey's int was a terrible decision. The only good that can come of it will be if he learns and grows.

About the playcalling: it was conservative to say the least, but it had us driving on the Philly 27 with 2 minutes, looking for the win. We won time of possession. We had just as many yards as Philly. We we're one big play away. This is not a disaster, it's a disapointment. Don't get me wrong: I threw my hat across the room and managed to cut my hand doing it when Ramsey tossed that duck. But we're close, closer than our record shows. Let's win out and establish something.

Oh and one more point.... the NFL seriously needs to look at the refferee situation in the offseason. I'm not going to say they cost us this game, even though they MAY have. But they have been horrible all over the league. and while human error is going to happen somtimes, its getting alitte out of hand.

[QUOTE=Gmanc711]Oh and one more point.... the NFL seriously needs to look at the refferee situation in the offseason. I'm not going to say they cost us this game, even though they MAY have. But they have been horrible all over the league. and while human error is going to happen somtimes, its getting alitte out of hand.[/QUOTE]

The PI call was terrible. It should have been a no call if anything. If that play doesn't get called and Cooley catches that TD pass OR Ramsey even looks for our biggest offensive weapon, CLINTON PORTIS, out of the backfield on that play we go into half up 14-0. Wondering you guys thoughts on Chris Clemons. He makes another big play this week. Hopefully we can keep him around. Also, it was GREAT to see Coles play like he did last year again. He is a real tough player and I am glad to call him a redskin.

p.s. Sean Taylor is amazing.....just had to add that in there.

[QUOTE=PSUskinsfan11]The PI call was terrible. It should have been a no call if anything. [/QUOTE]
I disagree here. From what I saw of the replay it should have been offensive PI. It looked pretty obvious that TO was pushing off as the ball was coming down.

Very frustrating game to watch.. THe same old themes that have plauged us continue to persist. Time management, bad, play calling, worse, stupid penalties, the worst. Mike Sellers should be cut at 9am or as soon as the league offices open. You can't be on the field for 15 plays a game and cost your team 30 yds. That 2nd penalty was just inexucsable, we could have had the ball at the 50 yd line, with momentum and he does some old dumb sh*t that killed us.

I hate to say this about Coach Gibbs, but he's coaching scared. I don't know if he still doesn't trust Ramsey or what, but today's NFL isn't a horizontal game, it's a vertical game. You have to push the ball down the field occasionally. All the WR screens and hitches don't do you a bit of good when you always have 3rd and 7. Not going for it when the ball is at the Eagles 47 and it's 4th and less than a yard, c'mon. Show some guts. On the other hand, getting stuffed twice on 3rd & 1 just shows how predictable we've gotten. Where's the play-action there? Where was the bunch formation tonight? Why wait until the 4th quarter to break out the moving pocket? Gibbs needs to hire a TRUE offensive coordinator (not Pops Breaux) to design some contemporary plays including the shotgun.

The time management is inexcusable. Running the play clock down to 3 seconds every play is not good. Not having plays ready for down and distance isn't good. It seems that Gibbs is really struggling with this aspect still. I don't think the refs helped at all in the 4th quarter. We shouldn't have had to burn that timeout if the replay ref would have called down sooner.

I think the past few weeks have shown that we have the players for the most part and we have the potential to be successful but we need to get current with what the rest of the league is doing and turn some of these close losses into wins.

Our playbook sucks. Why don't we throw the ball downfield. This is football. THats why Ramsey threw the pick, he had to throw these little dinks and danks all game. Gibbs clearly is to old to manage the game and call plays. He needs to hire an offensive coordinator and have him do that. Best case senario, and you heard it here first. Is mike Tice gets fired, and we hire him.

this is a tough loss to swallow but i thought we played well overall. A few things i was dissapointed with was the clock management i thought it was very poor which it has been all season (how you get a delay of game penalty after a timeout just amazes me). Yes, the playcalling was skeptical but i will go out on a limb and defend gibbs call at the end going to the endzone i thought it wasnt a bad play call necisarily since we hadnt took a shot all game, but ramsey decison was just very poor BOTTOM LINE he forced something he shouldnt of. Another thing that no one else has mentioned that frusterated me was at the end when the eagles punted i belive we should of allowed the thrash to c what he could of done instead of rushing the punt i know that we are 1st in the league on blocking punts but we really need field poistion but the punt was a hell of a punt anyway i still feel that we should of let thrash of a shot thats just me thou. Defense what i can say they played a hell of a game again. One thing that did concern me is that i felt that are safeties did get burned a few times early fortunatley for us mcnabb couldnt hook up wiht the reciever. NOt like it would of mattered anyway but the O line should be ashamed of themselves the way they played during the last possesion its like they jut gave up and let Kearse through but otherwise they protected pretty well. But im not giving up this game gave me alot of hope for being a skins fan i think there will be changes made in the playbook next season but ramsey i really think is the real deal hes starting to form into something sometimes u have to make the big mistakes to learn from them. Lets win out and build for next year as hard as it is for me to say that.

Honestly, I think we had another week of mediocre play calling, poor game management, decent officiating (only really one bad call, and for us, that's amazing!), and good execution. I feel the little dinky passes have their places, but you gotta take your shots.

The playcall to the endzone I don't disagree with. I was hoping for a more midrange throw to play it somewhat safe, but I also understand the call. It was a mistake by Ramsey, but he hit Cooley how many times that drive?

Guys - we played a tight game against a great team. Nothing to be ashamed of. I think with a little improvement in coaching and some rhythm and continuity with the players and next year we can make a strong run!

I agree with someone else (who I'm too lazy to go back and remember who it was lol). Its about how this team responds. We very easily could go 3-0 to end the year and get things rolling into next year. We are playing 3 extremley winnnable games. We could feild a team of 5th strinngers and I would still expect to win on Saturday.

heh... wasn't able to keep up on the game thread cuz i watched it on my friend's big screen- but i really kept wondering why we abandoned the run in the first half after several good runs. Our O-line was dominating theirs (especially in the first quarter); and with their D-linemen getting injured, Portis was getting large chunks. It was like they'd run the ball with some success, get a first down, and then pass for three straight plays before a punt.

really impressed with the C&C connection tonight (Cooley/Coles), but John Hall's FGA was horrible! Defense, once again, shining in the absence of superstars... the line had good penetration during the second half. Keeping Westbrook in check was more important, imo, than anyone else on their O and they did just that (aside from a few big runs). Taylor is slowly catching on... glad to hear Springs is okay.

My biggest worry is solving this penalty problem... after years of digression, how do you solve this?

I for one am getting sick of everyone mondy morning play calling on Gibbs. One minute people are saying he should call runs and in a ney york minute they are saying we should play the vertical game. Did any of you see the Colts game last yesterday where Manning had consecutive delay of games penalties and consistantly ran the play clock down same with Pennington and the Jets. It is not just a redskin thing. Everyone said how good the playcalling was in the Giants game yet we didn't do much different ran the class of the NFC to within 3 points withtthe excetpion of the Steelers closser than anyone else this year yet Gibbs sucks we need to get rid of Gibbs etc etc. Has any of you had the sucess Gibbs has had in his career? anyone here think they could do better than Gibbs? Then send your applications Dan Snyder care of Redskins Park hey you might get lucky.

Sure the loss is dissapointing but the last minute interception is a QB decision making error the kinds of things Ramsey has to get over but I can think of probably 30 or so OC might have gone for a pop in the end zone on 1-10 with less than 2 minutes left had the pass been made or gone incomplete we would not even be discussing this right now. Had we run it a few times and Portis fumbled or gone for a field goal and missed or even put the game into OT then lost then people on here would be yelling why didn't we go for a pop in the EZ.

The same things being said about Gibbs now were being said about Martz in his first year back. We have shown improved performance game after game sure it hurts to loose but y'know when you change all of your coaches in the off season it is to be exected you go through some growing pains...

A couple of positives
 

TO did nothing of importance, other than fumbling in the red zone

Lemar was right, the Eagles couldn't run on the Redskins

[QUOTE=bedlamVR]I for one am getting sick of everyone mondy morning play calling on Gibbs. One minute people are saying he should call runs and in a ney york minute they are saying we should play the vertical game. Did any of you see the Colts game last yesterday where Manning had consecutive delay of games penalties and consistantly ran the play clock down same with Pennington and the Jets. It is not just a redskin thing. Everyone said how good the playcalling was in the Giants game yet we didn't do much different ran the class of the NFC to within 3 points withtthe excetpion of the Steelers closser than anyone else this year yet Gibbs sucks we need to get rid of Gibbs etc etc. Has any of you had the sucess Gibbs has had in his career? anyone here think they could do better than Gibbs? Then send your applications Dan Snyder care of Redskins Park hey you might get lucky.

Sure the loss is dissapointing but the last minute interception is a QB decision making error the kinds of things Ramsey has to get over but I can think of probably 30 or so OC might have gone for a pop in the end zone on 1-10 with less than 2 minutes left had the pass been made or gone incomplete we would not even be discussing this right now. Had we run it a few times and Portis fumbled or gone for a field goal and missed or even put the game into OT then lost then people on here would be yelling why didn't we go for a pop in the EZ.

The same things being said about Gibbs now were being said about Martz in his first year back. We have shown improved performance game after game sure it hurts to loose but y'know when you change all of your coaches in the off season it is to be exected you go through some growing pains...[/QUOTE]

I think you mean Vermeil, not Martz. But I hear what you're saying. This game plan was very similar to last week and last week showed that it can work

Unfortunately, being in Eastern Europe I only woke up early enough to catch the last 7 minutes. But having read about the game and seen those last critical minutes, I have a few thoughts to share.

First, I have this Redskins tie that I wear to work when the team wins. Well, today I'm wearing it anyway because I'm darn proud of our guys.

Second, as someone said earlier, this Skins team is the same team that earlier in the year couldn't beat the Browns and that kicked in the second half by the Eagles. And this is the same Eagles that mopped the floor with the Packers. I'd say 17-14 is very respectable performance and a performance that shows real improvement.

Third, we've got some real Redskins on this team. I wasn't certain earlier in the year, but now I am. And that gives me a lot of confidence for next year.

Fourth, Ramsey. The kid is a rookie in my mind. And like all rookies with big arms, he wants to gun it down field rather than read D's. Unfortunately, his first coach in the NFL encouraged that and engrained that trend. I give Patrick a lot of credit for making as much progress as he has in adapting to Gibbs' system. But, we're still going to see him make rookie mistakes, at least through the rest of this year. And, that INT was just that - a rookie mistake.

Finally, I continue to hope that with this game, despite it being a loss, people - especially people in the Skins front office - will see enough progress to accept that we have the basic core we need and that the last thing we need is another off-season of wholesale changes.

Cheers from Riga.

Bedlam and LRT, I agree with both of you guys. We're close, but we lost a tough one. The Eagles are good. We're getting better, but we're not there yet. No need to burn down the house and fire the lot and undermine Gibbs and all that. That's the sort of quick-fix panic that got us into trouble in the first place.

Let's win next week, and especially the week after that. That's the only way to fix things, IMHO.

JW, I agree. We're going in the right direction and a couple of wins (maybe even three?) would be a nice way to end the season and would give us some momentum for next year.

[QUOTE=smootsmack]TO did nothing of importance, other than fumbling in the red zone

Lemar was right, the Eagles couldn't run on the Redskins[/QUOTE]

That makes me happy. I really, really despise TO. To my mind he's everything I dislike about the "modern" NFL - as opposed to the NFL of the 80s - wrapped up in one annoying person.

[QUOTE=bedlamVR]I for one am getting sick of everyone mondy morning play calling on Gibbs. One minute people are saying he should call runs and in a ney york minute they are saying we should play the vertical game. [/QUOTE]

So it's monday morning qb to wonder why the run was abandoned after success in the first half? Not sure if I'm one of the people you're targeting (just that it was written directly after mine), but I wasn't even talking about that last drive where rams threw the pick... Me and my friend (who's not even a skins fan, but had a vested interest in the spread) both saw the weakness in Philly's run D in the first quarter. Throughout the game, we were throwing things at the tube when they'd keep calling three straight passes after good runs.

But since you did mention the ramsey pick, I specifically told my friend after the timeout that no matter what, they should just give portis the ball three straight times and hope he breaks one b/c i still don't trust ramsey 100 percent. Does that make me a bad fan? No, it just means I'd rather take my chances with Portis fumbling over Ramsey throwing a game-killing pick. But I also see Ramsey progressing nicely throughout the game. But like you said, it's a learning curve. Nobody is saying they could coach better than Gibbs, but if sportswriters are allowed the ability to criticize, you bet fans are going to question things once in a while.

Aside from the result, I only have two complaints. THe playcalling was too passive at the wrong times. We punted from the Eagles 35 at one point - we didn't even try to force them offsides. We also punted in Eagles territory down ten on 4th and a foot. Those are bothquestionable calls in my book, regardless of how much faith you have in the defense.

As for the Ramsey pick, I thought it was a great playcall that was poorly executed. From my seats, I was watching that play develop. Cooley was open for a fifteen yard window that ended before the end zone. I love the aggressive playcalling in that situation, but if your opponents are ready for it, break off the route and throw elsewhere. Cooley seemed to realize he was heading into coverage and head toward the middle of the endzone before coming back for the ball, so either Patrick had tunnel vision and wanted [u]that[/u] route, or he was trying to throw it away, and came up short. Either way, poor execution in the two minute drill.

By the way, brilliant timeout to force a booth review. Excellent move by Gibbs - it's a shame it didn't pan out.

[QUOTE=bedlamVR]I for one am getting sick of everyone mondy morning play calling on Gibbs. One minute people are saying he should call runs and in a ney york minute they are saying we should play the vertical game. Did any of you see the Colts game last yesterday where Manning had consecutive delay of games penalties and consistantly ran the play clock down same with Pennington and the Jets. It is not just a redskin thing. Everyone said how good the playcalling was in the Giants game yet we didn't do much different ran the class of the NFC to within 3 points withtthe excetpion of the Steelers closser than anyone else this year yet Gibbs sucks we need to get rid of Gibbs etc etc. Has any of you had the sucess Gibbs has had in his career? anyone here think they could do better than Gibbs? Then send your applications Dan Snyder care of Redskins Park hey you might get lucky.

Sure the loss is dissapointing but the last minute interception is a QB decision making error the kinds of things Ramsey has to get over but I can think of probably 30 or so OC might have gone for a pop in the end zone on 1-10 with less than 2 minutes left had the pass been made or gone incomplete we would not even be discussing this right now. Had we run it a few times and Portis fumbled or gone for a field goal and missed or even put the game into OT then lost then people on here would be yelling why didn't we go for a pop in the EZ.

The same things being said about Gibbs now were being said about Martz in his first year back. We have shown improved performance game after game sure it hurts to loose but y'know when you change all of your coaches in the off season it is to be exected you go through some growing pains...[/QUOTE]
Amen! I'm in way total agreement here. And as far as an OC for next year I say DS hires our own Daseal.

It's all about the order the plays are called in, not the plays. Longtimeskinsfan: Don't be an ass. I know many people here are jaded and can't fathom saying Gibbs did a poor job, but plain and simple the playcalling has a ways to go. Execution is part of it, but doesn't that also lie squarely on the coaching staff to change? Why don't you say last year it was all execution and not coaching? You can go both ways, I liked Spurrier, that doesn't mean he did the right thing but I enjoyed being aggressive. This year, I like Gibbs, but that doesn't mean I think he's calling the right plays. He's too passive.

I don't understand how anyone can say we had bad playcalling. Redskins at 4-8 kept up and dominated a 11-1 team! We don't get the Sellers penalties 3 for 45 yds and the other 100 yds worth of penalties and the bad PI call we probably win. Doesn't matter now cause ofcourse we lost. Valiant effort today and I'm proud to be a REDSKINS life long fan. I believe. Not in the quick fix but the long haul. Sellers might be gone. I really do like his big frame, but honestly he doesn't play enough to warrant 3 personal fouls (same as Shaq last night). Sean Taylor has the only current hall pass on the team.

speaking of ST, did you see that hit he put on TO last night??? Looked like a side body slam from wrestling...also I noticed TO wasn't so smiley and jovial near the end of the game when the cameras were on him. Maybe it's because he knew he was in a real knockdown drag-out game for once and we weren't going to roll over because of his greatness?

TO is a great player. He isn't dumb either. Him and his WR's ran from #36 last night and he fumbled in the redzone for no real reason. We didn't even attempt a strip, he just fumbled. Eagles have a good team, but I'm pulling for them to lose in their 1st round. Bottom line unfortunately is the W-L column and we're almost as good as they are and we're 4-9.

My random thoughts:

Ramsey played well for 99% of the game. One poor decision doesn't taint the entire night to me. He hit on 64% of his throws and made some nice plays under some heavy pressure. He reverted back to the Ramsey of old on that last play, I'm sure he wishes he could have that back. With more time and experience he's not going to make decisions like that. If I'm Gibbs I don't even think twice about looking at another QB's direction this offseason.

Coles was a warrior last night, the guy is all heart, seems like he's starting to find his role in this system.

What more can be said of Cooley? Get the ball in his area and he catches it. When we drafted him I thought he could be a decent receiver and maybe have 30 catches a year. Now I'm starting to think he could be a 60+ catch a year guy no problem.

I loved the intensity that we had on both sides of the ball. Guys were hitting and jawing at each other like it was a playoff game. For the past few seasons we've been pushovers when playing the Eagles, I think we got their attention last night.

The INT that ended the game, I liked the call to take a shot at the endzone, but Ramsey needed to check that play down and hit someone underneath. Ramsey knows he can't force a throw like that, once he saw the coverage he should have checked down. He got a little greedy and was probably frustrated by the lack of deep shots all game. Seemed like anytime he was setting up to go deep the Eagles pass rush was in his face.

Clock management was horrible once again. It seemed like we had started to clear up that problem in previous weeks only to have it rear it's ugly head once again. Was anyone else yelling at the TV right before the 2 minute warning like I was? They let a good 20 seconds run off without running a play. It's looking like it takes way too long to get the play call in, do they even practice a two minute drill?? It sure didn't look like it to me.

The big question after last week was, did the team hit a turning point or did they just get lucky against a very bad Giants team? After last night I think it's a combo of both, with more leaning towards the turning point option.

I really think guys are 'getting it' and buying in. You really have to wonder where we'd be if Ramsey was put in earlier in the year. Ramsey has been solid and has basically played the way Gibbs envisioned Brunell would.

I'm disappointed about the loss of course, but I took a lot of positives away from last night. We took the best team in the NFC down to the wire. We're still a step behind a great team like Philly, but the gap is narrowing.

[QUOTE]I'm disappointed about the loss of course, but I took a lot of positives away from last night. We took the best team in the NFC down to the wire. We're still a step behind a great team like Philly, but the gap is narrowing.[/QUOTE]


I agree in principle but I honestly don't think that we're a step behind Philly. I think we are now on a level playing field with them. The only other I can think of that played them this well (and I haven't really been following them) is Pittsburgh, and the Steelers manhandled them. As far as I'm concerned, either call us as good as Philly or consider them to be as bad, but I don't see them being any better than us based off last night's performance. I also think we've pretty much got our team for next year with the exception of maybe an upgrade on the OL and DL. I thought the playcalling was pretty solid but like you said, the clock management in the last 5 minutes was again problematic, and I think the coaching staff needs to look at that and how to improve it, unless they were simpling having technical glitches. I know from the past games there were a few times when Gibbs said there were issues with communication from the booth or going on to the field.

I think the team as a whole is making serious and heartening progress, no doubt about it. "Nervous Pat" Ramsey's mistakes notwithstanding, we did frighten the smug smiles off of the Eagles' mugs last night.

Gibbs did the right thing in keeping Ramsey out of the fire for as long as he did this season because the team wasn't able to support Ramsey for much of the year with the struggles with the line and the receivers and the adaptation of the offense.

The biggest problem Ramsey has is that he gets so tense out there that he doesn't see the field and misses obvious opportunities. He gets locked in mentally and forces it or holds on too long because he is waiting for the person he wants to throw to get open, and will take a sack like that inexcusable one he did late in the game. When you get that nervous, you make the stupid plays, and he made more than one last night.

I don't know whether he is ever going to relax out there enough, or whether it will happen in time.

He can make really good plays like that thread the needle to Cooley down to the goal line.

Ramsey fundamentalists want no competition for him. I say that that we open the competition next season and if Ramsey is the best play him. If Ramseyfanatics are so confident he will win any battle, what are you worried about? I guess you aren't really so confident.

So what do you suggest, Shane? We got out and sign another FA to compete with him? Haven't we spent enough money on QB's lately? Why not just commit to Ramsey 100% and develop him. I don't see him as being a nervous QB, just indecisive due to lack of experience in general and more specifically in this system.

I say let the guy play, last night we saw some growing pains that you have to live with when you're playing a young QB. Other than the INT he played well and had us in position to win the game.

He's never going to improve if we don't play him. Along the way there's going to be bumps in the road, but we're never going to see what he's really capable of without going through some tough times.

Overall this season I've seen much more in the positive department from Ramsey than the negative. He's come so far so quickly in this offense, and he's only going to get better with more experience.

The way I look at it, we've played 13 games so far with Brunell starting 9 and Ramsey starting 4. If we as a team were so committed to Brunell and giving him a chance, we should give Ramsey an equal opportunity to prove himself. I'm not a Ramsey lover or hater, I'm just an old Redskins fan who can remember watching, yes watching, Billy Kilmer at the helm. He wasn't the most gifted QB to walk on the field, but he was a smart field general, he was a leader, and most importantly, he got the job done and if he was good enough for George, he was good enough for me. Joe Theisman was not a lock out of the box either and we went through growing pains with him. He turned out to be a fine QB. I've certainly seen no reason to dump Ramsey yet and he has proven that he can put some good numbers on the board. I think he deserves a chance.

Matty, I am suggesting that Ramsey has not shown enough to be given the keys to the team and to therefore close our minds to other possiblities.

He may develop into a very solid quarterback, and he may also never play at more than an average level. No one knows what is going to happen with Ramsey. There are reasons to be encouraged. He has begun to feel comfortable in the system after a season in which he could absorb things while Brunell took the heat while the team struggled. He can make some excellent throws.

He also gets very nervous out there, in my view. It's just a physiological fact that when you get nervous, you get tunnel vision, and explanation that can account for much of Ramsey's mistakes on the field: the holding onto the ball too long, the forcing of plays, the lack of seeing the open receivers. This isn't a matter of learning the system, its a matter of field awareness. And as nervous tension rises, your awareness gets focused more and more narrowly.

I think Ramsey is smart. Believe me, I know its not easy what he is doing. He could learn to relax out there, and I hope it will happen.

What I would do is go into next year and open the competition at quarterback. What is to fear in doing that? If Ramsey is the best, he will win. If he is not the best, then someone else will win. Do we want the best possible player, or do we want Ramsey even if someone else would play better? Should the coaches give the position to Ramsey on a silver platter, or should he earn it?

There are always inexpensive free agents or players we can obtain cheaply. We already have Tim Hasselbeck. If Ramsey is the best, then its no problem - he will win the competition. If gets beaten out by someone else, why should that be upsetting? It would mean we have a better quarterback.

I suggested earlier that we look at inexpensive free agents. Then some people starting mocking the idea of expensive big name free agents. That isn't what I suggested.