Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

Is a high octane offense led by Griffin sufficient to keep you from damning Snyder down to the waterboy or do you need to see our record improve over the last two seasons (5 or 6 wins)?

I think my benchmark is eight wins. This roster is talented enough to be a .500 team, even in the NFCE.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

I think we're all looking for progression in the end, but a much-improved offense sure as hell doesn't hurt.

I could get into detail, but in the end, I'd much rather lose 40-39 versus 7-3.

It's just been SO LONG since we've straight up blown another team out (the Lions a few years ago is really the last one I remember) and it's only been recently we've been able to even do the victory formation.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

Not only that, Snyder hasn't been part of any conversation for me after Cerrato was fired (and even not much before then). As an owner he's grown significantly and I'm not going to be one of those people who constantly remarks on the 2000 spending spree.

That was old in 2004 and it's time the fans, the media and everyone realizes he's at least trying...

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

8 Wins is what I'd at least like to see BUT if we are competitive in every game and loose some nail biters then I will take less WINS. I think we have the makeings of a young but good team.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

[quote=TheMalcolmConnection;913918]Not only that, Snyder hasn't been part of any conversation for me after Cerrato was fired (and even not much before then). As an owner he's grown significantly and I'm not going to be one of those people who constantly remarks on the 2000 spending spree.

That was old in 2004 and it's time the fans, the media and everyone realizes he's at least trying...[/quote]

Good insight. I used the Snyder down to waterboy more as a figure of speech btw...

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

I will be okay if we have a season like Carolina did this past offseason. I want to see the offense improved and be able to put up points. Honestly, I have not a lot of expectations from the defense, b/c I don't think they are better than they were last season.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

Got it. I'm just extra sensitive to that only because I read articles of people STILL referencing that spending spree and I'm like:

[IMG]http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/554/facepalm.jpg[/IMG]

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

[quote=TheMalcolmConnection;913923]Got it. I'm just extra sensitive to that only because I read articles of people [B]STILL referencing that spending spree and I'm like:[/B]

[IMG]http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/554/facepalm.jpg[/IMG][/quote]
You know....I've got an X-wife just like that....

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

If the offense improves I could see us winning 8-10 games. We didn't really get blown out in many games last year. If RGIII can avoid the 2-3 to's per game that Grossman always got us we should do pretty well.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

[quote=Ruhskins;913922]I will be okay if we have a season like Carolina did this past offseason. I want to see the offense improved and be able to put up points. Honestly, I have not a lot of expectations from the defense, b/c I don't think they are better than they were last season.[/quote]

With an offense close to Carolina's last year we should have a decent record. Our D is much better than that bunch they have here.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

I will still be happy with a 5 or 6 win season [SIZE="5"]IF[/SIZE] the reason is because our secondary is weak and we are simply being outscored in each game.

If however our defense is balling and we have 5 or 6 win season because our offense is struggling then I will have a problem with that.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

.500 is definitely attainable

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

Our defense wasn't bad last year, it was our offense that let us down. We've made a few upgrades/depth on defense and have significantly upgraded and added depth on offense, with more changes still to come I assume.

Call me a dreamer, but I really don't see us getting less than 7 wins.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

Eight wins is a base expectation for the upcoming season.

I think if we're on the "right" track, we should do better than eight wins. That might mean 11 wins if we're fortunate, it could be just 9 with a unfortunate year on defense. If it's 7 or 8, then I think it's more a case of the Redskins just being out there doing their thing, which means we could be in line for a 10 win season in 2013, but we could also be in line for a 10 loss season as well.

I suppose that's true no matter how many games you win this year. But this year needs to be the big jump. And with all the close games they've been in (and blown) the last few years, I'm not sure a jump from 5 to 8 really goes beyond just satisfying expectation.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

If we bomb completely and RG3 shows no potential or improvement, than I will be suicidal.

If we completely bomb this year because of RG3's inexperience, but we see steady improvement in his game, and sparks of the brilliance we expect in him than I will be marginally satisfied.

If we go .500 and RG3 shows no improvement, I will be severely depressed,

If we go .500 and RG3 shows improvement, and sparks of greatness I will be extremely happy.

Anything above that, and I sell my car for season tickets. Hail!

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

I honestly don't care how many wins we have. What I'm looking for this year is our young talent improving. People I'm not interested in this year are Moss, Cooley, Hall, and Fletcher. Everyone else I'm looking for improvement in their play.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

I see us as a 6-8 win team this year. While RG3 shows great promise, most rookie QBs still have negative TD/INT ratios. We have relatively unknown commodities at WR. We have some injury prone players.

I'm excited to see our front 7 on defense and our upgraded offense. That said, I think we'll see signs of improvement - which should save everyone's job. Give Griff and the new WRs time to pick up the scheme and get used to each other.

I'm excited for the potential, but realistic with results. Anything can happen, but I don't see us being a good team. I think we got some gifts with the schedule.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

Just remember that the transition to the NFL game does take time so do not expect unrealistic results in RGIII's first campaign.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

[quote=tc2deuce;913949]Just remember that the transition to the NFL game does take time so do not expect unrealistic results in RGIII's first campaign.[/quote]

...but then you start thinking: Cincy had great results during Dalton's rookie campaign. Even Carolina without the results was a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

If people start questioning the aquisition of RGIII anytime before the bye week barring worse than Grossman like play, I think my head might explode.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

The Skins arent very entertaining to watch lately so anything that adds some excitement will be good but that excitement will only last so long, improvement is definitely a must.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

Nothing is more exciting than winning

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

[quote=SmootSmack;913970]Nothing is more exciting than winning[/quote]

My thoughts exactly. Winning cures all ills.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

if the offense struggles and our loses are in the double digits, Snyder will give Shanny the ultimatum either fire Kyle or both of you are leaving. Kyle's got so much to prove this year its not funny.

excitement is not enough this year

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

Cam just had nice numbers and Dalton was an exception to the rule.
Look at the first seasons of top 10 drafted QBs and you can get the picture. I am excited and expecting great results but I am prepping for some growing pains.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

Playoffs, anything less then that is a disappointment.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3-eavMSBnk]Playoffs??? The Sound Byte - YouTube[/ame]

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

[quote=firstdown;913992]Playoffs, anything less then that is a disappointment.[/quote]

I am pretty sure that yours' was a sarcastic comment, but just to follow up. The NFC East is going to beat itself up this coming year, just like it always does. Both the Eagles and Cowboys have made good moves this offseason, addressing their team needs with multiple talented players. I obviously think we have too. Hard to say exactly what we need to see in terms of win/loss, but what I really want to see, in order to not be on the fire KS bandwagon, is an up tempo, full fledged attack offense, with a solid 2 minute drill. Griffin certainly knows how to move at a fast pace, cardio won't be an issue, so if we are slow as molasses in those moments, I will be looking at OC first with an unpleasant eye.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

HELL NO, SUPER BOWL OR BUST!

Kidding aside, improvement is expected-simply being more entertaining and exciting won't do it. A healthy roster is probably in the 8 win range with the playoffs being an outside possibility. The difficult thing is we've got a hill to climb in the NFC East. Philly should be more consistent, NYG are always solid and prior to 2011 pretty much owned us and we have to overcome collapsing against Dallas. We're not far off, actually we were 3 snaps (4th & 18, broken play long TD pass to Witten, missed Gano FG in OT) from being 4-2 in the division with sweeps over Dallas and NYG.

I'm probably in the minority in believing this but the moves made in this offseason and this draft were more about 2013 and beyond than 2012. The Cousins pick (and really all non RGIII picks) speaks to the 5 year plan Shanahan has referenced and shows his attempt to build the roster for the long term through the draft. If everyone from the 2011 & 2012 draft class make the team, that's 21 first and second year players. The franchise QB is in place, now it's time for the team to grow around him.

Despite the wishes of some around these here parts, the RGIII move bought Shanahan (yes, both of them) another contract. There's no way that absent a complete 1-15 debacle where RGIII turns into Andre Ware 2.0 that they aren't given ample time to grow and develop him. No way will Snyder allow another coach/system changing debacle like Campbell happen with Griffin.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

We're still the worst team in the NFC East. This is still a 5-6 win team. Not looking for a jump in wins til 2013 and beyond.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

[quote=skinsfan69;914006]We're still the worst team in the NFC East. This is still a 5-6 win team. Not looking for a jump in wins til 2013 and beyond.[/quote]

What caused you to reach this conclusion? We won 5 games with Rex/Beck at the helm, it's reasonable to think RG3 will provide enough of an upgrade over Grossman, even in his first season, that we can win at least a couple more games. Grossman and Beck probably cost us a few games last season.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

I see more reasons for optimism than pessimism, actually. I think we're 8-8 or 9-7 here, with the only thing keeping us from 10-6 or 11-5 being the indiscretion of a youthful QB - turnovers.

First off, we were incredibly injured last year. Injured and suspended. The return of healthy players alone is enough to stabilize us a bit. Lichtensteiger was really missed along the offensive line when he went down - it caused us to shuffle pieces that never really fit. And obviously Trent for those last four games. And Brown's hip still wasn't right - by Shanahan's account there's reason to hope that he's in better health this season.

Jarvis Jenkins never got a chance to make an impact for us - he adds depth. Getting rid of Landry is addition by subtraction in a way. You lose quite a talent but at least you have a healthy player in his spot.

Fred Davis returning from suspension and Chris Cooley coming back gives us TE depth. Remember, we were 3-1 at one point before the injuries really started mounting up. Not that we could have gone 12-4 with that team last year, but with health I don't see why 7-9 or 8-8 was unachievable.

Then we get to the improvements - hello real WRs. No star at WR still, but the depth is miles better than it was last year. And lastly, the obvious - QB. Griffin is going to make plenty of mistakes but I think he's going to move the ball. Our offensive line may not be perfect, but he's going to rip off the occasional long TD run when the line breaks down and he escapes.

You have to expect a rookie QB to make mistakes and throw INTs. But Grossman threw 20 last year in like 13 games started, plus he lost 5 more fumbles. I think that's even a lot of turnovers for a rookie. So what I'm saying is, Griffin really can't be worse than Rex was last year.

We'll get torched on long TD passes because I don't love our secondary. And Griffin will make mistakes. But the supporting cast is healthy and deep enough now for us to at least be in the playoff conversation in the month of December.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

Thinking more about it, the biggest reason for optimism is that one of the weaknesses of the team - pass protection, has largely been mitigated by adding RG3's ability to escape.

The 5 sack-fumbles that Grossman lost last year all could turn into positive plays with Griffin back there. He's just frankly not going to get sacked that often.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

[quote=mooby;914008]What caused you to reach this conclusion? We won 5 games with Rex/Beck at the helm, it's reasonable to think RG3 will provide enough of an upgrade over Grossman, even in his first season, that we can win at least a couple more games. [B]Grossman and Beck probably cost us a few games last season.[/B][/quote]

Exactly. Our QB play was plainly incompetent last year. There was no overcoming that.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

[quote=mooby;914008]What caused you to reach this conclusion? We won 5 games with Rex/Beck at the helm, i[B]t's reasonable to think RG3 will provide enough of an upgrade over Grossman, even in his first season, that we can win at least a couple more games.[/B] Grossman and Beck probably cost us a few games last season.[/quote]

If for no other reason, if RGIII isn't a turnover machine the way Rex was, that is a few games right there by itself... Plus we will have Jenkins back. We have upgraded several key need positions. I can't believe you say we are no better than we were before 69. Close minded.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

[quote=mooby;914008]What caused you to reach this conclusion? We won 5 games with Rex/Beck at the helm, it's reasonable to think RG3 will provide enough of an upgrade over Grossman, even in his first season, that we can win at least a couple more games. Grossman and Beck probably cost us a few games last season.[/quote]

We're still starting a rookie QB that's learning on the job in a tough division. He might win us some games and cost us some too. Also the secondary is still a mess. Too many question marks to win 8-10 games.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

[quote=skinsfan69;914006]We're still the worst team in the NFC East. This is still a 5-6 win team. Not looking for a jump in wins til 2013 and beyond.[/quote]

We were within a breath of beating Dallas twice last year, with Grossman clearly helping the losing cause in one, do you think Ware comes up behind Griffin that same way? Honestly, I see that as a play where Griffin makes a huge play, either with his legs, or his downfield vision as linebackers collapse on him.

We beat the Giants twice, I don't think that means we are better than them by far, but certainly we are competitive with them.

The Eagles seem to have our number, and I think we will continue to struggle against them since I think they match up very well against us. Although I am hoping Griffin's first play against them is an 80 yd TD strike, but that's just due to bitter memories from a certain Monday nighter

Saying we are the worst team in the NFC with out any proof offered seems a tad bit cynical.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

[quote=skinsfan69;914018]We're still starting a rookie QB that's learning on the job in a tough division. He might win us some games and cost us some too. Also the secondary is still a mess. Too many question marks to win 8-10 games.[/quote]


[url=http://www.nfl.com/player/elimanning/2505996/careerstats]Eli Manning: Career Stats at NFL.com[/url]

Would be nice if his 1st year stats avg. out better than Eli's.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

I think we all need to remember that the teams in our division have been together a while. All those QB's have been in the same offense and are throwing the the same guys.Vick, Manning and Romo are all in the primes of their careers. We're putting in a lot of new parts in. Gotta be patient and give it time. That's why I'm not expecting a playoff run.

Re: Is excitement enough in 2012?
 

RG3 > RG0

RG0 did not win us a game last year or ever. Good QBs can win games for you.

RG3's mobility alone and, hopefully, accuracy on the deep routes translates to a significant upgrade that, all else being equal, is 2 games. If RG3 can simply approximate RG0's effectiveness between the numbers, turnovers and all, we're immediately better at the position before he has even matured. RG3 will perform better as our starting QB from day one then RG0 ever did and that will mean wins.