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JoeRedskin · 01-07-2008, 08:00 AM

Obviously, IMO, we are better. Anyone remember the misery of Spurrier's last games? The team had given up. We were the team that others teams said "Punch'em in the mouth and they go away." There was no toughness. Coaching was abysmal and talent was wasted. (Remember Jansen's quote about never having a game plan under Spurrier?). On top of that we had been through Norv, Marty and Spurrier in short order. Champ left b/c he WANTED to - He wasn't coming back. He saw and hated, the lack of continuity, the disarray in the FO, and the complete breakdown of communication between the FO and coaches. Throw in Snyder's blatant favoritism towards certain players and you have a morass that, although talented, that wasn't winning and wasn't going to win.

Gibbs changed that culture. For good or ill, there is continuity. Players are a team and, as this season showed, punch us in the gut and we will just play harder. Irishism's aside, this is a tough team. We can argue about whether it is talented enough or whether it is properly maximizes its talent but no one can doubt it's will to play.

Has Gibbs' record been vastly better than his predecessors? Nope. Has he shown consistent progress in terms of team accomplishments? Nope. (2006's 5-11 was a huge step back). Is the team more talented than it was in the post 2003, pre-2004 off season? Maybe, maybe not.

Even with all those no's, and IMHO, this team has something the team didn't have in Jan. 2004. A legitimate hope - Is the FO the morass that was Vinny/Snyder over? No. Does this team enter every game believiing it can/should win? Yes. Do players want to play for this team? Resoundingly yes. Players will come and stay, no longer is it just b/c Snyder pays the most but because Gibbs is the coach. The team is aquiring (Landry, Golston, Montgomery, Heyer) and retaining (Betts, Cooley) its young talent. I believe this trend will continue.

Are there still problems? Sure - but would you trade them for Atlanta's? Miami's? Baltimore's? San Fran's? Oakland's? These are teams looking into the morass that was the post-2003 Redskins and each has a long way to go.

The Skins have not put it all together yet, but at least they are no longer consistently tearing things apart. Soon enough, my friends, soon enough. Consistent winning is coming and with it, a chance to catch the spark that makes a good team into a championship team.

Feel good, crank the tunes and wait til next year.

We will play hard and we will win.

01-07-2008, 08:00 AM	#8
JoeRedskin Contains football related knowledge Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Second Star On The Right Age: 62 Posts: 10,401	Re: Four Years Later: Are We Better Off? Obviously, IMO, we are better. Anyone remember the misery of Spurrier's last games? The team had given up. We were the team that others teams said "Punch'em in the mouth and they go away." There was no toughness. Coaching was abysmal and talent was wasted. (Remember Jansen's quote about never having a game plan under Spurrier?). On top of that we had been through Norv, Marty and Spurrier in short order. Champ left b/c he WANTED to - He wasn't coming back. He saw and hated, the lack of continuity, the disarray in the FO, and the complete breakdown of communication between the FO and coaches. Throw in Snyder's blatant favoritism towards certain players and you have a morass that, although talented, that wasn't winning and wasn't going to win. Gibbs changed that culture. For good or ill, there is continuity. Players are a team and, as this season showed, punch us in the gut and we will just play harder. Irishism's aside, this is a tough team. We can argue about whether it is talented enough or whether it is properly maximizes its talent but no one can doubt it's will to play. Has Gibbs' record been vastly better than his predecessors? Nope. Has he shown consistent progress in terms of team accomplishments? Nope. (2006's 5-11 was a huge step back). Is the team more talented than it was in the post 2003, pre-2004 off season? Maybe, maybe not. Even with all those no's, and IMHO, this team has something the team didn't have in Jan. 2004. A legitimate hope - Is the FO the morass that was Vinny/Snyder over? No. Does this team enter every game believiing it can/should win? Yes. Do players want to play for this team? Resoundingly yes. Players will come and stay, no longer is it just b/c Snyder pays the most but because Gibbs is the coach. The team is aquiring (Landry, Golston, Montgomery, Heyer) and retaining (Betts, Cooley) its young talent. I believe this trend will continue. Are there still problems? Sure - but would you trade them for Atlanta's? Miami's? Baltimore's? San Fran's? Oakland's? These are teams looking into the morass that was the post-2003 Redskins and each has a long way to go. The Skins have not put it all together yet, but at least they are no longer consistently tearing things apart. Soon enough, my friends, soon enough. Consistent winning is coming and with it, a chance to catch the spark that makes a good team into a championship team. Feel good, crank the tunes and wait til next year. We will play hard and we will win. __________________ Strap it up, hold onto the ball, and let’s go.