Big contracts = big pressure

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I was just reading today's WP article about Andre Carter and he mentioned the pressure that comes along with the big contact he signed. Archuleta has also said that he had trouble this year dealing with the pressure that comes with the big contract.

It's an interesting theory to consider that perhaps one of the factors that played into our downfall his year may have been very simple... pressure.

Not only with the contracts, but the pressure of the high expectations. Bringing in an offensive guru in Saunders, the all-star collection of coaches here, and right from day one in camp Mark Brunell stated that anything less than a Super Bowl was going to be a disappointment this season. I understand that all teams to a degree have this mentality in August, but I think for the Skins they definitely felt under the gun to produce a Super Bowl season this year. It was Gibbs' 3rd year, time to turn the corner, etc.

In summary, I think one of the main reasons for our downfall this year was the pressure, the pressure of winning, the pressure of living up to the big contracts, and the pressure of having an all-star cast of coaches.

Thoughts?

There is some truth to this, however these two players (Arch & A. Carter) came in from teams that really did not want them anymore. These two already came in with a rep of under acheiveing at times, eventhough they also had moments of greatness.
Arch had a rep of being weak in coverage and A.Carter as a tweener LB/DE no real home. This has pretty much continued with Redskins.