Redskins Insider: Mr. Saunders' Offense

[hesscl34]

I HATE thinking about Moss being hurt. He is one serious threat that needs to be on the field for us.

[GMScud]

I like what I'm hearing about this offense in year two. It's important to note that we didn't make any significant personnel changes on the offensive side of the ball. That means the 7,000,000 page playbook has had plenty of time to be absorbed by all the key guys.

So last year we were 5-11. Not good. Consider these points and get excited:
-we lost 4 games by 3 points, not inclulding the OT loss @ St. Louis. Win 3 of those and we would have been .500 and possibly in the playoffs.
-Our star tailback missed half the season, and even when he was playing was never really healthy.
-we had serious inconsistency at the QB position, and threw in a JC with ZERO starts mid-season.
-we were decimated by injuries on defense
-Carlos Rodgers dropped what, like 6 or 7 INTs? (I'll give him somewhat of a pass b/c of the broken thumb). He hangs on to half of those and it could have translated into a win or two.
-Andre Carter and the pass rush really started to pick it up in the last 6 games.

With a year of this offense under our belt, healthy RBs, an unquestioned starter at QB, a healthy and improved (personnel-wise) defense, and on paper an easier schedule, how can we not be much better?

Like GTripp promised, the turnovers WILL COME this year. Look at our first 6 games. I will be happy with no less than 4-2:
Dolphins, @Eagles, Giants, Lions, @Packers, Cardinals. I look for a hot start to build a huge ball of momentum for a great season.

[JWsleep]

I am cautiously optimistic, mainly because Saunders has a track record of kicking his system into gear in year two. And I feel good about JC.

As for all those little things that lost us games last year, until I see us turn the corner there on the field, I won't believe it. A lot of that is mental, and this team has to really develop that winning attitude on both sides of the ball. We'll see! It's only May! (Man, am I jonesing for football. At least minicamp is coming.)

[Rajmahal33]

I'd love to believe that this offense has clicked with the players in Al Saunder's second year but the bottom line is that this is a results-oriented league. It's not about what he did in KC or St. Louis and there is no way to predict how the system will catch in DC. I hope that it will be awesome this year but until I see those points on the board, i don't think its cause for celebration or overoptimism.

[Redskins8588]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

But the biggest way to win the close ones which we seemed to lose last year is generate turnovers. An extra INT or fumble recovery here and there would have carried us to 10-6 even with the average offense we had.

The problem last year was our D not getting the turnovers and Betts giving the turnovers. We need that to reverse this year. I think that we could have pulled out a couple of the close ones if Betts did put the ball on the ground in those games...

[Longtimefan]

Good to see the optimism. Considering all the things that went wrong last year, I'm hoping just as many will go right this year. Many were careful to remind us not to expect a great deal from Saunder's offense the first year, if what some players are saying is not just talk, there is hope. I've said before, I think we will be a much improved team this year.

Now that JC is the starting QB instead of MB, I'm interested in seeing how teams are going to atempt to defend us.