Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Redskins vs. Dolphins)

[SirClintonPortis]

Originally Posted by skinsfaninok

TH was on pace for a VERY good season.. Injuries happen it seems like other teams always bounce back and we always have that same excuse... Look at dallas Murray comes in and rolls over Felix..

Well, if they had stuck with Rex and put Helu in right away..........we might have stole one of the two previous games. Instead, we were absolutely non-competitive with the Dormant Mormon.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by skinsfaninok

TH was on pace for a VERY good season.. Injuries happen it seems like other teams always bounce back and we always have that same excuse... Look at dallas Murray comes in and rolls over Felix..

Pretty sure Dallas didn't have the OL injuries on top of the injury to Jones.

We had the double whammy.

[Beemnseven]

But would this mystery QB that Shanahan didn't choose be the quarterback of the future for this team? Would it have been yet another short-term fix? Yeah, it might make us feel better in the here and now, get us a few more wins -- again, in an alternate reality that (1.) doesn't have the injury problem we have, (2.) has a magically transformed offensive line that Shanahan hasn't had the time to build, (3.) has dynamic wide receivers to throw to, and (4.) has an effective running game.

I maintain that under these exact circumstances any other quarterback taken over the past two offseasons couldn't possibly make the results any different, and that the franchise quarterback we're all hoping for is playing in college right now and wasn't available to Shanahan anyway.

[SmootSmack]

Maybe Shanahan feels that given his knowledge and experience with QBs he could save that for last while focusing on other areas that needed improvement first?

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Maybe Shanahan feels that given his knowledge and experience with QBs he could save that for last while focusing on other areas that needed improvement first?

His excuses for the recent losing streak is that the supporting cast is consistently failing his hand picked QBs.

Whether that's accurate or not (and since I'm not doing game reviews...), Shanahan is wrong one way or another. Either he failed to build even an adequate supporting cast that can support Rex Grossman or the next QB, or he's excusing poor quarterback play by miscasting the blame.

[SBXVII]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

His excuses for the recent losing streak is that the supporting cast is consistently failing his hand picked QBs.

Whether that's accurate or not (and since I'm not doing game reviews...), Shanahan is wrong one way or another. Either he failed to build even an adequate supporting cast that can support Rex Grossman or the next QB, or he's excusing poor quarterback play by miscasting the blame.

I think it's a bit of both. I'll admit Grossman is not the franchise QB we want him to be because his track record proves that. Looking back at how he was in Chicago and how he was second string in Houston tells it all. But I do see a lot of the INT's as not being his fault and is why I said Beck would not fair well either. Tipped passes, routes not being finished, receivers not going up after the ball and instead letting the defenders do it, receivers falling down on their routes, etc. etc.

We need a QB, one who's young and can be groomed for the future, but if we had any of the QB's taken in last yrs draft I doubt there would be a major difference. Look at it this way.... experience wise we have Moss (who now is injured) and Stallworth (who really doesn't have a clue). You can mention Armstrong but he's only got one year under his belt, Austin is getting more time this year then last, Paul is being used for his blocking ability, Hankerson finally see's the field and gets injured. Yea they picked up the ex Texan who caught a pass or two Sun but otherwise no one has experience other then Moss and Stallworth.

TE wise Cooley has been out, and Davis really only has about 1 yrs worth of playing time since Cooley got hurt last year up to now. So he's kinda learning also. The young guys are getting playing time like we wanted but this is what we have to deal with until they get better.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Maybe Shanahan feels that given his knowledge and experience with QBs he could save that for last while focusing on other areas that needed improvement first?

I'm sure that must have been his mindset...

I'm just frustrated with another season quickly going down the drain, and it's tiring to have another year of crappy QB play. I acknowledge the injuries have been absolutely killer. Who knows, without all the injuries maybe we're in the 7-9 win range.

I guess big picture we weren't a playoff caliber team to begin with, and this is a rebuilding project we have to have some patience with. Still, I'm sure even Shanahan didn't expect to be this bad in year 2.

We haven't seen this level of futility in back to back years under one coach since Norv in 94-95 when he went 3-13 and 6-10.

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

I'm sure that must have been his mindset...

I'm just frustrated with another season quickly going down the drain, and it's tiring to have another year of crappy QB play. I acknowledge the injuries have been absolutely killer. Who knows, without all the injuries maybe we're in the 7-9 win range.

I guess big picture we weren't a playoff caliber team to begin with, and this is a rebuilding project we have to have some patience with. Still, I'm sure even Shanahan didn't expect to be this bad in year 2.

We haven't seen this level of futility in back to back years under one coach since Norv in 94-95 when he went 3-13 and 6-10.

It is nice to see you show some frustration with this organization. At times I feel like you and SS follow the "company line" too long but I also understand you guys are trying to be the voice of reason as well.

IT just becomes a point where you are like good god how many more shitty seasons do I need to endure.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by mredskins

It is nice to see you show some frustration with this organization. At times I feel like you and SS follow the "company line" too long but I also understand you guys are trying to be the voice of reason as well.

IT just becomes a point where you are like good god how many more shitty seasons do I need to endure.

It takes a lot to get me to throw in the towel on a season, but I've been there before.

[freddyg12]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

I'm sure that must have been his mindset...

I'm just frustrated with another season quickly going down the drain, and it's tiring to have another year of crappy QB play. I acknowledge the injuries have been absolutely killer. Who knows, without all the injuries maybe we're in the 7-9 win range.

I guess big picture we weren't a playoff caliber team to begin with, and this is a rebuilding project we have to have some patience with. Still, I'm sure even Shanahan didn't expect to be this bad in year 2.

We haven't seen this level of futility in back to back years under one coach since Norv in 94-95 when he went 3-13 and 6-10.

Let's just pretend that McNabb worked out & is playing well. We would probably be talking about how the injuries & lack of depth were keeping us from being a playoff team. We'd be mediocre though & the other personel decisions would likely be the same.

My interpretation of Allen/Shanny thus far; it was a rebuilding project wrapped in a vet QB facade. The initial facade, McNabb, didn't work out, so now there's nothing to hide how ugly it is. I accept it because at least the other (non QB) decisions have been sound IMO, I just question Shanny speaking so boldly about his two sucky QBs.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by freddyg12

Let's just pretend that McNabb worked out & is playing well. We would probably be talking about how the injuries & lack of depth were keeping us from being a playoff team. We'd be mediocre though & the other personel decisions would likely be the same.

My interpretation of Allen/Shanny thus far; it was a rebuilding project wrapped in a vet QB facade. The initial facade, McNabb, didn't work out, so now there's nothing to hide how ugly it is. I accept it because at least the other (non QB) decisions have been sound IMO, I just question Shanny speaking so boldly about his two sucky QBs.

I think the worst part of all of this is that we're not even developing a QB. This is why I question whether we were truly rebuilding last year. Had McNabb worked out somewhat, we still would be without a QB of the future on the roster, and whatever McNabb's success would have been short.

I think I'd feel better right now if we had not traded for McNabb and would have acquired a young QB this year (2nd or later rounds). My only hope is that next year, the supporting cast would be good enough to allow for a rookie to start right away (a la Dalton). I just hope MS does a good job at picking a QB, as someone pointed out, he's 0-3 so far.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by freddyg12

Let's just pretend that McNabb worked out & is playing well. We would probably be talking about how the injuries & lack of depth were keeping us from being a playoff team. We'd be mediocre though & the other personel decisions would likely be the same.

My interpretation of Allen/Shanny thus far; it was a rebuilding project wrapped in a vet QB facade. The initial facade, McNabb, didn't work out, so now there's nothing to hide how ugly it is. I accept it because at least the other (non QB) decisions have been sound IMO, I just question Shanny speaking so boldly about his two sucky QBs.

What else is he going to say at this point? He has to support them, at least publicly. We'll see what he really thinks once the season is over and we have new QBs in here next year.

[freddyg12]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

What else is he going to say at this point? He has to support them, at least publicly. We'll see what he really thinks once the season is over and we have new QBs in here next year.

Understood, he's not going to throw them under the bus. He just drew way more attention to it in the offseason than needed. I mean, was Beck solely responsible for his name being put out there in the offseason?

Maybe his strategy was to set Beck up for success by publicly saying he was capable of starting. What he did though ultimately was bring more attention to himself than either of the QBs.

[skinsfaninok]

Yeah the beck move killed us and it seemed like the team didn't have much faith in the guy either

[GTripp0012]

Just as far as unrestricted free agents go, Matt Hasselbeck, Shaun Hill, Alex Smith, Tarvaris Jackson, Drew Stanton, Byron Leftwich and Matt Moore have all been unrestricted free agents since Shanahan had the job here. Caleb Hanie was an RFA who could have been plucked from the Bears for zero compensation. A competitive trade offer could have plucked Matt Flynn from Green Bay. Kevin Kolb was terribly overpriced and would have been a bad short-term acquisition, but he was available.

No one on the above list contains magical qualities that would have fixed the 2011 season (whether they could have kept it from being derailed is another issue), but they are all better than John Beck, and about half of them are better than Rex Grossman.

I'm sympathetic to the idea that it didn't matter in the long run, but the Redskins could and should have done better on offensive personnel than they have. Whether they could have done so much better as to build an annual winner is debatable, I think. What's not debatable is that they couldn't have built an annual winner while taking the strategic path they did.