Riggo Blasting Skins.

[Hail to the Redskins]

I've got 3 words for everyone... even "Riggo" ..... SAN DIEGO CHARGERS!

Hello.... do all of the reasons the Redskins 2005 are going to finish last sound eerily similar to the reasons EVERYONE picked the Chargers of 2004 to be in last ... or is it just me??

A) Rookie QB supposedly coming in for a 3 year vet who has been "under-acheiving" and causing a "QB Controversey" (Rivers-Brees; Campbell-Ramsey)

B) Top 5 Running Back in the backfield (Tomlinson; Portis)

C) A bunch of small, no-name (or old) receivers (Keenan McCardell? Reche Caldwell?; David Patten? James Thrash?)

D) A top 10 ranked defense

E) Ok so Antonio Gates came out of nowhere, but Chris Cooley could very well have a somewhat similar season himself here in DC! (or even Darnarien McCants if they'd bulk him up and make him a TE! He was a basketball player in college! lol)

Think about it... Did anyone at all picke the Chargers to win even 9 or 10 games? No. Did anyone at all pick the Panthers to challenge for the Super Bowl 2 years ago? No.

Hardly EVER are preseason predictions right... so I say ... that's a GOOD thing to be picked last...

Shottenheimer is a good coach... but is he better than Gibbs? I definitely think that if Marty can figure it out with the "SuperChargers" .... then Gibbs definitely can figure it out here...

HAIL TO THE REDSKINS!

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Daseal

Riggo does a show on Sirrius NFL radio called the Afternoon Blitz. On my way to work in the morning (between 12:30 and 4 AM depending on the day) I often hear part of the replay.

Where do you go to work so early?

[gortiz]

I love Riggo to death, but he is a drunk jock, and I'm sure while he was making those comments half of his attention was day dreaming about where he was going to eat after work . . . . #44

Also, I bet you any money he is pissed off at the commetn Gibbs made about Portis having the best season of any of his running backs. . .

[Daseal]

TAFKAS - I'm delivering bread for my summer job. The hours suck but the pay is great. I can do anything for three months!

PS - Regardless I still love Sirrius NFL radio and suggest it to everyone. They have some guys that really make some sense. You'll never agree with everything people say, but it's nice to get multiple perspectives and something in depth. Something articles people like Kirwan write that isn't as well conveyed through his writing.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by Daseal

Riggo does a show on Sirrius NFL radio called the Afternoon Blitz. On my way to work in the morning (between 12:30 and 4 AM depending on the day) I often hear part of the replay. In short this is what he said:
1) Thinks Dallas is the team in the division that can take the Eagles if anyone can. Thinks their defense will be great and offense will be really strong too. It was a consensus that the 'Skins would be last in the NFC East and the Giants/Cowboys would fight for 2nd place.
2) If Gibbs has a winning record he should be nominated for coach of the year. Said he has to completely reinvent himself and doesnt know if he has the talent to do what he wants to do.
3) Thinks if Portis has 1700 yards that the skins may have a shot at a winning record, especially with the playaction.
4) Says Ramsey is playing for an NFL career and not a Redskins career. Said he wouldn't be suprised if with all the shit they've put him through he says no if they extend his contract. They bring in Brunell and give him the cold shoulder. Brunell fails miserably, then they give up A LOT to get a first round pick to get Campbell. He mentioned that it doesnt exactly ooze confidence of your starting QB. (I must say I agree with this point.)
5) Pretty much said that there were huge downgrades at receiver (also agree) and though faster they're either little, unproven, or both. We dont have that possession Art Monk guy. No one knows if McCants will see the field.

1). Even though I think the Eagles will win the division, Dallas is probably in the best position to challenge the Eagles. They've certainly go the personnel to be a great defense; even if the 3-4 doesn't work, they've got the people to play the 4-3. I don't know if I can agree with the assessment that their offense will be great (Bledsoe is a big question mark as is their O-line).
2). Gibbs won't have to reinvent himself (he's a great coach), but he will have to reinvent the offensive game-plan.
3). If Portis gets 1,700 yards, its hard to imagine a losing season. First, if he's running a lot, that probably means we're winning, or "in," games. Second, if he gets 1,700 yards, it's hard to imagine the running game (the key to a decent offense) being unproductive.
4). The Redskins certainly haven't shown confidence in Ramsey.
5). While the Redskins haven't downgraded their WR corps necessarily, they don't have a proven top wideout who scares defenses or a big, possession wideout.

All in all, I take issue with some of what Riggo said and I'm not pessimistic about the season, but his comments are that far off the mark.

[everest3k]

Things don't look too good.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Daseal

Riggo does a show on Sirrius NFL radio called the Afternoon Blitz. On my way to work in the morning (between 12:30 and 4 AM depending on the day) I often hear part of the replay. In short this is what he said:

1) Thinks Dallas is the team in the division that can take the Eagles if anyone can. Thinks their defense will be great and offense will be really strong too. It was a consensus that the 'Skins would be last in the NFC East and the Giants/Cowboys would fight for 2nd place.

2) If Gibbs has a winning record he should be nominated for coach of the year. Said he has to completely reinvent himself and doesnt know if he has the talent to do what he wants to do.

3) Thinks if Portis has 1700 yards that the skins may have a shot at a winning record, especially with the playaction.

4) Says Ramsey is playing for an NFL career and not a Redskins career. Said he wouldn't be suprised if with all the shit they've put him through he says no if they extend his contract. They bring in Brunell and give him the cold shoulder. Brunell fails miserably, then they give up A LOT to get a first round pick to get Campbell. He mentioned that it doesnt exactly ooze confidence of your starting QB. (I must say I agree with this point.)

5) Pretty much said that there were huge downgrades at receiver (also agree) and though faster they're either little, unproven, or both. We dont have that possession Art Monk guy. No one knows if McCants will see the field.

1. What about our defense? Why is it that they get some unproven rookies and change their scheme and yet the Cowboys have the great defense, and not us??? And their offense will be strong? How so? Everyone thinks Bledsoe will rekindle the magic he once had with Parcells, but if Testaverde couldn't then why should we believe Bledsoe will? Julius Jones had a great half-a-season, but that's all it was, half a season. I think he's going to be an elite RB in the league but hello we do have Clinton Portis.

2. In Gibbs I Trust

3. He'll get 1800

4. So what if he's playing for an NFL contract and not a Skins contract? You know who benefits from that in 2005? The Redskins, that's who. Smoot did it last year, Pierce did it, Muhsin Muhammad did it. It happens all around the league. Every player on our team should play as if it's a contract year.

5. It remains to be seen whether Patten can step up to be an elite receiver, I think he can be. And we have yet to unleash the awesome power that is Taylor Jacobs

[Redskins8588]

Originally Posted by TAFKAS

1. What about our defense? Why is it that they get some unproven rookies and change their scheme and yet the Cowboys have the great defense, and not us??? And their offense will be strong? How so? Everyone thinks Bledsoe will rekindle the magic he once had with Parcells, but if Testaverde couldn't then why should we believe Bledsoe will? Julius Jones had a great half-a-season, but that's all it was, half a season. I think he's going to be an elite RB in the league but hello we do have Clinton Portis.

I agree with everything, also don't forget who has to catch the balls being thrown by Bledsoe. Terry Glenn gets hurt at the drop of a hat and Keyshawn is way over due for retirement. Glenn had his best season when catching passes from Bledsoe, but that was how many years ago? Until the Cowgoys get better at WR then they may get better on offense, but I just dont see Keyshawn and Glenn having Pro-Bowl seasons...

[Americastrueteam]

Hello there guys, been reading for months and am just now getting around to my first post here.

There is one thing i do know, its that Joe Gibbs no matter how long he has been out, or what he has been doing, he has always been one of the great coaches, he finds ways to win, to make his team be a team. It doesnt matter whether or not the guys are superstars or just plain ole good/solid players and the skins have plenty of those. Joe's job is to make the team click, and if your a fan or not, everyone, even the fans of other teams know that gibbs is the man, and has there respect.

Joe Gibbs when he took the team in 81 went 8-8, this last year he went 6-10, and considering how the team has been over the past few years i would say he did alright for his first year back. Now im not saying that this second year we are going to hit the superbowl, like he did in the past, but i would say we will win our fair share of games and maybe even get a wild card spot. Gibbs does things with players, makes them calm, shows that tough love and what commitment can bring you, he has a way of making players perform, that is not something ive seen in the NFL from alot of head coaches.

So let the ppl. talk and run there mouths, and just like the 80's im confident that Mr. Gibbs will shut them up once more.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by Americastrueteam

Hello there guys, been reading for months and am just now getting around to my first post here.

There is one thing i do know, its that Joe Gibbs no matter how long he has been out, or what he has been doing, he has always been one of the great coaches, he finds ways to win, to make his team be a team. It doesnt matter whether or not the guys are superstars or just plain ole good/solid players and the skins have plenty of those. Joe's job is to make the team click, and if your a fan or not, everyone, even the fans of other teams know that gibbs is the man, and has there respect.

Joe Gibbs when he took the team in 81 went 8-8, this last year he went 6-10, and considering how the team has been over the past few years i would say he did alright for his first year back. Now im not saying that this second year we are going to hit the superbowl, like he did in the past, but i would say we will win our fair share of games and maybe even get a wild card spot. Gibbs does things with players, makes them calm, shows that tough love and what commitment can bring you, he has a way of making players perform, that is not something ive seen in the NFL from alot of head coaches.

So let the ppl. talk and run there mouths, and just like the 80's im confident that Mr. Gibbs will shut them up once more.

Welcome to the board! A good and thoughtful post.

BTW, great screen name.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Honestly, I'd prefer a small defense dropoff in trade for a huge offensive output. Maybe top 10 and top 15 in offense.

[FRPLG]

I think Riggo raises valid points. I would quibble with the "1700" or losing record deal and the statement that we downgraded our WR corp but I would admit that I don't think we upgraded talent wise at WR and Portis DOES have to have a good year for the Skins to be successful. In the case of the WRs I think it can be argued they upgraded by changing the strengths of the WR corp rather than adding overall talent. That remains to be seen though. And the statement about Portis...no kidding! Every team has to have their best players play well to win. That is no surprise. I pay no attention to what the talking heads say since the NFL is so darn close in parity. As bad as the Skins were last year it is conceivable that with a break here or there they were a playoff team. The GB game was stolen from us for sure and in several other cases bad luck prevailed. My point isn't that the Skins were any good last year...they weren't really.... but in the end they weren't that far off. It is completely inconcievable to me that they haven't upgraded the team this past off season. They lost three players of consequence. Smoot, who it is hard to argue wont be effectively replaced by Rogers. Coles, who had lost much of his athletic advantage when he refused the toe operation and who would have been a complete distraction this season. Pierce, argueably the biggest loss but were talking about a guy who ahd one good year. One good year from a nobody on a defense that allowed several other nobodies have good seasons. Is it possible that Pierec is easily replaced? Yeah it is. Other than that they have added everywhere they felt they needed an upgrade. Plus they are reworking the antiquated offense. There are as many reasons to be optimistic as there are to be pessimistic.

[PSUSkinsFan21]

Originally Posted by Daseal

Riggo does a show on Sirrius NFL radio called the Afternoon Blitz. On my way to work in the morning (between 12:30 and 4 AM depending on the day) I often hear part of the replay. In short this is what he said:
1) Thinks Dallas is the team in the division that can take the Eagles if anyone can. Thinks their defense will be great and offense will be really strong too. It was a consensus that the 'Skins would be last in the NFC East and the Giants/Cowboys would fight for 2nd place.
2) If Gibbs has a winning record he should be nominated for coach of the year. Said he has to completely reinvent himself and doesnt know if he has the talent to do what he wants to do.
3) Thinks if Portis has 1700 yards that the skins may have a shot at a winning record, especially with the playaction.
4) Says Ramsey is playing for an NFL career and not a Redskins career. Said he wouldn't be suprised if with all the shit they've put him through he says no if they extend his contract. They bring in Brunell and give him the cold shoulder. Brunell fails miserably, then they give up A LOT to get a first round pick to get Campbell. He mentioned that it doesnt exactly ooze confidence of your starting QB. (I must say I agree with this point.)
5) Pretty much said that there were huge downgrades at receiver (also agree) and though faster they're either little, unproven, or both. We dont have that possession Art Monk guy. No one knows if McCants will see the field.

Now, you guys know what a pessimist I am. He had me saying no way and yelling at the radio. At 3AM.... I got some odd looks.. However every show has the skins coming in last in the division. What do you guys think about this. Are we that big of a homer site? Or are they simply part of the "media bias" against the Redskins.

At the risk of repeating some points already made:
1. I really don't understand this line of thinking (i.e. Dallas is the only contender). Did they have a very good offseason? Yes. Did they improve? Probably. Is their QB, RB, O-line, Defense, WR corp, or Special Teams better than the skins? I really don't think so.
*So if we have a better o-line (and we do, even if they did add Marco Rivera) and a better RB (Jones was good, but he's no Portis), then we are a better running team.
*Bledsoe v. Ramsey?: I'll take anyone over Bledsoe, and our WR corp is better than the sorry excuse for WRs they have in Dallas. Keyshawn big-mouth, overhyped Johnson? No thanks. Terry Mr. Inconsistent Glenn? Pass. Heck, I don't even know who their third WR is without checking the depth chart. So I think we're a better passing team.
*Our Defense was head and shoulders above theirs last year, and this is their first year switching to an entirely different defensive scheme (4-3 v. 3-4)......and I still, wholeheartedly believe that a 3-4 will not be successful in the NFC East. We lost Pierce (who never even started until last year....trust me, it's the system, not just the players), and Smoot (that may be tough to deal with), but we've got back a healthy Daniels and Arrington (a pro-bowler long before G. Williams arrived), so I just don't see much (if any) drop-off. Advantage: Skins.
*We've added a ton of talent and depth to our special teams, and the concentration that Gibbs seems to be putting into them leads me to believe we will have a strong advantage there as well.
So how is it that Dallas can compete with the Eagles, but we can't? Last year the Eagles beat the Cowboys by a combined 33 points over their two games (28+5). They beat us by 25 (22+3). But somehow, we can't compete but the Cowboys can? This just doesn't make sense.
As for the Giants? I could enter into a similar analysis, but I don't think I can come up with a single area in which the Giants are a better team than us with the exception of their WR corp. Again, I don't understand why they are battling for second with the Cowgirls, but we're destined for the cellar. Weren't the three of us all 6-10 last year? So where does he get this stuff?

2. Nothing about Gibbs concerns me. It's his second year back, let's see what they look like on gameday.......then talk to me.

3. Of course we'd have a winning season if Portis goes for 1700.....and coming off 1300 grueling yards in last year's disfunctional system, I don't think that 1700 is all that unbelievable.

4. I like Ramsey, but I wouldn't blame him for holding a grudge against the skins if it doesn't work out. He's been jerked around, in and out of different systems, corrupted by Spurrier in the most important time of his career development-wise, and pushed from starter to bench to starter to bench to starter so many times he probably feels like a yo-yo.

5. I still don't understand the downgrade at WR from last year. Last year Coles was anything but 100%. He failed to get separation and couldn't burn down the field like he has in the past. Comparing Coles from LAST YEAR, I'll take a healthy Santana Moss over an injured Coles any day. Maybe he would have been healthy for this year, but if we're comparing what we had last year to this year, there's an upgrade. Gardner belongs on the Seahawks WR corp for all the balls he dropped last year. Again, he's not a burner, couldn't get downfield and didn't get decent separation consistently. Patten should be able to do that better than Gardner. Finally, all our WRs had Mark Brunell throwing the ball at their feet for 9 games last year. This year we come right out of the gates with Ramsey, who was much more effective than Brunell in our final 7 games (almost 500 more yards, 3 more TDs, and a passer rating almost 11 points higher in 7 games versus Brunell's 9). So while some may say our WRs are downgraded, I'd argue that compared to last year, we have largely upgraded the entire passing game.

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Not to give the Cowboys ANY credit, but remember WE went with a brand new scheme that HAS to be more confusing than any switch from 3-4 to 4-3 and vice versa. Provided their talent gels, they MAY have a pretty damn good defense.

[skinsguy]

I'm sure the Cowboys will improve from last year, I just don't see them, alone, challenging the Eagles however. I still believe it's goiing to be the Eagles leading the pack, and the rest of the pack not too far behind, but all bunched up again.

I guarantee the Redskins' offense will be vastly improved from last year.