[sportscurmudgeon]

Originally Posted by skinsguy

Maybe your expectations are a little high for a team that was just 4-12 a season ago? A lot of people on here expect quite a bit of stuff that is really unrealistic. This team will do well to be .500, which will be a big improvement from a year ago. If they wind up going 9-7, I will be extremely impressed.

We may have the talent, but does the talent have the football smarts to become a better team? So many times, we're dumbfounded at the fact that this team always seems to underachieve when they need the wins the most. Almost to the point to where we expect them to make the mistakes and foolish penalties that cost the Redskins victories. That comes from players who just don't seem to have the high football IQ that the elite players have. Don't get me wrong, the Redskins have the playmakers who have the football IQ needed to win, but they're overshadowed by those who just don't have it.

If football was completely physical, there would be no reason why the Redskins couldn't win the Super Bowl with the talent they have on the team. But, football is just as much mental (if not much more) than physical, and that is where you separate the good teams from the bad teams, elite teams from the good teams. Look at the Redskins teams from the glory years. I believe wholeheartedly that those teams in the 80's and early 90's were champions because the majority of the players on those teams had high football IQs. I think that is why Gibbs was successful with your average "joe" players. He got smart players on his team even though they were not always the most talented team on the field.

For this version of the Redskins to remotely resemble those teams of the 80's, we need more high football IQ players who can work together to make the team better. And, it starts up front. The hogs of the 80's were smart players and worked very well together. That is probably at least 70% of the reason why those teams of the 80's won on a consistent basis.

Until Mike, Kyle, and Jim can get the right players together, I am not really expecting much more than .500 from this team.

Sorry to disagree here, but the physical talent on this team is a light-eyar away from being a Super Bowl winner.

90% of the offensive lines in the NFL are better than this one.

75% of the WR corps in the NFL are better than this one.

The running backs - - even when every one of them is fully healthy - - are ordinary at best.

The defensive line is mediocre.

Purely on physical talent, this team will overachieve if it finishes 8-8.