Wilbon - Keeping 2-0 in Perspective [Archive]

PennSkinsFan

09-22-2005, 08:56 AM

dj_stouty

09-22-2005, 08:59 AM

This is the most important thing he said...

Just the sight of those deep passes to Moss on film will make the Redskins' next opponent, Seattle, honor the passing game, which ought to allow Portis and Ladell Betts more running room than they ever saw against the Cowboys. Burn a cheating safety enough, he'll stop creeping up to stop the run.

Getting beaten by the "big play" is a head coach's biggest nightmare. The will respect our passing offense or potentially pay the price. I see Portis having a great day against the Seahawks.

Redskin006

09-22-2005, 09:00 AM

Great article. It's all true and makes perfect sense. We can't get ahead of ourselves and say that our offense is gonna be great, cuz they haven't proved anything yet. (well, they did in the last 3:46)

gravesUKRedskin

09-22-2005, 09:01 AM

.....and he also made the point on PTI when he stood his ground about this being a springboard. It COULD prove to be the start of the return of the Skins, but he is also right to point out that it was our D that kept us in the game and they deserve a hell of a lot more credit than they are getting.

Run hard, throw deep, and block better, that is what we need to concentrate on now.

:Peace:

CarMike

09-22-2005, 09:03 AM

Essentially, there is alot of football left, and take away a 4th quarter explosion, the offense has pretty much been ineffective. So, to get carried away that 2-0 translates to playoffs, 2-0 translates to a winning season, and the 4th quarter spurt leads to a turn in the corner, well, the proof is in repetition of perofrmance, not a single incident.

Tell that to the Raven....

I wouldn't mind riding our defense to a SB ring...

We just need to cut down on the turnovers and penalties.

I said it once...i'll take 16 ugly wins any year.

smoak

09-22-2005, 09:13 AM

Tell that to the Raven....

I wouldn't mind riding our defense to a SB ring...

We just need to cut down on the turnovers and penalties.

I said it once...i'll take 16 ugly wins any year.

You are kidding CM!!! If we win the Super Bowl 2-0, the champagne will tast just as sweet IMO. Frankly, this team has a geniune opportunity to be special. Our only glaring weakness IMO is a pass rusher, but I think we can compensate wfor that once LaVar is 100%. My other concern is lack of depth at some positions, but you know what I am really pumped up and I hope this team can get on track.

Redskinfan28

09-22-2005, 09:41 AM

That is a good and true article. I still have my doubts that this team is a playoff team or will even finish over .500. But at least we beat the freakin Cowboys.

Redskin-4-life

09-22-2005, 09:49 AM

Great article! I think now that Gibbs will losen up the play book alittle bit and start testing the defense more often, hopefully it's done early in a game. I think this Defense is even better when we're ahead in a game. If we can give them early leads in games, we will be well on our way to the playoffs.

tbfoster1

09-22-2005, 10:02 AM

yeah but he is right. having the week off could become a blessing in disguise for us. It allows our emotions to calm down and we can focus on Seattle instead of celebrating Dallas all week.

good point, I just hope the fans keep the win fresh in their mind, which I'm sure they will, so when Seattle walks into Fed Ex they won't be able to hear themselves think.

Skinz4lyfe

09-22-2005, 10:20 AM

Wilbon is right on w/this article. Can't say I disagree w/anything that was said.

Skinzaholic

09-22-2005, 10:31 AM

RoanokeSkin

09-22-2005, 10:56 AM

I like Wilbon, and I generally agree with his opinions. He wouldnt be a sportswriter if he didnt point out the positives and the negatives, especially when he is writing an article about keeping perspective. I think overall he is pretty much dead on with his comments.

BIGSEF3

09-22-2005, 11:11 AM

Wilbon may be correct in the facts he is presenting... but it still irks me that he just HAS to highlight the negatives no matter what the Redskins seem to accomplish.

That is why I say... "typical".

Ummm, and all we accomplished was playing 4 minutes of GREAT football after 56 minutes ofmediocre to terrible football (offensively speaking). an OBJECTIVE reporter highlights both the positive and the negative. Wilbon gave as balanced and fair assesment of the Redskins as I have seen. His article is no more negative than any of the articles on redskins.com. Heck, Joe Gibbs is fair. He was eccstatic about the win, but that didnt stop him from mentioning the penalties and turnovers.

Even fans should look at the positive and negative. If a fan doesn't look at both, then he's not a fan, but a fool. There is alot of good in what the skins have done so far. They are 2-0. But let's keep it in perspective, please. If we don't IMPROVE on the good things and cut back on the bad things, we could easily go 2-14.

The Skinsinator

09-22-2005, 11:33 AM

Good article. Folks, yes we are 2-0. However, our offense looked absymal prior to those two td tosses. I mean just plain horrible. It is imperative we get that figured out. I suppose we can win by 1-2 points all year long but I'm not going to bet on it.

Skins-R-Us

09-22-2005, 12:26 PM

The bye week might be a blessing in disguise for the Redskins, but it is killing me. I am ready for another game NOW! I am having withdrawl symptoms knowing that we have no game this week.

Aaarrrrrggggghhhh!!!!!!

SkinsASchamps

09-22-2005, 12:39 PM

Good article. I think that this bye week is good for everyone. We will be rested for the seattle game and healthy. They have to play Arizona, who doesnt want to lose anymore. We, as fans, can really get hyped from the anticipation. Our players can really practice hard and our coaches can gameplan for 2 weeks for seattle on 3 weeks of film. While seattle only has two weeks of film on us to go on and can only review it for a week. We have a lot of advantages from this bye week. I hope that we use our time wisely and that we get real hyped for this game. Anyone know the record of Gibbs after Bye weeks? that would be good to know.

ArtMonk4HOF

09-22-2005, 12:45 PM

I like wilbon. A lot of what he says is what a coach would say to his team. Most coaches in every sport will touch on what was done well, but emphasize what can be improved. "We did this well, but...."

He's only highlighting how we can get better, and that should be every team's goal, even if they are blowing people out every game. I'm sure USC isn't just patting themselves on the back every week and going thru the motions of practice. They are working hard to improve anything they did wrong or can do better.

BigPlayJay

09-22-2005, 01:18 PM

but he is also right to point out that it was our D that kept us in the game and they deserve a hell of a lot more credit than they are getting.
.

:Peace:
I would say almost all Redskin fans are very aware of how important our defense is. As far as the national media goes, they were doing their best to put all the creidt for the win on the defense and put the last minute heroics on bad play by Dallas. I think the defense is getting credit. We will see this year when the Pro-bowl roster comes out!

IowaSkinsFan

09-22-2005, 01:19 PM

Rich77

09-22-2005, 04:26 PM

yeah but he is right. having the week off could become a blessing in disguise for us. It allows our emotions to calm down and we can focus on Seattle instead of celebrating Dallas all week.

It may be a break not having to play Seattle after a Short week.

C-7

09-22-2005, 04:37 PM

That was a great article.

Ibleedburgundy

09-22-2005, 05:14 PM

I was a Wilbon fan until he wrote the article where he said the 12th man didn't help us against the Bears. It's quite obvious he doesn't like the Redskins, he doesn't like Redskins fans, and he doesn't like this city. Wilbon, and "Mr. Tony" have developed gigantic ego's ever since PTI blew up. George Soloman is right there with them calling our fans "bush league" as if we cheated by making noise on defense. All three of their heads are so big, they can't be told what to write anymore which means you can look forward to them bashing us fans even more in the future. Who the hell is Wilbon to say our fans don't know who Cornelius Griffin and Marcus Washington are? That's utterly ridiculous.

Yes, I understand what his article is about. We barely eeked out two wins so it's a little early to be talking playoffs. Problem is, NOBODY is talking playoffs. At a time when he could have shown Gibbs a little love, he chose to be a buzz killer, a hater, a negative fan-basher. Fishing for any reason what-so-ever to bash our running game (1 td in last 5 games). Having just been in Dallas, I can safely say our fans are every bit as knowledgable as theirs, only we don't start screaming "DALLAS SUCKS" in unison when we are on offense.

Wilbon is negative, negative, negative, because that is how he thinks about this city, this team and our fans. I don't need a kool-aid drinking Redskins fanatic to write all our articles but maybe someone with a little less contempt.

whitskins

09-22-2005, 05:22 PM

2-0 should be kept in perspective because we have a lot of improving to do, especially on offense. But on the other hand, both of those games this year were games that the 2004 Redskins would have lost. That also needs to be in perspective. If this offense can build off of its last 4 minutes on Monday Night, then we have reason to be excited. If the previous 7 quarters are what we're gonna get all season though, Monday Night will be as good as it gets all season.

Skinzaholic

09-22-2005, 06:43 PM

If we had instead lost to Dallas then Wilbon (and the other media minions) would have jumped at the chance to say "I told ya so". While anyone can see that our offense is still sluggish and that our defense is keeping us in each game... I feel a quality journalist should atleast admit that the Redskins shocked the rest of the football world Monday night - made a few gutsy calls - and deserved a huge high-five for a job well done down in hostile territory.

Im not suggesting that Wilbon is incorrect in what he is writing... just that it is almost disgusting to watch these guys back pedal from the rediculous predictions they spouted only 4 weeks ago... and then reply with "Well, that was OK... but they still suck".

Show me a reporter who can stand up and admit that this team is gelling better then anyone expected after only 2 weeks and I will show you a quality journalist. Im not saying they should start planning for Detroit or anything of that nature... but at least acknowledge an improvement.

Wilbon is all mouth - and many on this board were tossing him off as a Bear fan holding a grudge... I have yet to see anything different from him (or any others) that would show any sort of hint that they MAY have been wrong.

becky

09-22-2005, 06:49 PM

I was a Wilbon fan until he wrote the article where he said the 12th man didn't help us against the Bears. It's quite obvious he doesn't like the Redskins, he doesn't like Redskins fans, and he doesn't like this city. Wilbon, and "Mr. Tony" have developed gigantic ego's ever since PTI blew up. George Soloman is right there with them calling our fans "bush league" as if we cheated by making noise on defense. All three of their heads are so big, they can't be told what to write anymore which means you can look forward to them bashing us fans even more in the future. Who the hell is Wilbon to say our fans don't know who Cornelius Griffin and Marcus Washington are? That's utterly ridiculous.

i actually thought it was a pretty fair article. wilbon annoys me sometimes, but he didn't in this article. i was a little annoyed too with the articles that said our 12th man didn't make a difference against the bears, but i also think the fans gave themselves ALL the credit, when the defense was doing a pretty fine job too. but to discredit the fans entirely is ridiculous and what soloman wrote was trash.

i took what he said about our defense to mean that the average non-redskins nfl fan do not know who demetric evans and phillip daniels are. i think many know who marcus and cornelius are though.

the bye week may be good for the players like wilbon said, but it is TORTURE for me, i was just getting used to football being back and now it feels like 2 weeks of season again and i can't take it! i can't wait to get this show back on the road!

redwolf1218

09-22-2005, 09:51 PM

yeah but he is right. having the week off could become a blessing in disguise for us. It allows our emotions to calm down and we can focus on Seattle instead of celebrating Dallas all week.
and as Patrick said, it gets us out of a short week following a monday night game.

SkinsKY

09-22-2005, 10:01 PM

Getting beaten by the "big play" is a head coach's biggest nightmare. The will respect our passing offense or potentially pay the price. I see Portis having a great day against the Seahawks.

I don't think Seattle will do anything differently unless we take one of those shots early in the game. We only took them when down by two scores with four minutes left. That doesn't mean we'll take them in the other 56 minutes of a football game. Seattle has no reason to believe we will do so until we try it in the rest of the game.

redskin_rich

09-22-2005, 10:28 PM

I don't think Seattle will do anything differently unless we take one of those shots early in the game. We only took them when down by two scores with four minutes left. That doesn't mean we'll take them in the other 56 minutes of a football game. Seattle has no reason to believe we will do so until we try it in the rest of the game.
Seattle doesn't have nearly as good a Defense as Chicago and Dallas. We should be able to run and pass equally well on them, regardless of what they choose to focus on. I think we will hit 20+ pts in that game, maybe 30.

SkinsKY

09-22-2005, 10:32 PM

Seattle doesn't have nearly as good a Defense as Chicago and Dallas. We should be able to run and pass equally well on them, regardless of what they choose to focus on. I think we will hit 20+ pts in that game, maybe 30.

They may not be a great defense, but we'll still need to take some shots if Portis is to truly run free. We don't even have to go deep. We just need some consistent catches of 15 yards.

redskin_rich

09-22-2005, 10:40 PM

They may not be a great defense, but we'll still need to take some shots if Portis is to truly run free. We don't even have to go deep. We just need some consistent catches of 15 yards.
You will get no disagreement from me on that. I think that is true with whoever we play. You got to have a balanced attack to have a good Offense.
What I meant was, if ever there was a chance to open up the Offense, the game against Seattle is it.

gravesUKRedskin

09-23-2005, 02:10 AM

As far as the national media goes, they were doing their best to put all the creidt for the win on the defense and put the last minute heroics on bad play by Dallas. I think the defense is getting credit. We will see this year when the Pro-bowl roster comes out!

OK granted I don't see all the media coverage that you guys get, but from the shows we get over here, Wilbon is the only guy to have said in on TV. Even our own analysts over here were only going on about how poor the offense was, not a mention about the fact that it was still only a 2 TD game. I do agree we should get some more recognition for the ProBowl. Marshall and Washington were awesome, and Sean Taylor should get noticed as well.

:Peace:

HanburgerBum

09-24-2005, 02:05 AM

It was overall a good article, but a couple of disappointing things.

1) Wilbon did not seem to admit how wrong he was when he criticized Gibbs for the Ramsey benching.

2) Wilbon stating that the Redskins fans don't appreciate how good the defense is. Except for the very casual ones, are there any real fans you know of who don't appreciate how good the defense is and how it has kept the Skins in most games? I certainly don't know of any.

Wilbon is also sometimes annoying in his over-estimation of the Bears. He thinks the Bears are about the same as the Redskins. They may be similar type of teams, but the Skins are definitely better than his Bears. If Antonio Brown doesn't put the ball on the ground, the Skins defense would have pitched a shutout. The only thing the Bears have over the Redskins is that Chicago is in the worst division in football. The Bears can win the NFC North. But, any NFC East team would be the favorite in that division.

skins74

09-24-2005, 08:45 AM

We need to tell Wilbon that his 1-1 Bears need to keep it in perspective.

golongdude

09-24-2005, 11:18 AM

It was a good, balanced article aimed at what it mentions - perspective. Which is so hard for some fans to maintain. So Wilbon mentioned negatives - so what? I guarantee you he did not cite as many negatives as the coaching staff did behind closed doors. It doesn't mean it is a bad article, Skinsaholic.

colkurtz

09-24-2005, 04:18 PM

This was a decent article for Wilbon. He would never be mistaken for a Redskins homer and has steadily distanced himself from the team as his tv show [with Kornheiser] has taken off; BTW he always admits to being a Chicago fan, but covering Washington's sports scene.

IMO Boswell is the best WP commentator - he has perspective and a level and most-often correct analysis. He writes like Spence does here at hR - condensing the ideas to a concise and short read.

So this is a good article. The Redskins are in a tough division and are trying to throw off the sloth of a dozen years of mediocre football. All Wilbon is saying is that it's not time to fire up the bandwagon yet. If the offense can play good football, then this can be a good team. The big "if's" are the playcalling and Brunell. With a bye and more practice both could be improved for the Seattle game.

colkurtz

09-24-2005, 04:47 PM

P.S. Wilbon would never admit that he wrote that Brunell was totally washed up just days before the Dallass game.

BIGSEF3

09-26-2005, 03:43 PM

9/26/05 Chat (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/09/23/DI2005092300997.html)

Collegeville, Pa.: Wilbon, we are in the city of the first place and undefeated Redskins..can you believe I just said that? At what point in this season do you expect the Skins to no longer be in first place?

Michael Wilbon: I know...Hey, that's my lead for tomorrow's column...Don't steal my thunder. And at Denver/at Kansas City in (I think) back-to-back weeks could be a litle messy, though the Broncos aren't all that good. I've got the Redskins at 5-2 after seven games.

I'm sorry, but I love Wilbon more and more every day.

Apparently, after a week of thinking about it, Wilbon's perspective says the Skins are a really good football team! You gotta love this guy!