rskinsfan10
09-27-2006, 06:54 PM
Well, the mood was considerably lighter this week when I called my homeboy Rick from the West Side. Hey, after having not witnessed a Skins win since they rolled out of Tampa during Wild Card week last season, it felt good to be able to talk about something positive for once. However, just like the team, it's time to pack that one away and get ready for next week, right? Yeah, WHATEVER!!! Counting the preseason, it took us seven weeks to get in the win column, so I personally am going to be a bit giddy about this for as long as I damn well please......
rsf10- First things first. A win is a win, and we needed a win in the worst way. What are your general thoughts about this past Sunday?
DW- Well, the team needed a win for confidence, and self esteem. They just needed to feel good about something, and when you look at it they hadn't won a ballgame since last year when they beat Tampa. They had the Seahawks loss, and the preseason was what it was. Losing the first two, including one at home and the other against the Cowboys, they had a lot going against them. They did what they were supposed to do. When you get your first win, I don't care who it's against, you feel good about it. The Texans are not a very good football team, let's not kid ourselves, but we were not a very good football team either until we got that win.
rsf10- Before we discuss the game, something that has been on my mind a lot lately is what is the deal with many of my fellow Skins fans? It seems that Skins fans as a whole don't relish and enjoy wins as they should in my opinion. Wins are greeted with pessimism and sometimes outright venom. I've heard the phone calls on the John Thompson Show the last couple of days, and where I didn't expect Super Bowl rally cries, I didn't expect the level of negativity either. What are your thoughts about that?
DW- Well, what happens Kenny is that this program has such a powerful marketing arm, and that marketing arm started in January with the signing of Al Saunders and the anticipation was really high. Then they bring in new players; our off seasons are so dynamic, that if you are a fan how can you not be optimistic? When you look at the playoff run, the victory in Tampa, then the tough defeat against the team that went to the Super Bowl, you as a fan can talk yourself into anything. The players have to play your way into all of this though. They really had to take a step back because they were learning a new offense. Fans were really unrealistic. It takes time; you can't turn it on like a switch. The eventual world champions didn't have a great season, they had a great run. Think about it, they didn't win their division. You have to look at all of those factors. They didn't play well. Four of their five starting offensive linemen had off season surgery. They all bounced back, but they weren't themselves. Then they had that powder puff preseason, Clinton gets hurt, and they really didn't have the elements that the fans expected them to have, nor did they have what they expected. Then to lose to Dallas was demoralizing, having dominated them the way that they did here last year. So, everyone was justified in their disappointment because of the high expectations.
rsf10- Back to the game in Houston, the offense seemed to pretty much do whatever they wanted against the Texans, including Brunell setting the record for consecutive completions. In regards to the record, do you take it with a grain of salt or find yourself wanting to place an asterisk by it as I have heard many of our own fans say since the game ended?
DW- A record is a record. I'd rather have him set that record following his Dallas performance, and I think that people should be tickled to death that he had the ability to show some accuracy. The one pass I was high on was the 25yd completion to Patten. I thought that Patten made a great catch, but I'm more thrilled about the fact that Mark threw it out there. I believe that a lot of us have been crying for that. Then he put the ball in the hands of playmakers. I wanted to see Santana Moss get a minimum of seven to eight touches, and he wound up with six. Randle El needs to get at least four. Lloyd needs to get four. Cooley needs to get three. Caveman Sellers needs to get three. We have playmakers, but they are useless without the football. Betts and Portis ran their tails off, and the offensive line regained some confidence. It is what it is. The record was set by Gannon in a year that he took the Raiders to the Super Bowl, so it's a good sign if they can build off of that. Now, this offense is not what any of us thought that it would be, but we don't know what it's going to be because it's all brand new. Now I think that Al Saunders has found a way to adjust his plan to their talents.
rsf10- I think that it would be unfair if we didn't mention the solid contributions that we got from the special teams, in particular Derrick Frost and John Hall considering how much heat both of them have taken.
DW- Outstanding. They improved big time. To average over 50yds per punt, to make a long field goal and kickoff well allowing for good coverage for our teams, all of those things are building blocks. This is not a championship team, but they took a very important step. The big question is can they build on that against Jacksonville.
rsf10- The defense allowing big plays is still a concern following this game, and to add fuel to the fire apparently Springs is being listed as doubtful for this week...
DW- ....Shawn won't play. Shawn really needs to try to get himself right for Indianapolis if possible then get to the bye week. If you get nine strong games out of Shawn, you should consider that a blessing...[/b]
rsf10- .....so you wouldn't play him before Indy? You would keep him on the shelf for the Giants game as well?
DW- The Giants game, maybe. They have to look at the big picture and think long term right now and figure out a way to play better. Rogers got beat on that one play with the interference call but other then that I think that he played well. The corners as a whole are going to have to get better, and I think that they will the more that they play. They will get tested this week going against big, strong WRs, but Dallas' WRs are better, and they basically held Dallas' WRs to one big play from Terry Glenn, and that was a blown assignment. So if you look at it that way, I can live with the secondary being improved. What I can't live with is our lack of pressure. That has got to improve. Salave'a's return will help. I really think that Cornelius Griffin is getting healthier. That was his best ballgame of the year. You need Daniels and his back to come around; he's not 100%. Renaldo Wynn is not 100%. The Tarantula has to play more free safety while Archuleta plays the strong, keeping him out of coverage. That's the transition and if they can play well without Springs, then when a healthy Springs returns, they have the chance to raise their game another step up.
cont......
rsf10- First things first. A win is a win, and we needed a win in the worst way. What are your general thoughts about this past Sunday?
DW- Well, the team needed a win for confidence, and self esteem. They just needed to feel good about something, and when you look at it they hadn't won a ballgame since last year when they beat Tampa. They had the Seahawks loss, and the preseason was what it was. Losing the first two, including one at home and the other against the Cowboys, they had a lot going against them. They did what they were supposed to do. When you get your first win, I don't care who it's against, you feel good about it. The Texans are not a very good football team, let's not kid ourselves, but we were not a very good football team either until we got that win.
rsf10- Before we discuss the game, something that has been on my mind a lot lately is what is the deal with many of my fellow Skins fans? It seems that Skins fans as a whole don't relish and enjoy wins as they should in my opinion. Wins are greeted with pessimism and sometimes outright venom. I've heard the phone calls on the John Thompson Show the last couple of days, and where I didn't expect Super Bowl rally cries, I didn't expect the level of negativity either. What are your thoughts about that?
DW- Well, what happens Kenny is that this program has such a powerful marketing arm, and that marketing arm started in January with the signing of Al Saunders and the anticipation was really high. Then they bring in new players; our off seasons are so dynamic, that if you are a fan how can you not be optimistic? When you look at the playoff run, the victory in Tampa, then the tough defeat against the team that went to the Super Bowl, you as a fan can talk yourself into anything. The players have to play your way into all of this though. They really had to take a step back because they were learning a new offense. Fans were really unrealistic. It takes time; you can't turn it on like a switch. The eventual world champions didn't have a great season, they had a great run. Think about it, they didn't win their division. You have to look at all of those factors. They didn't play well. Four of their five starting offensive linemen had off season surgery. They all bounced back, but they weren't themselves. Then they had that powder puff preseason, Clinton gets hurt, and they really didn't have the elements that the fans expected them to have, nor did they have what they expected. Then to lose to Dallas was demoralizing, having dominated them the way that they did here last year. So, everyone was justified in their disappointment because of the high expectations.
rsf10- Back to the game in Houston, the offense seemed to pretty much do whatever they wanted against the Texans, including Brunell setting the record for consecutive completions. In regards to the record, do you take it with a grain of salt or find yourself wanting to place an asterisk by it as I have heard many of our own fans say since the game ended?
DW- A record is a record. I'd rather have him set that record following his Dallas performance, and I think that people should be tickled to death that he had the ability to show some accuracy. The one pass I was high on was the 25yd completion to Patten. I thought that Patten made a great catch, but I'm more thrilled about the fact that Mark threw it out there. I believe that a lot of us have been crying for that. Then he put the ball in the hands of playmakers. I wanted to see Santana Moss get a minimum of seven to eight touches, and he wound up with six. Randle El needs to get at least four. Lloyd needs to get four. Cooley needs to get three. Caveman Sellers needs to get three. We have playmakers, but they are useless without the football. Betts and Portis ran their tails off, and the offensive line regained some confidence. It is what it is. The record was set by Gannon in a year that he took the Raiders to the Super Bowl, so it's a good sign if they can build off of that. Now, this offense is not what any of us thought that it would be, but we don't know what it's going to be because it's all brand new. Now I think that Al Saunders has found a way to adjust his plan to their talents.
rsf10- I think that it would be unfair if we didn't mention the solid contributions that we got from the special teams, in particular Derrick Frost and John Hall considering how much heat both of them have taken.
DW- Outstanding. They improved big time. To average over 50yds per punt, to make a long field goal and kickoff well allowing for good coverage for our teams, all of those things are building blocks. This is not a championship team, but they took a very important step. The big question is can they build on that against Jacksonville.
rsf10- The defense allowing big plays is still a concern following this game, and to add fuel to the fire apparently Springs is being listed as doubtful for this week...
DW- ....Shawn won't play. Shawn really needs to try to get himself right for Indianapolis if possible then get to the bye week. If you get nine strong games out of Shawn, you should consider that a blessing...[/b]
rsf10- .....so you wouldn't play him before Indy? You would keep him on the shelf for the Giants game as well?
DW- The Giants game, maybe. They have to look at the big picture and think long term right now and figure out a way to play better. Rogers got beat on that one play with the interference call but other then that I think that he played well. The corners as a whole are going to have to get better, and I think that they will the more that they play. They will get tested this week going against big, strong WRs, but Dallas' WRs are better, and they basically held Dallas' WRs to one big play from Terry Glenn, and that was a blown assignment. So if you look at it that way, I can live with the secondary being improved. What I can't live with is our lack of pressure. That has got to improve. Salave'a's return will help. I really think that Cornelius Griffin is getting healthier. That was his best ballgame of the year. You need Daniels and his back to come around; he's not 100%. Renaldo Wynn is not 100%. The Tarantula has to play more free safety while Archuleta plays the strong, keeping him out of coverage. That's the transition and if they can play well without Springs, then when a healthy Springs returns, they have the chance to raise their game another step up.
cont......