D O C Is Back!!

[rskinsfan10]

TT21- It would be impossible to forget about the loss of Sean Taylor. We haven't talked in a couple of weeks, so for starters I wanted to get your perspective on Sean the person and the football player.

DW- Well, it's been one of the most emotional weeks that I have ever experienced for someone that wasn't a teammate of mine. He was someone that I thoroughly enjoyed watching play. I really didn't get to know him. I had three conversations with him throughout his tenure here, but I just adored how he played. He was one of my favorite football players in the entire league. He was ferocious, and he just had something about him that I just enjoyed. I've heard so much about him since he passed from Clinton Portis and his teammates; stories that make you want to just know the guy. You wish you had the opportunity to see some of the things that his immediate circle was able to experience. That's understandable. I just thought his body of work was impressive. Sure, he had his share of encounters, just like all of us have had encounters, but his daughter, his fiance and how he expressed himself to those he considered friends was very, very special.

TT21- We as Skins fans tend be homerific (my word) at times when we talk about our own. With as much football as you've played, watched and analyzed over the years, do you share the opinion that many of us do that he was on his way to being one of if not the best at his position that the game has ever seen?

DW- Oh, I have no doubt about that, barring serious injury. He was already one of the best in the game, and he was really just learning his position, and the defense was just starting to gel around him. In order to be truly one of the greats on defense, I think that it helps considerably to have a good unit. Things were developing. They've played good football on that side of the ball. They've had a couple of games where they have been outmatched, but other then that they have really by NFL standards given the offense and this team opportunities to win 80% of its games. Watching the development of Laron Landry was also refreshing. Just seeing Taylor's role switch from when he was a young pup blasting people. Then he became a guy making big plays. He was a play maker his entire career. I remember the few times he was moved to offense. I really hoped that we would see him in the red zone on this year's team. I really thought that he could have added something for four or five plays a game on offense. He didn't leave anything to chance. He got more done in less time then most do playing a lot longer. It's just unfortunate because it's rare to have truly unique player on a team that you watch or on the team that you cheer for. There aren't really that many really unique players in the entire league. I mean guys that really stand out every week on the defensive side of the ball that you wait to see and say "hey I gotta watch this guy". He definitely made his presence felt. His hit in the Pro Bowl is memorable. It will go down in the highlights as one of the best plays during a Pro Bowl. That's Sean, blowing somebody up or tearing somebody apart. That's how he did it in a legal sense. He patented that shoulder hit and learned how to do it without being penalized. I talked to Brig Owens this week about the '72 team and he talked by Harold McLinton. You really don't lose to many guys in this league suddenly like that. The Broncos obviously have had to deal with losing two players this year. It's just a real tragedy. I will say that it's probably been the owner's finest moment. I thought that his leadership throughout this has been unparalleled. They didn't win the initial ball game, but it wasn't from a lack of effort. To do what they've done throughout the week, then to have to prepare for Chicago, it's just one of those rare things that puts the game in perspective. Yes, we wanted a win against the Bills, we'd like to have a better position in the playoff hunt, blah blah blah, but the bottom line is they are still developing and they have a long way to go in terms of becoming a champion. I just don't think that you can discount what has happened and how they have grown. If they would just start making plays in the red zone and getting better on third down, they will become a very good unit. Right now they are right on the verge of swinging things around I think while going through a very difficult period.

[rskinsfan10]

TT21- Ironically you touched on my next question that I have for you. Do you feel that this team is anywhere closer to being the team that many if not most of us expected it to be, or is it simply just running in circles seemingly not being able to get out of its own way? What do you see that gives you hope that things will be better, if anything at all?

DW- Well, what is hopeful is the maturation of a young QB who has shown that he can make plays. Now, he cannot continue to turn the ball over as has been the case, no matter how difficult it has been. Yes, it is difficult to continue to get hit from your blind side and not lose the football, but that is just part of his occupation. It's simply an occupational hazard. He's had the worst luck in terms of keeping his WRs healthy. They basically don't practice together, and that has definitely hurt his development. Along with the shuffling of his offensive line, but that's football. This kid took more hits last week in that game against Buffalo then I've seen him get hit since he turned pro. And yet, he didn't wilt. He continued to fight. Those are the things that stick out to me. I remember Troy Aikman's rookie year, Peyton Manning's. I mean, those guys were beat to death and they never quit. They kept coming back. Those are things that you appreciate. You aren't happy about losing. Jason is going to have to figure out a way to win one of these games. He's going to have to lead his team to victory in order to be defined as a great QB, and he understands that. The one thing that great QBs have in common is that their teams are very good and they win. He didn't have a running game against Buffalo, yet I felt like the offense still had a restrictor plate on him. I couldn't quite understand why their running game, which had been stopped pretty much all game, was still being used. They didn't go to their Dallas game plan, the Green Bay game plan, the game plans where they really threw the ball and were able to move the ball well. Ironically, the more they throw it, the better they look, but they don't win. They have got to run the ball effectively. I think that the return of Randy Thomas was definitely needed. Wade in my opinion is playing injured and it has affected his production. I was really surprised that they didn't put Stephon Heyer in and leave him in during the Buffalo game. You can't question the heart, but the execution is costing them. The offsides calls, what they do in the red zone. Their red zone production is just not acceptable to become a winning team. That is what's killing them right now. They can move up and down from the twenty to the twenty. They are just as good as anybody there. That jumbo package may be the death of them. It seems like every time they get in it, they kick a FG. It's a work in progress. Most of the teams that have their record have various flaws that they have been trying to work through. I really felt confident before the Tampa game that they could put together one of those 2005 playoff rolls and really just be a hot team and hit the playoffs full stride. I doubt that it can happen at this point. I just don't see it. They would really have to surprise me. I think the rest of it is just wishful thinking.

TT21- Doc, when you look around the league and you see the New Englands, the Dallas', the Indianapolis', you know what these team's identities are. They are so confident in what they are going to do and they dare you to stop them. This team to me doesn't seem to know what it's identity is.

DW- Most of the teams that have their record suffer from the same disease. It's called inconsistency. On offense, you have two people influencing a plan that's just not effective. The combination of Gibbs and Saunders has been a failure. Gregg Williams blitzed more against Buffalo then he has in a long time with the exception of the Jets game. They still didn't get to the QB, and of course they were playing without their best defensive player, but that is what they are going to have to do from this point. They also had Springs miss most of a half, and they just aren't good enough to be successful without their best players not performing at a high level. I thought that Smoot played very well. Marcus Washington is just getting back into form. McIntosh seems to have cooled off a bit after he started looking like he was going to tear the league apart. Fletcher has been the constant on defense. The defensive line has had some really good moments, but it seems as though it's very difficult for them to get to the QB without blitzing. Then to give up that 30yd plus pass in the crunch when they had people around the ball was disappointing. It was the right call. They had people around the ball, but nobody could make a play. Who would have thought it, but that kid out of Stanford played his butt off. And that was without Lynch. You have to be realistic. I think that if Lynch had played, that game wouldn't have been as close as it was. They have to take advantage of teams when they come to town without their best players. You have to beat them. They are close enough. The two best teams in the conference is Green Bay and Dallas, and they could have very well won both of those games. They weren't outclassed. They went toe to toe with Green Bay and Dallas. They were competitive ball games where you felt like Washington had a chance. That's why Dallas and Green Bay are where they are, because they are able to finish and win games while also winning on the road. Good teams just don't lose at home. It's very difficult to beat good teams at home. Even in the games we win, it's FGs and overtime. The Lions is really the best body of work we've had, but now we are seeing that the Lions are the same old Lions. You want to have impressive wins. That's how you define yourself. That Tampa game, man the defense put them in a position to win, yet they just haven't been good enough to do what it takes to win. I don't think that it's something where you have to trash the entire team, because they have been so close, but you definitely have to alter your approach. I think that my biggest frustration with the organization is it's approach to the game plan. We have our safeties back 45yds during some games. Then we are in jumbo on the 10yd line in some games. I think this team offensively needs to open things up and throw caution to the wind. Special teams has been consistent. We have an excellent place kicker. Our coverage teams are very, very good. Rock Cartwright is fantastic. Yet, you are playing without Caveman Sellers, Randle El last week, you're playing without James Thrash, and they aren't good enough not to have that many key components not operating. The one thing that you know about the Patriots is that every week when they win, Brady, Moss, Watson, Welker, Stallworth, Maroney, they are all making plays. They don't have a game where one of those guys is silent and you don't hear anything from them. Asanti Samuel shows up and makes plays. They always make plays. Can they turn it around? Maybe, but they have to put their foot on some body's neck and crush them. You have to have a three or four game winning streak in order to really consider yourself hot.

[Hr fan]

As always good, straight talk from Doc. He makes 2 points that must be addressed before any progress can be expected. The "stars" of this team are not performing. A WR corps that goes 1/2 a season with no TDs must play to the level of their compensation before we graduate from also-ran. A corps of RBs that can't score from inside the 5 yd line? A D that can't close the deal on 3rd down? This is personnel. Second, as noted the AS/JG "marriage" isn't working. It's not just the shackles on JC, it's a don't lose the game mentality that allows teams trying to win do exactly that. Combine that with GW's 2 major goofs, assuming that he had a pass rush and playing his S so deep that much of the game is 11 against 9. It is not surprising that we lose. It is surprising that we are not getting beaten badly.

Doc is frank in his assessment of our playoff chances - given the teams we must overcome these chances are remote at best. What Doc doesn't say is that with an aging, injury prone, underperforming roster close to cap hell there is little prospect of improving immediately. An example is this last draft. LL is going to be a star, and given the tragic loss of ST, a very needed choice. But at the time of the draft I can not remember one analyst that didn't assume the pass rusing was our biggest problem. It went totally unaddressed in any round, and in FA both street and available pros.

With key personnel, scheme/coaching staff and the FO screwed up, what can we expect in 2008? I hope Doc has an answer.