curmudgeon's corner- the old man speaks

shally · #1 10-09-2006, 01:27 PM

boy am i hot !!! if any of you are expecting a touchy-feely commentary from me right about now, you might as well scroll onto another posting..enough of the excuse making. it is time for a cold eyed look at the latest edition of the redskins.

to put it simply, we are in last place in the nfc east, and are clearly deserving of that spot. we appear to have taken a step backwards when compared to our division opponents. we are an overrated, underproducing, out of sync team. might as well throw in, not particularly well coached-- or if i am being charitable, not particularly "well schemed."... and the schedule for the rest of the year is not likely to be very kind to us, even though we still have the entire nfc east to play at home..and what is most galling to me, is that we are not playing with any consistent passion when the most important games roll around (opening game, dallas game, key away opponent). we have laid 3 giant goose eggs in each opportunity..

where to start?
how about at the top? i love and revere coach gibbs, but at gut check time this team is far too fragile and timid . we are simply not playing nfc east football. we had 2 opportunities to either finish off an opponent or get right back into the game with a run. in both cases we eschewed that for a fg goal attempt. in the first case we escaped with a win after the jags easily went down the field for a tying fg (could have just as easily been a killing td because of our weak defense).. and the second time, yesterday, effective ended the game for the skins.. we supposedly got duckett just for those times. where was he? why do we have him anyway? that comes back to the front office and to coaching decisions
next.. how dare lindsey insert himself or create a controversy.. he needed to keep his own ego in check before the game. making derogatory or sarcastic comments about lavar (whether true or not) was simply stupid and needlessly inflammatory. so what if lavar didn't play especially well, he gave the defense a reason to rally around lavar. it was simply bush league and un worthy of an experienced coach.. same goes for springs. if you are not contributing how dare you stir things up?
the front office ? we have let quality players like clark and pierce walk in order to get marquis players who have not played any better than the players who left.. we have mortgaged the future for players like campbell and rocky. were they worth it? we are never going to know unless they get on the field. playing brunell and holdman is the past.. it is time to move to the future.. credit the giants for recognizing they were not going anywhere with warner and biting the bullet. where would they be now if they had managed eli the same way we are managing campbell.. or is campbell simply not the answer? heaven help us if that is the case..

the offense?
the qb production is simply too inconsistent to tolerate. there is no long term upside to keeping the position in brunell's hands. it is simply time to move on. he is so sensitive to pressure that any team that can mount a pass rush is going to degrade the offense to the point that it is non funtional..is campbell any better ? it is simply time to find out.
o line ? enough of the excuses. these guys are being paid ridiculous amounts of money for the kind of disappointing play they are showing. penalties ? yup.
lack of protection for brunell ? yup... not enough holes for the runners ? yup.
no where has more money been spent for less production. problem is we have no young players to plug in to see if they are better because guys like harvey, pino, ndukwe are elsewhere and we have only career back ups like pucillo and walters and molinaro... not a very happy situation. the only solution i can see is to let them do what they seem to do best. run block..
why should we expect them to suddenly develop into pass blockers? they are what they are..
the skilled players on offense? we know what we have in portis and moss. probably in cooley as well. we do not even have a clue what lloyd and ARE are capable of because we cannot seem to get the ball into their hands.
and for this saunders is pulling down how much money ? why are we playing betts when we traded for duckett? how soon before we put patten on IR and elevate espy or another player who can at least give us some special teams play from the reserve wideout position..? anyone see what baskett is contributing to the eagle offense? they got him for a career zero, mcmullen..
we spend 2 draft picks on lloyd and cannot get him integrated into the offense..

the defense ?
let's start at the top.. GW has presided over a defense that has steadily diminished in rank from year 1 to year 3.. the defense does not produce turnovers and cannot stop anyone on third down. the pass defense is reduced to rubble because springs is not playing ? rubbish.. the run defense looks fine 1 week and then crumbles before tiki or chester taylor. we forked over big bucks for a safety who appears to be ill suited for the type of defense that GW is running. above all.. above all.. we are getting zero pass rush from the defensive line. that is a killer. we appear to have grossly overestimated carter's worth in this regard. daniels played well for about 1/3 of 1 year and that is it. the others would be reserves anywhere else except for griffin. even he is wearing down now. this is another massively unproductive area. at least we have a couple of young players in golston and montgomery.. get them active and in there as much as possible.
at the ends start evans and find some use, any use for carter. move him around and see if he can simply rush the passer from behind the line. make him purely a designated rusher and let him forget about run responsibilities.

linebacker.. the front office in 20/20 hindsight should have re signed pierce and allowed arrington to walk. this unit would have been far better with washington, pierce and marshall. that is unfortunate. for now we simply have to get rocky coached up and play him. letting holdman man this position is simply a waste.
def backs... an ugly situation. the twin losses of springs and PP have totally exposed this unit. we would have been better off keeping morton and developing him over signing wright. jax knew something when they kept trying to replace him. no morton ? play jimoh. either he is worthy of playing at this point or he should not be on the squad after this number of years.
the safeties? don't even get me started about arch.. he is not only incapable of providing any semblence of pass defense, but he has diminished the effectiveness of taylor compared to the teamwork that was developing between taylor and clark.. a huge error.. plus, he is no better a blitzer than matt bowen was.. what would i do? see if rumph can make the transition to safety or else, force feed doughty and hope he can grow into the position

special teams.. frost is marginal, but will have to do this year. replace him with a real punter in the off season.. having him kick off is tantamount to giving the opponents a short field every time
hall? he is damaged goods. don't give me that BS about having a tired leg. this guy is a professional kicker. he can't kick off now? he is unreliable from past 40 yards..another huge error the front office made. there are few good options now. keep him ? sign someone like novak or edinger? again, no good options now

is the season effectively over as far as playoffs are concerned? not quite.
but the tea leaves are easy enough to read if things continue down the same pathway.. there is zero reason to expect a 5 game winning streak out of this team. absent that kind of effort, we are not going anywhere in january.
we cannot beat the nfc--especially the nfc east.
time to make the transition to younger players anywhere possible.. especially at qb and wlb where we have invested huge amounts...and at def line and safety where we have young players who need to step in and step up if we are going to have any kind of future as a competitive team..

shally

Ohiofan · #2 10-09-2006, 01:36 PM

Very good commentary. All excellent points.

wewantdallas · #3 10-09-2006, 01:37 PM

Wow! Makes my rant look tame! :-)

I agree, and I feel the anger!

I will wait until the bye week to decide on how I feel about Campbell. If we are 4-3 at the bye, then definitely keep Brunell. If we're 3-4, I'm leaning very heavily towards Campbell. If we're 2-5, then, yeah, Campbell BETTER be in there against Dallas.

THis is not a real shot against Brunell. He's played fairly well the last few weeks, but his lifespan on this team is diminishing rapidly, and we have to start thinking about our longterm future very soon.

redskin_rich · #4 10-09-2006, 01:45 PM

Good write-up, Shally! I agree on all points. It's time to see what Campbell can do, so we can at least expect success next year, hopefully.
One more NFC East loss and we are fried. Time for change, we simply don't have a good enough team to win with such a conservative approach.

shally · #5 10-09-2006, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wewantdallas

Wow! Makes my rant look tame! :-)

I agree, and I feel the anger!

I will wait until the bye week to decide on how I feel about Campbell. If we are 4-3 at the bye, then definitely keep Brunell. If we're 3-4, I'm leaning very heavily towards Campbell. If we're 2-5, then, yeah, Campbell BETTER be in there against Dallas.

THis is not a real shot against Brunell. He's played fairly well the last few weeks, but his lifespan on this team is diminishing rapidly, and we have to start thinking about our longterm future very soon.

again.. where would the giants be now if they had decided to squeeze another year or more out of warner?
brunell by himself is not the entire problem.. but behind the o line we have and using the schemes we have he puts up games with 200 yards passing or less. that won't cut it.
play campbell.. every game he plays this year shortens the time till he is a first rate starter. he won't get there being inactive

SpicyMcHaggis · #6 10-09-2006, 02:05 PM

Excellent write up, shally.
I agree with all the points you touched on, especially the ones about the front office and the coaching staff. It seems to me that with the exception of ARE, not 1 player who was brought in during the offseason is doing anything to help the team, and most of them are actually downgrades from what we had in the past. We are throwing away money and draft picks like they are worthless. And, once again, SOMEBODY MUST EXPLAIN THE DUCKETT SITUATION. Actually, I'm gonna go put it in my signature after this post.
The Tennesse game is actually worthless to me. If we win, we have just done the bare minimum. If we lose, we absolutely suck. It's the games after that that are gonna prove if this team has any heart, and if this franchise is going anywhere with this current group of players and coaches. Yes, coaches too...including the head coach.

shally · #7 10-09-2006, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpicyMcHaggis

Excellent write up, shally.
I agree with all the points you touched on, especially the ones about the front office and the coaching staff. It seems to me that with the exception of ARE, not 1 player who was brought in during the offseason is doing anything to help the team, and most of them are actually downgrades from what we had in the past. We are throwing away money and draft picks like they are worthless. And, once again, SOMEBODY MUST EXPLAIN THE DUCKETT SITUATION. Actually, I'm gonna go put it in my signature after this post.
The Tennesse game is actually worthless to me. If we win, we have just done the bare minimum. If we lose, we absolutely suck. It's the games after that that are gonna prove if this team has any heart, and if this franchise is going anywhere with this current group of players and coaches. Yes, coaches too...including the head coach.

the danger of the tennessee game is that if the skins win big it creates a deceptive feeling of euphoria.. that there is nothing really wrong.. that lasts until the next crash against indy..
very little long range benefit will be served by this team going 7-9, 8-8 or 9-7 with brunell at the helm and other young players onthe bench.. this is not a SB level team. it is likely not a playoff team either.. we need to see what we actually have in terms of young players.. right now.. not after the season is offically lost..

SpicyMcHaggis · #8 10-09-2006, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shally

the danger of the tennessee game is that if the skins win big it creates a deceptive feeling of euphoria.. that there is nothing really wrong.. that lasts until the next crash against indy..
very little long range benefit will be served by this team going 7-9, 8-8 or 9-7 with brunell at the helm and other young players onthe bench.. this is not a SB level team. it is likely not a playoff team either.. we need to see what we actually have in terms of young players.. right now.. not after the season is offically lost..

I agree. This is NOT a young team. The lines are all composed of 30 something players, with the exception of Carter, who so far has done nothing, and Dockery, who is a free agent at the end of the year (it's gonna be VERY interesting to see what happens there). The QB is ancient. The top cornerback is 31 and injury prone. GIbbs will not be here for 10 more years. Fauria, Holdman, Marshall, Sellers are all 30 or more. We have to start figuring out what we have behind some of those guys, and unless we win against Tennesse, play well against Indy regardless of the result, and win 2 or 3 games after that, we might as well start putting fresh people in because we are not going to the Super Bowl with this team...

Dolla Bill · #9 10-09-2006, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpicyMcHaggis

I agree. This is NOT a young team. The lines are all composed of 30 something players, with the exception of Carter, who so far has done nothing, and Dockery, who is a free agent at the end of the year (it's gonna be VERY interesting to see what happens there). The QB is ancient. The top cornerback is 31 and injury prone. GIbbs will not be here for 10 more years. Fauria, Holdman, Marshall, Sellers are all 30 or more. We have to start figuring out what we have behind some of those guys, and unless we win against Tennesse, play well against Indy regardless of the result, and win 2 or 3 games after that, we might as well start putting fresh people in because we are not going to the Super Bowl with this team...

I hear everyone about the youth front. Problem is, who do you put in? I agree with Evans. Put him in opposite Carter. He's a good player. Golston instead of Salavea. Rumph is slower because of his achilles injury. Put him as safety instead on obvious passing downs. Where is Jimoh? He has steadily increased his productivity under Williams. I haven't seen him hardly on the field at all. Holdman is just wasting a LB slot for Rocky. Put the boy in already. It cannot be any worse than it is now. At least he has speed and can stay with a TE.

On offense, to shake it up, bench Lloyd for ARE. I said it, and send a message to Lloyd. Even if we start with 3 WR, put in Patten. He wanted that pass from Brunell in Houston. Would Lloyd do that now? Don't think so. I also wish that this team would commit to running the football. The WR we have are awesome, but that is not what Redskins football is about. Punch the other team in the mouth, and then line up, and do it again.

Ibleedburgundy · #10 10-09-2006, 02:37 PM

Good rant. We have made some mistakes on personel and they hurt bad right now. Losing Clark and Pierce are huge and coupled with that, losing Springs and Prioleau is devastating. Marcus Washington yakking on the field probably didn't help matters much either. Our guys could not get off a block to save their lives on run defense.

I don't agree that we shoud go with Campbell just yet. It will take a few more of those gimmie INT's like the gift he tried to give to Antonio Pierce to get me to be anti-Brunell. When the Redskins have 7 losses, make the switch.

Our offensive schemes are great one week and hopeless the next and by hopeless I mean Christian the matador Fauria one on one against the single season sack record holder while Brunell slaps the ball and doesn't move around in the pocket (if there was one).

MONK_in_HOF · #11 10-09-2006, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shally

the danger of the tennessee game is that if the skins win big it creates a deceptive feeling of euphoria.. that there is nothing really wrong.. that lasts until the next crash against indy..
very little long range benefit will be served by this team going 7-9, 8-8 or 9-7 with brunell at the helm and other young players onthe bench.. this is not a SB level team. it is likely not a playoff team either.. we need to see what we actually have in terms of young players.. right now.. not after the season is offically lost..

I agree, as I do with most of your original post. I have mixed feelings on starting JC this week. First I realize that it won't happen and don't think we see JC until much later in the year, unless Brunell gets hurt. If there was a time to start him off on a good note, it would be this week I think. Probably the easiest home game on our schedule. We traded extra picks to get JC and Rocky, and if the team remains inconsistent it is about time to see why we spent extra picks to get them. There is only so much you can learn from the sidelines.

When you trade picks to move up and draft a player I would think they would be in your short term plans. If not, and the plan was to develop them first, why not save the picks you traded and select a few more players to try and develop? I can understand w/ a QB but I would hope Rocky would be ready to see some snaps by now, especially w/ how poor Holdman has been in coverage the past few games.

If we keep adding high salary FAs every year this team will never have any stability. Considering the Skins are always hovering right around the cap limit, and continue to sign high priced FA, there are going to be annual purges due to escalating FA contracts and drafted players seeking their first big pay day. This really kill us in terms of depth and stability IMO. I realize that FA has always been Gibbs way, but not all FA are certain to produce and hamper a teams future much more when they don't.

Apache · #12 10-09-2006, 02:37 PM

We should beat Tenn but, remember they are more desperate than we are. I sure hope we're not the first team they are able to conquer. I agree with Shally's points. I just don't see how we totally screw up a good defense by bringing in new players. I guess it's all about the free agency. Perhaps we just couldn't keep them. I feel like we give up all of our talented players who go elsewhere and do great things. We've had a lot of good players who we've brushed off. I miss the days before free agency where players were dedicated to the team and not the almighty dollar. Back then players were able to develop a system of consistancy. I think it's hard in today's league because of the constant roster turn over and egos let alone coaching staff with there supposed brilliant plans. Seems like when you finally get the right fit, it's time to start over. I thought all we needed this year was some offensive changes and kicker/punter changes and we managed to mess up the defense.

openallnight · #13 10-09-2006, 02:46 PM

I'm freakin' pissed from our demonstrated lack of intestinal fortitude this past sunday.
BUT . . .
1. We can NOT bench Brunell at this point of the season. I could give a rat's arse about next season. We need to beat TN and Brunell gives us the best chance to do that.
2. Maybe we're playing betts over duckett because, he is better? None of us are in practice everyday. So, I'll trust the coaching staff on this one.
3. Our line played a horrible game yesterday but, played a pretty decent one the week before. Our starters are vastly superior to our backups. So, there is no chance for someone else to step in. We need to get Brunell on the perimeter. For whatever reason he is not an effective passer from the pocket. And crumbles at the 1st sign of pressure.
4. We've seen Randle El and B. Lloyd make plays in other unis. Now, we just have to do a better job of getting them into the game plan. The key is converting 3rd downs. The more plays we get the more chance we'll have to give these guys there touches.
5. The defense was NOT producing TOs last year until the 2nd half of the season. I think yesterday was the "perfect" disaster for our d. I mean what are the chances that you're two best players, Washington and Taylor, play the worse games of their careers here on the same day? I still contend that MW was sick and won't let this happen again. I think ST is too good to continue to NOT have an impact on many more games.
6. Our LBs have been a weakness. I too hope McIntosh starts getting some PT, especially in passing situations. Obviously, we're missing Clemons coverage abilities significantly. But, that's water under the bridge now and Rocky is the only LB athletic enough to get this job done.
7. I agree our 2ndary has problems. But, putting Rumph at SS isn't goin to fix anything. Arch at least tackles the guys after they catch the ball. Rumph gets beat more than a scrambled egg. I think we'd be better off trying out Lloyd or Randle El in nickle or dime packages.
8. Hall seems fairly dependible inside of 40 yards. We can't rely on anything more. Our coaching staff needs to accept this and make kicking decisions accordingly.
9. The season is NOT over by a long shot. We've got 4 remaining division games with 3 of those at home. No, we haven't beat anybody in the NFC east but it's about time we step up and punch someone in the mouth and take control of this division!

openallnight · #14 10-09-2006, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shally

the danger of the tennessee game is that if the skins win big it creates a deceptive feeling of euphoria.. that there is nothing really wrong.. that lasts until the next crash against indy..
very little long range benefit will be served by this team going 7-9, 8-8 or 9-7 with brunell at the helm and other young players onthe bench.. this is not a SB level team. it is likely not a playoff team either.. we need to see what we actually have in terms of young players.. right now.. not after the season is offically lost..

I totally disagree. You play with the BEST players you've got. Most teams these days don't go out dominating from week 1 through the superbowl. Pittsburgh looked like a very average team until around week 9 or so last year than went on a tear. We need to GET our best players to play their best. Now, if there's a younger guy on the bench better than the guy in front of him I'm all for the switch but, I think those spots are few and far between on this team.

NCskinsfanatic · #15 10-09-2006, 03:38 PM

I agree with some of your points and can't really disagree with a lot coming out of this weeks corner. I think if I do disagree it is with the fact that a QB change will help.

I think it could provide a spark like Ramsey did against ...I think it was the Titans...you know he ducked the hit stayed in the pocket and threw a strike for 7. I think we currently have much better protection and scheme to offer Jason than SS did Ramsey, I think JC is also more mobile and has a very strong arm....and will be a better QB than Ramsey. However I don't think he can just step in and play as well as Roth and only a handful of inexperienced guys have done with this team as it stands.

If JC goes in and the line offers him as much time as MB, true maybe he scampers for a few and keeps a drive alive but what about when he throws two or three picks because the D shows him something he hasnt seen or protection breaks down too quick? There's just a lot that could go wrong with that to me...give the guy one year or the majority of it under Saunders scheme before we give this line a new QB to fail to protect. Our Line looks like 5 "weeble wobbles" out there for goodness sake.

It does not just pretain to the passing game either, the magic with Portis is he gets through cracks, slivers in the D's coverage that's all he needs and he doesn't even get those consistently behind this line. They fail to run early, our Defense gives up bombs at will and the OLine well they're right back out there still not blowing people off the ball, I could be wrong but I don't think it's all play calling either, meaning it's not all Saunders fault, the guys don't blow people off the ball, they don't bring it on every play and they don't keep their guy clean in pass pro.

This line allows for constant penetration, in the middle, on the left, the right, on passing plays, on running plays and IMHO JC aint fixin all that. It's just my two cents but I think our OLine is our offensive problem...period. JC can't help that and very few QB's could...the line has to step up.

Obviously I think a lot of it is this Olines play, their lack of execution along with the D not fearing us are bigger problems than our Wrs our or QB. I realize there are other problems too and honestly losing PP and Springs have hurt IMO more than "trading" Arch for Clark has. PP and Stoutmire before that even... when we went with just 4 corners...one being Jimoh.. were pretty decent in coverage. We used safeties even more than corners during that period with injuries to our CB's, no pass rush, etc. and we're successful. I do think we have lost too much in our defensive secondary with just those two losses. This to me, exposes our lack of depth just like injuries to two starters on our OL would right now. PP was almost like a starter out there he could play CB and S and Arch probably would've been fine blitzing, run support, and being the cog GW envisioned. Remember GW's scheme is predicated on interchangeable parts and so far this season we have had to put in guys that aren't capable of picking up that much slack....our depth isn't as good as it needs to be but I ain't giving up on 'em and I know you all are with me...HHTR!