Should the 'skins

[Larry Gude]

You and...

We can do it!!! I remember that monday night game a few years ago where we got two touchdowns with a minute or two left in the game and came back to win against them. I think we can rise to the occassion Anything can happen

...me will be talking smack come Monday morning! Yea, buddy! Skins WILL win! I guarantee it. If we lose, Dems will come weed everyones garden all next spring. Right, Dems?


Hail to the Redskins!
Hail Victory!
Braves on the Warpath!
Fight for old D.C.!
Run or pass and score -- we want a lot more!
Beat 'em, Swamp 'em,
Touchdown! -- Let the points soar!
Fight on, fight on 'Til you have won
Sons of Wash-ing-ton. Rah!, Rah!, Rah!
Hail to the Redskins!
Hail Victory!
Braves on the Warpath!
Fight for old D.C.!

 

[LordStanley]

....hockey where everyone plays for the love of the game, right?

Now, let's see. Who was it that went on strike recently for more...what was it...money, I think it was, and damn near killed the sport they so 'love' in the process???

Some help here. Anyone remember???

Now your putting words in my mouth.... I never said hockey wasnt without its fair share of greedy a$$holes... Nor did I bring up hockey at any point in this conversation.

 

[Larry Gude]

No...

So what your saying is all 53 players said, Im forced to play for the redskins because no other team would hire me under contract.

No wonder why the skins suck.

....as I said before, the entry system to the NFL is the draft and free agency. Shawn Taylor got drafted by us. If he wanted to play in the NFL and make NFL dollars, he had to go play for the Skins. He may have preferred the Dolphins as they are his home town team. He may have preferred the Chargers to be in SoCal. But, he had no choice in that matter.

Brandon Lloyd was contacted by the Redskins to come be a rap artist in DC and they made him an offer he accepted. He may have wanted to go to Detroit and be in Motown, but, he didn't have the choice of that. It would only work if Detroit said they were interested.

 

[Larry Gude]

When...

Now your putting words in my mouth.... I never said hockey wasnt without its fair share of greedy a$$holes... Nor did I bring up hockey at any point in this conversation.

...did you call any football players greedy a holes?

Point is, no one is in the NFL with all it's rigors and demands and risks for free. Same with hockey. Same with baseball. Basketball. Soccer. Golf.

No one puts in that kind of dedication and commitment for free.

 

[dems4me]

...me will be talking smack come Monday morning! Yea, buddy! Skins WILL win! I guarantee it. If we lose, Dems will come weed everyones garden all next spring. Right, Dems?


Hail to the Redskins!
Hail Victory!
Braves on the Warpath!
Fight for old D.C.!
Run or pass and score -- we want a lot more!
Beat 'em, Swamp 'em,
Touchdown! -- Let the points soar!
Fight on, fight on 'Til you have won
Sons of Wash-ing-ton. Rah!, Rah!, Rah!
Hail to the Redskins!
Hail Victory!
Braves on the Warpath!
Fight for old D.C.!

No I said friendly wager, not manual labor I do hope you don your outfit I made for you sunday We can do it

 

[Coventry17]

Out of those 53 players, who is playing football cause they love the sport and are not in it for just the money. Who is playing for the logo on the helmet and not the name on the back of the shirt.

Why are athletes expected to play because "they love the game" and why are they supposed to decline signing a free agent contract with a new team out of "loyalty to their franchise"? It's a job, period. They have a very short period to make as much money as they can and then get on with the next stage of their lives. The average NFL career is less than 3 years and the life expectancy of an NFL player is 57. Nobody is doing this out of love. They're doing it to get paid. Do any of us go to our jobs because we love it? Do we not try to make as much money as we can? Professional football players are no different. What's the root word of professional? PROFESSION!!! It's a JOB, people.

 

[Coventry17]

....as I said before, the entry system to the NFL is the draft and free agency. Shawn Taylor got drafted by us. If he wanted to play in the NFL and make NFL dollars, he had to go play for the Skins. He may have preferred the Dolphins as they are his home town team. He may have preferred the Chargers to be in SoCal. But, he had no choice in that matter.

Brandon Lloyd was contacted by the Redskins to come be a rap artist in DC and they made him an offer he accepted. He may have wanted to go to Detroit and be in Motown, but, he didn't have the choice of that. It would only work if Detroit said they were interested.

Who drafted John Elway? Eli Manning? If a player doesn't want to play for the team that drafted him, there are ways around that.

 

[Larry Gude]

Oh for...

Who drafted John Elway? Eli Manning? If a player doesn't want to play for the team that drafted him, there are ways around that.

...crying out loud. Yes, there are exceptions to the rules. But of the 2,000 or so NFL players on teams right now and all the others over the last 20-30 years, we're talking, what, Elway, Eli and a couple others.

 

[LordStanley]

Why are athletes expected to play because "they love the game" and why are they supposed to decline signing a free agent contract with a new team out of "loyalty to their franchise"? It's a job, period. They have a very short period to make as much money as they can and then get on with the next stage of their lives. The average NFL career is less than 3 years and the life expectancy of an NFL player is 57. Nobody is doing this out of love. They're doing it to get paid. Do any of us go to our jobs because we love it? Do we not try to make as much money as we can? Professional football players are no different. What's the root word of professional? PROFESSION!!! It's a JOB, people.

If I could be paid for something that I love doing, Id be playing in the NHL.

 

[ItalianScallion]

...non sense. If the head coach is not responsible, then what is the point of a head coach?
They don't get to choose what plays to run. Everything they do in terms of when they are at practice or on the field is ONLY with the explicit approval of the coach. The head coach.

Yes, ultimately it is Gibbs job, BUT it's up to the players to execute the plays and they're not doing it. Gibbs can't make them do it right. I could tell you the right way to execute a certain play but, if you don't do it right, how can I be at fault? As I said earlier, look what Gibbs has to work with. I watched these overpaid 3rd string kids drop perfectly catchable passes (among other screw ups) Sunday. NO excuse!

Coaches fault for calling some the the eff'd up plays they've been calling, but it's the players who in the end, win or loose the game. He can call plays for a perfect game, but if you can't execute the plays, you can't win the game.
Joe needs to back off of the running plays and start putting the ball in the air. It's up to the QB to throw catchable balls, and the wide receivers to catch the ball. And I'm not taking about these 4 yard throws they keep doing over and over and over again. At least make it to the first down marker. Joe's idea of running the ball is so 80's. The running backs today are not the running backs of the 80's like Riggins. Get with the times, or get a packin'. And players, get your damn head in the game and out of the accountants office wondering how much bread you're bringing home today. If they can't play (and everyone has off days) put their butts on the bench and give someone who wants to play the chance. They might just surprise ya.

LADY, YOU ROCK! This is EXACTLY the problem. How many of us said: who's callling these plays? The coaches? Maybe Gibbs, maybe not, but what I saw Sunday was a bunch of incompetent plays & players.

 

[Larry Gude]

This amazes...

Yes, ultimately it is Gibbs job, BUT it's up to the players to execute the plays and they're not doing it. Gibbs can't make them do it right. I could tell you the right way to execute a certain play but, if you don't do it right, how can I be at fault? As I said earlier, look what Gibbs has to work with. I watched these overpaid 3rd string kids drop perfectly catchable passes (among other screw ups) Sunday. NO excuse!

...me.

Lets assume, for a moment, it is the players, OK? Now, if we were to just swap players with the Patriots or Colts four years ago, what do you think their record would be over that time and what would ours be?

If it's the players then we would have won a couple of Superbowls and they'd be sitting around wondering what's wrong with those darn players, right?

Now, if you think that's all there is to it, we just disagree.

 

[ItalianScallion]

...me.
Lets assume, for a moment, it is the players, OK? Now, if we were to just swap players with the Patriots or Colts four years ago, what do you think their record would be over that time and what would ours be?
If it's the players then we would have won a couple of Superbowls and they'd be sitting around wondering what's wrong with those darn players, right?
Now, if you think that's all there is to it, we just disagree.

Yes! If you put the Pats or Colt players under Gibbs, they'd be on top today. Gibbs has proven himself in both football & Nascar. I'm not saying you're wrong Larry, I just think that it's just more of a player problem than a coaching problem.

 

[AndyMarquisLIVE]

If they were dumb enough to show up for the N.E. game, would it matter now? They should have their pay docked for the way they're playing. I can't blame Joe for their performance, he's proven himself in the past. He just can't do anything with this group so he should clean house and start over.
P.S. I am a 'skins fan but a very unhappy one right now.

Start with Jason Campbell.

 

[Larry Gude]

Ohmygod....

Yes! If you put the Pats or Colt players under Gibbs, they'd be on top today. Gibbs has proven himself in both football & Nascar. I'm not saying you're wrong Larry, I just think that it's just more of a player problem than a coaching problem.

...and seeings how we can't go back and swap with NE 4 years ago, where did the players we have today come from and how did they get here?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

For crying out loud.

 

[BuddyLee]

Monday night 'miracle'.

 

[dems4me]

...and seeings how we can't go back and swap with NE 4 years ago, where did the players we have today come from and how did they get here?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

For crying out loud.

No comment, but I really liked the 98 question marks

 

[kom526]

How about these names for your WRs on Sunday:

Antwan Randle-El
Keenan Mcardell
Reche Caldwell

Thrash-High ankle sprain/on crutches
Moss-Heel/did not practice
Lloyd-Broke collarbone in practice/6 weeks

 

[Larry Gude]

Worst win...

Monday night 'miracle'.

...in team history and here is why;

We'd just had the big season 2004. Joe is back! He brought Mark! Hooray!

Well, Mark can't play anymore and we go until the season is lost with Mark dinking and dunking before facing the obvious and Ramsey plays out the season and is named starter for the coming year.

So, we start against the Bears and Ramsey is getting it going, throws the great td to Cooley that gets called back and gets hurt. Joe sits him. Won't let him back in the game and we're back to Mark world.

Mark starts off at Dallas HORRIBLE for 55 minutes. Without two miracle passes
Joe has to go back to Ramsey, has to. So, Mark and Santana, on bombs no less, validate Joe's new way of putting all the pressure on the defense. 2005is an illusion as Joe won't even let Ramsey mop up against the 49ers or Cowboys in blowouts and we go on to set records of offensive futility against the Bucs in the playoffs, after getting in totally thanks to the defense, with a crippled Mark deemed better than our #2 healthy.

So, we go into 2006 with Joe believing in this hyper controlled offense run by the mistake free aging vet. And the pattern starts all over again; close games, all the pressure on the defense, the game against Houston validating the Mark thing again and we go on until another season is lost.

Had we lost that game in Dallas and Joe had to face the music then, things might be better today. As it happens, we've been playing the same way ever since Joe came back; flashes of brilliance, huge pressure on the defense and sticking to what Joe wants it to be on the field in the face of what it is.

 

[donbarzini]

Gibbs has only ever been a good coach. Talent evaluation should have been left to better minds. Case in point, Desmond Howard. Gibbs insisted upon drafting him to the point that The Squire came down on Joe's side; which pretty much spelled the end of Bobby Beathard's reign here. And frankly, since Beathard left, they really haven't been the same.

 

[Nupe2]

Gibbs has only ever been a good coach. Talent evaluation should have been left to better minds. Case in point, Desmond Howard. Gibbs insisted upon drafting him to the point that The Squire came down on Joe's side; which pretty much spelled the end of Bobby Beathard's reign here. And frankly, since Beathard left, they really haven't been the same.

Joe is not a personnel guy. Beathard was the guy who built the team and Young Joe and his staff got them prepared.

Also, I've never heard this discussed anywhere (sure it has been) but I wonder if "the speed of the game" affects coaches as well as players (always used to explain the difference between college and pro levels of competition). It seems to me that the speed of the game has caught up with Joe and his staff on many occasions since his return. Having been a long-time skins fan, I don't recall this being the issue in the past. Like it or not, most of us slow down a little as we age and I think this may have caught up with Joe Gibbs as well. The apparent confusion, especially in the red zone, regarding play-calling, substitutions, etc. seems to be the norm this time around instead of the exception. Clock management continues to be a problem in general and these types of snafus when combined with an overall conservative offensive approach, has left me with a sense of frustration as I root for these guys.

Maybe we've become a more critical society, always looking for instant gratification as well as instant replay. Perhaps those of us who are long-term fans are just frustrated and rather than expecting instant gratification are looking back through rose-colored glasses and remembering the "good times" just a little too much. Maybe we should all just remember the words of Duane Thomas regarding the the importance of the Super Bowl, i.e., "If its such an important game, why do they have to play it again next year?" That sentiment may seem irreverent but if you consider that the word "fan" is derived from the word "fanatic," maybe we all need to take a step back in both our expectations and our demands on this coaching staff.

Then again we are just a bunch of FAN(ATIC)S!