Larry Gude
Strung Out
Another season has come, with all the great promise and hope. Another season is gone, crashing and burning with a sudden-ness and completeness that sorely tests the stoutest of hearts.
It seems to take so long for a season to start. Great anticipation and eagerness for encouraging news when camp gets rolling. Clear minded attempts to reign in expectations or mute concerns, neither under or over reacting to pre season, that blessed 4 weeks of Christmas eve. And then, it's here!!!! The regular season! Where EVERY Monday is either a joy or a burden totally depending on how Sunday went. Now, we're IN it! No matter what happens, even the worst, they have a chance each week, every week, at least until mid season.
So, it starts. A close, tough game against a clearly better Houston team. We lose but, it's OK. It was a battle. It was worth watching. All the talk about RGIII, new coach Gruden, old coahc Haslett and the D, new faces, we played them tough! Not OK to lose but, hopeful.
Then, week 2 and we blast the hapless Jags but...groundhog day. Griffin is hurt yet again and, yet again, another odd Bobby Trey thing. A dark cloud has emerged BUT, we still won, going away, against a team we need to be better than, much better than in order to have playoff dreams. And we did win, big! 1-1!
Week 3...another loss BUT, again, a good fight and a close loss to one of the GOOD teams. Kirk throws over 400 yards and 3 scores. Hope! Hope we see!!! 1-2
Week 4. Can the season already be a quarter over????? Blowout loss. Reason to worry, really worry. Even a close loss would be bad but, getting stomped by a very mediocre Giants team is BAD mojo. 1-3
Week 5. The defending champs at home. Signs of hope! A good fight, had chance! Certainly not a drubbing so, maybe???? 1-4
Week 6 Not much of a contest. More like the Giants game than the Seattle game. Now, it starts to settle in. We're simply not very good. 1-5
Week 7; Titans, MUST win. We win. Barely. But, we win!........barely. 2-5
Week 8 (The halfway point already?????) At Dallas and a GREAT game!!! Hard fought all the way, guys, making plays!!!! We WIN!!!! 3-5!!! Is this IT???? The definitive moment of the season????
Wk 9 and an easy win against another lame opponent as we go to Minnesota and take care of busin......gughhhhhhh....no. Robert, inexplicably started after the Dallas gut check, is nothing but rust. What SHOULD have been 4-5 and a game from .500 is now a disheartening 3-6 and the first of six straight losses as the season reveals itself. This was THE game. Not to say the difference between playoffs or not but, the difference between a season to build on and wreckage. Colt HAD to start this game. No way we don't win but, the internal workings of Team S show themselves.
Wk 10 bye week and time for RGIII to sharpen up, come out blazing, healthy and rip apart another ripe melon on our schedule.
Week 11; the Lame Bucs. At home. After a bye. We get out teeth kicked in. 3-7. Now it is fading and it is ALL about finding something to build on. Again. Should have been 5-5 at this point .Could have been. But, no...
Week 12 TWELVE????? 3/4's of the season is OVER?????? Go to San Fran, put up a fight, have a chance, blah, blah, whatever, whatever. 5-5 and having something to fight for in wk 12 would have been great but, we fade, blah, blah....3-8
Week 13 at the Colts. This isn't going to be pretty. And it's not. They are polite hosts and even beg us to make a game of it. We say 'huh?' 3-9
Week 14 So, how are the Wizards doing? Is Tiger going to play welll next season? Don't we have a women's NBA team or something??? Rams come to town and make it plain; We suck and we suck because we do things like give other teams good talent and depth, like the Rams, in exchange for dreams and fantasies. The Rams take us to the proverbial wood shed and Gregggggggg asks, time and again, "How do you like me now? How about now? And now????" Just pounded. Stomped. They helped us to our feet just to knock us down again. The Trail of Tears all over again for this tribe....3-10
Week 15 At NYC, late in the season, nothing to ply for. And we play like it. 3-11 3 and freaking ELEVEN. Numerous ZERO chance games; Giants twice. Cards, Rams, Colts, Bucs...BUCS????? Good teams have a bad game. Mediocre teams have a couple, mostly against better teams. Bad teams have them against good and bad teams. 3-11????
Week 16 At Philly. It's week 3 all over again, good, hard played game and...we win...against a team that HAS to win??? A division foe???? Why now? How? WTF???? 4-11
End of the season, something to build on from last week, Dallas doesn't need it, at our field, give everyone a Christmas present, a little something warm for the LONG off season, have Robert end on a clear high note, some hope and....they just did an onside kick and out us away with ZERO concern about what might happen if it doesn't work. They just kicked sand in our face, at home and we just rolled over...dud. Thud. Nothing. Nothing. 4-12
And, just like that, it's over. Nothing to build on. Nothing but a pro bowl punter suffering a worn out foot to celebrate. Maybe Kerrigan and Robinson. Even the people who cover the team are at a total loss as, today, one of the guys on the radio, in an effort to have SOMETHING to talk about, wondered if Alfred Morris might be on the decline. Alfred Morris. Wha?????
Trent Williams gets am 'atta' boy' for gutting out his injuries to finish the season. I'm sure a lotta guys played hurt. Helu is a bright spot. Garcon is too, but, probably should be traded to a contender who needs him and is willing to give up a decent pick for him instead of another season here in purgatory. Reed is OK. Both lines have little to build on. Orakpo is long past selling and trading. Hall is done. Moss, done. Special teams is poor. Gruden compounded all the other problems with some questionable coaching and certainly leading the 'we're not all in this together' worries.
There is NOTHING to build on here. NOTHING. We could trade away Kerrigan, Garcon, Robinson, cut loose RGIII, our punter, Williams, anyone of any value, get rid of all the wastes like Orakpo and even trade down to get all the 4th, 5th and 6th round picks we can get AND have a brand new coaching staff with first time OC, DC and head coach and end NEXT season on a MUCH better note than this one is ending. There is NOTHING to be excited about for next year. If Allen stays, so what? If Gruden stays, so what? If Haslett stays, so what? if Robert stays, so what? If Haslett gets canned, so what? Robert goes? So what? New GM? So what? This team has MORE reason to be optimistic about next year if the are ALL gone AND we cut lose of everyone, just clean house, than if some or all stay. There is NOTHING to build on.
Have we hit bottom????
It seems to take so long for a season to start. Great anticipation and eagerness for encouraging news when camp gets rolling. Clear minded attempts to reign in expectations or mute concerns, neither under or over reacting to pre season, that blessed 4 weeks of Christmas eve. And then, it's here!!!! The regular season! Where EVERY Monday is either a joy or a burden totally depending on how Sunday went. Now, we're IN it! No matter what happens, even the worst, they have a chance each week, every week, at least until mid season.
So, it starts. A close, tough game against a clearly better Houston team. We lose but, it's OK. It was a battle. It was worth watching. All the talk about RGIII, new coach Gruden, old coahc Haslett and the D, new faces, we played them tough! Not OK to lose but, hopeful.
Then, week 2 and we blast the hapless Jags but...groundhog day. Griffin is hurt yet again and, yet again, another odd Bobby Trey thing. A dark cloud has emerged BUT, we still won, going away, against a team we need to be better than, much better than in order to have playoff dreams. And we did win, big! 1-1!
Week 3...another loss BUT, again, a good fight and a close loss to one of the GOOD teams. Kirk throws over 400 yards and 3 scores. Hope! Hope we see!!! 1-2
Week 4. Can the season already be a quarter over????? Blowout loss. Reason to worry, really worry. Even a close loss would be bad but, getting stomped by a very mediocre Giants team is BAD mojo. 1-3
Week 5. The defending champs at home. Signs of hope! A good fight, had chance! Certainly not a drubbing so, maybe???? 1-4
Week 6 Not much of a contest. More like the Giants game than the Seattle game. Now, it starts to settle in. We're simply not very good. 1-5
Week 7; Titans, MUST win. We win. Barely. But, we win!........barely. 2-5
Week 8 (The halfway point already?????) At Dallas and a GREAT game!!! Hard fought all the way, guys, making plays!!!! We WIN!!!! 3-5!!! Is this IT???? The definitive moment of the season????
Wk 9 and an easy win against another lame opponent as we go to Minnesota and take care of busin......gughhhhhhh....no. Robert, inexplicably started after the Dallas gut check, is nothing but rust. What SHOULD have been 4-5 and a game from .500 is now a disheartening 3-6 and the first of six straight losses as the season reveals itself. This was THE game. Not to say the difference between playoffs or not but, the difference between a season to build on and wreckage. Colt HAD to start this game. No way we don't win but, the internal workings of Team S show themselves.
Wk 10 bye week and time for RGIII to sharpen up, come out blazing, healthy and rip apart another ripe melon on our schedule.
Week 11; the Lame Bucs. At home. After a bye. We get out teeth kicked in. 3-7. Now it is fading and it is ALL about finding something to build on. Again. Should have been 5-5 at this point .Could have been. But, no...
Week 12 TWELVE????? 3/4's of the season is OVER?????? Go to San Fran, put up a fight, have a chance, blah, blah, whatever, whatever. 5-5 and having something to fight for in wk 12 would have been great but, we fade, blah, blah....3-8
Week 13 at the Colts. This isn't going to be pretty. And it's not. They are polite hosts and even beg us to make a game of it. We say 'huh?' 3-9
Week 14 So, how are the Wizards doing? Is Tiger going to play welll next season? Don't we have a women's NBA team or something??? Rams come to town and make it plain; We suck and we suck because we do things like give other teams good talent and depth, like the Rams, in exchange for dreams and fantasies. The Rams take us to the proverbial wood shed and Gregggggggg asks, time and again, "How do you like me now? How about now? And now????" Just pounded. Stomped. They helped us to our feet just to knock us down again. The Trail of Tears all over again for this tribe....3-10
Week 15 At NYC, late in the season, nothing to ply for. And we play like it. 3-11 3 and freaking ELEVEN. Numerous ZERO chance games; Giants twice. Cards, Rams, Colts, Bucs...BUCS????? Good teams have a bad game. Mediocre teams have a couple, mostly against better teams. Bad teams have them against good and bad teams. 3-11????
Week 16 At Philly. It's week 3 all over again, good, hard played game and...we win...against a team that HAS to win??? A division foe???? Why now? How? WTF???? 4-11
End of the season, something to build on from last week, Dallas doesn't need it, at our field, give everyone a Christmas present, a little something warm for the LONG off season, have Robert end on a clear high note, some hope and....they just did an onside kick and out us away with ZERO concern about what might happen if it doesn't work. They just kicked sand in our face, at home and we just rolled over...dud. Thud. Nothing. Nothing. 4-12
And, just like that, it's over. Nothing to build on. Nothing but a pro bowl punter suffering a worn out foot to celebrate. Maybe Kerrigan and Robinson. Even the people who cover the team are at a total loss as, today, one of the guys on the radio, in an effort to have SOMETHING to talk about, wondered if Alfred Morris might be on the decline. Alfred Morris. Wha?????
Trent Williams gets am 'atta' boy' for gutting out his injuries to finish the season. I'm sure a lotta guys played hurt. Helu is a bright spot. Garcon is too, but, probably should be traded to a contender who needs him and is willing to give up a decent pick for him instead of another season here in purgatory. Reed is OK. Both lines have little to build on. Orakpo is long past selling and trading. Hall is done. Moss, done. Special teams is poor. Gruden compounded all the other problems with some questionable coaching and certainly leading the 'we're not all in this together' worries.
There is NOTHING to build on here. NOTHING. We could trade away Kerrigan, Garcon, Robinson, cut loose RGIII, our punter, Williams, anyone of any value, get rid of all the wastes like Orakpo and even trade down to get all the 4th, 5th and 6th round picks we can get AND have a brand new coaching staff with first time OC, DC and head coach and end NEXT season on a MUCH better note than this one is ending. There is NOTHING to be excited about for next year. If Allen stays, so what? If Gruden stays, so what? If Haslett stays, so what? if Robert stays, so what? If Haslett gets canned, so what? Robert goes? So what? New GM? So what? This team has MORE reason to be optimistic about next year if the are ALL gone AND we cut lose of everyone, just clean house, than if some or all stay. There is NOTHING to build on.
Have we hit bottom????
