Be Honest Now!

[hatsOFF2gibbs]

Didn't most of us predict that we would have a hell of a lot better record than we have today? Didn't we all believe that we would atleast have a shot for the wildcard. Didn't we all believe we would beat the Cowboys and the Giants BOTH times?

I know I did. Please be honest! Since the season is almost over, how many of you are unhappy with our performance? (Don't confuse with building as a team)

I know that we are building as a team for next season, but did any of you think that we would actually look forward to next season in the middle of our own season this year?

I am not all bored by watching the Skins games, but in knowing that our season is already over, I am unsatisfied that we were not able to do much better than Spurrier (STAT wise).

We have definitely grown as a team for NEXT season, but our progress on the field is far below what I thouhgt it would be. (Especially offensively)

Please be truly honest in your responses.

[Chris Luva Luva]

How can building the team not be an answer? The team must be built in order for winning to occur. I didn't realize this until this season. Why? I had never witnessed a team be built the correct way before. Every coach that came in prior to Gibbs return didn't create the atmosphere and cohesiveness that Gibbs has. Thats why if you really pay attention you can see that the foundation has been created. There's no way but up for this team. The only stumbling block I can see is our front office but maybe they'll pick up the pace.

Was I expecting to win more games? Yes.
Am I dissapointed in this season? NO!!!
Would I have rather won more games instead of setting the foundation? NO!!!!
Why? Teams that just win because of their talent are NOT consistent, such as our past teams of the decade past. Teams who have a solid foundatoin and rich tradition from which they build upon NEVER fall too far from the top and are ALWAYS contenders.

Ex.
Ravens
Titans
PACKERS!

The Ravens lost almost their entire superbowl squad and have made the playoffs almost everytime since! Why because they have goals and a foundation that is set in place.

[DEHog]

Yep i said 8-8

[hatsOFF2gibbs]

Nice answer Chris!
I agree with the most part.

[Redskin in Canada]

Please be honest!

Well, this is painful but here I go:

Due to the fact that I had UNREALISTIC expectations, I thought we would do better. I underestimated the mess we were in. Some people warned us. They said the low morale, the lack of discipline, and the high degree of selfishness and greed would be VERY difficult to erradicate.

As a fan that knew the full Joe Gibbs first era, I NEVER ever suspected that my players would not "buy into" the Gibbs system immediately. I took for granted that him being there with the coaches would be good enough to change the mindset immediately. Well... you know how it went.

If you remember my posts after the first Giant name, I was crushed. I mean I was at LOWEST point of my life as a Skins fan. It did not take long (about a week of introspection and suffering) to realise that it would take TIME. I am not the only one who said that the second part of the season would be the real test for this team.

You know what? It was true. The second part of the season has been the real key to measure the progress of this team. Every single game has been better. I am delighted and grateful for the work put into by the WHOLE team.

Am I disappointed with the few wins? Yes. But I am even more sad watching my coaches and players suffer more than I do. I suffer when I see my players and coaches (and fellow fans) suffer.

There are several games that I would love to have back this season. I know our current team would win without a doubt. But we should not speculate to the past.

This team is building great momentum towards the next season. We will be ready then. Notice has been served to all. The Redskins are a team to contender against the best as of today and from now on.

[SkinsHead56]

I can honestly say I tempered my expectations for this team and staff. As Coach said " The past buys you nothing today, we have to go out and prove we can win today"

I am very disapointed with the first half of the season because each of those times we lost by a TD or less should have been wins.

I am very impressed with how this team continues to play it's heart out! No quitters here (i.e. the Browns).

Looking to next year, Ramsey will have the offseason to cement his role, knowing even if he stuggles Gibbs will give him the chance to work out of it.

On Defense..M. Washington, C. Griffin, S. Taylor, S. Springs, L. Arrington...and..please, please, please!!!! F. Smoot.
No elaboration needed.

[Skeletor]

I really expected a lot more and I am disappointed they didn't do better. I really thought the defensive line would keep us from winning a lot of games. Had you told me we would have a defense ranked as high as we do, I would have expected a 12 to 14 win season.

I am disappointed that Gibbs stuck with Brunell so long. We had a lot of winnable games early in the year and we turned to Ramsey just as we got to the toughest teams.

I'm disappointed Ramsey didn't show more in pre-season, because I think Gibbs would have played him earlier.

I'm disappointed that we have had so many penalties, dropped passes and mental errors. I certainly didn't expect that from a Joe Gibbs' coached team.

All that said, this has been the best year of Redskins football since the 10-6 year under Norv Turner when we came a long snap away from the championship game. The Skins have fought hard in every single game and no game has been a blow-out. (Even the first Philly game was a lot closer than the score indicated).

I think we're so close to being a good team, and that gives me much hope for next year. Unfortunately, I think we had the pieces together to make the playoffs this year, and we didn't get it done. Just think how pretty we'd be sitting right now if we had won the Dallas game, the Giants game or the Browns game. One win in those three, and we'd be competing for a wild card spot.

[Redskins1974]

I said 8-8 or 7-9, with next year being a huge improvement. I said anything else would be icing on the cake...

There's always disappointment in losing but I have a great feeling things are improving and will continue to do so despite what our current record says (something I haven't felt at the end of the season in a long time).

[ANT7088]

I like what we did this year, as long as we don't end up like Dallas did this year next year!

[1niksder]

I said we'd go 11-5 10-6 then 9-7 so I was wrong..
Wrong but not disapointed.
We held our own on Defense (where I figured the problems would be).
We played most games close and had a chance to win a few more than we did.

This wasn't just a rebuilding process it was also a re-education process.
Gibbs had to learn about all the changes that had taken place over the last decade.(shorter Playclock - Communication with the QB - Replay)
Ramsey had to learn how to run a pro style offense.
We had to learn Brunell didn't have what we thought he had. The whole team learned a new system

Injuries hurt us coming out of the gate with Janson getting hurt, then we had injury after injury and they continue to pile up (Hall went on IR this week)

Not disappointed at all. I feel better about next year when I compare it to how I felt this time last year.

And last week we were talking about the playoffs. When was the last time we talked playoffs this late in the season.

I can't wait to make my perdiction next year

[tcwest10]

Okay. Yes, I'm disappointed that I'm not gonna get to watch 'em deep into January.
No, I'm not disappointed about what I see right now.
Like others, I expected too much, too soon. I should've known better. Joe warned us, didn't he ?

[frankcal20]

My Fiance was a Cowpukes fan and i changed her over. Now i never hear the end of it. Your Redskins and NC State Wolfpack. Next year your going to have to pick a winning team. We spend too much money on this for you to be pissed off after every game. What she doesn't understand is i'm mad because in both teams we were in it till the end. Stupid mistakes cost us the game. Just the other night when we played the eagles we had way over 100 yards in penalty. Guess what, had we of not got one or two of those penalty's in that last drive it would have been 1st and goal not 1st and 10 from i think the 30. Anyways, I thought that we would have been a playoff contender. I convinced my friend to make a bet. Skins will have a better record than the Bears. $200.00 Guess what? Bears up one game. At this point i just want to tie. I lost last year at $100.00. Chad Hutchinson should cost me $200.00. My skins are way better than that. Get me in the locker room and i'll tell them so. I feel like a parent with the team and just want to disapline them because i know that they can do it they just need to focus and put all their effort. Ray Brown has worked his butt off but i'll be really happy to see Jansen back next year. See you all on Saturday. I'm going to bed.

[Hooligan]

You know what makes it better? The last few games and the Philly game especially, we're not only playing much better but the players are ON FIRE. Seeing Coles get smashed by Philly DB's, bounce right up and start talking smack... awesome. Everyone seems to be getting a lot more comfortable and they're playing like a solid team with a fire lit under them. We're not going to lose anything due to laziness or lack of desire, and you can get damn pumped up watching our guys play their hearts out. Next year's going to be fun.

[CrazyLikeAFox87]

I feel the same as most people who have replied so far. I was hoping for 8-8 or 9-7 and secretly hoped for a WC. There are many positives from this year though as have been pointed out, particularly the heart of the players. I don't see any other 4-9 team playing as hard as this one. I expect us to win our last three games and take the momentum into next year.

I only wish I couls see more games but living so far away makes it impossible. I came over for the giants game and loved every minute of it.

[ArmyHog]

I did expect a better record....but I did not expect to have a good team like we do....if that makes sense. I thought we could be successful because of Joe G, and not so much because of the players.

I think next year we really will put some heat on Philly!

[Manchester_Redskin]

A lot of people also predicted our defense would struggle and look what happened to that prediction.

[chicosbailbond]

[quote="hatsOFF2gibbs"]Didn't most of us predict that we would have a hell of a lot better record than we have today? Didn't we all believe that we would atleast have a shot for the wildcard.


It took until week 14... for us to be out of playoff contention.... If you look at our team and compare it to the rest of the NFC... we are middle of the pack.... The NFC sucks this year... Skins fans aren't the only one stratching their heads...

That is about what I expected....but if I had to put a number on it... would have thought we could produce a winning season 9-7

We were very close to being in this thing... we lost most of our games by 7 points or less... the majority of our games weren't decided until late in the fourth quarter.... and we really had tons of injuries to crucial positions...

where have you been all year...? what games have you been watching???

I agree with the one poster that the first Giants game hurt the worst... the Cowboys Monday nighter was a close second... but from that point on... you should have tempered your expectations... i know i did...

[redskincity]

I predicted 10-6 and looking back we should be.

Refs, penalties and boneheaded plays weren't in any of your predictions so.........

[Deadskins]

I predicted 10-6 and looking back we should be.

Refs, penalties and boneheaded plays weren't in any of your predictions so.........

Exactly!
We are a couple of breaks away from being the 11-5 team that I predicted. We DID beat the Giants and the Cowboys, the final score just didn't reflect the way we played. I would argue that we outplayed the Packers and the Eagles too. If we finish at 7-9, those 4 games make us 11-5. Brunell's poor play and Gibbs reluctance to pull him earlier in the season has a lot to do with our current situation also.

[hatsOFF2gibbs]

Yes, yes, yes. I agree with all of you. We all expected much better than we have done, but I am very confident in our season next year. I am dissapointed in our past season, but the condition our team is in now is going benefit for next year.

The thing that annoyed me most was how much pressure we all put on JGibbs. Every single one of us, including me, thought we would AT LEAST have a winning season. We learned that it was not very easy for JGibbs. We learned that he is not the same NFL coach as he was in the past. He, himself is learning about the modern NFL.

The thing is that we, as redskin fans, are SO biased that we make posts, which are totally nonsense. We all say things which we HOPE, but none of these things come true. We should view our team in reality and not fantasy.

Next year is going to be fun BUT our defense HAS to stay strong. If we don't turn out to be like the pukes, who have almost no defense right now, we'll definitely be a playoff team.

[hailskins666]

i've been saying 8-8 all along. i actually changed that to 7-9 earlier in the season. (i'm still hoping for that )