WHAT CONSTITUTES A SUCCESFUL SEASON???. After all this!

[MEZZSKIN]

I ask this question because i myself have struggled with this question lately.I know OUR FATHER has returned to the sidelines, plus we added some really great players offensively and defensively.But at the end of the day how much of this will translates to wins.We can be a VASTLY IMPROVED and still be 8-8..Will we be satisfied with that, given the EUPHORIC atmosphere surrounding this team. I dont know??...I know Gibbs will install all of the qualities necessary to win..But can it be done over one year..I WAS SO DEFLATED AFTER LAST YEARS DEBACLE, I THOUGHT THEY LOST ME FOREVER..THEN GIBBS, THEN PORTIS, BRUNELL, THEN THE FREE AGENTS, THEN TAYLOR..I know some us of us will say if Respectability and heart are restored then 8-8 can be swallowed...I ask are we fooling ourselves??...we all want the playoffs!..We all want to hand Pracells and his big fat horse teeth TWO crushing loses, ELI DESERVES A BEATEN.PHILLY?? theres alot of payback we have to return to that team.....WHAT WILL SATISFY US??.guys please help me with some of your thoughts.....IM TORN!!!.....I know its a buliding process..BUT JESUS CHRIST IVE NEVER BEEN SO FIRED UP SINCE THE 91 SEASON!...

[ATV]

You make a good point. If the Skins go 8-8 most of us are going to feel disappointed. But - I myself think we would have a fair reason to be. This season will be verrrrry interesting - more so even that the recent years.

[SkinFan 0-16 or 16-0]

I put together the ezact fomula.

Great Coach + Freat Passing Game + Great Running Game + Great Defense + An owner wh will pay anything +

The greateset group of fans in NFL History.= A super bowl ring.

We got it all. We will still need chemistry, that is why I am not predicting anything for this year. But next year, I think there is a great possibility.

Oh yeah, one more thing in that equation. Hope. We have been here through the good the bad and the ugly and look at us. How many people still post on this board.

An Eagle Fan , A cowboy fan, or a giant fan would have left by now and went to another team, but not us.

[BringThePain!]

I feel we've definetly been playing under our talent level on the team the past couple years.... I mean.... we had the talent to be a playoff team last year..... We started off 3-1 and lost a TON of close games..... The talent is there.... We just haven't had the coaches in here who could drive these guys and put it all together over the course of a season.....

That's were Gibbs comes in..... I don't care how much time he's been away.... We've seen Parcells, and Vermil can do it... Gibbs will be no different.... Anything less than fighting for a playoff spot the last game of the season will be a failure.... this team has too much talent.... Players and Coaches... and the schedule's not that difficult... our main concern, which we haven't done very well in the past, is we have got to win the Division Games.... those are the most important ones to win.... Beating a Division team is like winning 2 games in 1..... there's to much talent to not make the playoff's this year.... That coaching staff is gonna have our guys playing at there best.... just you watch

[geo]

I think a winnng record will make me happy, expecially after a year with so much changes from top to bottom. Now what do I really think....I say the skins will be a strong 10-6!

We got a running game, a good D, great coaches on both sides, depth at the most important position, OB, and a better then average O-line....more then anything we are going to be DISCIPLINED!!!

[Champsturf]

I would tend to agree with you on this one BTP. I think our talent level has been very high in recent years and yet very sad results have come of it. I think that with the coaching changes alone, we would've had a decent shot at the playoffs. Then I start to get a little worried though. We completely overhauled this team and now we'll have to wait for it to gel as one. I hope Coach can do this at an accelerated pace. I think we as fans, those of us that are die-hard anyway, deserve a respectable product on the field. I tthink Coach has it in him and all of his assitants, to take us where we need to be. I think maybe playoffs this year with an early exit and taking it all the way next. I don't know if we'll win it then, but I really think we have a GREAT shot at being there.

[hkHog]

All I want is to be in the playoffs again.

[BigCarter28]

Playoffs would be nice

[Irn-Bru]

I think it would depend on how we start the season. Suppose we start of 3-0 (I hope) with that tough schedule. All of the sudden, anything less than 9-7 will really be dissapointing. Or, suppose we start of 0-3 (sorry, I'm not trying to jinx anything here); and all of the sudden a 9-7 season would be a pretty awesome job by Gibbs. I'll always remember (though the media won't) that Shotty came in and went 0-5 before finishing 8-3(!!) on the season. That's why I wasn't dissaointed with his first year and even a bit sad to see him go at first.

[skinsfanno9]

Tom Boswell definitely had it right - Spurrier's legacy is taking a team chalk full of talent to a 5-11 record, which let us get Taylor. Trully, we have the most experienced coaching staff in the league, one of the brightest defensive minds in the game and Joe Gibbs now coaching a team chalk full of talent. Baring major injuries, I'm really not seeing us dropping below 10-6.

But again, maybe we will find out there's lots of guys who are still interested in lying down when things get rough. If thats the case, I'm sure they won't be here next year. And if Joe does poorly his first year here, I'm pretty sure every skins fan will still be with him yelling "stay the course".

[redskins56]

For me personally...

With our schedule being the way it is, I would be dissapointed with our team going 8-8 if and only if there were no major injuries. With the coaching staff and potential pro bowl filled roster playing .500 ball playing against the Browns, 49ers, and a possible Jamal Lewis-less Ravens team wouldn't make me happy.

If our schedule were as tough as last year's than I would say 8-8 in 2004 wouldn't be all that bad!

-Geepz

[trey53]

OK let's be realistic. It seems like every year there is a new reason to celebrate during the offseason. If you look on paper we should have been in the playoffs every year since 91. I am not knocking our talent level or the coaching staff. We are pretty solid. I AM excited. But expecting the playoffs right off the bat when half of these guys haven't taken a snap together may be premature. I think our expectations are soaring because of Parcells success last year. Parcells success was largely predicated upon the NFC East having two absolutely crappy teams...us and the Giants. Plus they beat the iggles when Mcnabb was in his slump. That's five games right there. Guess what...this year the east is going to be a real test. There won't be any gimmes. Aside from the greatest coach ever to walk the face of the Earth the East has Reid, Parcells and Coughlin. That is not going to be a cake walk. None of those teams are going to lay down because the Skins show up with Gibbs on their sideline. The Skins are going to have to get used to one another, the new system and fight tooth and nail this year to win games. I think everything is in place for a potentially great team but time to gel is the big factor. Believe me, I would like nothing more than to have the Skins hit the playoffs and beyond this year but in the NFL today it is "Any Given Sunday." I truly don't know what to expect in Year 1 of The Return but I'm a Skin fan for life and win or lose I'll be with em. (laughing or crying)

[redskinz4ever]

o.k. i'll be short and brief.anything over (5-11)in joe gibbs first year back will for me be a welcomed sight.i'am sticking to my guns and saying (10-6).REDSKINZ4EVER!!!!

[skinsfaninroanoke]

agreed skins4ever - anything is an improvement. 8-8 or 9-7 is a 3-4 game improvement....

4 more wins is 25% of the schedule for goodness sakes... I would take that compared to 5-11 in a frigging heartbeat and not stutter when I said good job Joe...

[oafusp]

Playoffs...with a bye....and home field advantage....am I getting carried away here?

Once again we made the offseason headlines which only sets the high expectations...you have to either believe that one day it will work for Snyder or that the method he uses takes big balls but never works.

All we can say is, we hope and we'll see.
you must believe, that is the fan's job.

[Redskins1974]

Even though I'd love the playoffs, I'm going to remain modest and give this staff the benefit of the doubt no matter what happens this season. I think we have the talent and coaching staff (obviously) to do quite well this season. However, I'm not turning on the man that brought us 3 titles and 4 SB appearences ever. He'll turn it around whether it's this season or next.

[wormer]

I would be satisfied with one playoff victory. Anything less...I'll be disapointed.

[JansenFan]

To me this is already a successful season, no matter what happens, my two favorite coaches of all time will be on the sidelines. We are more talented this year than last year, and let's face it. With a decent coach last year we could have been 9-7.

[Redskins Rule]

I don't care how many games we win JUST AS LONG AS WE BEAT TEHM FREAKIN COWBOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[welch]

Jansenfan wrote

To me this is already a successful season, no matter what happens, my two favorite coaches of all time will be on the sidelines.

That's about how I feel.

To me, a successful season is to have the Redskins play like the Gibbs Redskins again.

For more than 10 years, I have seen the players do things that just are not Redskin-like. Remember when Gus F. head-butted a wall, and knocked himself out of a Giants game? All those games when the defense played passively. All those games when the Skins got a lead, but the opposing coach made adjustments and got his team to give an ounce or two more effort, and the Redskins lost. All those excruciating penalties. Michael Westbrook. The news stories about the beepers and cell phones at team meetings.

Too many talented players who did not play like winners.

[hailskins666]

i'm hoping for 8-8. anything beyond that is just icing on the cake

[njskinsfan]

It all comes down to running the football next year.

If Portis and the Hogs get the job done and we control the clock. We keep the other RB's off the field and we win 10 games. Our DL has to AT LEAST stop the run. Our secondary can handle most teams passing games.

If we can't control the clock and out defense has to play more than half the game then our weaknesses will be exposed and teams will run on us again all day long. Then we will only win 8 games.

Keep in mind Gibbs worst season ever was 7-9. He has never had another loosing season in his career.

[NC43Hog]

Lets see - beat Dallas Twice for starters.

8-8, 9-7 or 10-6 I can live win.

Beat Dallas Twice - did I mention that already.