2015 post-season wrap up

[Irn-Bru]

Wish I had more time to write down my thoughts, but I've got a plane to catch tomorrow morning, so for now I'll just say:

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

When the pregame show commentators ALL picked us... I got a sinking feeling in my stomach and had the undeniable sense of dread. Jinxed!

We obviously aren't good enough to be picked by all of the talking heads, and much less favored and pull off a victory vs a playoff caliber team.

I promised myself that I wouldn't get too down if we lost... But this sucks! I thought for sure we had what it took to take them out at home :/
Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn it!!

[ACW]

It's funny. Despite the loss, I feel more optimistic about the future than I have in YEARS. First step for McLoughan and co.: Resign Kirk!

[StorminMormon86]

It's funny. Despite the loss, I feel more optimistic about the future than I have in YEARS. First step for McLoughan and co.: Resign Kirk!

Agreed.

[Countertrey]

^ Absolutely. I'm more optimistic than I've been in years. The team is being rebuilt the right way, with an increasingly solid foundation, and players who work. I don't get the back biting that we saw in the game thread yesterday... I can't understand those who actually expected (versus "hoped for") a win. I expected a 7-9 season, at best, and got 9-7, with a bonus game thrown in.

and, ACW... i'm hoping you meant "RE-SIGN" Kirk...

[DEHog]

Hard to not be happy with what we just saw this season. For the first time in a while the future looks bright. That said we are going to find out pretty quick in 2016 if we belong with the NFL upper tier. With playing a first place schedule, it would not surprise me to see us take a slight step back while SM continues to assembly his team and the coached learn to win games.

[StorminMormon86]

Hard to not be happy with what we just saw this season. For the first time in a while the future looks bright. That said we are going to find out pretty quick in 2016 if we belong with the NFL upper tier. With playing a first place schedule, it would not surprise me to see us take a slight step back while SM continues to assembly his team and the coached learn to win games.

It would not surprise me to see us take a step forward either, being that SM is our GM. I have full faith in him.

[DEHog]

Hard to not be happy with what we just saw this season. For the first time in a while the future looks bright. That said we are going to find out pretty quick in 2016 if we belong with the NFL upper tier. With playing a first place schedule, it would not surprise me to see us take a slight step back while SM continues to assembly his team and the coached learn to win games.

It would not surprise me to see us take a step forward either, being that SM is our GM. I have full faith in him.

I could also see that, my confidence is high for SM, but not as much for Gruden. The two things I was worried about that posted in the pre-game thread. Was getting pressure on Rodgers which we didn't, and being outcoached , which we were. We had no anwser for the Packers no-huddle. For our success this year, we get the Vikings, Panthers and Cardinals couple that with games against the Steelers, Bengals, and Packers and you have one tough out of division schedule.

[StorminMormon86]

Hard to not be happy with what we just saw this season. For the first time in a while the future looks bright. That said we are going to find out pretty quick in 2016 if we belong with the NFL upper tier. With playing a first place schedule, it would not surprise me to see us take a slight step back while SM continues to assembly his team and the coached learn to win games.

It would not surprise me to see us take a step forward either, being that SM is our GM. I have full faith in him.

I could also see that, my confidence is high for SM, but not as much for Gruden. The two things I was worried about that posted in the pre-game thread. Was getting pressure on Rodgers which we didn't, and being outcoached , which we were. We had no anwser for the Packers no-huddle. For our success this year, we get the Vikings, Panthers and Cardinals couple that with games against the Steelers, Bengals, and Packers and you have one tough out of division schedule.

I chalk that up to us being inexperienced in the post season. It was Aaron Rodgers after all.

But I do want to see growth and improvement in both Cousins and Gruden next year.

[riggofan]

Man. Disappointed not to get the W yesterday, but Rodgers pretty much showed where our defense is right now IMO. I still give those guys massive credit for what they accomplished this year with the players they have.

I honestly can't be too disappointed though. For one thing, David Bowie passed away yesterday so the Skins loss feels like small beans to me this morning. For another less dark reason, I could not have been less excited about this season back in August. Really thought we were headed into another completely depressing, inept, "rebuilding" year. Instead, we got an exciting season from a team that was fun to watch and shows promise for the future. AND a home playoff game.

Anyway, I did want to thank all of you guys who post on here for making the season all the more fun. I enjoy the discussions and the disagreements, and I like the unapologetic optimism of the guys who picked the team to win the division way back in the summer or told us that Kirk Cousins was going to be a franchise QB. So thanks, and thanks to the guys who keep this website going for us.

Going to step away from the team for a few weeks. I'm sure I'll be back in February to start talking about the draft!

[EA7649]

Yes I don't feel completely awful we lost, but I did feel ehh. I really didn't see us going far in the playoffs. I think we are on great hands with SM though! Jay did get out coached especially when Rodgers multiple times on the same drive did the quick snap causing penalties with defensive players running off the field. That was pathetic!

[oj]

If anything the loss gives us credibility. We'll learn from this and move forward, had we won it would have been a Cinderella moment. We got put in our place fair and square, there's pride in that.
Hail to the Skins!

[EA7649]

If anything the loss gives us credibility. We'll learn from this and move forward, had we won it would have been a Cinderella moment. We got put in our place fair and square, there's pride in that.
Hail to the Skins!

Yes. True!

[OldSchool]

It has been a great year of progress. I was hoping the Skins could beat GB and extend the season but instead the many weaknesses were exposed. The defense must be upgraded and our OL isn't as powerful as it needs to be yet. That said I would rather focus on the big positive developments. We have a real GM, a promising new coach and an emerging star playing QB. Cousins had a great year starting at QB the Skins finally have a franchise QB to build around.

I agree with the others that say they haven't been this optimistic in a long time. For me I haven't felt this positive about the team since Marty finished with a big surge in year 1. Snyder screwed that up but I think Dan is 100% on board with what he is seeing and enjoying now. SM will extend Kirk and then go about the job of solidifying some of the weak points so the Skins can take another step forward in 2016.

[SKINS#1]

Hard to not be happy with what we just saw this season. For the first time in a while the future looks bright. That said we are going to find out pretty quick in 2016 if we belong with the NFL upper tier. With playing a first place schedule, it would not surprise me to see us take a slight step back while SM continues to assembly his team and the coached learn to win games.

Agree, With their schedule they better have their "A" game.

[markshark84]

Back when I was saying our DEF was bad and OL wasn't significantly improved from the prior year, people disagreed..... I hope after the GB game some can see what I did now.

In an effort to stay positive last week, I didn't post what I wanted to and that was ---- our schedule was easy. Super easy. GB's was very difficult; and they went 10-6. When you play quality teams, your weaknesses get exposed. Our OL and 2ndary are clear weaknesses --- and they always have been. This year, we only played 3 games against top QBs --- Brees, Brady, and Newton -- our DBs weren't really tested. Cousins has made our OL look SIGNIFICANTLY better than it is. Additionally, our DEs lack the ability to pass rush. I don't care if they get sacks, but I care that they at least force the QB to move from the pocket or hurry his decision-making. While there was significant DL improvement from last year (more from the NT), but we still need more.

That being said, this is the first season that I literally can remember where I felt we have something to work with moving forward. We have a franchise QB and only need "pieces" on offense. DEF is still, IMHO, a work in progress, but we at least have a good CB, young LBs, a good nose tackle (who is hopefully resigned) --- there are at least pieces in place. This roster is no longer a gut job.

As long as we can resign Cousins and the guys we need to, the future looks good......

[DarthMonk]

ATTENTION SKINSJOCK:

ref the decision to go against the wind in the 2nd and 4th qtrs ...

So, you'd have preferred that GB got the head start... I can only imagine that would have been worse... but, whatever... you're going to think what you want to think...

IMO the most important time to have the wind (30MPH) would have been before the half and to finish the game

TRUE - we do not know what may have happened but IMO Aaron Rodgers and the Packers were not in sync and started out playing like they had been recently until all of a sudden, the momentum switched and he got comfortable - when I saw that first punt of theirs, I thought OMG - this is going to be bad, what if we need a FG at the half or to win the game - hey, we'll never know but I think I'd rather have started against the wind and played against that mob than the team that suddenly showed up and scored 17 points

NOT a big deal, although at the time I was really pissed ...

GREAT season and the franchise is headed in a good direction

I THINK it works (worked) like this.

Packers win toss. They have 3 options. They can receive, they can choose a direction, or they can defer first choice to the 2nd half. They chose to receive.

Now we have one choice to make - in which direction do we kick to open the game? We chose to go with the wind. We ended the quarter near midfield up 5-0 (should've been 9-0) and then finished the drive with a TD to go up 11-0 (should've been 16-0).

Since GB made the choice they did with the toss we now have 2 options before the 2nd half starts. We can either choose to receive or we can choose the direction to start the 2nd half. We chose to receive meaning GB got to choose the direction for their kickoff.

Several years ago we played the Ginas in the NFC championship before deferring was an option. We won the toss and took the ball (since we could not defer). The Ginas chose a direction.

The Ginas had first choice in the 2nd half and again, chose a direction. Naturally, we then chose to receive.

We NEVER kicked off in that game and the Ginas were going the direction they wanted to open/close both halves. I'm not sure but I think they had it for the 1st and 4th quarters.

[DEHog]

Who won the coin toss is really irrelevant and changes nothing outside of them wining the coin toss and receiving, but you don’t know the choice the Packers would have made? But I still don’t think they get the wind in the second and fourth quarters….the Packers would have had to take the wind in the first quarter and who’s knows how that would have change the game?? The Skins were only going to get the choice of defending a goal once? They chose to go with the wind in the first quarter to get a fast start which IMO was a good call. As for the second half it was the Packers decision of which goal to defend, after the Skin choose to receive. The wind had nothing to do with the Skins inability to tackle Lacy!!

[DEHog]

ATTENTION SKINSJOCK:

ref the decision to go against the wind in the 2nd and 4th qtrs ...

So, you'd have preferred that GB got the head start... I can only imagine that would have been worse... but, whatever... you're going to think what you want to think...

IMO the most important time to have the wind (30MPH) would have been before the half and to finish the game

TRUE - we do not know what may have happened but IMO Aaron Rodgers and the Packers were not in sync and started out playing like they had been recently until all of a sudden, the momentum switched and he got comfortable - when I saw that first punt of theirs, I thought OMG - this is going to be bad, what if we need a FG at the half or to win the game - hey, we'll never know but I think I'd rather have started against the wind and played against that mob than the team that suddenly showed up and scored 17 points

NOT a big deal, although at the time I was really pissed ...

GREAT season and the franchise is headed in a good direction

I THINK it works (worked) like this.

Packers win toss. They have 3 options. They can receive, they can choose a direction, or they can defer first choice to the 2nd half. They chose to receive.

Now we have one choice to make - in which direction do we kick to open the game? We chose to go with the wind. We ended the quarter near midfield up 5-0 (should've been 9-0) and then finished the drive with a TD to go up 11-0 (should've been 16-0).

Since GB made the choice they did with the toss we now have 2 options before the 2nd half starts. We can either choose to receive or we can choose the direction to start the 2nd half. We chose to receive meaning GB got to choose the direction for their kickoff.

Several years ago we played the Ginas in the NFC championship before deferring was an option. We won the toss and took the ball (since we could not defer). The Ginas chose a direction.

The Ginas had first choice in the 2nd half and again, chose a direction. Naturally, we then chose to receive.

We NEVER kicked off in that game and the Ginas were going the direction they wanted to open/close both halves. I'm not sure but I think they had it for the 1st and 4th quarters.

Yes, the Patriots mistake was choosing to kick... they should've chosen the option of which goal to defend.

[SkinsJock]

admittedly there were many other facets that affect this game but IMO the Packers and Aaron Rodgers did not look good at all in the first quarter & IMO the wind direction in the second quarter had an effect on Rodgers and basically 'enabled him' to step it up & become his former self

hey - we got out coached and outplayed big time - the result, most likely would have been the same no matter what ... but Rodgers was different in the 2nd quarter and it was not due to bad play on our part as much as he suddenly got comfortable - this after 10 weeks of not playing great

I just did not like not having that wind at our backs in those 2 quarters

this game certainly exposed some things - it's all good for the franchise going forward - the 2 things I'm concerned about are re-signing Cousins & letting Scot make all the coaching & player decisions - Scot knows what coaches & players fit in best with his plans for the future

[ACW]

and, ACW... i'm hoping you meant "RE-SIGN" Kirk...

Yeah, I did.

EDIT: Oh yeah, Jordan Reed's a BEAST. I'd still like us to go after a tall wideout in the draft, but may not be CRUCIAL.
No shame losing to GB. Rodgers is Rodgers. Remember what happened after he lost in the playoffs? Experience is vital.

I DO have one question about yesterday: Why didn't we try D-Jax deep more? Bad protection from our line? Good coverage from their secondary?

[markshark84]

and, ACW... i'm hoping you meant "RE-SIGN" Kirk...

Yeah, I did.

EDIT: Oh yeah, Jordan Reed's a BEAST. I'd still like us to go after a tall wideout in the draft, but may not be CRUCIAL.
No shame losing to GB. Rodgers is Rodgers. Remember what happened after he lost in the playoffs? Experience is vital.

I DO have one question about yesterday: Why didn't we try D-Jax deep more? Bad protection from our line? Good coverage from their secondary?

In our "2015 post-season wrap up" thread, we are talking about coin tosses and wind direction..... leave it to Skinsjock.......

As far as the draft, it really doesn't matter as Scot correctly does the BPA thing. In an ideal world, I'd like to see us grab another CB, DE, OG, DB, or WR -- in that order.

As far as DJax --- I thought the same thing until we actually DID take chances and Cousins got sacked (errr, crushed) --- multiple times. Our OL just couldn't support it AND GB's 2ndary is solid. Yesterday, we played a REAL opponent, not the losers we'd been facing since thanksgiving ---- and a game like that will show you where we TRULY stand in terms of competing (not winning) for a championship. We have a ways to go, but can get there as long as Scot keeps making good decisions.

We need starting upgrades in our OL, 2ndary, and DL. We also need upgrades at RB, depth at TE and WR and OL. We aren't as close as some think. What Scot has done in one year is basically AMAZING, but there is still much left to be done.

[EA7649]

Back when I was saying our DEF was bad and OL wasn't significantly improved from the prior year, people disagreed..... I hope after the GB game some can see what I did now.

In an effort to stay positive last week, I didn't post what I wanted to and that was ---- our schedule was easy. Super easy. GB's was very difficult; and they went 10-6. When you play quality teams, your weaknesses get exposed. Our OL and 2ndary are clear weaknesses --- and they always have been. This year, we only played 3 games against top QBs --- Brees, Brady, and Newton -- our DBs weren't really tested. Cousins has made our OL look SIGNIFICANTLY better than it is. Additionally, our DEs lack the ability to pass rush. I don't care if they get sacks, but I care that they at least force the QB to move from the pocket or hurry his decision-making. While there was significant DL improvement from last year (more from the NT), but we still need more.

That being said, this is the first season that I literally can remember where I felt we have something to work with moving forward. We have a franchise QB and only need "pieces" on offense. DEF is still, IMHO, a work in progress, but we at least have a good CB, young LBs, a good nose tackle (who is hopefully resigned) --- there are at least pieces in place. This roster is no longer a gut job.

As long as we can resign Cousins and the guys we need to, the future looks good......

I agree hopefully that makes it even more clear for SM to work on during the off-season. Maybe free agents will be more interested joining a promising redskins team!

[DEHog]

Well RG has finally spoken...

[SkinsJock]

I'm happy with the fact that we are in a lot better shape than we thought back in August - Scot & the FO will continue their good work

I'm looking forward to defending the NFC East title and am confident we'll be back in the playoff chase

I'm also looking forward to seeing Griffin show that he can play QB well in the NFL, despite what the haters (& 3 or 4 idiots here) think

all in all, there's a lot to look forward to