Questioning Joe Gibbs

[Justice Hog]

I know I'm gonna get my head bitten off for saying this, but as I sit in my nosebleed seats watching the game against the Cowboys, I was very upset at two calls by Joe Gibbs:

1. Going for it on 4th and 2

I couldn't believe he did this. I thought it was a big mistake since there was a lot of time left in the game. I felt it would have been better for the Skins to punt the ball and bury the Cowboys deep in their territory and hopefully hold them to a 3-and-out, thus getting the ball back in a similar area. I was jumping up and down in my seat shouting "PUNT IT! PUNT IT!" The Cowboys actually held the Skins on that play; however, fortunately, a "roughing the passer" call gave us the first down.

2. Challenging the Cowboys last TD

Being a fan in the stands, I - of course - could not see a close up of this catch. From what I could see (on the Jumbo Tron), it looked like a good catch (at best) and the replay would not provide enough evidence to overturn (at worst). Gibbs challenged it and lost, costing us a valueable "time out" that we surely could have used at the end of the game because the Skins wasted their first two time outs in the 2nd half.

Gibbs is a great coach and nothing I say here is intended to take away from that. He has forgetten more football than I will ever know; however, I just thought these two decisions were mistakes.

[REDEEMEDSKIN]

I know I'm gonna get my head bitten off for saying this, but as I sit in my nosebleed seats watching the game against the Cowboys, I was very upset at two calls by Joe Gibbs:

1. Going for it on 4th and 2

I couldn't believe he did this. I thought it was a big mistake since there was a lot of time left in the game. I felt it would have been better for the Skins to punt the ball and bury the Cowboys deep in their territory and hopefully hold them to a 3-and-out, thus getting the ball back in a similar area. I was jumping up and down in my seat shouting "PUNT IT! PUNT IT!" The Cowboys actually held the Skins on that play; however, fortunately, a "roughing the passer" call gave us the first down.

2. Challenging the Cowboys last TD

Being a fan in the stands, I - of course - could not see a close up of this catch. From what I could see (on the Jumbo Tron), it looked like a good catch (at best) and the replay would not provide enough evidence to overturn (at worst). Gibbs challenged it and lost, costing us a valueable "time out" that we surely could have used at the end of the game because the Skins wasted their first two time outs in the 2nd half.

Gibbs is a great coach and nothing I say here is intended to take away from that. He has forgetten more football than I will ever know; however, I just thought these two decisions were mistakes.

Hey, JH, I was wondering when you would post today. I guess you needed extra time to recover, huh.

As for the 4th down gamble, it did seem odd that Coach would do that, considering the field position he was risking with that play. Thank God there was that penalty in our favor.

The last challenge/timeout used was an awful decision, but Joe shouldn't carry the weight of that on his shoulders, since we have a PAID replay official in our booth, who botched the call.

[NikiH]

Ok I am disappointed in you JH. Perhaps you didn't get enough sleep last night. Regardless of who our coach is, he is new to this type of football. The challenge thing was not around during his first run as coach. And let's not even mention the fact that if you have half your team telling you he did not have possesion of the ball, throwing the flag might be the thing to do. Gibbs couldn't see it any better then you or I could but the players could. If he had won that challenge you would have been singing a different tune.

And as far as the 4th and 2. I seem to remember Spurrier going for that one quite a bit. I will give that mistake to Gibbs a few times before I start getting too upset about it. Thank goodness it worked in our favor with the penalty.

[DieselFan]

I think one of the Ten Commandments is "Thou shalt not 2nd guess Joe Gibbs"

[Chris Luva Luva]

I agree with you JH! This isn't the 1st time they messed up a challenge. I believe there was one we should have challenged but didn't, and now we have challenged one and shouldn't have. We're paying this REF to make these calls. He needs to be fired and Gregg Williams needs to do that. Obviously what ever ADVANTAGE that ZEBRA has isn't all that great.

[General Failure]

I think one of the Ten Commandments is "Thou shalt not 2nd guess Joe Gibbs"

That's an awful commandment. He may deserve the benefit of the doubt for a while, but he's not infallible.

[Redskin in Canada]

I know I'm gonna get my head bitten off for saying this, but as I sit in my nosebleed seats watching the game against the Cowboys, I was very upset at two calls by Joe Gibbs:

If this is ALL you JH can come up as far as calls you would not make, it is fine. Anybody would call a different game, let alone two plays. The reason why he has three rings is why he is there and none of us are.

Joe is known to have made MANY strange calls in the past. Nobody questioned most of them because one way or another, they worked. He was called a genius. Now that we lose a game some fans seem doubtful...

But what is surprising is not whether the two calls made sense to you and others. What it is surprising to me is that some fans are having doubts already with only two loses.

I truly feel that our expectations for immediate success were unrealistic. This team was a mess when he got it. It had no spirit and no faith in themselves.

Even with the two loses, as hard as they are for all, they are harder to Joe and his staff. He is a competitor. He is a winner. The team has achieved great progress in the past few months. There is a way to go but at this rate we will have a great team before the end of the season.

Then we will ask ourselves, Why did they not do it before? Well, it takes what it takes to teach, to practice, and to execute.

For the record, nobody should expect Joe Gibbs to be perfect. He will be the first to acknowledge his mistakes. Be that as it might, I will ALWAYS prefer to have Joe and a couple of call that I can not understand than ANY other coach in the league.

Defeats bring the worst in me and several of us. The true merit of a champion lies in its attitude in the face of adversity.

I better stop. I may end up writing a political speech for a rally if I do not.

[owa]

He just looks a little rusty (which is very understandable) but he'll get into the flow soon. There is a lot to absorb after being away for so long so I think it's unreasonable to expect him to be at the top of his game right way.

[Justice Hog]

Redskin in Canada wrote:

What it is surprising to me is that some fans are having doubts already with only two loses.

I hope you're not talking about me. I just brought up those two calls because I was really surprised to see Gibbs do that...especially that fourth down call.

And NikiH, realizing that instant replay was not around when Gibbs was here, I was still surprised he challenged that play..considering the fact he has a ref in the booth to tell him when and when not to challenge calls. As for the whole team telling him the WR didn't have possession of the ball, with all due respect, I think that's a B.S. excuse. Gibbs is way too good a coach to let his players dictate to him what to do. Whether 100% of the team told him to challenge the play, he wouldn't have done so if he felt it was not the right thing to do. Lesser coaches....maybe, but not Gibbs. He's too good.

Maybe calling these two incidents "mistakes" was a little harsh; however, I was just "surprised" by these two calls, that's all.

And to R.I.C., I have no doubts about this team. We may not be the best team in the League...but the Skins are the best team in my heart...and that's what counts.

[Redskin in Canada]

Redskin in Canada wrote:
And to R.I.C., I have no doubts about this team. We may not be the best team in the League...but the Skins are the best team in my heart...and that's what counts.

Long live Jack Kent Cooke!

He had the -patience- to give Joe and the team TIME to develop. The first five loses in 1991 were the BEST loses the Redskins had up to that time. They were the price that needed to be paid toi change in physical, mental and organizational terms. We were a band of brothers going to war.

I made the mistake to expect immediate good results. It was too easy to simply bring the memories back. Ah! Instant gratification in the world of immedaiate satisfaction on demand. What a silly idea. I should have been more mature than that at my age. I know perfectly well that any success needs an investment in work and sacrifice.

Why would it be not true now? That is Joe's main message through the yaers after all.

The Skins will always be the best team in our hearts. Given enough time to teach, practice and execute, they will be the best team in the NFL.

[DEHog]

The only call(s) that surprised me were the ones at th GL before the 1st half...QB sneak woth Brunell?? Then waiting til 16 seconds left any calling TO all but telling the Bays we are passing. You brought Portis here for a reason...why he didn't get the ball 2 or 3 times I don't know but all in all I'm happy and if we can somehow squeak out 4-4 in the first 8 games and stay healthy will be in good shape.

[NikiH]

After watching all the local coverage Gibbs says he felt he had to do something. And it does look like that ball bobbles a little bit. I just won't question a guy who does a job I know I'm not capable of doing.

[jDub]

i'll keep most of my ruminations to myself. i got your back DEHog.

disturbing question i keep asking myself: why is it when the offense walks up to the line of scrimmage we always have only 8 to 5 seconds left on the playclock?

[NikiH]

It may just be fear that is left from previous years but I almost always yell at Brunnell to get the play off. If he'd only freaking listen.

[redskins-28]

One thing to remember with the challenges, they are called from the booth up top. They tell Gibbs to challenge or not based on what they see so that call really isn't on him.

[JPFair]

This whole situation is eerily similar to a decision that Joe Gibbs made in Super Bowl XVIII against the Raiders. With the Redskins back near the goal line and just a few seconds left in the 1st half, Gibbs called for a screen pass to Joe Washington. The same play had worked wonders a few weeks previous against the Raiders and Joe Washington scored a long TD off of the screen pass. Well, this time, I think his name was Jack Squirek, intercepted it and walked in for a TD. That TD put is in a deep hole that we couldn't get out of. Anyway, the next day one of the major newspapers called Gibbs a "buffoon" for calling that play so late in the half and so close to there own goal line.

Anyway, the point is that maybe it was a bad call or maybe it wasn't, but none of us know what Gibbs was thinking nor do we know why he made those calls. What we DO know, is that any call Joe Gibbs makes is in the best interests of his team. Those calls were made for a reason. Great coaches are judged not by singular decisions, but by the big picture. We lost the game, and it's time to move on!