An observation but who am I?

[Long-Time Skins Fan]

I'm no NFL Guru but I have been a Skins fan since the late 70's When my father started taking me to games. (I had to stand on the seat to see the field!) I guess my observation of this team is this. The defens seems to be on track and doing well becuase they can rely much more on idividual talents to get it done and Williams definately exploits that. The offense on the other hand, I believe has to be a much more cohesive unit in order to REALY produce. There has been so much chaos revolving the offensive unit in recent years (Changes Players, Coaches, and Systems), that it's hard for them all to come together. As it's been stated in this forum many times before, the offense will take time to come together. They all have to know what the person next to them and downfield from them will be doing so they themselves can can feel confident in what they need to do. At this point only 4 games into the season, Gibbs is still trying to encourage this in his offense and it's slowly coming together. We need to give this unit time to believe in themselves, Gibbs to adjust to the current NFL and his players and we will see the results.
I know we are facing Better teams coming up and it will be dificult, but I think with Gibbs, this team has the character and tallent to pull it together! Even the way the skins play today, they are a much better team than any point last year.

I'm still looking for 8-8 this year.

So that's my take, What do you think?

[Skeletor]

Actually, I think the defense in many ways has to be just as coordinated as the offense. Systems are run today in such a way that if one defender is out of position the offense can get a big play. This was constantly a problem last year when players were allowed to free lance from the system. We lost to Carolina when a LB neglected to cover Stephen Davis coming out of the backfield because he went after the QB instead.

Last week, Cleveland scored a touchdown because one of our linebackers didn't play his role, allowing a tight end to run free.

[Redskins1974]

Long-Time Skins Fan,

Welcome to the board. Actually, I completely agree with your posting. This has been my sentiment thus far. I think despite the mistakes, we're playing with much more heart and not giving up at all - already a change from the past. Once we gel and correct the mistakes, you'll see a complete turnaround.

Thanks for the post and again, welcome.

[Long-Time Skins Fan]

Skel... I do agree that current defensive systems are much more complex, work as a unit and that if there is a blown coverage or a person out of position on defense, an offense will generally exploit that. What I was referring to is that defenses no matter what the system are highly reactive to what the offense is doing, thus relying on individual talents more. Where as an offense is much more scripted and choreographed meaning that if everythone is not cohesive and in sync, the whole thing begins to break down. And last year I don’t even know there was a real “system” in place on defense… Ha!

Thanks for the Welcome 1974 and I hope I can make good contributions to the board every now and again.

[air_hog]

the thing is we have played horribly every single game this season yet, we only lose by a touchdown or less. If we make 5 to 10 fewer mistakes, we should be good. Keep in mind though, we have not played any GOOD teams yet, just decent teams

[Redskin in Canada]

I'm no NFL Guru but ...

I'm still looking for 8-8 this year.

8-8 is reasonable but I see most of the wins in the second half of the season.

There has been progress. They will improve further. I agree with Joe's view to put the system in place with your most experienced players and then introduce younger talent in the mix.

The wave of criticism will go away as soon as they win a couple of games.