Deadskins wrote:RayNAustin wrote:Deadskins wrote:DaSkinz Baby wrote:Example the Colts look at them last year versus this year.
Please! The Colts situation has already been discussed. Last year was an aberration because they didn't have Manning. Other than last season, their worst record over the last five seasons was 10-6. This is hardly a rebuilding team. Add to that, they play in the AFC South (12 games against AFC opponents), the emotional lift from playing for a coach sidelined with Leukemia, our injuries to key players on defense, and the Mara cap hit, and the comparison is ludicrous.
That's just not true at all ... the Colts CLEANED HOUSE at the end of last season ... players, coaches, and the front office! They did everything but take the horseshoe off their helmets ... and all the analysts were in agreement about how much better a situation RG3 was going to have with the Redskins, than Luck was going to have with the Colts who were just beginning a full scale rebuild this year.
Wow Ray, I can't believe you're using "the analysts" to back your argument. Those are the same analysts who also say Shanny is a great coach, and that Luck is the more pro-ready QB. And you totally ignored the other three factors I pointed to for the disparity in records between the teams. I tend to agree with a lot of your points, but to fire a coach mid-season is not something The Danny should do again. Our only remaining game where we might not have a real chance of winning is against the Ravens, and with Ray Lewis out, I'm not even sure about that one. You have to let this season play out before making any coaching changes. I've never been a fan of Shanahan's, but I'm willing to stay the course for now.
Look, I understand that you represent the more popular opinion here, and and that makes mine the odd opinion out, and subject to ridicule. That's fine .. I'm used to it ... and I'm also used to being right more often than not, in the final equation. And I'm right this time for sure .. because what is happening now, happened in year 1 and year 2 and has not changed at all for the better.
So now let me explain you why I REALLY feel the way I do .... it's a matter of principles, and honesty and integrity and personal responsibility, and standing for something ..... things that used to be considered all important qualities because you are quite frankly NOTHING without these things. Unfortunately, these qualities are no longer high on people's lists of important considerations these days, and you can see it everywhere .. not just football.
The point is ... Shanahan is a fraud, and an average coach at best. But he doesn't possess an ounce of integrity, nor should anyone place an ounce of trust in him, which is cause enough to send him packing. And to compound the problem, he's arrogant without having anything to be arrogant about. And I've made that point clear in the past, citing numerous examples that prove this beyond a reasonable doubt. This second interview with Shanahan after the post game "throw in the towel" presser, is just the most recent demonstration ... but it was so revealing as to who this man really is, it should remove any semblance of doubt for even the most stubborn or dense.
He opens the discussion by chastising the reporters for taking his remarks out of context and instructs them to call him next time before they make such unfair criticisms. Now, just who does this guy think he is anyway? These reporters don't work for Mike Shanahan, nor are they under any obligation to check with him before reporting on statements he makes, that were most certainly NOT taken out of context. We all heard what the man said, and my jaw dropped as he was saying it, so screw him and this backtracking damage control double talk. He stuck both feet in his mouth, saw the headlines in the press the next day, and the universal criticism that he surely deserved for saying what he said. Virtually everyone around the NFL came to the same exact conclusions, because there was no other conclusion to reach. That he would backtrack the next day is totally disingenuous, but is unfortunately consistent with Shanahan's past behavior. This man can't even take responsibility for his own comments, so while blaming the players for the failure on the field, he's now blaming the reporters for what transpires in the press conferences afterward? I find that infuriating and absurd. And I don't care for someone who not only demands such reverence, but expects it, and is indignant if he doesn't receive it. His routine was like the kid that stands there with the lid off the cookie jar ... face covered in chocolate, who swears he didn't take the cookies. He deserves a double spanking .. one for stealing the cookies, and another for lying about it.
A man of integrity would have said something like "Hey .. l want to clarify my comments after the game Sunday. I would first like to apologize to the players, coaches, fans and owner for my comments that indicated that I was conceding the season lost. This was a poor choice of words after an emotionally tough loss, and a lapse brought about by the frustration and disappointment of the moment. And I understand the harsh criticisms, and accept full responsibility for creating that perception, but let me assure you all, I am conceding nothing, nor is this how I expect my coaches and players to approach the final 7 games of this season. We're not out of it yet, and we will lay it all on the line, just as we do every game. And that includes me".
But that's not what he did ... he did exactly the same thing he did in 2010, with that "Cardiovascular Endurance" BS story about why he made the dreadful decision to replace McNabb with Grossman for the last drive of that game. Everyone knew that was a BS story, and it revealed an important and unflattering aspect of Shanahan's character, which he continues to demonstrate. That being a complete unwillingness to accept responsibility or even consider the idea that he could somehow be in error about anything. And if you can't admit a problem, you can't possibly fix it, which is why we keep seeing the same problems persist.
Now, just as important as the character and integrity issue is for the head coach of a team to set as an example for everyone else ... the equally damaging aspect of his comments came as a direct threat and indictment of the players by saying "for the remainder of the season, we'll see who are going to be Redskins in the years ahead" .... clearly assigning blame to the players and suggesting that continued failure will result in more personnel changes at the end of the year ... which has been the only consistent trademark of the Shanahan regime so far, other than disappointing results! The classic "the beatings will continue until morale improves" approach.
The overall point here is that there is a clear unwillingness on Shanahan's part to critically evaluate his own and his coaching staff's performance which was also clearly demonstrated in that presser when he told the reporter ... "you'll have to ask the owner if he thinks we're heading in the right direction ... I KNOW WE ARE". And just go back and look at that again, and observe Shanahan's face and body language, which clearly showed outrage and contempt for a reporter having the nerve to question his highness. What a ego maniac this guy is!! The most logical follow up question that wasn't dare asked was, "how are you so certain of this, coach"? Because from all outward appearances, it looks like the team is regressing, and in danger of finishing the season with a worse record than the previous two. Are we to assume this confidence in direction is similar to your confidence in John Beck, Coach? And your "I'll stake my reputation on him" declaration? We all know how that worked out, don't we? So, he said it .... "I'll stake my reputation on John Beck" .. so are we not allowed to hold him to those words either? Are we simply to allow Shanahan to revise history and reality at his sole discretion, whenever he finds it most convenient, and we must then just blindly accept the latest revision as the truth?
Here's my point ... setting aside all of Shanahan's arrogance and hubris, we haven't seen actual evidence of this "progress". What I see is a lot of lip service about how the team is so much improved over the "trash talent" he inherited when he got here, yet that "trash" that he got rid of was marginally more successful under an inexperienced rookie coach, than what we see now from Batman and the Boy Wonder ... not a whole lot mind you .. but slightly more successful.
Contrast that to what happened when Joe Gibbs came back in 2004. He retooled the team, and made the playoffs in the second year, while Shanahan is halfway through his third season, and we're regressing. And Gibbs made some major mistakes in personnel too ... we saw a major fall off in the defense in 2006, caused in part by the gross error of allowing our middle linebacker and QB of the defense leave and go to the Giants, and a switch to Al Saunders offensive system that your offensive QB, Jason Campbell (another of Joe's errors) couldn't get a handle on. I mention this just to illustrate the major impact personnel changes and bad decisions can cause .. and it doesn't take many of them to reap disastrous results.
And let me remind everyone, that when Zorn took over in 2008, the Redskins started the season at 6-2, and everyone was shocked. But, injuries to the offensive line and Clinton Portis caught up with them, and Jason couldn't carry the load. He needed everything to function optimally in order to be successful, and as soon as Portis was no longer reeling off 100+ yard games on the ground, the offense hit a brick wall, and the team crashed in flames. Replace Jason Campbell with a guy like RG3, and I contend that Zorn would have finished 2008 at 10-6 or better, rather than 8-8. And it wasn't his fault ... he didn't choose Jason Campbell ... Jason Campbell was Zorn's albatross and undoing.
In the final analysis, this is what I see as so OBVIOUS that I cannot believe so many others fail to see it. Nobody was suggesting that Jim Zorn be "given time" to be successful. He was expected to be successful day one .. and he actually was, until things began to unravel due to injuries and an incompetent QB. Zorn's second year was marked by the same failures that killed an otherwise excellent first half of the 2008 season ... a poor, limping o-line, and a QB that was clueless. So he was summarily stripped of play calling duties, and an offensive coordinator was jammed down his throat ... the Bingo Guy. He was then run out of town on a rail .. in favor of the great Mike Shanahan, who has proceeded to actually do worse, with better talent that Shanahan hand selected, including a QB like RG3 for which Jason Campbell is not qualified to park his car.
So I don't see the reasonableness or the logic in this rather blatant double standard, with people calling for the public execution of Zorn by the end of his first year, year and a half ... for failing to be successful playing someone else's hand with a clueless QB and a broken Clinton Portis ... while Shanahan gets a pass for failing to be successful with the hand he personally chose, including a phenomenal QB like RG3, and a remarkable RB like Alfred Morris.
But that's because I'm just dumb.
We can play better D especially if we start tackling better since a lot of 1st downs we give up end up being missed tackles or poor form tackling where a LB wont stand up the runner and drive him back instead of throwing him a few yards forward. Also if we can get a little more consistent pass rush that would be absolutely HUGE.
ey want to play for the Skins so bad?