Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 3:02 pm
+1emoses14 wrote:Sorry this took me so long to respond to man. I'm just returning from a self imposed vacation from my hog brethren and the skins. Needed a little time to breath to gain perspective on this season (and to stop scaring the crap out of my family every sunday).langleyparkjoe wrote:Sorry, can't ignore the numbers anymore. I've been shielding my eyes all season long. THIS was the game that I said I'd move my hands and now I wish I had kept them over my eyes. The numbers reflect the team and is actually a great way to tell how our guys are doing. However there are some numbers that don't come up like our individual OL players making a block or getting beat on those blocks. So Emoses, I can dig what you mean by look at something other than numbers, but when I do look at something other than numbers, it's just as scary or worse than the actual numbers. Give me the stats for 500 over looking at everything else because its very very depressing.
Dolphins.. that was the one game that I demanded we win. Not the Panthers game and not the Bills game either... the frickin Dolphins with Matt Moore, Reggie Bush, and Brandon Marshall. That's ridiculous.
You hit on some of the big kinds of things I meant by "the numbers are not what you should be looking at" I'd also add route running (really for Armstrong, Hankerson, Paul; guys who will be here long term and who clearly need mor polish), blitz pickups (helu, royster, hightower MONTGOMERY), how they try (if not succeed) at fighting when the other team has it more together than them, etc. This team is not going to set the world on fire and yeah, the o-line is heartbreaking a lot of the time. BUT when I think about the depth that is being created behind the current starters as well as the increased level of competition for back up roles once we draft a new RT and G (possibly2), THAT'S WHAT makes me realize this team is headed somewhere. When I see a guy like Helu, build over 11weeks to where he is now, when I see (not popular I know) Trent Williams getting better, through injuries no less, and see accountability from a D.Hall (of ALL PEOPLE), when I see Perry Riley showing that he's a sh*t load more and better than bad kick off return penalties for illegal blocks in the back (ESPECIALLY THAT HE'S CHILLIN AT LUNCH TIME WITH LONDON FLETCHER), I get amped. That 'ish is foundation building (so by the way is not mortgaging the future for the now by trying to bring in flash rather than substance and keeping and expanding our draft picks). For us, in year 2 of an actual plan the numbers and ESPECIALLY who we beat and when is a slightly myopic lens through which to gauge "improvement". Its a legit lens, but the most dangerous.
Not saying those things don't matter, its just that when you start from a position of such back asswardry, there's a lot of 'ish to fix before you get to W-Ls and fantasy points. Don't mean that condescendingly, just hopefully, realisticaly. This team is simply too far away from the product we deserve (I'll kill all of you if you tell anyone else I said this, but think Ravens) to be talking about wins, losses, stats and playoffs. If you're going to acknowledge that this team was in the crapper, then you gotta acknowledge that the stench of crap takes a while to get rid of. Dolphins loss or not.
Hard to swallow case in point: not paying carlos rogers what he thought he was worth in light of his steadfast refusal to own up to his own shortcomings and get the f*&$!!* over himself and his desire to get out of dc. That mike knew he had talent but said pass anyway is the kind of long term football decision that isn't going to be popular at times (say when you're now number one is giving up 4 and 21 plays right in front of him), but is immediately necessary to get US where WE need to be.
I know that all of this will be funny to us in the very near future when we're straight punishing everyone in our path. I see signs, they're fleeting and frustration can easily outweigh optimism, but we will be able to bring down bars with Hail to Redskins for entire Sunday afternoons shortly.
Very well put.
