Nice to have all that "positive attitude stuff" when it is warranted ... but I have to inject some reality here, because it's missing.
We've seen improvement on the defense this year even though a lot of it is masked by the fact that the offense has regressed, putting even more pressure on the defensive side. Missing OJ, and having Doughty in there has contributed to some of the failures to stop big plays .... but overall, the D is legit, and one you could win with.
Offensively ... this team has taken backward steps, from being infuriatingly inconsistent last year, to downright embarrassingly non-competitive this year, and the major gaping hole plaguing this team is what it has been for years now .... poor QB play. From 5 years wasted making excuses for Jason Campbell (always on the verge of his breakout year) to Mike Shanahan staking his "reputation" on John Beck this year, we're no closer to a solution than the day they announced hiring Mikey and the boy wonder from Houston. They orchestrated the McNabb debacle, losing picks in the process, and demonstrating their incompetent decision making, only to solidify that by laying a huge egg regarding Beck.
Remember, according to Shanny we didn't need to draft a QB or sign a free agent .... we had Beck who had Mike's full confidence .... until Grossman out performed him in preseason and won the starting job. Then, at 3-2, after a bad game, they bench Grossman and we watch what offense we had, leave town entirely. Two miscalculations (actually three if you count Grossman) in two years? I'm just overflowing with confidence that the next QB move is going to be THE ONE ...
For those who would dismiss the John Elway factor for explaining Shanahan's success in Denver, he also had Plumber and Cutler ... both of which are better than anything we've seen in Washington for years, with not much tangible success. So, take Elway out of the picture, and Shanahan is just another guy who had limited success with a storied franchise, and not much better than marginal. (Look at the Colts this year without Manning ... if you need to see what a great QB can do in spite of what is around him, either players or coaches.)
Now, couple that with Mike's son being in charge of this embarrassing offense .. a particularly sensitive and difficult matter to expect unbiased evaluation from the head man as one might expect if the OC was not his bloody offspring ... I see few reasons to anticipate a major turn around coming from the expertise of Frick & Frack, two individuals whose lofty opinions of themselves exceed their accomplishments. The more likely scenario is dogged determination and stubbornness that will go down with the ship, all the while finding something other than their own mistakes and shortcomings to blame.
Contrast what is occurring with the Redskins, versus what Harbaugh has managed with SF .... they too were 6-10 last year, and have already exceeded their win total in just half a season. At 7-1, and playing very sound football with a QB that the organization was about to give up on ... demonstrates what GOOD coaching can produce in a short time frame.
Some thought Harbaugh would struggle this year with Alex Smith ... who has failed to live up to expectations ... but apparently he was right with his assessments of the potential, and managed to get him up to speed and operating a new offense even with a shortened off season.
And what do we wind up with? We wind up with the same thing we always wind up with ... another set of excuses, and hope that next year will be better.
Mike staked his reputation on Beck .... easy to do if no one holds him to it. Well, that reputation is crashing to the ground, and some people magically see a silver lining .... I can't find it.