The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

we were 4-4 at the half and had the most difficult schedule in the NFL for the first 12 games - brutal - the list of injured players is made worse because it includes so many key players ... we're at 5-7 and while we could end up 9-7, even 8-8 should be looked at as an achievement

this from T Boswell ... "When your entire vision of your universe is utterly distorted, you make horrid decisions. For example, you worry that if you sign Cousins, one of the dozen best quarterbacks in the NFL and maybe one of the six or eight best, to a long-term, Stafford-like contract that costs $130 million, you will not have enough salary cap room left to “contend for a title.” This is insanity. You sign Cousins, if you still can, because you haven’t had a quarterback who ranked as highly in passing yardage and quarterback rating over a three-year period . . . ever. You don’t make nonsensical projections about how that impacts your Super Bowl chances. YOU HAVE NO SUPER BOWL CHANCES. Not until you are a whole lot better. Cousins is essential to “better,” even if that is a five-year period when you are “only” 40-40 or 45-35. You break your back to sign him, do your best to cope with the cap and draft like hell. And hope.

You can’t build a plausible future until you have a sane view of your past and present. Seen in proper context, the previous two years of 9-7 and 8-7-1 with Cousins and Gruden in the two most important jobs were major progress toward escaping Joke Team status. This 5-7 season, with a couple of more wins a possibility, continues that climb to We Really Are Finally Mediocre, especially when you factor in the worst injury blight in my lifetime of watching this team ... "

it's difficult enough to imagine improving this franchise under dumb and dumber but if we can improve to being a franchise that ranks in the #15-#20 range, we're certainly getting better ... that's something, I guess

Yes, Boswell has it exactly right.

Trash.. we're trash.

From up-top to the dag-gone bottom.
Losing to the cowboys for me is the worstestest.

TRASH!

^^ agreed - for a couple of years, everyone and anyone associated with the Redskins should be measured by how we do against the Cowboys on the field - it's simple - wins and losses is the #1 criteria and effort/performance is the #2 criteria - then, after we clearly see improvement against this bunch of misfits, we can move on to worrying about how we play against everyone else

this franchise has not played anywhere close to their potential against the pukes in recent years - heads should roll .... and soon

I'm hoping for 8-8. Pretty much sums up the entire Gruden tenure.

El Mexican wrote:I'm hoping for 8-8. Pretty much sums up the entire Gruden tenure.

I'm hoping for 7 - 9, and 8 - 8 would be a treat. The Redskins are a bad organization. What should they do in the off-season? So many holes to fill...it feels like 1959.

at the beginning of the season I was hoping for 8-8 or 9-7 ... actually, I thought we might win 10 after 7 games

we're not that good and considering all that has happened, 7 or 8 wins is really pretty good

I really hope that we finish up well ... we have no reason to expect anything more than 8 wins each season - that's who we are

welch wrote:

El Mexican wrote:I'm hoping for 8-8. Pretty much sums up the entire Gruden tenure.

I'm hoping for 7 - 9, and 8 - 8 would be a treat. The Redskins are a bad organization. What should they do in the off-season? So many holes to fill...it feels like 1959.

Yep, way too many mistakes made years ago.

Just yesterday I read an article on the WP that says that 20 of this year's players are Unrestricted Free Agents.

So here we go again. Expect a massive roster overhaul during the coming months.

You can’t build a plausible future until you have a sane view of your past and present. Seen in proper context

reminds me of a great quote by Jesse Ventura - those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it!

Perhaps the owners need to start paying more attention to the fans than their own ego's to avoid future disasters during the season

TexasCowboy wrote:Perhaps the owners need to start paying more attention to the fans than their own ego's to avoid future disasters during the season

oh god no, man. Snyder spent YEARS doing things that would please the fans. What the hell do the fans know?

Our particular owner needs smart football people making decisions in the front office. I'm not sure if we have that or not. There's definitely a lot of evidence in the NO column.

This has been such a weird season, and its disappointed me in unexpected ways. I'll be honest, I expected the offense to take a step back and didn't see much hope for a big improvement on D. Both ended up better than I expected, but not good enough somehow to win enough games? Not sure what to think now, but I'm kind of with LPJ that the Dallas loss was a massive amount of suck. I usually enjoy watching the team no matter what, but that loss has really sucked the fun out of the rest of the season for me.

I would add that facing another long off season of "what will they do with Kirk?" makes me want to puke.

I think at this point, my only hope for enjoying football any more this season would be to see Philadelphia knocked out of the playoffs in their first game.

the loss to the pukes last Thanksgiving (2016) was the killer for me - that made me realize that I can only hope that the team can find a way to get lucky each week because the roster is not put together by anyone with a plan or much knowledge about how important it is to identify the players that fit what the coaches want to do and also to have decent depth - when a franchise is (according to reports) 'using the final 4 games to evaluate Kirk Cousins and what to do with him', you've got trouble ... with a capital T

the players & coaches this season really surprised me with their effort - we are not that good but we played above what most expected

I'm not looking forward to the off season much either as the past 18 seasons have indicated there's not much reason to expect anything good

This is the reality, I just hope we get lucky this week and every week

why would any player or coach want to work with anyone that had anything to do with what happened with the QB situation here



this franchise is still a joke and it looks like we'll keep that status for some time

I know we could've lost 'em all or won 'em all.

The two that come to mind that we really should've won are ...

KC - we exposed them to the rest of the league and all we needed was for Josh to hold on to a ball he had firmly held with both hands before he went to break his fall.

Saints - led by 15 with how much time left ?

Any others ?

DarthMonk wrote:I know we could've lost 'em all or won 'em all. The two that come to mind that we really should've won are ...

KC - we exposed them to the rest of the league and all we needed was for Josh to hold on to a ball he had firmly held with both hands before he went to break his fall.

Saints - led by 15 with how much time left ?

Any others ?

that's the thing - in the past 3 seasons there have been 4-5 games that we should not have lost

sure, there have been games like the Seattle game that we've won - win some, lose some! but we seem to have too may heartbreakers

I disagree with Boswell. It makes no sense to pay $130 Million to one guy unless he sprinkles magic dust on everyone else and turns average players into superstar playmakers. Setting aside the numbers, I am not sure Cousins falls into that category. Even if you pay out the big money, there is a chance that your $130 Million guy goes down. What then? Teams need depth. This year's injury list is proof of that. Even though Cousins has managed to stay healthy, the rest of the team has not. If you are thinking about paying one guy $130 Million, you better be able to protect him. I am not sure the Redskins can do that.

Personally I liked the team better when we had a boring run-first offense and were stronger on the defensive side of the ball. But that's just me.

When you have a QB that makes your franchise better, you do whatever it takes to keep him

we do not have a FO that makes good decisions AND there is no way that Kirk Cousins is going to want to be here

anyone that thinks this franchise is going to suddenly start making good decisions is seriously kidding themselves

we are a joke and we will continue to be a joke

looks like the Browns and the NY Giants will take steps to greatly improve their franchises while we will continue to be who we are

Snout wrote: Personally I liked the team better when we had a boring run-first offense and were stronger on the defensive side of the ball. But that's just me.

Yep, I miss that philosophy. And this wasn't decades ago with Gibbs 1.0. We've had great success as a team when
the offense becomes rush-oriented:

- MartyBall, but just the last five-game stretch. Best Redskins team I've seen in the last 17 years, fundamentally speaking. Led by Stephen Davis.
- Some stretches with Gibbs 2.0, thanks to a heavy dose of Clinton Portis.
- A few games with Shanahann when Alfred Morris shined

That's it. Everything else has been pass-pass-pass. I've learned that our defense is not stout enough to
win a shoot-out. We need the run to cover for the many holes we have as a team.

We will never be a good team with Skinny but still Fat Jay Gruden- the dumbest coach in the NFL- and our Pick Throwing Fake Franchise QB Captain Pick.

These guys always sucked and will always suck.

Gruden has shown he doesn't have what it takes. He'll get another try because of the injuries. I think Cousins will continue to pass his way into a much cheaper contract. If they both move-on, I won't care at all. Gruden's record at Washington is pretty bad, and I don't see it improving. The best thing he ever brought is now the HC for the Rams. Cousins is hardly irreplaceable.

... tank it awaaaaaay!!!!

To h*** with playing to win, we need a low draft pick!

Traaaaaaaaaaashhhhhh it up fellaz!!! Trade in those 5 wins for losses and let's compete with the Browns!!!!!!

langleyparkjoe wrote:... tank it awaaaaaay!!!!

To h*** with playing to win, we need a low draft pick!

Traaaaaaaaaaashhhhhh it up fellaz!!! Trade in those 5 wins for losses and let's compete with the Browns!!!!!!

it's one thing to hope we have some success picking early in the draft - the teams that do well each season are those that make the lower round draft picks work also - anyone should do well with picks in the top 100 but the good franchises find good players in the rest of the draft

The Redskins record with Dan Snyder deciding who coaches and plays here is horrible - why do we think that might change now?

Given that about 25 Redskins become free-agents this off-season, given that the current team plays like the 1960 Redskins, this is about the bottom. What next?

- Kirk Cousins is a fine QB, best the team has had since Mark Rypien. Why should he stay? So the team will begin next season with same QB situation as Browns, Jets, Giants, etc, this season. Going back to 1960, it's like losing Eddie LeBaron and replacing The Little General with Ralph Guglielmi. (For those younger than CT and me, look them up. Like a nose-dive into the ground)

- The Redskins need some WRs, another TE. Need RB as good as Alfred Morris. Need an improved OL. Under Gruden, the team has not or cannot run. This defense cannot stop the run, so need help at DL/LB. The DB's can't cover.

- It's like trying to fill holes in a mesh, or worse. Maybe the entire team is a hole? How do you fix everything?