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Blognostcator - JohnssBass
I do want to thank Neo (and others who possibly may have accepted bribes from me) for the opportunity to proffer up a few syllables.
The Bye Week is a time to rest up a bit and take some time to pause and reflect on what the State of the Redskins has been and is now with a peek to what may be.
State of the Redskins Address
That was then. This is now. The future has yet to be written.
That was then -
The team came into the season with some serious questions across the board. Offensive line, the secondary and special teams were all suspect. Turns out the suspects were all guilty as charged and the sentence was carried out with no quarter spared by their opponents.
Considering that RG III was out for a spell at least it happened in the right part of the schedule. How many more games would the Skins have won prior to now with Robert in the lineup? Without a crystal ball it's hard to say but maybe only one; the Eagles game. Possibly the Seattle game if they could have taken advantage of the several gifts from the horses mouth but my guess would be only one of those two at best (I'd have wished for the latter over the former). It's expecting a lot from your offense to overcome the 30 or so points that the rest of the team is giving up on a weekly basis.
I don't know why exactly but 4-5 would have sounded a whole lot better going forward than 3-6. At least they beat Dallas. Otherwise they stumble into the bye at 2-7. At least they beat Dallas. Can't really hear that often enough. At least they beat Dallas.
This is now -
Yeah a lot of injuries to overcome but it has forced the Redskins to do something they just haven't done in the past - play their prospects now instead of holding on to them for 3 or more years just to find out they never should have made the team to start with. If Porter was a rookie he never would have made this squad. If Cousins didn't play this year he probably stays on next year. Now his name won't appear on any locker next year and could find himself jobless this year if the Redskins acquire an FA before the season expires.
Some guys are seasoning well. Kai has stepped up his game big time. Way has been a solid pickup. Murphy needs some polishing but has a starters ability. Penalties are much more under control than they were early on. The defense as a whole has improved - last two opponents before the Vikes were held to 17 points a game and the Skins collected wins. Then they let Minnesota drop 29 on them, certainly not an enviable number but one that could be topped except that the offense isn't really lending a helping hand. Sunday was the first time they put up more than 20 since week three. But at least we can see that RG III can get up after a sack...after sack...after sack...(ad infinium)...
The future -
This offense has the ability to put up more points in the remaining games and the defense can keep them competitive. Outside of Indy and maybe Philly, there is really no reason that the teams they face for the balance of the year can't be held to lower scores than they have allowed in the first 9 games. And it is not overly optimistic to believe that the offense will start to gel before game 16. How many wins that will translate into remains to be seen but their last four games have been relatively close.
With a healthy (we hope) Robert Griffin returning and a softer schedule to start coming up it's time to see if he can show that he is the franchise QB and worthy of next years option. If not, it is time to start looking for and weaning his replacement next year. Without the Hall injury Breeland doesn't get the opportunity to show he gets it. Compton is getting a shot because Tyler is who we thought he was. Maybe they should both be gone (as well as others; but that's a long list) - stop wasting years and figure it out by the end of the season.
A majority of posters here expected prior to the initial tilt with Houston that the Redskins are around a .500 team. Many hard to fill holes and it won't happen for multiple seasons unless they take few chances. Maybe find someone who can evaluate talent and not just show up at the combine. Or settle to be about a .500 team for the foreseeable future.
I do want to thank Neo (and others who possibly may have accepted bribes from me) for the opportunity to proffer up a few syllables.
The Bye Week is a time to rest up a bit and take some time to pause and reflect on what the State of the Redskins has been and is now with a peek to what may be.
State of the Redskins Address
That was then. This is now. The future has yet to be written.
That was then -
The team came into the season with some serious questions across the board. Offensive line, the secondary and special teams were all suspect. Turns out the suspects were all guilty as charged and the sentence was carried out with no quarter spared by their opponents.
Considering that RG III was out for a spell at least it happened in the right part of the schedule. How many more games would the Skins have won prior to now with Robert in the lineup? Without a crystal ball it's hard to say but maybe only one; the Eagles game. Possibly the Seattle game if they could have taken advantage of the several gifts from the horses mouth but my guess would be only one of those two at best (I'd have wished for the latter over the former). It's expecting a lot from your offense to overcome the 30 or so points that the rest of the team is giving up on a weekly basis.
I don't know why exactly but 4-5 would have sounded a whole lot better going forward than 3-6. At least they beat Dallas. Otherwise they stumble into the bye at 2-7. At least they beat Dallas. Can't really hear that often enough. At least they beat Dallas.
This is now -
Yeah a lot of injuries to overcome but it has forced the Redskins to do something they just haven't done in the past - play their prospects now instead of holding on to them for 3 or more years just to find out they never should have made the team to start with. If Porter was a rookie he never would have made this squad. If Cousins didn't play this year he probably stays on next year. Now his name won't appear on any locker next year and could find himself jobless this year if the Redskins acquire an FA before the season expires.
Some guys are seasoning well. Kai has stepped up his game big time. Way has been a solid pickup. Murphy needs some polishing but has a starters ability. Penalties are much more under control than they were early on. The defense as a whole has improved - last two opponents before the Vikes were held to 17 points a game and the Skins collected wins. Then they let Minnesota drop 29 on them, certainly not an enviable number but one that could be topped except that the offense isn't really lending a helping hand. Sunday was the first time they put up more than 20 since week three. But at least we can see that RG III can get up after a sack...after sack...after sack...(ad infinium)...
The future -
This offense has the ability to put up more points in the remaining games and the defense can keep them competitive. Outside of Indy and maybe Philly, there is really no reason that the teams they face for the balance of the year can't be held to lower scores than they have allowed in the first 9 games. And it is not overly optimistic to believe that the offense will start to gel before game 16. How many wins that will translate into remains to be seen but their last four games have been relatively close.
With a healthy (we hope) Robert Griffin returning and a softer schedule to start coming up it's time to see if he can show that he is the franchise QB and worthy of next years option. If not, it is time to start looking for and weaning his replacement next year. Without the Hall injury Breeland doesn't get the opportunity to show he gets it. Compton is getting a shot because Tyler is who we thought he was. Maybe they should both be gone (as well as others; but that's a long list) - stop wasting years and figure it out by the end of the season.
A majority of posters here expected prior to the initial tilt with Houston that the Redskins are around a .500 team. Many hard to fill holes and it won't happen for multiple seasons unless they take few chances. Maybe find someone who can evaluate talent and not just show up at the combine. Or settle to be about a .500 team for the foreseeable future.