Random Commanders Thoughts

True we are 5-6, but really how bad is the division?

Honestly if you look across the whole league it's pretty much the same. My brother and I were chatting about this the other night and commented on the parity across the league. As of last night only 7 teams have a record better than 6-5
The Panthers (11-0) the Patriots (10-1) the Bengals, Cardinals and Broncos (9-2) the Vikings (8-3) and the Packers (7-4)
And honestly do we really find all those teams scary like in years past?

The Packers have not looked scary at all lately. Their record was built early in the season. The Vikings have looked good lately but I don’t feel like they’ve beaten anyone really impressive. I’m not sure what the Broncos are without Manning to be honest. The Cards and Bengals have quietly built nice records. They faced each other this week and the Cards came out on top. But neither of their records when you consider who they’ve beaten and how looks that impressive. (The cards got 6 of their wins by beating Saints, Lions, Ravens, Browns and the 49ers twice).

Which leaves the Pats and the Panthers. Of the two it’s the Panthers that have really trampled everyone so far.
Upshot of this is that the average win/loss record across the league is 5.47 wins to 5.47 losses. And if you take out the 7 teams mentioned about it becomes 4.48 wins to 6.44 losses. Most of the league seems to be either 6-5 or 5-6.

All we can do as a team is try to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves and so far we've mostly done just that. What’s more we’ve don’t it against the toughest part of our schedule. From here on out we’re playing the easier part, with games against slumping Dallas and Philly and then the Bears and the Bills. We’re in pretty good shape right now.

Dallas without Romo is beatable both home and away I feel. There’s 2 potential wins.
The Eagles look a mess. It’s an away game. Flip a coin on that one.
The Bears at Soldier Field I think is a loss. They’re a tough out, it’ll be cold. Loss there I think.
And the Bills. We’re at home and they’re beatable. I’m saying win.

We could finish this season with possibly 3 or 4 more wins to finish either 9-6 or 8-8. A winning season would be huge.
Of course… it now begs the question…

We weren’t supposed to be winning the division or going to the playoffs this year, that was not the expectation pre-season. I really think at the start of the season if you’d have told Scott McLoughan that the team would get 5 or 6 wins hey’d be happy with this as a growth year.

Have the goalposts now moved?

Just like us, Scott and co KNOW that these remaining games against opposition who are really floundering are VERY VERY winnable. With the trouble the Eagles and Cowboys are in we SHOULD win those games. The Bills are slumping and we SHOULD win that one at home too. The playoffs are in our grasp and the road ahead is pretty easy and clear.
So what’s in store for Gruden if the Skins mess this up and lose all or most of the next 5 and miss out?

If anything this win this week might be putting even more pressure on Gruden now. There is an opportunity presenting itself that we SHOULD be able to seize. If we let it slip through our fingers will heads roll even if our record is better than a year ago and the team looks better?

The Goal Posts haven't moved for me. Slipping into the playoffs as a complete non-contender does nothing for me. I'll enjoy it, but it doesn't really affect how I view the season given the state of the division. You can't look at this team and come away thinking there haven't been improvements. Not if you're watching the play on the field. But there is still a ton of work to be done. More than a handful of players needing replacement. Gruden still needs some work on in game decision making. Should have taken the FG instead of going for it. That last run, while we all hoped he stuck with the run, should have been a pass attempt for a first to ice the game. I think some of that will change as the talent improves.

stevenaa said:

The Goal Posts haven't moved for me. Slipping into the playoffs as a complete non-contender does nothing for me. I'll enjoy it, but it doesn't really affect how I view the season given the state of the division. You can't look at this team and come away thinking there haven't been improvements. Not if you're watching the play on the field. But there is still a ton of work to be done. More than a handful of players needing replacement. Gruden still needs some work on in game decision making. Should have taken the FG instead of going for it. That last run, while we all hoped he stuck with the run, should have been a pass attempt for a first to ice the game. I think some of that will change as the talent improves.

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I'm going to respectfully disagree with the last sentence here.

Gruden made some bad in-game decisions yesterday, but electing to run on the 3rd down play with the Giants not having a timeout remaining was by far one of his best of the day. Even if you boot the punt through the end zone, you are giving New York 20 odd seconds to go 80 yards. That's next to impossible and would take nothing short of a miracle to convert.

If you wilt in that kind of scenario, it's on the players on the field at that point. I don't care who the opposing quarterback is. The coaches in that particular instant tried to make it as easy as possible for the team to secure the victory.

With that being said, had there been say a minute and a half to two minutes remaining, then absolutely, throw to try and convert for the first and ice the game.

I'm not even thinking about the playoffs, honestly.

I'd like to see this team get 8 wins. I think that would be a heck of a season. Even 7 wins would be, in my opinion, a significant improvement over last year. That's what I'm looking for at this point. If the division wants to hand us the title as well ... well ok.

I know I've been banging this drum all season long but I REALLY hope Gruden starts giving Morris the ball more. I think it made a difference yesterday, especially at the end when we had to grind out a first down on the ground. Jones is better as a receiver out of the backfield. Put him in on third downs and let him spell Morris once in a while, but give Morris 20-25 carries a game. Even if he's getting 3 yards a carry it will pay off when it really matters.

I don't know CH. If we throw on 3rd and long and make that first, the game is over. Why not go for the jugular right then? Sure, something bad could happen, but so could something bad happen on a punt. I'd just rather play to win when we have the chance.


I completely agree with you Henry, and I think we'll see 8 wins. Run Morris and it will pay huge dividends later in the game. Plus, this offense works far, far better when there is a good run/pass ratio.

Canadian Hog said:

Gruden made some bad in-game decisions yesterday, but electing to run on the 3rd down play with the Giants not having a timeout remaining was by far one of his best of the day.

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I was actually furious, when we ran the ball 3 straight times, on our last 3 offensive plays.
My hope was that they would throw it, at least on 3rd down, to get a first down and/or get in field goal range - because a field goal would have absolutely sealed the game right there.
I now have mixed feelings about it, because the more I think of it, it does make a lot of sense to keep it on the ground, and leave them with, what - 20 seconds or so, to score ?

Fear The Spear said:

I was actually furious, when we ran the ball 3 straight times, on our last 3 offensive plays.
My hope was that they would throw it, at least on 3rd down, to get a first down and/or get in field goal range - because a field goal would have absolutely sealed the game right there.
I now have mixed feelings about it, because the more I think of it, it does make a lot of sense to keep it on the ground, and leave them with, what - 20 seconds or so, to score ?

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...and no timeouts. I think if the Giants had saved a TO or two, this would be a different discussion.

tr1 said:

BTW, why did we try to throw a bomb to Roberts when DJax is on the team? I don't get it.

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DJax opens that sort of thing up by demanding attention. Even a miss makes the D respect that you'll try it.

strength (or its complement - weakness) of schedule over remaining games strongly favors the Skins. too funny......we just might end up winning a division while not beating a single team with a winning record!

People talk about elite qbs and skill players.

Joe Flacco won a Super Bowl a couple of years ago and I don't consider him an elite talent. His playmates on offense were Ray Rice, Dennis Pitta and Anquan Boldin.

His defense was solid but nothing like 2000.

Imagine where this team could be with Kirk Cousins and those 3 first round choices we gave up for Griffin..

stevenaa said:

I don't know CH. If we throw on 3rd and long and make that first, the game is over. Why not go for the jugular right then? Sure, something bad could happen, but so could something bad happen on a punt. I'd just rather play to win when we have the chance.


I completely agree with you Henry, and I think we'll see 8 wins. Run Morris and it will pay huge dividends later in the game. Plus, this offense works far, far better when there is a good run/pass ratio.

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You are right that not taking the points on the FG was a bad call. Gruden got greedy. The 'easy call' would have been to pass on that critical 3rd down. The smart money was running there, grinding more time off the clock, and making the Giants to almost the impossible to win. That wasn't gambling - it was smart. You pass there and it gets tipped, intercepted, or they sack Cousins and he fumbles, you may have just thrown away a great day's effort. It's only our expectation that Eli is going to do another one of his 80 yards in 15 seconds football Jesus routines that makes us think it was a mistake. The results speak for themselves in that case. I also think at some point you have to trust your players regardless of what decision you make. I think trusting them, and having them validate that trust by not collapsing in some ridiculous fashion, is part of team building.

That's just the sad state of the NFL as a whole IMO. Play is as bad as the officiating. Thank you parity.

Boone said:

You are right that not taking the points on the FG was a bad call. Gruden got greedy. And that's exactly what he'd have been doing if he'd had Gruden pass on that critical down. The smart money was running there, grinding more time off the clock, and making the Giants to almost the impossible to win. That wasn't gambling - it was smart. It's only our expectation that Eli is going to do another one of his 80 yards in 15 seconds football Jesus routines that makes us think it was a mistake. The results speak for themselves in that case. I also think at some point you have to trust your players regardless of what decision you make. I think trusting them, and having them validate that trust by not collapsing in some ridiculous fashion, is part of team building.

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I've no doubt that my desire to aggressively put the game to end is a result of so many years of late game collapses.

Well, the players bargained for no contact workouts in the offseason and no pads practices during the season so the CBA is reflecting a flag football mentality.

Then the players go out there in Week 1 and can't tackle or cover kicks.

I laugh when Goddell says they don't need a preseason.

The NFL needs a preseason, just not one where starters play a series a week and everyone treats it like a pleasure cruise.

Bulldog's Twin said:

People talk about elite qbs and skill players.

Joe Flacco won a Super Bowl a couple of years ago and I don't consider him an elite talent. His playmates on offense were Ray Rice, Dennis Pitta and Anquan Boldin.

His defense was solid but nothing like 2000.

Imagine where this team could be with Kirk Cousins and those 3 first round choices we gave up for Griffin..

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I hate this line of thinking (no offense, BT). Those three number one draft picks would have been made with Shanahan and Allen at the helm. Are so sure they would have contributed THAT much more than Griffin did in 2012?

Shit, look at the Rams, and what they did with those picks. Not exactly world beaters.

Who's ready to host our first playoff game since 1999?

It's happening.

In other news, the Jets are currently 1 pt. favorites over the Giants this weekend.

Philly travels to New England. There's no line currently on that game.

Vegas continues to have us as 4 pt. favorites over Dallas.

McD5 said:

Who's ready to host our first playoff game since 1999?

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We hosted a playoff game in 2012

Fear The Spear said:

We hosted a playoff game in 2012

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Ah, you are correct. My mind tries to block out bad memories lol. Kind of like car wrecks.

I remember winning in Tampa during Gibbs 2 (I was at that game) and then losing a week later in Seattle.

I forgot that 2012 loss was at home.

Okay, then who's ready to win our first home playoff game in a long time?

Too soon for me, brother.

Beat Dallas Monday ... win a road game ... and I'm there with ya.