Official Game Thread - Week 14 - Commanders @ Vikings

[RedWolf]

It sounds like we have a lot of people who attend practices and teams meetings and know what coaches do and don’t do with players. I envy all of you who are in all the meetings and are part of the game planning and are at practice and are on the sidelines during games to hear exactly what the coaches are doing. The insight and knowledge provided from that is top notch. Just one question. What do you all do for a living that gives you this much free time to be at the team facility this much and how did you get such access? Asking for a friend.

I sell virtual IT crack, they can't get enough of it! Damn tech heads! 🤣🤣🤣

I was speaking with Dan Quinn today when I was helping him get on his shoes for the field and he said...

 

[Conn]

Great point he does seem to be alone and not with his nose in a tablet or on headphones talking to coaches. Last year I recall him standing with Mariota and talking some of the time.

The team is often not able to make quick adjustments. The QB telling the staff what he is or isn't seeing or the coaches telling him what they are seeing should be a constant give and take convo.

Not only that, Jayden should be on the sideline wearing a headset and involved (if quiet during the play call) on gameday when he’s hurt, as long as it’s not a concussion. Not in the fucking booth, as the face and leader of this team. Not blaming him, the staff sets the norm. But this makes no sense. He’s supposed to be developing a computer brain, keep him attentive to the situational calls and active in the camaraderie of the QB room mid-game. He should be listening to Kliff and Mariota go back and forth on what they’re seeing before the radio turns off ahead of the snap. He should be hanging with Kliff and the QB coaches on the sideline when out.

 

[Conn]

This is a funny thing for a fan of this franchise to say, unless you’re calling George Allen and Joe Gibbs idiot head coaches.

“The Over-the-Hill Gang was a nickname given to the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) in the 1970s under head coach George Allen, so named due to the large number of veteran players on the team. Many of those players also played for Allen when he previously coached the Los Angeles Rams in the late 1960s.

The Over-the-Hill Gang's origins began upon Allen being hired in 1971.

. . .

The average age of starters was 31 years old. Allen's strategy turned the Redskins around as the team improved to a 9-4-1 record in 1971, and they finished the 1972 season with an NFC-best 11-3 record. The retooled Redskins' nine victories in 1971 was the most by a Washington team in 29 years. In his seven seasons with the club, Allen and his veterans produced seven winning records, five playoff appearances, and one trip to the Super Bowl. Of the group, Sonny Jurgenson, Dave Robinson, Ken Houston, Deacon Jones, John Riggins, Chris Hanburger, and Charley Taylor were later inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”

The Over-the-Hill Gang (American football) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

John Riggins was 32 when Gibbs coaxed him out of retirement, 34 when he set the NFL record, and led the league at 35.

“Robert John Riggins (born August 4, 1949), nicknamed "Riggo" and "Diesel", is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets and Washington Redskins. He played college football for the Kansas Jayhawks. Riggins was known for his "bell cow" running style and productivity well into the later years of his career. In the 1983 season, at age 34, he rushed for a then-NFL record of 24 touchdowns, a record which stood for almost 20 seasons. Riggins again led the league in rushing touchdowns during the 1984 season at age 35.

. . .”

John Riggins - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Why are you so obsessed with talking about things that happened literally 40 years ago, as if they reflect anything about today’s league, game, players, or roster-building at all? We’re mere weeks from 2026, the Over The Hill Gang and almost everything else about the history of this team and sport is irrelevant to the discussion of what works today.

 

[Riggo44]

Not only that, Jayden should be on the sideline wearing a headset and involved (if quiet during the play call) on gameday when he’s hurt, as long as it’s not a concussion. Not in the fucking booth, as the face and leader of this team. Not blaming him, the staff sets the norm. But this makes no sense. He’s supposed to be developing a computer brain, keep him attentive to the situational calls and active in the camaraderie of the QB room mid-game. He should be listening to Kliff and Mariota go back and forth on what they’re seeing before the radio turns off ahead of the snap. He should be hanging with Kliff and the QB coaches on the sideline when out.

I actually don't think that's permitted when you're inactive. I could be wrong.

 

[Conn]

I actually don't think that's permitted when you're inactive. I could be wrong.

Rodgers did it while inactive with the Packers (preseason, he even called the plays) and then the Jets (regular season after his Achilles), he was a tenured vet of course so his voice on the headset and thoughts about what the D were doing was actually super helpful, he was a coach on the sideline. But he was on the headset while inactive many times from my memory, I believe

 

[RedWolf]

Conn

Hell, I feel old talking about Gregg Williams, and I watched the 72 Super Bowl on regular broadcast TV in MoCo.

🤣🤣🤣

 

[Faithful Fan]

Why are you so obsessed with talking about things that happened literally 40 years ago, as if they reflect anything about today’s league, game, players, or roster-building at all? We’re mere weeks from 2026, the Over The Hill Gang and almost everything else about the history of this team and sport is irrelevant to the discussion of what works today.

Somebody said only idiot coaches rely on old vets when they rebuild. That is just not true.

To demonstrate this I chose two counterexamples from our team history (the Over-the-Hill gang and Riggo), which I find interesting. This place is called Burgundy & Gold Obsession, so you would think being “obsessed” with our team history would be welcome here of all places.

But if you don’t think we can learn from things that happened more than a few years ago, somebody else gave a counterexample (Brady & Gronk) that is much more recent.

You could probably think of other examples of successful old vets besides Brady and Gronk if you tried. I’m not sure when you think history becomes relevant, but I suppose you won’t allow Sonny Jurgenson, Jerry Rice, Darrell Green, John Elway, or Brett Favre into the conversation. Maybe Kurt Warner, Ray Lewis, and Peyton Manning are recent enough?

Obviously football is a young man’s game, but plenty of great players are successful into their late 30s, and plenty of successful coaches have relied on them. The claim that only idiot coaches rely on old vets is demonstrably false regardless of the era you choose.

 

[Conn]

Somebody said only idiot coaches rely on old vets when they rebuild. That is not true.

To demonstrate this, I chose two counterexamples from our own team history (the Over-the-Hill gang and Riggo), which I find interesting. This place is called B & G Obsession, you would thing being “obsessed” with our team would be welcome here.

But if you don’t think we can learn from things that happened more than a few years ago, somebody else gave a counterexample (Brady & Gronk) that is much more recent.

You could probably think of others if you tried. I’m not sure when you think history becomes relevant, but I suppose you won’t allow Sonny Jurgenson, Jerry Rice, Darrell Green, John Elway, or Brett Favre as examples. Maybe Kurt Warner and Peyton Manning are recent enough?

Obviously football is a young man’s game, but plenty of great players are successful into their late 30s, and plenty of successful coaches have relied on them. The claim that only idiot coaches rely on old vets is demonstrably false regardless of the era you choose.

I don’t really care what the other person was arguing, I wouldn’t argue that. Talented and proven vets, even on their last legs, have their place and last year proved that—though I think it’s pretty clear they erred in running it back with so many of them. They went from “found money” to being treated as “foundational” which isn’t smart with where we’re at.

But to reiterate, I’m not interested in that conversation, I didn’t make that argument. I’m simply over seeing our fans pull history from four decades ago to argue anything about 2025. Nostalgia for the old days is great, that’s your right as a fan to indulge. But that stuff literally does not matter now. The league is different, roster building rules are different (the cap and IR rules alone…), players and contracts are different, the rules on the field and league norms are different.

This specific example aside, I’m just sick of it, it’s largely irrelevant but it’s fan catnip. And I think living in the past dumbs us down and holds us back.

It’s like that infamous tweet from a few years ago:



So often it feels like a significant portion of our fanbase has to retreat into their comfortable “but in the Gibbs days…” shell instead of looking at today’s successful franchises for relevant information. The people of a certain age who do it on social media (not here), I question whether some of them watch the rest of the league play football at all between our kickoff times each week.

Btw: yes, I think the Bucs bringing in Brady/Gronk (and bringing back Lavonte David at 30 and beyond) was obviously the critical talent, culture, and experience infusion the rest of that roster needed to win a Super Bowl. Brilliant, legacy-defining moves. Good example, though Brady is obviously a special, special guy who moves the needle all on his own in a historic way—like Peyton to the Broncos. And to think, we were two wins away last year from repeating the feat with our vets. We just rode that horse too long and didn’t juice it up enough with other additions.