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In defense of Martyball


Burgold

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Maybe this was too long ago, but a lot of Redskins fans thought Marty got raw deal. Sure, he started out 0-5, but he got the Redskins to 8-8. His team was ugly, boring, and often difficult to watch. Marty alienated his players, and tried to humiliate Darrell Green. By and large, his players hated him and did I mention that his offense looked horrible? Marty got the team back to respectability by playing defense and demanding his offense play a mistake free version of his favorite flavor, the only flavor of ice cream in his book, vanilla! 

 

Now, fast forward nearly two decades, and Alex Smith is playing like Tony Banks while the defense around him grinds with that Martyball stinginess. Difference is, the team did not go 0-5 on route to .500. This team is actually winning out of the gate and is a more than respectable 5-2. Still, that offense is ugly. It is vanilla without nuts, sprinkles, chocolate sauce, and on many occasions, it even lacks a spoon. Did I mention it's ugly too? Still, people clamor for pretty. Fans shout like Redskins fans clamoring for the beauty of Jeff George! They want others to be jealous of the date on their arm and Jeff throws a gorgeous ball. He has the prettiest arm.  He accumulates the sexiest of stats (for those about to say I'm mixing eras... shh... I know that the Germans invaded Pearl Harbor. Let me continue. I'm trying to get on a roll.)

 

When our one and only year of Martyball ended. The team demanded Baskin Robbins! We want 98 flavors! Well, they got what they asked for! The Germans invaded Hawaii and damn we looked good in Osaka! Rocky Road for everyone! No, not the ice cream, but a real rocky road with punctured tires and a busted radiator.  Oh, how we missed our vanilla.  We pined for Tony Banks (You go too far there). We imagined what year two of Martyball would have brought us! Imagine the glory of one and done in the playoffs or choking in the championship game!

 

Marty went on to do better things in San Diego, but in fairness to the Spurrier fans, Marty's records of not reaching the mountain's peak remained intact. Still, he led a very good team quite far, quite often. So, if you thought Marty deserved a second year or a second chance and you like teams that are tough all I'm saying is that there are worse things than a scoop of vanilla. 

 

In conclusion, we know that Gruden isn't Marty. They don't have the same temperament. Gruden likes beautiful football. He craves gummi bears in his ice cream. We also know that Alex Smith is a better quarterback than Tony Banks. So, let's enjoy a little ugly for now. Let's revel in the painfully grotesque and boring for at least as long as we're winning. It's fair game to complain about losing after all. It's a fan's right to demand that everyone get fired or benched while we're losing. It just sounds premature to do it while the team just won three in a row. After all, it's possible that Martyball year 2 under the reins of Smith and Gruden might be a bit prettier and more dynamic. Oh, it'll probably still be ugly. It won't be the most thrilling date. When you date Alex Smith you don't get the thrill of the crazy chick who winds up keying your car and setting all your clothes on fire, but Alex Smith, ugly as he is, might just be the girl pretty enough to take home to meet mother.

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if you played Marty ball with Robert Kelley and last year's defense this is probably a 2-14 team. 

 

But if this defense keeps playing the way it is, the schedule stays light, Adrian Peterson remains Adrian of his youth -- then it feels like 2005 again as I pointed out in the Alex thread.  Remember that game in Tampa, they won with Mark throwing a record low number of yards for a playoff win but got beat in the next round.   Feels like that some.    

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42 minutes ago, skins island connection said:

Yea, Smith may be pretty enough to take home to meet mom, but wait until Smith is in another room for a moment and mom will tell you " son, you can do a lot better than that".

Then you have to ask yourself if you should tell mom that " yea you're right but it beats mother thumb and her 4 daughters"...

Mom says that?  Oof. Tough mom.

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@Burgold if you think Baskin Robbins is good ice cream...

 

My issue is that it's not about being pretty, it's (going to be) about when this team has a bad day on defense and is down two scores early, how do the Skins plan on coming back?  They can't throw it well enough.  There's absolutely no way that this team can win a shootout when an opponent scores 30+ points.  I hope that our defense balls out like this for the rest of the season but if there's a game later on with playoff implications and the D doesn't show up, how is the offense going to carry the load?  How's Smith going to pass for 350+ yards and 3 TDs?  

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

@Burgold if you think Baskin Robbins is good ice cream...

 

My issue is that it's not about being pretty, it's (going to be) about when this team has a bad day on defense and is down two scores early, how do the Skins plan on coming back?  They can't throw it well enough.  There's absolutely no way that this team can win a shootout when an opponent scores 30+ points.  I hope that our defense balls out like this for the rest of the season but if there's a game later on with playoff implications and the D doesn't show up, how is the offense going to carry the load?  How's Smith going to pass for 350+ yards and 3 TDs?  

 

 

See, I think this is a worry every team faces. All teams face a bad day and when their strength crumples they lose most of the time. Sometimes, that weak part of the team that has been the beneficiary picks itself up and plays above its head. They take their turn baring the load.

 

If AP, the defense, etc. have a bad day... then they have a bad game and we'll probably lose. Frankly, if Aaron Rodgers has a bad day then Green Bay probably loses. If Tom Brady has a bad day then the Patriots lose. If the Colts lose Andrew Luck (a few years ago) they go from a Superbowl Contender to a 2-14 team.

 

The good thing about the Martyball approach is that it doesn't rely on one person. If one person has a bad day or gets injured you're okay because the team is relying on the team. Bibbs filled in quite ably for Thompson. Davis managed to fill in for Reed. For gosh sakes, Stroman, a 7th round rookie, filled in for Dunbar and held his own (kinda) against Sheppard and Beckham.

 

In the end, I suspect it's harder for the entire defense to have a bad day then it is for one player to have a bad day or be lost to injury. On the other hand, I fully expect our D to have bad games and to be grouchy about it when it happens.

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I know this isn’t the point but one thing I’d like to point out is that Martyball choked badly in 2001. The 0-5 start was horrific. They made up for it with the 5-0 run. He did a great job of changing on the fly and giving the team an identity. 

 

At 5-5 we had an opportunity right in front of us against an awful Dallas team led by the immortal Quincy Carter. We lost at home. We then lost at home to Philly. And then at home to the Bears. We were eliminated from the playoffs at 6-8 and then won our last two games. During the competitive part of our season we went 6-8 and lost when we had a chance to make playoffs. I was very meh about Marty and that season. 

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5 minutes ago, Burgold said:

See, I think this is a worry every team faces. All teams face a bad day and when their strength crumples they lose most of the time. Sometimes, that weak part of the team that has been the beneficiary picks itself up and plays above its head. They take their turn baring the load.

 

If AP, the defense, etc. have a bad day... then they have a bad game and we'll probably lose. Frankly, if Aaron Rodgers has a bad day then Green Bay probably loses. If Tom Brady has a bad day then the Patriots lose. If the Colts lose Andrew Luck (a few years ago) they go from a Superbowl Contender to a 2-14 team.

 

The good thing about the Martyball approach is that it doesn't rely on one person. If one person has a bad day or gets injured you're okay because the team is relying on the team. Bibbs filled in quite ably for Thompson. Davis managed to fill in for Reed. For gosh sakes, Stroman, a 7th round rookie, filled in for Dunbar and held his own (kinda) against Sheppard and Beckham.

 

In the end, I suspect it's harder for the entire defense to have a bad day then it is for one player to have a bad day or be lost to injury. On the other hand, I fully expect our D to have bad games and to be grouchy about it when it happens.

 

These are good points and I see where you are coming from.  You are right, Bibbs fills in nicely for Thompson, Davis is a great 2nd option at TE.  Stroman was up and down yesterday but had his moments.  Yeah, different players take turns and thats the sign of a good team.

 

My point is that when the strength of this team breaks down, I don't think we can count on Smith to carry the load though.  I'd love to be wrong, maybe he can step up and deliver a huge game but I wouldn't bet on it.

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1 minute ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

 

These are good points and I see where you are coming from.  You are right, Bibbs fills in nicely for Thompson, Davis is a great 2nd option at TE.  Stroman was up and down yesterday but had his moments.  Yeah, different players take turns and thats the sign of a good team.

 

My point is that when the strength of this team breaks down, I don't think we can count on Smith to carry the load though.  I'd love to be wrong, maybe he can step up and deliver a huge game but I wouldn't bet on it.

Yeah, I've been trying to be a cheerleader on ES, but I'm looking over my shoulder nervously all the time. The biggest downside to Martyball is that it depends on the team playing a perfect game. A single mistake can mean a loss. That type of discipline is scary and frankly it's why I've never loved Martyball. I like a more mixed approach like Gibbs had. Gibbs was conservative, but believed in taking his shots.

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1 minute ago, Burgold said:

Yeah, I've been trying to be a cheerleader on ES, but I'm looking over my shoulder nervously all the time. The biggest downside to Martyball is that it depends on the team playing a perfect game. A single mistake can mean a loss. That type of discipline is scary and frankly it's why I've never loved Martyball. I like a more mixed approach like Gibbs had. Gibbs was conservative, but believed in taking his shots.

 

Right.  And if you're going to play Martyball and play a perfect game, Smith is the guy who you want because he's not too mistake prone.  But yes, the rest of the pieces have to play perfect, too.

 

The aspect I like of Martyball is ball control, win the time of possession battle and just an overall smashmouth approach.  I'm not sure where to look up time of possession stats but I'd think that the Skins need to be up near the top of the league leaders this year.  Keeps our D fresh and off the field and keeps opposing offenses off the field, too.  

 

EDIT:  Well son of a gun, all you have to do is google search "NFL Time of possession leaders"...

 

We're 2nd to Philly with an average TOP of 32:27, up 3 mins from last year.  https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/average-time-of-possession-net-of-ot

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10 minutes ago, Burgold said:

Yeah, I've been trying to be a cheerleader on ES, but I'm looking over my shoulder nervously all the time. The biggest downside to Martyball is that it depends on the team playing a perfect game. A single mistake can mean a loss. That type of discipline is scary and frankly it's why I've never loved Martyball. I like a more mixed approach like Gibbs had. Gibbs was conservative, but believed in taking his shots.

We have taken shots, Smith just has no rapport with his receivers at this point. I believe there was 2 deep balls to Richardson yesterday, one a big overthrow and the other that drew a pass interference. From what i recall and don't hold me to this it looks like we take about 3 shots downfield a game which again to my memory is about on par with what Gibbs use to do, the differance being Rypien/Williams/Schroeder/Theismann & the posse actually made the plays , Smith and our WR's do not.

 

Right now Jay is playing to our strengths which is very smart and why we are in first place.The moment he trys to go to a more "mixed" approach is the moment you will see the wheels come off this team. If you are winning keep doing what you do best.

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Cool thread. 

 

I think the one thing not quite mentioned maybe is this, and I was alluding to it in the Smith thread. 

 

Stats

 

 

 

 

 

Back in the day.. it was ALL about winning games. Nobody really cared about how many yards on the ground were given up.. or how many completions or yards a QB threw for. No one cared if this LB got 12 tackles or 3. It was all about getting together with fam or friends, celebrating the good and pouting over the bad. 

 

Now it is all so much about Fantasy Football statistics. About which player is higher ranked than that player. About how this guy has the wow numbers.

 

What has happened to this once great sport?

 

200.webp?cid=3640f6095bd7085b41344466511

 

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. I kind of don't like the Marty Ball referrence - Because - well everyone hated Marty and our offence - while it may be poor now - is lightyears ahead of Martyball - i mean there are some interesting concepts and there daring plays out there - it is kind of limited by an - efficient but not exciting  QB - Martyball was very rigid and very outdated. 

 

I was thinking - watching the game yesterday (after i knew the outcome - yeah) - but the Skins look like the Chiefs about 3 or 4 years ago - Superficially it is good defense (not amazing)  barely functioning offense but churning out wins - and then holey hell they are 10-6 and winning the division (I am still referencing the chiefs here - just to say i am not getting ahead of myself) ..

 

And churn is the key thing here - The defense to the outside may not look like anything special. Hell all of the highlight real thumbnails had Barkley or Beckham plastered all over them - one headline was Barkely had a hell of a day putting up 132 yards on the Redskins - which he did - but only 32 of those yards came on the ground. Another "highlight" of the game was the Beckham Jr catch with Stroman (who had a fairly solid outing for a 7th round rookie)  draped all over him .... last week it was about the false false start and the officals snatching victory from Americas team  by pushing a 47 yard FG out to 52 Yards)...(a game tying FG - not a game winning) and then it was Cam newtwons failed heroics - and prior to that it was how injured Rodgers was and the roughing the passer penatlty (that had no impact on the actual game) that gifted the Green bay game to the Skins..... 

 

It just seems like we churn away - no one thinks we are any good - and yet here we are 5-2 ... churning away - The  one good thing about this is the attitude of the team is dower (misserable) - There is no chest bumping, everyone talks about getting better - despite the 5-2 record 

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1 hour ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

@Burgold if you think Baskin Robbins is good ice cream...

 

My issue is that it's not about being pretty, it's (going to be) about when this team has a bad day on defense and is down two scores early, how do the Skins plan on coming back?  They can't throw it well enough.  There's absolutely no way that this team can win a shootout when an opponent scores 30+ points.  I hope that our defense balls out like this for the rest of the season but if there's a game later on with playoff implications and the D doesn't show up, how is the offense going to carry the load?  How's Smith going to pass for 350+ yards and 3 TDs?  

 

 

I predict this D will not allow 30 again. The Saints lit a fire. I could be wrong. This D is still getting better ..FUN TO WATCH. This is how I wanted this team to be built..next year the O. Reminds me of the Allen teams!

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