Reaper Skins

I will say that we seem to be handling the financial side of things way better in the last few seasons in regards to player contracts. Little things like restructuring Hall based on injuries and Culliver and Knighton's deals seem to indicate a smarter front office that has built in a bunch of safety nets to help minimize exposure for when things don't work out. Now we also have both Goldsen and Galette playing for us while other teams pay their contracts, definitley helps the team when you can minimize the number of eggs in one basket so to speak.

It will also be impossible to know whether there's a causal effect since he only signed here (and not with another team), but I'm also curious to see how the league handles Galette's playing time and possible suspension now that he's a Redskin. does anyone really think the league will go easy on him now that he's a member of the Burgundy and Gold? My prediction is that they sit back and wait to see how much of an impact he's having, then give him some sort of suspension right when we start to rely on him in the lineup. Thats how it happened with Breeland, Tenard Jackson, Cedric Griffen, and Jordan Black

Jeez I leave for one week to go get married and what happens?!? First the league screws us then the Football Gods decide to twist the dagger a bit. "The timing of the suspension, if related to last year’s incident, is curious. Breeland was issued a citation for misdemeanor possession of marijuana on VCU’s campus on Aug. 11, 2014, the day before the Redskins ended training camp. Breeland had his case continued twice before it was dismissed on June 30. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch last November, Breeland and Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Herring reached an agreement in which Breeland would film a public service announcement for the city’s public schools in exchange for the dismissal of charges." http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jul/31/bashaud-breeland-facing-one-game-suspension/ "It wasn’t immediately clear why the league took so long to hand down a punishment. Two league spokesman didn’t immediately respond to requests for clarity." http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/football-insider/wp/2015/07/31/bashaud-breeland-to-serve-one-game-suspension-for-2014-marijuana-possession-incident/ Also found it interesting that again, like with the cap penalty, the Redskins were not officially notified by the league prior to the info being released to the public http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13353220/bashaud-breeland-washington-redskins-suspended-opener

Just announced Today: Even though the NFL Domestic Violence Policy calls for a 6 game suspension, Greg Hardy's Suspension was reduced today from 10 games down to 4. Combine this with the extra 1st round pick Dallas was able to snag, and I'm feeling a little bit of Dallas bias going on here. Might as well just give them the Super Bowl Trophy...... http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000500985/article/greg-hardy-suspension-reduced-to-four-games And now they're saying they may have been illegally talking to D. Thomas during offseason as well?

I agree that in theory we should have been able to overcome that easily since it was so early in the game. However, one of the trends with this team that I've noticed alot in recent memory is a lack of mental toughness. There have been so many times where a bad call or play doesn't go our way early in a game and the team seems to just give up and use it as an excuse to lose that week, rather than rally and keep pushing until the end of the game. There are tons of examples in this thread, but Griffin's touchdown against the Giants that got overturned is the most recent example I can think of. Even though it was only halftime, did anyone really expect them to come out and win after that play? Griffin himself said “I feel like we shouldn’t have let that play alter the game for us, but ultimately, it did,” Griffin said. “It’s a touchdown. That’s how we all felt, everybody in that locker room, the coaches included. I just don’t understand. If the ball passes the plane and you have control of the ball, it’s a touchdown in every game that I’ve ever seen. … But even if you feel like in that situation you got taken advantage of, you have to come back out and still win the game, and we didn’t do that.’’ http://nypost.com/2014/12/15/overturned-touchdown-leads-to-downward-spiral-for-redskins/ In my mind, there have been enough of these sort of calls in recent history against the Redskins that I do feel that it has given them a victim mentality and affected their ability to push through adversity. One of the biggest reasons I love what Gruden and SM are doing is that they are being so honest and open about our roster's limitations and where we need to improve going forward. For the first time in a very long time I feel like this team has a clear mindset and attitude about themselves that everyone on the staff seems to be buying into. No delusional lines about going to the Superbowl being spoon fed to the media or false hyping of our players to simply band-aid over our weak spots. Just work hard every day and get better. Outwork the other team. Fierce competitiveness on the depth chart that ensures not only the best players on the field, but also that there's no dropoff when backups do need to come in. Football games are hard enough to win in this league even without referee bias (which i do think exists for certain teams and players). By focusing inward on building a strong cohesive team with a unified front, I feel that our front office is making sure that our players don't have time to worry about the refs. If we get bad calls going forward (and I fully expect us to), my hope is that our players see it as an additional challenge that unifies them and causes them to play harder to get the win, rather than letting it define the whole day and then complaining about it afterwards to the media when its too late to make a difference.

As bad as we played that week, we only ended up losing by one possession (8 points) game footage http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000090886/article/nfl-deangelo-williams-td-shouldnt-have-counted

I try not to think about that one. Someone did early on but here's some video footage

And for the real old conspiracy nuts, it isn't just Mara whose got it in for us. All the way back in the 40's Sammy Baugh and the Redskins were accused of gambling and throwing games. Of course no evidence was found..... https://books.google.com/books?id=gyYhAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT196&lpg=PT196&dq=redskins+conspiracy&source=bl&ots=vLwm1tUEKY&sig=ipsWbLRSA21l4AATx9UmqFShBAY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBTgKahUKEwi87P6L6IfGAhVDbK0KHfCtAMo#v=onepage&q=redskins%20conspiracy&f=false

And just to add credence to how much BS that phantom whistle call was against the Carolina Panthers: Not only did it cost us the game, it overturned our 76 year old PERFECT record in regards to guessing the outcome of the Presidential election. Talk about a bad call. "When the Washington Redskins football team wins the game before the election, the President’s political party stays in control of the White House. When the Redkins lose the game before the election, the President’s political party loses control. This pattern has played since 1936 and statistically is not random chance — it is more likely an inside joke from those who rig national elections." "probability of this outcome (1936 through 2000) occurring due to chance 0.5^17 = .0000076 = .00076%" http://phillysportslive.com/washington-redskins-presidential-conspiracy/

Here's a daily dose of intrigue and insanity for you all during the offseason: 1. In regards to the D.C. mayor and City Council talk further about wooing Washington’s NFL team http://wapo.st/1QJdZlr I found this interesting article from last year "Our crazy conspiracy theory: We wouldn't be surprised if it's part of Snyder's grand strategy to leverage the Redskins name for all its worth before ultimately deciding that a change would be in everyone's best interests. Native Americans will be happy, critics will be happy, and Snyder will be happy with the financial windfall coming his way from all the new merchandising." http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24503136/harry-reid-redskins-name-will-be-changed-within-3-years Looks like it may be starting come true. 2. Here's a good article from 2012, it mentions some stuff that's already in here, but a big part that I had forgotten about was the Redskins being targeted for PED violations and the extremely fishy timing that the penalties were enforced. Jordan Black, Tenard Jackson, and Cedric Griffin are all discussed in the link "The real "reports" or news story at hand is not Jordan Black’s ADHD meds – it’s the league’s overt scrutiny of the Redskins for what seems to be a business vendetta.... ...I’m not a conspiracy theorist but the timing has been sketchy. Tanard Jackson was suspended the day before the season this year—yes, I understand he is a pothead who had a history—but that just makes him an even easier target. ...The day after Cedric Griffin has a decent game, the league comes down with his suspension for "PED’s". Black shouldn't have been on the radar except that with Polumbus’s concussion, he stands to take a substantial number of snaps. http://www.hogshaven.com/2012/12/18/3781106/Defending-Dan-Snyder 3. Found this pretty funny article from 2012. The guy was pretty close, he just picked the wrong Gruden lol http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1021270-washington-redskins-conspiracy-theory-morris-is-aboard-is-jon-gruden-next

Soooo.... Goodell says the report was done prior to the draft, report says Patriots violated league rules. Patriots draft not affected because the results were not revealed until right after the draft. Sounds about par for the course. even when they're guilty they get preferential treatment. Again, the Redskins found out about their 36 million cap penalty 48 hours before free agency from a reporter, not even an official call from the NFL. Anyone really surprised? “Based on the evidence developed in connection with the investigation and summarized in this Report, we have concluded that it is more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violations of the NFL Playing Rules and were involved in a deliberate attempt to circumvent those rules,” Wells, the attorney appointed by the NFL to investigate the “DeflateGate” controversy, wrote in his report that was released Wednesday. “In particular, we conclude that it is more probable than not that Jim McNally and John Jastremski participated in a deliberate plan to circumvent the rules by releasing air from Patriots game balls after the examination of the footballs by NFL game officials at the AFC Championship Game.” The NFL did not announce any disciplinary action. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2015/05/06/deflategate-wells-report-concludes-more-probable-than-not-patriots-violated-league-rules-tom-brady-aware-of-activities/ Let's also not forget that even with this penalty, the league still took their side on the Revis tampering charges http://www.boston.com/sports/touching_all_the_bases/2015/03/revis_jets.html

For the record, I didn't write that article nor do I necessarily believe the things mentioned in it. It was just given as a reference point to a topic brought up by another poster. I'll admit there's a huge amount of speculation and incorrect facts but still found it entertaining and relevant. I'm really only interested in things that apply to the Redskins directly, or indirectly as seen in the way penalties are handed out to other teams in comparison to the Redskins. Flashing lights are pretty though

Speaking of conveniently "great stories", this is a pretty entertaining article with a bunch of info regarding super bowl storylines and coincidences since 2001 "I'm not saying that the NFL is "fixing" their games, but its naive to think this is all happening naturally. It went from being just two really good teams playing each other, most of the time it ended up in a blow out, to every game is really close and has an intriguing back story for the media to hype for two weeks prior to the game being played. The NFL needs this game to have it all and for the last 14 Super Bowls, it has. Coincidence or fixed? You tell me." 2001 - America rallies around America's Patriots after 9/11 2002 - Jon Gruden faces his old team in the Super Bowl the very next year 2003 - Patriots repeat, win almost the exact same way as 2001 with long field goal 2004 - American dynasty, Patriots win 3 of 4 2005 - High profile player Jerome Bettis retires after Super Bowl win in hometown. 2006 - Two African American Coaches compete for the chance to be the first one to win a Super Bowl. Prior to this season there had not been even one in a Super Bowl game. 2007 - Patriots caught spying, public outraged, Cinderella Giants beat the 18-0 Pats to win 2008 - Cower retires, Steelers OC Whisenhunt goes to Arizona, faces his old team the Steelers in the Super Bowl 2009 - First Super bowl appearence in 42 history of N.O. Saints franchise. Happens the same year as hurricane Katrina 2010 - Green Bay wins with new QB Rodgers the same year old QB Favre finally retires after making one last run with Packers biggest rivals the Vikings. Passing of the torch. 2011 - after Harbaugh Brothers both lose in conference championships, Rematch of Pats and Giants, underdog Giants again pull off last minute victory 2012 - 2nd Year in a row the Harbaugh Brothers make it to conference championships, this time both make it to Super Bowl. High profile player Ray Lewis retires after winning super Bowl in his first and last season playing. 2013 - Number one offense Broncos vs. number one defense Seahawks 2014 - After embarrassing lopsided Superbowl the year before, the new Seahawks Dynasty takes on the old Patriots Dynasty. http://nickfruscello.blogspot.com/2011/02/super-coincidence-or-super-fixed.html

Patriots successfully complete their draft with no conclusion to Deflategate, despite Goodell saying that the investigation was concluded prior to the draft. The investigation has taken 100 days so far, and Goodell told Rose, via WEEI.com, he believes Wells has “finished the interview portion” of the report. http://nesn.com/2015/04/roger-goodell-i-think-deflategate-report-will-be-released-soon/ Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk believes the league needs to make a decision before the end of April. "It's got to happen before the draft," said Florio. "Because draft pick compensation is part of it. Whether the Patriots are punished or exonerated, I think they need to close the books on this one at least two weeks before the draft on April 30." http://www.csnne.com/blog/patriots-talk/florio-nfl-needs-address-deflategate-draft “Definitely. Absolutely. 100 percent,” Volin said when asked if the NFL is intentionally waiting until after the draft to release Wells’ report. “I think in waiting this long it’s made it less of a story. So I think they’ve done a good job of minimizing it. “And then, I thought of this yesterday — Bill Belichick is supposed to talk to the media this weekend after the draft, and then after that, we might not hear from him again until either mid-June at minicamp or maybe not even until training camp in August. So I think the NFL office is going to do the Patriots a favor, they’ll wait until after this weekend, so that we don’t have the opportunity to ask Belichick questions about it. And then when we do in August, he’ll say, ‘Well that’s old territory, we’re just trying to move on now.‘ “So I think that the NFL office is definitely waiting on purpose, trying to minimize the damage of this thing, and then releasing it at a time when the media can’t go around and ask the owners and Bill Belichick a million different questions about it.” http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/04/29/volin-nfl-intentionally-holding-deflategate-report-until-after-draft/

Dan T, you don't think keeping Paul was a good move? At this point I'd argue its better to have him than Jordan Reed. At least he plays special teams and can stay on the field...

Despite overwhelmingly positive reviews from all the draft analysts (none of these "experts gave us lower than a B-) Despite the fact that we've made a number of smart, cost effective moves to improve EVERY aspect of our roster during this offseason (offensive lineman, defensive line and backfield, special teams return man and depth) Despite the fact that we have a new GM widely regarded as one of the best in the NFL Despite revamping our strength and conditioning program. The NFL has labeled us the WORST team in football after the draft and going into this season. That's right. Behind the Cleveland Browns who have no QB and no number 1 or 3 wide receiver, with a suspended GM. Behind the Oakland Raiders Behind the Jacksonville Jaguars. This is some seriously shady, opinionated logic that I can't even begin to understand http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2452346-nfl-power-rankings-where-does-every-team-stand-after-the-draft/page/2

The irony of a man with a Mr. Clean avatar uncovering a bunch of dirt on one of the draft's nastiest, down in the mud players is not lost on me

Clearly it's a conspiracy to derail the thread and cover up the truth About the Redskins

Forgot about this one because we won the game but worth mentioning. At the end of the week 8 Dallas game when romoSUCKS comes back in we sacked him and he fumbled it. Washington clearly recovers the ball but they let the Cowboys retain possession. Its at 3:20 in the link below. HUUGE hometown call http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000419130/Week-8-Redskins-vs-Cowboys-highlights

Here's some video footage of a questionable call that amounted to a major shift in momentum during week 1 Niles Paul fumble (looks like Grant got the ball last but possession awarded to Texans) http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000390548/Niles-Paul-fumble-recovered-by-Kendrick-Lewis

Week 3 vs Eagles 2014 4th quarter, Chris Baker makes a legal hit (he was not fined for it) on Nick Foles after he throws an interception, fight breaks out, both Chris Baker AND Trent Williams are ejected, compared to just Jason Peters on the Eagles (even though Peters instigated and was fined while Williams was not fined at all). After review, the interception is overturned and possession is awarded to Eagles. A few plays later, an incomplete pass ruling on the field is ALSO overturned in favor of the Eagles, setting up a Maclin TD. Redskins end up losing by 3 points. http://totalsportswire.com/the-eagles-redskins-dont-like-each-other-and-other-things-we/ http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2014/9/21/6753379/eagles-vs-redskins-final-score-philadelphia-washington-37-34 Some video footage http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000401082/article/jason-peters-chris-baker-fined-for-week-3-fight

Also worth noting is that we have 3 primetime games this season. Since Gibbs left we are 3-17 in Prime Time games. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/10/06/the-redskins-record-in-primetime-games-is-as-bad-as-you-thought/ Guess who we play in prime time this season? That's right ALL 3 are against NFC East opponents. In addition to that, 2 out of the 3 (Eagles and Giants) are away games, and BOTH of them come on short weeks (Giants in week 3. Eagles in week 16) The only home prime time game will be against the Cowboys in Week 13. And even this advantage is minimized by the fact that it will be when they have Hardy, who no one else in the division has to play at all. Smells fishy to me. From a scheduling standpoint I have a hard time seeing how we're not starting out at a disadvantage compared to ALL 3 of our divisional rivals. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/football-insider/wp/2015/04/21/redskins-2015-schedule-instant-analysis/

Some Hoculi Highlights (Redskins and Other Teams) http://was.247sports.com/Bolt/Hochuli-and-the-curious-not-overturned-fumble-32005536 http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/157276/inside-slant-ed-hochulis-coin-toss-jungle-boy-and-more http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d80aeabaf/article/hochuli-devastated-following-blown-call http://www.footballnation.com/content/ed-hochuli-gives-the-cowboys-their-fifth-win-2012/19413/ http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/cheers-jeers-hochulis-reputation-is-taking-a-big-hit/article/10152 And here's the article that shows that Hoculi and Mike Carey, the ref who refuses to call Redskins games, were voted the best officials in the league http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/8/20/6049193/nfl-referee-washington-redskins-name

Here's an article that says our team has been unfairly singled out for free speech rights "A federal government decision to cancel the Washington Redskins’ trademark because it may be disparaging infringes on free-speech rights and unfairly singles the team out, lawyers argued in court papers filed Feb. 23." http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/Article/index/8983 Edit:I really don't want to get into the whole name thing and would rather focus on just in game things, but wanted to mention this one just because it makes the comparison between the Redskins and other professional sports franchises.

Let's not forget about the bus crash in week 8 of last season when the Minneapolis Police gave all our players whiplash and mentally psyched us out right before the game against the Vikings. The timing is worth noting because this was supposed to be RG3's first game back after injury. Not exactly the easiest return after 7 weeks on the injured list. There was also never any follow up that explained what went wrong... There remains a feeling from some at Redskins Park that the national NFL audience doesn’t understand exactly how terrifying last Sunday’s bus accident was. “It was hairy,” Gruden said. “It wasn’t just a fender-bender. It was, maybe, for the bus behind us, but they had a good jolt on us. And after we got hit, our bus driver lost the brakes. And we were coasting down this cliff which would have taken us to another freeway — our bus would have flipped a couple of times and we would have landed on another freeway. We were about four tire revolutions from going over. Luckily the bus driver looked up at the last second and yanked it and then we went over the barricades. It was pretty scary there for a minute.” With catastrophe narrowly averted, it goes without saying that the Minneapolis Police Department is trying to figure out what went wrong with its police escort on Sunday. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/11/06/redskins-bus-accident-prompts-minneapolis-police-department-to-re-examine-its-escort-policy/ On top of the bus crash, this was also the same week there was a huge protest about the team name going on outside the stadium. It was ALSO the same week that there was the mysterious "leaked" article about team dis-harmony that came out right before the game. I can absolutley see all of these things combining to have our players being distracted and not able to focus 100% on the game. "A little later, a protest of thousands of people decrying their nickname took place outside the stadium. A report of disharmony in the locker room surrounding Griffin's return to the field also surfaced prior to the game." http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=400554351 Considering how the game came down to the final few minutes and involved a goal line stance, I'd say its worth noting that the Vikings were better prepared physically and mentally for this game. The Redskins players downplayed the injuries but also admitted to being "shaken, and having some cuts and bruises. At least one player, Silas Redd, had to be deactivated for the game. Coach Gruden also said that he recieved whiplash. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/vikings-ruin-rg3s-return-top-213111968--nfl.html http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/11/washington-redskins-bus-accident