This 2005 season in retrospect (and a little gloating)

[redman]

As many of you know, I also play fantasy football and therefore participate on a busy and reputable fantasy football message board called footballguys.com. Some of our posters here also post there.

Back in September, some arse hat posted a thread ridiculing 'Skins management over their refusal to field offers from the Jets to trade Ramsey. Don't worry, this led to a nice amount of ridicule from me and others.

But it also led to a discussion of the 'Skins in general which I think in retrospect was a good discussion insofar as it forced me and others to break down what we were trying to do. One guy posted his predictions as to the 'Skins game-by-game record this season:

Anyway, here is how I see it going for the remainder of the season. You tell me what you think.

ep 11 Chicago Won 9-7

Sep 19 @Dallas Won 14-13

Week 3 BYE

Oct 2 Seattle 1:00pm Win

Oct 9 @Denver 4:15pm Loss

Oct 16 @Kansas City 1:00pm Loss

Oct 23 San Francisco 1:00pm Win

Oct 30 @N.Y. Giants 1:00pm loss

Nov 6 Philadelphia 8:30pm loss

Nov 13 @Tampa Bay 1:00pm loss

Nov 20 Oakland 1:00pm Win

Nov 27 San Diego 1:00pm win

Dec 4 @St. Louis 4:05pm loss

Dec 11 @Arizona 4:05pm Win

Dec 18 Dallas 1:00pm Win

Dec 24 N.Y. Giants 1:00pm Win

Jan 1 @Philadelphia 4:15pm win

10 wins. The divisional games at home are very important against Dallas and New York. We have to win those. Philly in week 17 could be a good time to play that game because they could easily be resting their starters. San Diego and Oakland at home are iffy games, but I think the Redskins could pull those out. And at Arizona, with the way that team looks, should be a win.

So, I see them putting a run together at the end of the season with their record around .500 at that time. They'll be on the bubble most of the season, but I actually think they could pull it off!!!!

He then edited his post to add this comment:

edit: just noticed I have them winning 6 of their final 7 games after starting 4-5. Could be unlikely. I didn't see them beating Dallas in dallas though, so if they could pull out a road win in New York, KC, Denver, or beat Philly at home, that would help things.

I responded by saying this:

I noticed that too, but I had the opposite reaction. It looks realistic to me. Gibbs' teams have tended to get stronger as the season goes on.

This year's team is most similar IMHO to the 'Skins 1985 and 1989 teams, both of which finished 10-6 BTW. The similarity is due to the fact that there's new personnel in place as part of a rebuilding effort. In 1985 the team won 5 of their last 6 and 7 if their last 9 games; in 1989 the team ended the year on a 5 game winning streak, and won 6 of their last 7.

For those of you who are relatively new to Gibbs (e.g., fans of Om's Gibbsian moment thoughts), I can guaranatee you one thing - I'd have never said such statements about any other 'Skins team that was coached by someone else. There's a reason why Gibbs is predictable, and that is because he's great. Gibbs is a coaching "brand" if you will. You know what you'll get from him. His teams focus on discipline, unity and drive, and those things tend to peak for him at the end of the year. It's happened too many times for it to be a fluke.

We used to roll our eyes at Norv saying "what we do works". He hasn't earned the right to say it. Gibbs had, but he doesn't say it because he's always driven to prove himself no matter what has come before.

Just understand that when people gush about Gibbs, it's one of the rare times in life when they're not talking into their hat. The guy is simply great at what he does. Enjoy it, because he won't be here forever.