bnacpa Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 After reading Thomas Boswell’s article on the Skins from last Friday regarding the similarities between how the Skins look on paper heading into this years playoffs and the Skins team from 1987 a thought came to mind that made me smile very broadly and very sad all at the same time … My Dad. My father believed that Gibbs stepped down after the 2002 season because he couldn’t win in the free agency years and wanted to go out with his reputation on top. My father felt vindicated in his believe after seeing Rich Petitbon go 4-12 and then Norv Turner go 3-13 and 6-10. My father was a huge Skins fan his whole life and he unfortunately passed away in 2001 at a very early age of 57. I am very happy that the Skins are back to high character winning ways … but also sad that my father isn’t around to see this. Now Gibbs is back and he is showing the whole world that human nature doesn’t change over time. Gibbs has shown that greed is a short-term fix, but an unsustainable motivator compared with the basic desire to achieve greatness. Sure it is wonderful when both things are combined, and lack of money can certainly be a de-motivator and create some discontentment, but this Skins team isn’t about money or glamour. This Skins team is about each other – the team. Last year was a 6-10 effort, but unlike the Spurrier team from a year prior or some of Norv’s teams … this team didn’t point fingers in the locker room or take its frustration out on each other in the media. Sure there have been some instances of Arrington talking too much or Sean Taylor showing that he still needs to mature … but we haven’t had players trying to go over the coaches head so that they can break sack records or put themselves above the team. When Coles and Gardner wanted out, Gibbs complied and figured out a way to get value for them. Sure it sucks that we only get a 6th round pick for Gardner, who was a former #1 … but on the flip side, the Panthers aren’t getting anything for him … he bombed so bad there that they just released him. Darnerian McCants went to the media to talk about how good he is in the end zone and how much the team must need him because he was their only tall receiver … but we cut him due to his poor attitude regarding contributing on Special Teams and his lack of focus in practice. He went to Philadelphia who needs receivers more than any other team in the league (aside from maybe the Redskins), and he has failed to take-off there. Coles was still very productive for NY considering all of their QB woes, but he has not demonstrated that he belongs in the same class as Moss. Before his toe injury he was a hungry team-first player with great breakaway speed and a lot of toughness. Since he has become a me-first player who put his own accomplishments ahead of his team and has lost his game-breaking ability. He is still very tough and plays with good passion, but is not worth what the Skins paid for and to him to bring him to DC. But I digress … it is very obvious that this team is more of a team than anything we have fielded since Gibbs left. If we lose to Seattle on Sunday, we will be a 6th seed losing to a 1 seed and there is no shame in that. Before the beginning of the season many across the nation thought that we were the worst team in the NFC East and wouldn’t break .500. Now we are the only NFC East team standing and have won our last 6 games, 4 of which have been on the road. But I am not so sure that we are heading to the West Coast for certain doom and gloom. Sure our offense didn’t look so hot and we had some bounces go in our favor. What team still in the playoffs hasn’t? Seattle has played in a very weak division where there are two new coaches (Vitt prior to being fired and Mike Nolan) as well as Arizona. Seattle also got to play a Colts team that didn’t have their head coach or their starters playing, a Texans team who earned the #1 pick in the draft, and a Titans team that has been decimated by the salary cap. Right there that is 9 wins. Add in two tough wins against the Giants and Cowboys … both by 3 pts each and they are at 11 wins. Their final two wins were against the Falcons and a butt whipping against the Eagles. However, they lost to Washington. In fact, despite the missed field goal at the end of regulation that would have given them the win … Washington held its own against them. Sure we gave up a big run to Shaun Alexander … but he only had 95 yards against us with that large run. We keep out that run, they are different. Their advantage this game is rest, home field, and they have Darrell Jackson back. We don’t look very optimistic on paper: Portis is hurting, Brunell looks like last year, not this year, Cooley has gone on the missing persons list and may appear on milk cartons soon, Wynn is out (not a great pass rusher but very good against the run), Springs is still day to day, and our secondary continues to look very exposed. Additionally, we still don’t have any other receiver to take pressure off of Moss. Thrash, Jacobs, and Farris don’t seem to get open or get the job done and I don’t think anyone wants to see Antonio Brown getting catches over the middle while taking hits from defenders … he turns the ball over way too much for comfort. Speaking of which … who here is amazed that he was still on punt returns after his fumble on Saturday? I was shocked. The optimism for the Redskins is that this team finds ways to win. The Skins from a few years back would never have won 5 straight to get into the playoffs. In fact … the Skins from a few years back would have folded after the first have turnover volley with Arizona. Or would have come out at half-time defeated against the Eagles and just surrendered. And Dallas … forget about it. There is no way the Norv, Shottenheimer, or Spurrier Skins would have beaten a Parcells led Dallas team. This team finds ways to win, even if it isn’t pretty. The only game we have been blown out this year has been the Giants in NY, and we already rectified that disaster and where are they now? We keep every game close. I have to believe that if Brunell can find his fountain of youth again … with some zip on the ball, Gibbs will figure out a way to exploit the Seahawks. They are a dynamic team, but not invincible. Plus, they Seahawks generally choke when it comes to big games. They haven’t won a playoff game since 1984. Even our players and coaches talked about how the vanilla the play calling was in the 2nd half. Everyone new we were going run, run, pass. The other advantage we have with Gibbs is that he loves a challenge more than anything. This is why he came back to football … to prove he could bring back the franchise he loves and get his son some coaching experience/exposure. Now he has a new challenge … no 6th seed has ever gotten to the Super Bowl. Our road to glory are teams we have already beaten (unless Carolina beats Chicago). Win or lose, I believe that we are setting ourselves up for a good run over the next several years and that we have every chance to beat the Seahawks. I just wish my Dad were around to see this. If we beat the Seahawks … everyone will be scared, the national media will truly be dumbfounded, either remaining team of the Bears or Panthers will be scared, and we will be looking at a Super Bowl birth in Gibbs 2nd year, just like 1982, when we were something special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laura Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Great post and thank you for sharing something so personel as your father death. May he rest in peace. May I add that I don't care what the media thinks or feel about the Skins. I think the SKins will win, I hope they keep douting Gibbs team because the skins will then most definately be traveling to the Superbowel. So who ever they play after Seattle better be scared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkowi Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Cool post man. What can you say, we are in the second round of the playoffs. We have to be proud of this team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingfish50 Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Really nice post. I'm glad to hear that your father was a real die hard Redskins fan. He's probably sitting on a reclyner up in Hog Heaven enjoying the Redskins comeback. Here's to you and your dad. HAIL TO THE REDSKINS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csgunderson Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 I'll take a great defense against a great offense any day of the week in the playoffs. If the defense plays as well as it has the past month, there is absolutely no reason that the Skins can't go into Seattle and win. There is substance behind the old adage "defense wins championships." Forget about the Tampa game, it is history. Seattle is not Tampa. The Skins will not be intimidated. Seattle hasn't played a meaningful game in a month -- if they come out rusty and the Skins grab an early lead, the pressure on Seattle will be unbelievable. Should Seattle be the favorite in this game? Absolutely. Do the Skins have a legitimate chance to win? Absolutely. Coach Gibbs is special. We'll see just how special he is on Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnacpa Posted January 9, 2006 Author Share Posted January 9, 2006 Yeah ... being a Redskins Fan and supporter was in my blood. I was born in 72 in December ... when we were beating Dallas and going to the Super Bowl (only to lose to the undefeated Dolphins). The first time I got into football was in 1981 in 1st/2nd grade when my classmates were talking about some no-name unheard of coach taking over for Jack Pardee. I started following just to keep up with current events with my friends ... and quickly fell in love with it. Then my first year in college the Skins win the SuperBowl. I just had a baby girl on Dec 6th ... and the Skins have been undefeated since ... so it is in the family Needless to say ... we have her dressed up in Redskins gear for each game and every time we score we take her for an arm dance to hail to the Redskins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubascotty12 Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Excellent post. I love this team. Gibbs is a true professional who knows how to build a championship organization....in any sport. A true motivator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttr77 Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Best post I have read in a long time on here. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wskin44 Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 My mom was also a huge Skins fan. I said hello to her on the way to the Philly game a week ago and stopped by her resting place well after midnight on the way home that night. I'm sure that she's enjoying this from Hog Heaven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Pease Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Very nice post. Go Skins, just keep on winning. We are with you; cheering you on to victory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnacpa Posted January 9, 2006 Author Share Posted January 9, 2006 I'll take a great defense against a great offense any day of the week in the playoffs. If the defense plays as well as it has the past month, there is absolutely no reason that the Skins can't go into Seattle and win. There is substance behind the old adage "defense wins championships." Forget about the Tampa game, it is history. Seattle is not Tampa. The Skins will not be intimidated. Seattle hasn't played a meaningful game in a month -- if they come out rusty and the Skins grab an early lead, the pressure on Seattle will be unbelievable. Should Seattle be the favorite in this game? Absolutely. Do the Skins have a legitimate chance to win? Absolutely. Coach Gibbs is special. We'll see just how special he is on Saturday. I absolutely believe that we can go into Seattle with our defense and win. Their receivers are prone for dropping passes in big games ... what do you think will happen when the Skins DB's put the curse of Alligator Arms on them? I would love to get back to the point where our LB's are blitzing ... either MW or LA and the OL has no idea which is coming. That was what we were doing in Preseason last year and what we continued to do with AP throughout the year ... we would send in MW. We were also very effective with safety/cb blitzes. If MH is shaken up, he will falter. If we can get him woozy, he will become our ally by giving up INT's and forcing poor passes. Remember ... with several weeks off, he may have forgotten what it is like to have the snot beat out of him. The running game is a whole different matter ... we need to shut them down by blitzing so often that SA is held in the backfield for pass protection or has guys in the backfield as he looks for his cut back lanes. If we can get our front line and 1 or two other players in their backfield for a lot of plays, then we can take it to them. Finally ... they have to be overconfident with the TD champion vs. our 120 yd performance. If Gibbs, the veteran players, and the other coaches can get this team jacked up the way Monte Coleman & co. used to get bizirked, then we will be victorious in Seattle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latinkidgomez Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Phenomenal, inspirational, and simply the truth! Thank you for a great post. I want more and more media types like banks and donovan at SI.com, discount us. They can all us all these negative, and demeaning names but all they are doing is motivating Super Bowl-Caliber team. Yes offense was frightful, but guess what? Seattle defense is not rated number one in the league, and frimly believe that our guys on offense will practice extra hard, and focus even more acutely(if that is even possible) on their strategy and attacks. Offense is taking last week's performance as a loss, they will be amped up to prove themselves that they are indeed Super Bowl worthy. FelloW Redskins fans: BELIEVE! FIGHT ON SONS OF WASHINGTON! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tazhog Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Awesome post!!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts... You my friend are a "REDSKIN"!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 That was a very touching post. Thanks! You're a Redskin to the bone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redskinsfan79 Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Great Post Hail To All Fans Who Will Never Turn There Backs On The Team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inigo Montoya Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Great post and dead ON! The best I have read today for sure. There have been so many pointless, soley emotional and illogical posts today its sick. HTTR!!! 4 more weeks til detroit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martini Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Thanks for the great post. :applause: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLongshot Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 Thanks to Brian, for pointing me to his post. He is right that at this point, it has been a successful season, no matter what happens in Seattle. While the offense was a little frustrating last Saturday, I don't expect a repeat performance of that this Saturday. This team seems to have a knack right now of figuring things out and finding a way to win despite what is thrown at them. So, let's try our best against one of the weaker #1 seeds in the playoffs. Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betsy thurman Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 great post man --- how great to be able to share your love of the Skins with your Dad and have some really great memories to look back on -- both of my boys love the Skins too and its great to have that connection --- may your Dad rest in peace and your memories carry you through Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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