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I blame Mendes


Murilo Bustamante

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First off, it is too early to really blame people... this game may be an isolated incident. We lost by thirty points, but it still only counts for one loss.

But if this loss does become typical, I blame Mendes.

We made some key decisions this offseason. Rather than spend to keep Lang and Barber, we shelled out big bucks for Trotter and Armstead.

Rather than go after Chris Chandler or Aaron Brooks or Kent Graham, we got Wuerffel and Matthews.

Rather than spend to get Adams or Parella, we spent a lot to get Wynn.

We spent our guard money on a guy who isn't even starting and a last minute desperation trade for Brendan Stai, when we could have drafted a promising rookie in the first round.

Overall, Mendes' obsession with "value" meant we passed over a few guys who had proved it for us to spend money at positions where we really had no desperate need (like LB).

I hope the OL gels soon and the LBs get it together and the DL starts generating some pass rush. Otherwise, our offseason will start to look very, very ugly.

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Holding off another year to draft a franchise-level QB would have only set everything back a year.

Ramsey may very well not fulfill that promise. But with the ability he's shown, and Spurrier's coaching, don't bet against it. It was absolutely the right decision to take Ramsey over a woulda, shoulda, coulda at guard. You don't know that a rookie guard would do any better than the guys that are playing now.

Actually, I thought the line did a decent job, enough so that I would not attribute the deficiencies on offense to it. Either the receivers weren't getting open or the QB wasn't finding them.

As the game wore on, of course, the Eagles really started getting pressure. Not surprising considering the situation. While the game was in doubt, though, the line was giving the time to make plays.

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You don't get it...

Brooks or Chandler or anyother qb would not help us win now. Shane or danny had a chance because they know the offense. Well, that may not be enough.

Ramsey is a rookie and is learning the offense, but he has better tools than Chandler or any veteran we may have gotten. Besides, a veteran would do no better, because they don't know the offense. Ramsey is the way to go. Give him a few more weeks to learn, then throw him into the fire.

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Actually, I blame Lewis.

Last year, with roughly the same personnel on D, we had LaVar spy on McNabb, Champ shut down Thrash man to man, and Smoot and Darrell handling the other guys. What happens? We hold them to 3 friggin' points. 3 Points!!!

Now, genius Marvin lines up LaVar at DE, where he rots; and plays zone. Uh, Marv, did you watch any tape of the Titans game last week? Did you see how McGnat did man to man vs zone? Didn't think so dude.

Granted, though, we should have shelled out a few clams for decent interior lineman. We blew too much $$$ on Jones, who couldn't adjust to the inside even before he got hurt.

So far, it looks like the Buzzards were right about Trotter being a product of Johnson's system. Other than a few decent plays by Armstead, our linebackers have yet to produce squat.

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I apologize; I meant Jeff Blake not Aaron Brooks.

We will see about the other issues. I agree Lavar is being very misused in Lewis' defense so far. And it could still work out that Ramsey was a better choice than the guards available at that point. And maybe it still would have been better to get Trotter, Armstead, and Wynn rather than Lang, Barber, and Adams.

I'm just saying, if it doesn't turn out that way, Mendes deserves some of the blame.

But one game is too early to say for sure.

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I think drafting Ramsey was a good idea when you take into account the other picks we got by trading down. At the time, Mattews was still a Bear and we needed to look at the future.

That being said, I can guarentee that Spurrier takes a QB next year in the first round.

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Murilo,

Mendes deserves NONE of the blame for not getting a QB. As Code said, no other free agent QB would actually help us much this year running this offense. The reason I ultimately settled on a 9-7 prediction is due to worry over the QB spot and how teams would expose the arm strength of the guys we had while Ramsey was working. If we had Chandler or Blake here I'd have gone 6-10. They simply wouldn't know the offense well enough and it would take a long time to overcome that.

Spurrier picked the guys he wanted to start with and that's what he did. That's not on Mendes. That's not on Snyder. Spurrier did what he felt was best and I agree with his choices. We are going to have limitations as well as some excellent games. We're better off with who we have right now than anyone else. Ramsey's development is key though.

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The O-Line didn't give up until deep in the 3rd quarter. But, I don't think that's an excuse. I can see how one can lose his confidence when the offense is barely in there anyway.

I think the O did a find job. The Eagles didn't blitz as much as they used their corners to shadow our receivers and dare our QBs to throw deep. When they DID blitz it was at the right times. Something M. Lewis needs to be jotting down in a notebook and mimicing.

You're not playing teams like the Bungles anymore, Lewis. Welcome to the NFC East! Get a clue!!

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Art-

I don't agree with you about the QBs. If Matthews looked the way he did last week, then maybe you're right. If he looks the way he did last night, then you're wrong- Chandler would have been better.

And I do believe Mendes has some responsibility here. Mendes has set up this CC-type atmosphere where we don't want to "overpay." We have had a lot of negotiation problems this offseason, and lost out on a lot of good players because we moved too slowly or didn't even try to compete with other offers. Mendes can justify spending a lot on Trotter and Armstead because they were values, but at positions where we had no need! This emphasis on value over need may be the reason why we lost last night. If we don't turn it around soon, I will believe that.

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Hey, I also wonder why we didn't go get a proven, quality vet or two for the offensive line. But, again, other than that, there's not much to say was a big problem with the offseason. The QB spot is Spurrier's and no matter what EITHER of us says, the man who knows what he needs at that spot is Spurrier. He picked his guys and he probably did so because he knows, or felt, they would give him a better chance immediately than anyone else. I was a guy who liked the idea of Chandler myself. Less so Blake. No matter. There are times when you defer to the guy who's running the offense and this is one of those times. Spurrier could have had what he wanted. Including Bledsoe. He decided that's not what he wanted.

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I agree with Art. I think Mendes has done a very good job considering the potential cap mess he inherited. This may have been the best draft the Skins have had in a decade. Prior to this year we never got much out of the draft below the 2nd round. Its true these rookies wont help us much this year, but next year they should develop into good players.

Snyder wanted to draft Ramsey and SS only wanted Matthews and Woeful. In fact if you recall, SS wasnt even that hot on signing Matthews, and wanted to go with the 3 QB's he originally had. :doh:

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We spent our guard money on a guy who isn't even starting and a last minute desperation trade for Brendan Stai, when we could have drafted a promising rookie in the first round.

I diagree slightly on that. Ramsey was the correct pick with the first rounder.

Other wise there'd be absolutely no hope for next year. Any Qb drafted next year would have rookie growing pains and would likely take another year to develop. Same for any vet brought in.

Now the second and third round picks, they were misused. Sure Bauman will eventually replace Darrell (hopefully). And Betts might do something next year..... And of course Russell will be off of injured reserve next year.

Who besides me would of tried to trade them, even all three of those picks, to move up and get Gurode? Two draft picks of that caliber (Ramsey and gurode) beats depth players every time. Or you could of taken another Ol or DL with those picks.

We did it for Samuels and lavar. We did it for Janson. We did it for Champ. It being trading up and down in the draft to get the quality players we needed.

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