Very Telling Quote of Saunders' Frustration

[heyholetsgogrant]

This quote is actually quite damning of Al Saunders. Hasn't he watched any film of Brunell? Gibbs made Brunell the QB so he'd have an efficient veteran who avoids mistakes handling the offense. If Saunders thought he needed a gunslinger like Kurt Warner or Trent Green, he should have found one.

If he was stuck with Brunell, then it is Al Saunders' responsibility to adjust his offense to the tools he has. Kurt Warner played like the greatest QB in NFL history that year. If he needs the greatest QB in NFL history to succeed in this offense, shouldn't he have warned us about that a little earlier?

Do you think that Gibbs sold our QB situation better than what it was, in order to get suanders here??

-Grant

[authentic]

But you guys are forgetting Gibbs says Brunell is a hard worker

No, he's super-smart.. and fights his guts out.

[MRMADD]

Do you think that Gibbs sold our QB situation better than what it was, in order to get suanders here??

-Grant

Not unless Saunders is blind. Anyone who's watched Brunell for the past two years knows what his strengths and weaknesses are. Anyone who thought they could turn him into Kurt Warner in his prime was an idiot.

[Art McDonough]

Enough of the 700 page playbook. I'll bet it says on page 1 that: (1) blocking is a really good thing to do in this offense, (2) the QB whomever he is, should try to find open receivers and throw the ball to them, and (3) penalties are bad. We'd be 2-0 if the players read and practiced page 1.

[bobzmuda]

If you look at the "we're working on something" pre-season game you will notice that Brunell got rid of the ball at the end of his drop. That's in-line with what Saunders has said this off-season - get rid of the ball quickly, immediately after you finish your drop.

We all saw last night that Brunell did no such thing. He was obviously rattled, took his eyes off the WRs, and was hearing footsteps all night long. I can't recall many instances (outside of garbage time prevent defense by Dallas) of him finishing his drop and throwing.

Saunders recognized this problem in the pre-season, thus the pre-season game where he had Brunell work extensively on getting the ball out quickly. What we saw last night, results aside, was nothing like the QB play Saunders expects. In fact, it was quite the opposite: imprecise drops, holding on to the ball, not challenging up the field, taking eyes of the receivers, etc.

From what we know of what Saunders has said and done, and from seeing who's starting, it's pretty clear there's a rift in Saunders' and Gibbs' approach to how to handle the QB position.

[Saqs]

The Chiefs offense scored 26 and 18 points those first two games. The skins first two games 16 and 3 points. Brunell in no Trent Green or Kurt Warner.

Actually they scored 24 (TD off of INT) and 3 the first 2 games in 2001.

[RDSKNfaithfull]

Too Bad Saunders was a recievers coach and not a OC when Kurt "picked up the System" Maybe he should give some of his money to Mike Martz to come help him out :doh:

[EnFoRcEr_uPu]

Gibbs didn't "pull the plug" on Ramsey, though. Ramsey got clotheslined in the throat by a DL for the Bears.

WOW!! Are you really that dumb??

Lance Briggs is a LB, not a DL.

[wbar3383]

Hang on, dont get too worked up.

Saunders made 1 quote, and the original poster added his feelings and opinions.

Saunders did not say all that stuff.

Wow, just wow, ban someone.

[Destino]

No, he's super-smart.. and fights his guts out.

no that was last year. He fought his guts out and we went to the post season. Due to that he is all out of guts this season.

[SC3]

Here is my view on why the problem is Brunell and not the offense:

Jack Del Rio replaced Tom Coughlin and brought in a new offense in Jacksonville. Brunell may not have been entirely healthy but also wasn't effective in the new offense and was replaced by rookie Byron Leftwich.

Mark signs with the Skins and has to learn another new offense. Once again he is ineffective learning on the job and is replaced by Patrick Ramsey. Once Brunell has a full year in the offense, he plays a LOT better.

Here we are in a new offense again. Once again Brunell is struggling. He may be "supersmart" as Gibbs says but learning an offense and applying what you learn are two different things. Do we wait a year for Brunell to learn this offense in hopes he will have a stellar year when he's 37 or do we bring in our own version of Kurt Warner? It's a true statement that some QB's learn on the job quicker than others. Brunell is not one of those guys. He's like a method actor. He needs a while to get into character.

It's time to either bring in a guy who already knows the offense or the guy who is used to change and excels in spite of it.

:applause:

Even Trent Green struggled with switching from one Coryell Style offense to another in 2001.

[celts32]

"I don't know, Kurt Warner won the Super Bowl in his first year with it," Saunders said.

QUOTE]

Saunders made this remark in response to Backup boy Collins assertion that it takes 1 year to learn this offense. It was not a direct shot at Brunell but rather Saunders trying to say that this year is not lost and we can right the ship this season.

[In Flames]

But you guys are forgetting Gibbs says Brunell is a hard worker

and a real stand-up kind of guy. and he played a good game, and so on, and so on.

[Cracklock81]

If you look at the "we're working on something" pre-season game you will notice that Brunell got rid of the ball at the end of his drop. That's in-line with what Saunders has said this off-season - get rid of the ball quickly, immediately after you finish your drop.

We all saw last night that Brunell did no such thing. He was obviously rattled, took his eyes off the WRs, and was hearing footsteps all night long. I can't recall many instances (outside of garbage time prevent defense by Dallas) of him finishing his drop and throwing.

Saunders recognized this problem in the pre-season, thus the pre-season game where he had Brunell work extensively on getting the ball out quickly. What we saw last night, results aside, was nothing like the QB play Saunders expects. In fact, it was quite the opposite: imprecise drops, holding on to the ball, not challenging up the field, taking eyes of the receivers, etc.

From what we know of what Saunders has said and done, and from seeing who's starting, it's pretty clear there's a rift in Saunders' and Gibbs' approach to how to handle the QB position.

My sentiments exactly- Brunell looked completely uncomfortable and scared the entire time last night. It's almost as if he was playing not to make mistakes as opposed to actually trying to make plays. He often went down before taking a hit and was constantly backpeddling instead of stepping up in the pocket to avoid pressure. After watching Trent Green the last few years (and Warner before), I remember seeing a very fluid, quick hitting offense. Trent Green thrived in the Saunders system because of his ability to make quick reads and get the ball out. Although I have not seen the tape, I'm assuming it's more of a factor of Brunell being slow to make reads than it is the receivers getting open. I just don't think guys like Randle El and Moss would have problems getting open with their speed and route running abilities.

With the offensive line performing as poorly as they have, Brunell doesn't have a chance of being effective. At least with Jason Campbell there would be the possibility to make plays with his athletic ability and legs.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

:applause:

Even Trent Green struggled with switching from one Coryell Style offense to another in 2001.

what? when? he got injured his first year in st. louis, then went to kc and did quite well immediately.

[compman]

Actually they scored 24 (TD off of INT) and 3 the first 2 games in 2001.

Ya, your right second game was cancelled Sept 11. I just wonder how much was Saunders and how much was Vermeil. The Rams offense did just fine after Saunders left with Martz.

[TheLongshot]

what? when? he got injured his first year in st. louis, then went to kc and did quite well immediately.

17 TDs 24 Ints.

I wouldn't call that doing well...

Jason

[ABQCOWBOY]

As a Cowboy fan, I wouldn't really call the problem Brunnell, per say. Your OL played poorly IMO. I mean, Brunnell didn't exactly light it up and the throw that got picked probably never should have been thrown but Brunnell was never comfortable to begin with. It's tough when you don't have the running game you want and everything revolves around that piece of your offense. You look at the numbers Saunders offense has put up in the past and you see right away that in order for his offense to be succesful, you have to have that certain type of RB. This is basically Don Coryell's offense. With the Rams he had Faulk putting up numbers that nobody had ever seen before. In KC he had Priest and then Johnson. In San Diego there was Muncie and Brooks and guys like that. Also, in all those places, they had extrodinarily good OL play. Brunnell will be effective for you if he gets time IMO. If not, he's going to look like the 30 something QB he is. That would be true for any aged QB thou. When you get Portis back healthy, that's going to help a lot. Your OL can maybe get continuity, pressure will be off Brunnell a bit and your defense will get a chance to rest a little bit. It's going to help you a great deal once you can get him back in your offense.

JMO

[GibbssbbiG]

After the game, Saunders was asked his feelings of the offensive performance and the Redskins' inability to properly execute the new system. When asked about the quarterback play thus far and the inefficiency of Brunell, his response is very interesting-

"I don't know, Kurt Warner won the Super Bowl in his first year with it," Saunders said. ...

If what Saunders said is true, then this guy should NEVER be a Head Coach.

As an All-World coach, one must be secure and strong enough to blame oneself if you are out-coached by the opponents twice.

:handicap:

When will Saunders and Greggo stop drinking their own kool-aid??

:koolaid:

Let's recall what Saunders and Greggo said in the past....

From Al Saunders ... ...

Al Saunders estimates that he has revealed perhaps 2 percent of his 700-page playbook through his first two exhibition games as the Washington Redskins' associate head coach with responsibility for overseeing the team's offense.

Saunders said he has reserved the intricate work on timing and pass receiving routes for practice, where the Redskins are developing their game plan for the first few contests of the regular season, which begins Sept. 11 against the Minnesota Vikings.

Saunders said several players are making progress and that he is comfortable with the rate at which they are adapting to a new offense.

:doh: :doh:

Link 1: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/25/AR2006082501322.html

"I learned from Don Coryell - the No. 1 thing you need to do is find out what your players can do and then put them in a position to succeed when it counts," Saunders said.

Al Saunders, who runs the offense, maintains he has only used "two percent" of his 700-page playbook in exhibition games. "I know what the end product is going to look like. . . . I've been in this offense a long time and I know it works," said Saunders, pointing out that "the last [exhibition] team here that went 0-4 was 1982, and their next 32 games after that their record was 28-4."

From Greggo Williams ... ...

Yesterday, assistant head coach-defense Gregg Williams joined this Redskin chorus. "Everybody seems to place so much emphasis on the third exhibition game. Why would we do that? Why wouldn't we wait until they're using real bullets," said Williams, who described the defensive game plan for the Pats as "zero."

"In the first 10 plays against Cincinnati, we brought the house" with blitzes, said Williams. "We said, 'Looks like we're pretty good at that.'

:doh:

Link 2: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/29/AR2006082901597.html

[Dirk McGirk]

i say give brunell a couple more games, and if there isnt serious improvement we need to put in Campbell, otherwise we are just wasteing time. I dont necessarily blame Brunell completely though, the O-line play is poor and they arent giving Brunell much time

[SC3]

what? when? he got injured his first year in st. louis, then went to kc and did quite well immediately.

He was crappy in 2001. In 2002 and beyond, he was incredible.

If you look up the quotes from Green during the 2001 season, you'll find out that things were not exactly happy in KC.

[Rhettskinfan]

If only Brunell had even enuff strength to get the ball out of bounds on an attempted throw away, Portis wouldnt be injured!! That play alone was enuff to convince me to let this team grow with Campbell. Oh yea, If Collins was a viable answer, he wouldn't be a CAREER CLIPBOARD CARRIER!!!

[GeorgetownSkin]

Wow, this is almost the same way we started last year, with troubles on offense.

Every report I've heard about Saunders offense is that its 700 pages long and every QB thats been in the system said it takes a year to learn. Trent Green told that to Brunell also. So I expect growing pains throughout the season.

Was the offense that bad last year that it needed to be overhauled?

We had some bad outings in the playoffs but did Brunell not have his best year?

Did Portis not break the redskins single season rushing record?

Did Moss not break the redskins single season receiving record?

Cooley also had a standout year.

Do a couple of bad games in the playoffs really need a offense to be overhauled and have a team learn a new playbook and one that is 700 pages at that!

Brunell does not have a year to waste in learning it. His physical abilities are almost gone as it is. Why have unnecessary patience with him when he'll be gone anyway by the time he 'gets' it? Campbell is our future and I think he deserves the chance himself. I mean, he can't be much worse than Brunell now, so why not stay - at worst- the same at the QB position now but set us up for the future at the same time?

[SC3]

Oh, I forgot that Green was running a very similar system (Zampese/Turner/Martz IIRC) in St. Louis, for which Green was exceptional with in the end of 1998.

Perhaps Martz is exceptional coach when working with "smart" QBs like Green, Warner and Bulger.

[WARLORD1863]

That is a pretty strong statement... I wonder if maybe he was just frustrated that Brunell couldn't get any plays done or the simple fact that he was frustrated he couldn't win, period.

Remember, Saunders came here after leaving Kansas City feeling disgruntled over the head-coaching position that passed him by over there. He wants to win and he wants to show why he deserved that head-coaching position. So far he's looking like a dud (whether or not you agree it's his fault or somebody elses) and obviously he's very upset to look this bad.

I think he said it out of frustration, but if Brunell doesn't step-up against Houston then it's going to become a reality. I agree with another thread subject, that this upcoming game could decide whether or not Brunell will play as the starting QB or not. Because after Houston, it's the Giants in the meadowlands. Not a very appealing game by our standards right now.