Confidence Is High

[LoyalSkinsFan]

It's full of stupid garbage and nothing to really back it up other than nonsensical rambeling.

Thanks for the response PeterMP.

I have to say, though, based upon your words above, how was I to NOT take it except as an attack on me...rather than just in disagreement with my take? To call my thread "stupid garbage" and "nonsensical rambeling" (rambling, by the way...no "e") seems a bit too close to home to be taken any other way. In the future, please put your PhD to good use and think before you speak. It'll save you lots of headaches later on.

As to the point at hand.....it's gonna be an interesting game. Go, JC and...

HTTR!

[Bat~man]

I'll address this primarily to my new friend, PeterMP:

So, here's the thing....

I would liken my anticipation to Jason Campbell starting this Sunday to my anticipation of Clinton Portis' first start a couple years ago. I'd like NOTHING better than to see JC break off the equivelent of CP's 60-something yard TD run on his first carry....but will he? Is that a realistic thing to hope for? Nope...probably not. Frankly, I'd be happy right now just to see Campbell control the tempo and offense, throw a few accurate throws up, sideways and yes, DOWN THE FIELD to our receivers. Most importantly, though, I hope to see him exhibit the confidence I spoke of earlier....the confidence to stand in the pocket under pressure and dare the defense to thrwart him, the confidence to take the game to the other team rather than reacting to them...and the confidence to lead our team. To be sure, if he proves himself to be a worthy and capable leader, the rest of the team will feed off of that and only good things can come from that.

Beyond all that, though, this team could turn around much more quickly than many of us may suspect. I, for one, am SHOCKED that the Bears are such a "powerhouse" this year. Given our huge 9-7 win last year, I never saw this coming. So, just remember, no matter how bad things may seem right now we could just be a piece or two or maybe just a new attitude away from taking it to the house.

I hope, PeterMP, that I've kept from rambling too much...and I hope that I didn't confuse you with big words such as "liken" and "exhibit". I tried to limit my response to short, succinct (another big word) sentences...but, sadly, may have strayed from time to time.

Keep at it, though....you'll pick it up eventually.

Have confidence.

Oh, and HTTR.

when portis broke that 64 yard TD run on ihs first ever official carry as a redskin man i went into shock , it was awesome i cant describe it , then the rest of the regular season happened and that was that , i have no clue what to expect from JC , but by the end of the game i think it will be much like a normal game for a first time starter , prolly have some glaring things he needs to correct and will also have a few things he does well , things that brunell cant do anymore , im not sure if we win or lose but with JC and not having portis , topped with our defense .... we may just lose again , id say we lose like 17-10 , or if we win it will be like 13-10 , something like that somewhere , i just hope to see a better offense and hope for the future here and hope we have a real QB here to work with

[pjfootballer]

it's too long Om..

Bump, anytime someone types more than 3 paragraphs I can honestly say I don't read it. If you have to sit there for 1 hour to type 1 post you must not have anything better to do.

[LoyalSkinsFan]

Y'know....that's the funny thing about these games.....they're very hard to predict. But, like I said in my first post, offense and defense really do go hand in hand. If JC is able to get the offense moving even just a little bit, that could go a long way to curing the defensive ailments as well. Even with his mistakes, doing those few things correctly that Brunell, perhaps, wasn't able to pull off, could be all we need to get it all going on the right path. It's building blocks, people....building blocks. You lay one down and the rest can't help themselves but to pile on. Sadly, it can work in reverse, too, but we've already had enough of that this season to last a while. It's the big MO....momentum. Let's hope it turns around.

HTTR

[doom44]

Thanks loyal...good read...I agree. We need to emphasize the mental aspect of all this more...They seemed to be victims of the snowball effect this year...Lets hope Jason can step up..HTTR

[Om]

Bump, anytime someone types more than 3 paragraphs I can honestly say I don't read it. If you have to sit there for 1 hour to type 1 post you must not have anything better to do.

The World According to PJ.

[#98QBKiller]

Confidence is a tricky thing.

Too much can set you up for an unexpected fall. Too little and you will lack the ability to even compete. Some teams fall into these categories. The Redskins, oddly enough, fall into both.

At the beginning of this season, it would be safe to say that we were all brimming with confidence. After all, we'd just completed an improbable run....five straight regular season victories....a playoff win...and a hard-fought loss to Seattle, the eventual Super Bowl representative from the NFC. Not only that, we'd just added what we all believed were last years' only missing pieces....Al Saunders, Randle El, Lloyd, Archuleta and more. To top it all off, we still had Joe Gibbs, our fearless leader, at the helm. Well, hindsight can be so 20-20 and yes, we all know differently now, but let's be honest...who among us, regardless of what we feared could happen....who among us didn't somewhere deep in the pit of our stomachs and in the lump of our chests have that burning hope and almost giddy excitement about seeing what this powerhouse could do? I certainly did. Even as we went four and out during the most vanilla preseason in recent memory I simply recalled how a tepid preseason never seemed to portend how a season would go for a Joe Gibbs run team. I consider myself a fairly realistic student of the game, but damn....I really thought we had a chance.

Confidence was high.

The Eagles game last Sunday told a different story, however. From the moment Rock Cartwright dropped the opening kickoff, I knew. The focus wasn't there. The energy wasn't there. The confidence wasn't there.

I really like Mark Brunell. I like the way he can run an offense when all the cogs are spinning in sync. I like the way he could take a huge hit, get back up and go after it again. I like the way he throws the high percentage ball...and I've really liked seeing him know when to throw it away..make the safe play...the smart play...helping us play the game of field position. But I saw something on Sunday I really hadn't seen up to now. Mark Brunell had no confidence. None...not in himself...in his receivers..or in his offensive line. I saw him throw the ball away to avoid a sack...throwing the ball five yards ahead of an open receiver when he could have just thrown that same ball TO him. I saw him underthrow balls....one, that went the other way for a score...I saw him scramble out of danger, but also out of protection...when just hanging in a second or two longer would have done the job. And, I even saw him throw it away to absolutely no one...resulting in an intentional grounding call. Mark Brunell, as much as a smart, tough quality guy he is.....is toast. It's time for Jason Campbell.

Sometimes the best defense is a good offense....and, sometimes the best offense is a good defense. Chew on that for a minute. They go hand in hand. I've been suffering these last few days, trying to figure out what would make this team, so laden with potential, turn it around and be all it can be. All it SHOULD be. I've been thinking back to past Redskin squads, past Redskin seasons, past Redskin games...and, there's a common thread. In EVERY game I can recall, defense and special teams would come up with big plays. Big plays that would result in either scores or would at the very least set the offense up on a short field. And, back then, the offense had the killer instinct...the ability and desire to not let the opposition off the hook and to drive it home that WE control the game. And, on the occasion that the defense wasn't perfoming up to par, a Joe Gibbs team also had the ablility to throw it all to hell and get into an offensive free for all....like a Monday night loss to Green Bay that I remember back in 1983..final score: 48-47. Oh, how I long for a good ol' barn burner like THAT again....even in a loss.

Both offense and defense this year have suffered this season at the hand of the other. Due to injuries and personnel changes, the defense has lacked the confidence in its own to play with abandon and has instead resorted to a more conservative approach, playing more "prevent" than aggression. You can't create a big play if you let the game come to you. And, as it became more apparent each week, the offense lacked the confidence in it's quarterback to make the plays necessary to control the tempo and flow of the game. If defenses are collapsing in because they know they won't get burned deep, a decent running attack will be very difficult to muster...and a running game is essential to any Joe Gibbs passing attack. As history shows, it's unavoidable that the defense wil give up a big play from time to time, but, the offense MUST respond to not only keep us in the game, but to give the defense the opportunity to regroup, re-focus and refresh. After so many three and outs, it's no mystery why our defense falters as the games go on.

Confidence is low.

I've gotta say, I've read SO much about Jason Campbell these last twenty four hours that the one thing I'm certain about is that I have absolutely NO IDEA how he is going to play. Maybe he'll stink...maybe he'll light it up. Haven't a clue. And, no, I don't think Joe Gibbs has lost a thing...I still feel that he knows what will succeed in this league and that he can still be considered the best mid-game, mid-season adjustment guy out there....but he's gotta have the tools. Nor do I believe that Mark Brunell has been the biggest problem thus far, but I think he's representative of the greater issues.

The one thing I AM certain of though, is that Jason Campbell is a spark. He's gotten us all thinking about possibilities again...about what if's and what may be's. You have to start there.....and from there it can grow. Slowly at first...then faster....from a spark to a flame to a roaring inferno. At which point, we'll be at that place again.....that place we must be in order to succeed.....that place where, once again.....

....Confidence is high.

HTTR

"I don't know the future....you don't know the future.... so F!@K it, roll the dice."

-Richard Gere..."Breathless"

Great post. One thing I can say and be confident about is that JC will be nervous this coming Sunday and that can help or hurt us depending on how he translates it on the football field. And depending on what happens, confidence could be low or high a win = high a loss= low.

I miss CP already.

[One Shot]

This was a great post, read ever word. We need more posts like this, good writing and well thought out.

[TSO]

I lasted a little longer than the opening kick, but not much. For me, it was the combination of McNabb's first pass bouncing off Marcus Washington and what could have been the big turnover this team has desperately needed to get going, and the following play when McNabb found an uncovered guy to convert the day's first 3rd and long.

At the time, the score was 0-0, and I felt like we were already behind.

By the time Stallworth smoked Sean Taylor for a playground TD and a 10-0 lead, I knew the game was over.

Hadn't felt like that since the first five games of Marty's year here.

Wow... It's amazing you said that, cuz when Marcus missed that sure interception I felt the same way. I was just amazed at how unfortunate things have been for us. Seriously... some of the games that look like we got demolished in this season were really a lot closer than that, including last Sunday against the Eagles. It's just we can't get anything going our way... and I feel like the team is actually starting to play like they EXPECT that now. It's why you and I felt the way we did when those things happened.

You know... I really think putting Campbell in is more about changing our mind state than anything else.

BTW, this thread is great. I appreciate it. I wish there was some kind of filter we can use to sift through all the impatient and little detailed analysis's so many threads come with when we're losing. :applause:

[TSO]

Bump, anytime someone types more than 3 paragraphs I can honestly say I don't read it. If you have to sit there for 1 hour to type 1 post you must not have anything better to do.

And how is spreading those 3 paragraphs around in 50 posts something better to do?