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It's completely vital,that we start off strong with our 08' season schedule!

michael_33

By michael_33
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michael_33

michael_33

Posted
Posted

I understand that we may all need to expect a slow start with the new West Coast system implemented by Zorn bringing it over from Seattle...

But it will be VERY important,that we get as much of his Offense down by the start of the season...I actually think it's a blessing that we get a 5th preseason game(HOF game)to possibly improve on that!I understand we don't want any more useless games because of the odds of injuries occuring,but this is a season we need as many "useless" games as we can get for our offensive unit....

So I decided to point out 3 things that are good about our schedule and 3 things that are possibly bad about our schedule according to my opinion and previous seasons we have had....

GOOD

--------

1)We draw a 3rd QTR bye(WK 10)=I always thought that the later your bye week is,the better off the team was when trying to push yourself into a good playoff position...In 2006 we had a 1st QTR bye week,that we saw totally work against us with the injuries we had sustained after the bye week!This may not have decided our playoff hopes,but I believe it played a BIG role in making it more difficult in reaching post season...In a 2007 we noticed our BYE week was in the 2nd QTR of the season,which may have given us just enough to make a push....(correct me if im wrong,but did Taylor "PASS" right before the bye week or after...?)I believe it was before...Either way,this should help us prepare for the remaining 7 games left on the schedule to fight for a playoff position!

2)Although the AFC conference part of the schedule... is not a true make or break season killer for teams on W's and L's because playoff positioning is determined on Division wins and NFC Conference wins.....It should be noted that I believe the 2 toughest AFC opponents we play this year are at Home(JKC Stadium)...That would be the Browns and the Steelers (MON) and our away games are the @Ravens and the troubled @Bengals.Although it will be very tough,I don't think it's unreasonable that we can't win 3 of these 4 games...and the ravens game will be in our back yard...(which I think will be the toughest of the 4 to win)

3)Only twice during the whole season do we play back-to-back AWAY games...And on 1 of those, is it against @Ravens and @Bengals in weeks 14 and 15(less important of games)...The only other one we have is against @Dallas and @Philly in weeks 4 and 5....Well Mike,why is this a big deal?Because depending on how well we play at HOME this year(hopefully real well),we should avoid multiple back-to-back losses this year...(hopefully)Now I'm not saying that we WON'T lose 2 games in a row,but what I am saying is if we can steal a victory or 2 on the road...we have a VERY good chance at possibly going on a 4 or 5 game winning streak!You know why?Because we back-to-back home games 3 times this year... :)

NOW...The BAD

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1)As my thread title is stated..."it is vital we start off strong"...Because if we don't...we're screwed!!7 of our 1st 8 games are against NFC opponents...Of those 7 NFC teams,3 of them are not only in the Division..but also all on the road as well!Only the Browns keep it from being 8 straight NFC opponents all the way through...Now some of you that are not so knowledgable might say..."well mike,we can go on our usual 4 or 5 game winning streak to make the playoffs late in the season like we did last year and in 05..."?Right?Absolutely NOT!Because those early games are so critical in positioning us for Playoff tiebreakers and having a reasonable Conference record,that even if we won the last 5 games in a row it wouldn't matter...Sure..We might manage another 9-7 record again,but early losses to Arizona,Saints,Rams and Lions could make that point mute!So in my estimation...We MUST be at least "500" by week 9 against the Steelers in the Monday Nighter...To have a Prayer for the postseason..!If we are not....We're done already...(Trust me...I know what I'm talkin' about!)

2)Remember how I have been whining about getting a D-line stud to help out the D-line in putting pressure on the QB?Well...If we don't, we will wish we had!Of the 16 teams we play this year on our 08' schedule,only 2 of them teams I consider of having an average to below average offensive POWER...IMO..Only the Ravens and Niners do not scare me at ALL as far as their ability to score with either regularity or the ability to drive successfully against very good defenses...Now I understand that some of those teams don't have good defenses,but they do have the weapons on offense to score,even against your very good teams...Now I know the eagles and Steelers are not juggernaughts when scoring at will and will play the grind it out game like we have seen,but both have very good QB's and both QB's make their players better than what they appear on paper!If we don't cause pressure on the QB's or at least cause turnovers to give our offense a chance to put points on the board.....We will be screwed again!(Durant Brooks should be earning his check,if this is the case)

3)3 of our 16 games are played on astroturf or a grassy turf...Dallas,Eagles, and the Lions...Which IMO,Is a recipe for disaster when hoping for the best with injuries!Not only does this work against the Redskins because of our home field surface at JKC(oops...Fed EX Field),but with our injury history to O-line and CB's...it could get ugly!I hope and pray we have an injury free season,but when (almost)20% of your games are on "twist your ankle" surfaces,I'm not holding my breath! :(

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21LightsOut21

21LightsOut21

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3)8 of our 16 games are played on astroturf or a grassy turf...Saints,Cardinals,Dallas,Eagles,Rams and the Lions...Which IMO,Is a recipe for disaster when hoping for the best with injuries!Not only does this work against the Redskins because of our home field surface at JKC,but with our injury history to O-line and CB's...it could get ugly!I hope and pray we have an injury free season,but when 50% of your games are on "twist your ankle" surfaces,I'm not holding my breath! :(

Man, we havent been at the Jack Kent Cooke stadium in DC for YEARS.. Where are you at?!!

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live4burgandyandgold

live4burgandyandgold

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I think your analysis is pretty accurate. The number one point under the BAD is especially critical. However, starting with a new coach and offense, and playing NFC East opponents is a mixture for disaster. My hope is that we can over-achieve through our initial rough stretch...but its going to be very difficult. If we dont start fast i think our season will be over before we reach halfway. Obviously, i hope this is not the case.

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CRobi21

CRobi21

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Like LightsOut said, it's important every year. But I agree with the OP, with us facing divisional rival early, we need to win to put us on top of the conference early. If we do that, our schedule isn't as tough later on, and we could have a chance to compete for the division.

But I'm not putting my expectations up there too high, I wanna see how Zorn and the WCO looks before we start talking about being division champs.

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terpskins10

terpskins10

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Man, we havent been at the Jack Kent Cooke stadium in DC for YEARS.. Where are you at?!!

Haha I think it should never have been changed!

Should be something like "FedEx Field at Jack Kent Cooke Memorial Stadium"

That way FedEx could still have the naming rights and Cooke could still be honored.

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NewCliche21

NewCliche21

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I think there's a stat that no team has gone to the playoffs if they start 1-4, or something like that. (I"m pulling this out of thin air, so I don't know exactly what it is). Starting fast is always imperative. Always.

Eh, there's a stat to prove anything as long as you want it to.

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zCommander

zCommander

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I don't think we need to start the season STRONG per se but need to show some consistency through 4 QTRs and improve on it as the season goes. You need to be the strongest in your last 7-8 games to get into the playoffs. Having a bye-week in middle of the season this year will definitely help us.

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Shilsu

Shilsu

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It might actually be an advantage that we start off against our tough opponents first... The other teams probably as much idea of what to expect as we do, so might as well try to surprise the tough guys first...

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RenegadeTK

RenegadeTK

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It might actually be an advantage that we start off against our tough opponents first... The other teams probably as much idea of what to expect as we do, so might as well try to surprise the tough guys first...

true, but it also has it's downsides. for example, it doesnt give us much room for error while we are still learning how to execute our new offense. so basically, it comes down to whether you wanna look at the glass half full or half empty

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ljs

ljs

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We are sweeping the cowboys this year. You heard it here first.

I love where your head is!! **** Dallas... I'm on the wagon with ya...quote me all...Let's give em a beat down...

(saying a lot of prayers)

:dallasuck:dallasuck:dallasuck:dallasuck:dallasuck:dallasuck:dallasuck

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MartinC

MartinC

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I say week 1 is really important. This opener at Giants stadium will set the tone. Winning our first five games would really mean something. Those rivalry games are the most important IMO.

I agree - I think getting off to a fast start is really important in getting the players comfortable with the new coaching staff plus it would be very hard on Jim Zorn if we went 0-2 or 0-3 to start. Even if we lose the opener its important we play well and that we get production on offense early.

5-0 would be amazing but its not very realistic. If we go 3-2 to start we are in good shape IMO looking at the rest of our schedule and assuming we will be a better football team in December than we are in September.

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mudhog

mudhog

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It might actually be an advantage that we start off against our tough opponents first... The other teams probably as much idea of what to expect as we do, so might as well try to surprise the tough guys first...

I was thinking two different ways about this point:

1.) We have a new coach and a new offense so it will be much harder to game plan against us with no film and no history. This could work in our favor for a while if JZ is really creative.

OR

2.) We have some success in preseason games and decide to implement these successful plays "verbatim", without trying to disguise the formations or packages. In this case, JZ's inexperience will shine and we will be in for a long season.

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