Rhodus333 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Ok so I've been thinking about or three losses this season in the mindset of how we should approach the dallas game, and I admit I'm honestly stumped. There seems to be two dominating trends that appear on this board and in the locker room whenever we go up against a team, either we need to "not take a team for granted" or we need to "go out and dominate a team and play our game." To me these mutually exclusive views have both proven to be recipies for disaster. First lets look at the game against the Rams. They were winless when they played us, but because of that fact, the prevailing thoughts about them seemed to be "we can't take them for granted". To me this mentality resulted in us concentrating too much on what they were going to bring to the game and not spending enough time establishing how we were going to beat them. The result? Our team went out and played reactionary football, playing the whole game conservatively with the thought of "trying not to lose." We let them hang around in the game far longer than we should have, and it ended up coming back and biting us at the last second. Now lets look at the games against the Giants and the Steelers. Both teams we knew going in were going to be tough teams to beat. Not taking them for granted was a given, so the general mindset from the team and fans (myself included) was that, in order to win, we needed to play our best, mistake free football and dominate the competition. In my opinion this caused us to focus too much on how to improve our team and not enough emphasis placed on how to capitalize on the other teams weaknesses. In both those games (Giants and Steelers) I think our defense played incredible, swallowing the other team with the mindset of "it doesn't matter who were playing, we'll just shut them down. Our way." And it worked. Our defense played well the whole game. Those first opening drives by the Steelers had them shaking in there boots and running for cover. However, we unfortunatley brought that same mentality on the offensive side of the ball. To me it seemed like we went out with the idea that we had a very specific game plan to follow, and we were going to stick with it. To me this resulted in alot of busted plays, sacks and 3 and outs. Why? Because we couldn't adapt our play calling and take advantage of what the Steeler defense was giving us. I saw next to no screens to counter their blitzing. To me, herein lies the key to this team's success in future games. This mindset that Zorn keeps referring to "staying to the middle of the road", to me represents the sucessful combination of playing our brand of football on defense (it doesn't matter who we play), and learning to be adaptable on offense and take what their defense is giving us. Avoiding extremes means we should bring our game to the table, but not in such an unbending fashion that we can't have a backup plan when things aren't going smoothly or according to plan. So, looking ahead to Dallas. we know this is a talented team that is not living up to their potential, both due to injuries and internal dissention in the locker room. So how should we approach this game. Again, I think going to either extreme will result in failure. If we go in playing on our heels, expecting that their returning starters are gonna bring the pain to us, all we'll be doing is giving the offense time to gel after a month of seperation and have a huge comeback game, with everyone stepping up and trying to prove to the football world that they are every bit as talented as initially projected at the beginning of the season. But, we also can't come out guns blazing, refusing to notice or capitalize on the signs of weakness that I assure you ARE there in this team. We don't want Dallas at their best, we want them to spend the whole game trying to figure out why nothing they throw at us has any effect. We want TO to leave the game still thinking his team is in dissarray, and we want the rest of the team to realize that having Romo sits to pee back doesn't solve all their problems. Remember, the middle path is the key to victory. Take what a team is giving you, and use it to dominate them the way our team knows how to. If we do this, I guarantee we will win against Dallas. :point2sky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mackdaddydean Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Now lets look at the games against the Giants and the Steelers. Both teams we knew going in were going to be tough teams to beat. Not taking them for granted was a given, so the general mindset from the team and fans (myself included) was that, in order to win, we needed to play our best, mistake free football and dominate the competition. In my opinion this caused us to focus too much on how to improve our team and not enough emphasis placed on how to capitalize on the other teams weaknesses. I don't really agree because this was obviously the mindset when we faced Dallas in their house the first time around (probably even more so as we and everyone else considered them the best team in the League). And we played GREAT that game. So I don't think these losses have anything to do with preparation or mindset. Everyone but Portis said they prepared for the Rams. And you know they prepared just as hard for the Steelers as they did for those games against Dallas and Philly. I just think sometimes, you play a bad game. Just like anything else in life. You can do you best every time, but you can get the same result every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFKFedEx Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 The thread title should be corrected to read "victory over Dallas" b/c the game will be played in Landover and not Irving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD.C RedskinsFan Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 The thread title should be corrected to read "victory over Dallas" b/c the game will be played in Landover and not Irving. :mad: So close! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhouse Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I don't think how we the fans approach each game equates to how Jim Zorn and his players approach it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhodus333 Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 I don't think how we the fans approach each game equates to how Jim Zorn and his players approach it. I'm writing about how i think the players and Zorn should approach the game, not the fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhodus333 Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 I don't really agree because this was obviously the mindset when we faced Dallas in their house the first time around (probably even more so as we and everyone else considered them the best team in the League). And we played GREAT that game. So I don't think these losses have anything to do with preparation or mindset. Everyone but Portis said they prepared for the Rams. And you know they prepared just as hard for the Steelers as they did for those games against Dallas and Philly. I just think sometimes, you play a bad game. Just like anything else in life. You can do you best every time, but you can get the same result every time. Which mindset do you mean? I still think my point is valid. One of the reasons I feel like we won in dallas is because our offense was able to adjust and keep Dallas' D on their toes by producing right until the end of the game, and that adaptability I just didn't really see against the giants and the steelers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhouse Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I'm writing about how i think the players and Zorn should approach the game, not the fans. I get that. I just think you're making our (the fans) approach to the game the same as the way the team approaches it. the prevailing thoughts about them seemed to be "we can't take them for granted". To me this mentality resulted in us concentrating too much on what they were going to bring to the game and not spending enough time establishing how we were going to beat them. The result? Our team went out and played reactionary football, playing the whole game conservatively with the thought of "trying not to lose." The Rams game was lost because of turnovers. We dominated that game in all the categories so I don't think we were playing not to lose. We just turned the ball 1 too many times. the general mindset from the team and fans (myself included) was that, in order to win, we needed to play our best, mistake free football and dominate the competition. In my opinion this caused us to focus too much on how to improve our team and not enough emphasis placed on how to capitalize on the other teams weaknesses. Again, I don't agree that the the team got distracted and never tried to capitalize on the other team's weaknesses. The Steelers simply outplayed us. I just think you have the wrong assumption in the way the team prepares for the games. How a fans sees a an upcoming opponent is not the same as the teams view and approach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frunobulax Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I don't think how we the fans approach each game equates to how Jim Zorn and his players approach it. Truer words were never spoken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins2Win33 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I personally think we should just go into the game with the mindset of playing football and having fun. It seems whenever that has been the sentiment, then the team has felt less pressure, and has responded. We know the cowboys better then anyone in the league. Nothing will surprise us as far as their weapons are concerned. With them coming to DC that only works in our favor. We should go into this game relaxed and pressed to just go play football and the success will come. That's just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebster21 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I wonder how many dallas fans are getting tickets for the game. Especially after all of the comotion made with the steelers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mackdaddydean Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Which mindset do you mean? I still think my point is valid. One of the reasons I feel like we won in dallas is because our offense was able to adjust and keep Dallas' D on their toes by producing right until the end of the game, and that adaptability I just didn't really see against the giants and the steelers So you didn't see the same result. Like I said, the same preparation doesn't always produce the same result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voice_of_Reason Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 I wonder how many dallas fans are getting tickets for the game. Especially after all of the comotion made with the steelers. They're hiding. They don't want to be seen in public right now. The dingdong who sits right in front of me is a Dallas fan, always wears a Dallas jersey (and a Roy Williams one at that, generally, which shows that not only is he rooting for the wrong team, but he doesn't know squat about football) and last game, he didn't put the jersey on. They're in hiding. Wait until we open a can of Whoop Ass on them on Sunday Night. Then they'll really go into hiding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACW Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 I think we've already guaranteed victory in Dallas Seriously, only one way: score more points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff_K Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Short answer ... score more points ;-P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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