A Huge Compliment coming from Cowboyszone in regards to Shanahan.

[OuterBanksTarHeel]

You can compare the 2008 5-2 Redskins to the 2010 3-2 Redskins. Hell I would even say that 2008 5-2 Redskin squad can beat this team right now. That was a good team BTW that was until Samuels got injured...

That team's downfall had a lot more to do with Zorn's inability to adjust during the second half of the season, and Campbell's limitations. The combination between the two was disastrous. While it's true that the 2008 team could've defeated this current team during their hot streak, I think I'd pick Shanahan and McNabb to win. This league is all about quarterbacks and head coaches, not offensive lines.

[TheLongshot]

That team's downfall had a lot more to do with Zorn's inability to adjust during the second half of the season, and Campbell's limitations. The combination between the two was disastrous. While it's true that the 2008 team could've defeated this current team during their hot streak, I think I'd pick Shanahan and McNabb to win. This league is all about quarterbacks and head coaches, not offensive lines.

Actually, you miss the biggest factor: the demise of the Redskins offensive line, which has continued to this day. Fact is, starting when Samuels got nicked up, it was the beginning of the end for that team.

[lou4gehrig]

I wacthed that game with Green Bay yesterday. The packers dominated that game yesterday in the first half stats wise, but were only up 7. The redskins made a crucial goaline stand and hung around just enough to win at the end. Mcnabb was getting killed yesterday, but they were mentally tougher than GB. If you don't think shanahan isn't making a difference up their your kidding yourself.

Dominating stat wise doesn't mean much. The only stat that matters is points. Shanahan is important and gets the most out of his players. I don't buy that "we tried really hard" and beat a better team. We played our game the way we play it and it unsettled the opponent. That's us dominating them. There's no reason why we can't do that to every team we play from now on.

[bishtw]

Actually, you miss the biggest factor: the demise of the Redskins offensive line, which has continued to this day. Fact is, starting when Samuels got nicked up, it was the beginning of the end for that team.

Were you as worried as I was Sunday when we started the day without Doc dressing and Lichtensteiger in, then Brown went down and Heyer comes in, then Williams gets hurt again, and Rabach had to leave the game.

Scared the ever livin **** outta me.

[iMeast]

The number don't lie. LaRon Landry is a beast this year and is finally showing he was worth the high draft spot.

HTTR

[RedskinsInFebruary]

Were you as worried as I was Sunday when we started the day without Doc dressing and Lichtensteiger in, then Brown went down and Heyer comes in, then Williams gets hurt again, and Rabach had to leave the game.

Scared the ever livin **** outta me.

Agreed...

[RedskinsInFebruary]

I joined that site in the offseason just to talk about football but alot of those guys could not get over the fact that I was a Skins fan.While some tried to talk football in a adult manner MANY could'nt get over that I was a Skins fan.I post something and they tried to turn it into an argument.Dallas sucks and so does 70% of their fans atleast on that site.

Big surprise. i think most Cowboys fans think the Cowboys have won the last 5 superbowls in a row.

[RedskinsInFebruary]

Anyone else noticing opposing teams leave our games with a laundry (Landry) list of injuries.

Those boys ain't playin out there, they are out for blood!

The biggest change IMO is in the offseason workouts.

I think it's safe to say we lead the league in knocking opponents' players out of the game.

[RedskinsInFebruary]

That team's downfall had a lot more to do with Zorn's inability to adjust during the second half of the season, and Campbell's limitations. The combination between the two was disastrous. While it's true that the 2008 team could've defeated this current team during their hot streak, I think I'd pick Shanahan and McNabb to win. This league is all about quarterbacks and head coaches, not offensive lines.

Well I think offensive line play is critical, but yeah other than that Zorn was unknown, then got figured out by the league, then couldn't adjust or really didn't have the personnel to.

[Going Commando]

can't both be true? shanahan's making a difference, but we ARE a little bit lucky to be 3-2.

under zorn, we were absolutely attrocious. we were lucky to be 4-12. we were a few lucky bounces away from being 1-15, and not competitive in most of those games.

now, under shanahan, i feel like we've gone from horrible to legitimately average. (and "average but lucky" might be enough this year in the NFC).

We lost a lot of close games last season. I actually think its the opposite of what you claim.

Regardless, all winning teams rely on consistent good fortune to get where they are. I actually don't think it's all that surprising we've been as good as we have so far. We're using the classic formula for success. We're limiting our back-breaking penalties (only 5 have gone for first downs), are tied for 6th in the NFL in give/take, playing very good defense on third down (11th in NFL) as well as in the red zone, and fielding excellent special teams units. Our team is also brutally physical and we've worn down several high powered offenses already with dominating displays of force on defense, just like the Ravens and Steelers do. Our guys might not have an ideal level of familiarity with the scheme yet, but they are flying around the field and hitting extremely hard. We've injured three star quarterbacks already and knocked Steven Jackson and LeSean McCoy out of the game too. We're a team who can bring a higher pitch of physicality to an attrition game and that's why we've gutted out those wins against the Packers, Eagles, and Cowboys.

This team is focused, well-coached, and hungry. The division is ours for the taking, and I think we can be spectacular once we actually start peaking. Remember, we're 2-0 in the division, and we're nowhere close to as good as we can be yet.

[Special K]

Wow, I still don't give a rat's ass what anyone who supports Dallass says about us, good or bad.

[WhoRUSupposed2Be]

We lost a lot of close games last season. I actually think its the opposite of what you claim.

Regardless, all winning teams rely on consistent good fortune to get where they are. I actually don't think it's all that surprising we've been as good as we have so far. We're using the classic formula for success. We're limiting our back-breaking penalties (only 5 have gone for first downs), are tied for 6th in the NFL in give/take, playing very good defense on third down (11th in NFL) as well as in the red zone, and fielding excellent special teams units. Our team is also brutally physical and we've worn down several high powered offenses already with dominating displays of force on defense, just like the Ravens and Steelers do. Our guys might not have an ideal level of familiarity with the scheme yet, but they are flying around the field and hitting extremely hard. We've injured three star quarterbacks already and knocked Steven Jackson and LeSean McCoy out of the game too. We're a team who can bring a higher pitch of physicality to an attrition game and that's why we've gutted out those wins against the Packers, Eagles, and Cowboys.

This team is focused, well-coached, and hungry. The division is ours for the taking, and I think we can be spectacular once we actually start peaking. Remember, we're 2-0 in the division, and we're nowhere close to as good as we can be yet.

QFT. I was curious as to what our give/ take ratio was and thank you for providing it.

[TheLongshot]

Were you as worried as I was Sunday when we started the day without Doc dressing and Lichtensteiger in, then Brown went down and Heyer comes in, then Williams gets hurt again, and Rabach had to leave the game.

Scared the ever livin **** outta me.

Unfortunately, I didn't watch the game live, so I didn't have that time to be worried. But, considering how the starters played, no I wasn't worried in any addition because the starters were playing like crap too. Just about everyone, including Williams, got owned at one point or another. Our OL is not very good.

[Peeping Wizard]

I think it's safe to say we lead the league in knocking opponents' players out of the game.

and it's not exactly backups we have been knocking out. It has been key players in every game. It's almost like you can count on it happening now. I certainly don't wish injury on anybody but football is a violent sport and I would rather have our guys dishing out the punishment than taking it.

[TheLongshot]

and it's not exactly backups we have been knocking out. It has been key players in every game. It's almost like you can count on it happening now. I certainly don't wish injury on anybody but football is a violent sport and I would rather have our guys dishing out the punishment than taking it.

We were doing it last year as well. A big part of the Raiders win last year was knocking out Gradkowski.

[Peeping Wizard]

We lost a lot of close games last season. I actually think its the opposite of what you claim.

Regardless, all winning teams rely on consistent good fortune to get where they are. I actually don't think it's all that surprising we've been as good as we have so far. We're using the classic formula for success. We're limiting our back-breaking penalties (only 5 have gone for first downs), are tied for 6th in the NFL in give/take, playing very good defense on third down (11th in NFL) as well as in the red zone, and fielding excellent special teams units. Our team is also brutally physical and we've worn down several high powered offenses already with dominating displays of force on defense, just like the Ravens and Steelers do. Our guys might not have an ideal level of familiarity with the scheme yet, but they are flying around the field and hitting extremely hard. We've injured three star quarterbacks already and knocked Steven Jackson and LeSean McCoy out of the game too. We're a team who can bring a higher pitch of physicality to an attrition game and that's why we've gutted out those wins against the Packers, Eagles, and Cowboys.

This team is focused, well-coached, and hungry. The division is ours for the taking, and I think we can be spectacular once we actually start peaking. Remember, we're 2-0 in the division, and we're nowhere close to as good as we can be yet.

Great post.

I agree with everything you said. It's funny how much I am hearing the word "luck" used when discussing the three victories so far. Certainly luck has been a factor but I believe (as I alluded to earlier in this thread) that you can create your own luck by putting yourself in a position to capitalize on opportunities when they come your way. The vast majority of NFL teams are evenly matched, which is why coaching is a huge x factor in who comes out on top. The teams that have dicipline, elimitante stupid mistakes and penalties, don't give up when things don't go their way early in a game and who can capitalize on the other team's mistakes have a great shot in any game.

One area where this team can really improve is in the red zone. If we can start scoring touchdowns with regularity in the red zone, I think this becomes a very dangerous team.

[rdsknbill]

I would check it out. But I got banned from there years ago!

[moondog]

can't both be true? shanahan's making a difference, but we ARE a little bit lucky to be 3-2.

under zorn, we were absolutely attrocious. we were lucky to be 4-12. we were a few lucky bounces away from being 1-15, and not competitive in most of those games.

now, under shanahan, i feel like we've gone from horrible to legitimately average. (and "average but lucky" might be enough this year in the NFC).

I have no idea what you're talking about. We were in almost every game under Zorn last year. Most of our losses were by only one score. We were unlucky to go 4-12 and very easily could have finished with a better record. We did have a lot of talent but lacked the confidence and probably experience at quarterback to win those close games - mostly due to coaching and quarterbacking, although our o-line was poor and Landry and even Orakpo were out of position. I would argue that while Zorn was in way over his head and that had a trickle down effect, the team was better than their record and was closer to 6-7 wins than 1.

[moondog]

Colin Cowherd today on his ESPN show touted Shanahan as potential coach of the year, and McNabb as MVP. He said if the vote was today, he would vote for them.

Of course, Jim Zorn and Jason Campbell were touted by some in the same way early one year, but that was different. There is no comparison with the 2010 Redskins and any of those recent teams.

Hail to the Redskins! First place now and forever (in 2010/2011)!

No comparison? Texans or Rams games?

This team is leaps and bounds ahead of almost any of the recent teams we've had but we are still not at the point where I expect us to beat teams like the Rams and obviously lost a three score lead to a team that may have been overrated. So far we've shown a lot of improvement and are on our way up. But that 5-2 team two years ago was damn good. They got exposed when virtually every o-linemen went down, our running game disappeared as a result (then Portis got hurt), and then defenses knew they didn't have to respect our run game so our passing game disappeared. Zorn was not a good head coach, but Portis and Zorn were arguably having their best years as Redskins through 7-8 weeks until Samuels and company got hurt.

I am not doom and gloom. I am extremely happy/excited about this team for this year and the future. We are making progress and have shown we have potential to be one of the better teams in the NFC for this year and that may lead to us becoming relevant again for years to come as a division winner (maybe even this year?), and eventually a potentially dominant team that can make runs in the playoffs. I think at this point we are a contender that would be more of a pleasant surprise than a team that can be expected to make a deep run in the playoffs although I think at this point we've won some tough games to set ourselves up for success.

My main point is this: I see people here that constantly hate on every other team's fans in the NFC East, especially the Cowboys, specifically for being overconfident or overhyped, etc (couldn't be happier about the Cowboys' current state). I just don't like it when those same fans turn around and say we are amazing right now and headed to the super-bowl etc (not saying you are one of them). What we are is a much better coached team than in the past with more confidence, a better quarterback and a defense that can generate sacks, turnovers and keep the opponent from scoring. We do still have plenty of holes that will be filled in subsequent offseasons, but we can definitely compete with this roster - but right now injuries to Brown and Williams on the O-line have me really worried - we face elite pass-rushers seemingly every week (see Freeney, Mathis and Peppers in the next two weeks). Throw in that we're missing Portis to block and I'm worried about McNabb taking hits as well. Knock on wood.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

We were doing it last year as well. A big part of the Raiders win last year was knocking out Gradkowski.

Please. Everybody knocks out Gradkowski lol ...

[TheLongshot]

I have no idea what you're talking about. We were in almost every game under Zorn last year. Most of our losses were by only one score. We were unlucky to go 4-12 and very easily could have finished with a better record. We did have a lot of talent but lacked the confidence and probably experience at quarterback to win those close games - mostly due to coaching and quarterbacking, although our o-line was poor and Landry and even Orakpo were out of position. I would argue that while Zorn was in way over his head and that had a trickle down effect, the team was better than their record and was closer to 6-7 wins than 1.

I think the main difference we are seeing is that we are making less mistakes so far. We won against GB because we made less mistakes than they did.

[moondog]

I think the main difference we are seeing is that we are making less mistakes so far. We won against GB because we made less mistakes than they did.

That's definitely true, and, with the exception of maybe the Rams game, I feel like we are making progress each game and building off the last ones. We not only were able to hold the Packers from scoring last week, but were also able to make some timely big plays and actually pick off a pass/get some sacks at the end of the game rather than let the other team get a shot at scoring. Our defense really showed up yesterday, especially in the fourth quarter/overtime. The Texans/Rams games still have me a little nervous about consistency so I'm not completely sold yet and I think we still have some holes but this team is impressing me. I only wish McNabb could be slightly more consistent but I'm not disappointed given I see what I expected - he's inconsistent with accuracy but is always good for some big plays in the deep game.

I'm praying at least one of our starting tackles can play against Indy.