Is it wrong for us to talk trash about our past accomplishments?

[Crazy Levi]

Is it wrong?!

I mean...it's really all we got these days so stick with it. It's pretty much my go-to anytime we get our ass kicked by the Eagles.

"Yeah...well, at the end of the season, we'll still have 3 Lombardis and you'll still have zero!"

So far, I've always been right.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

We do, every team has a scouting department however it's one thing to have a scout who "could" find a player, as in it's possible, but another to have the track record that Shannahan has for offensive players. Even with a possibility to find a player it's difficult for me to look at the team thinking anything other then the best interest for this year and future seasons with us under this leadership is to build the Offense now while we have an offensive guru running the show. The reason you build this now is the same reason you implement the 3-4 last year instead of later. One you need experience in it to run it well. Two in terms of the QB you don't want that player starting right away. And three the offense isn't something you fix in one season.

It takes time for any 4-3 to 3-4 transition to occur. We will be better next year on Defense regardless of any players we add simply because of experience in the system. We played better at the end of the year then we did playing in the middle of the season. Regardless of our "ranking" which is a total joke in my opinion, even if that rank jumped 10 positions it doesn't answer any of the problems we have on offense. Fixing the defense won't help the offense and fixing the offense is the only way to win more games. Last year we lost those 6 out of 10 games by 3 or less points. We need to address the offense so that doesn't happen next season.

So like I've been saying this whole time...we aren't doing anything other then the same old **** in a different year. If on the other hand instead of doing as you want and try to build up a young defense with no offense in place the thing we should do is build up a great offense before we build up the defense. If we build up a great offense we will be in every game and then once the offense is built we can build the defense. It doesn't make any sense to me to continue doing the stupid things with our draft picks and money when its shown it doesn't work for this team or fit the coaching staff we have now or the problems of the team. I'm sorry that you think some NT is going to turn this franchise around. We've been there (look up biggest Redskins FA busts) and it doesn't work like you think.

Guess we've come full circle. I'm repeating myself and this isn't getting anywhere. It really does baffle my mind how a Redskins fan could think like you do with out past, present, and future. I don't get it. Feeling bad feels good to you I guess

All in all, I'm not pro-defense or offense. I've said that a couple times now.

I'm sorry I'm frustrating you...but I just don't understand how you can believe that only addressing one side of the ball is the answer. I'm not against drafting/adding offense at all. In fact, if you put a gun to my head I'd say that I want QB and OL early in the draft. I just don't think you should close off your options. If a game-changer is there at a position of need on the other side of the ball, I don't understand the rationale for passing on that player. The case you've built seems very circumstantial to me (we've been burned with defensive acquisitions before so we should go offense this time). What about our drafting of a young franchise QB (Shuler) and WR (Westbrook) under Turner? By your definition, that was a textbook approach to what we should have done yet neither guy led us anywhere. You're going to miss on both sides of the ball sometimes.

As to your point about playing in several close games...wouldn't a slightly stronger defense also help your odds of turning some of those losses into wins?

I'll repeat, I'm not a defense guy necessarily, I just think you're oversimplifying this by assuming that a few drafts of QB/WR/OL will fix everything. It certainly could, but we might be right where we are today with a slightly better offense and no ability to stop anyone on defense.

And, I think we should take this to another thread or PMs if you want to...it seems that I've derailed this thread long enough!

[addicted]

All in all, I'm not pro-defense or offense. I've said that a couple times now.

Saying that means nothing. I'm neither pro offense or pro defense, yet I'm certain that we need to go offense in the draft. Yet your convinced we need to go defense. So what exactly does that mean? Nothing really but we agree on something I guess

I'm sorry I'm frustrating you...but I just don't understand how you can believe that only addressing one side of the ball is the answer. I'm not against drafting/adding offense at all. In fact, if you put a gun to my head I'd say that I want QB and OL early in the draft. I just don't think you should close off your options.

You don't "close off" any options. You simply say this year is the year we are going back to the Redskins roots and build the offense and draft based off our pattern of success. Or we don't. If you don't all your doing is prolonging the inevitable, not addressing the needs of the team that produce the quickest results, not getting better on the side of the ball that needs it the most for us to find success, and refusing yet again the fact that without a dominate offense you don't win in this league. All of the years of BPA drafting has ****ed us yet you still think its the way to go. I can't help you think that. But I can tell you that if we continue down that road that stupid report of us being the worst team in the league looks more realistic to me every day.

If a game-changer is there at a position of need on the other side of the ball, I don't understand the rationale for passing on that player. The case you've built seems very circumstantial to me (we've been burned with defensive acquisitions before so we should go offense this time). What about our drafting of a young franchise QB (Shuler) and WR (Westbrook) under Turner? By your definition, that was a textbook approach to what we should have done yet neither guy led us anywhere. You're going to miss on both sides of the ball sometimes.

Again with the bad picks as your defense? I'm telling you that if you want to get into an argument of past failures that your not going to get anywhere with me. Remember our first pick of LT in 1997? That guy never played a down for us. With your thinking I guess we should never have tried to find a LT again eh? As for those two players face facts. Shanny can draft much better then Norv Turner and it's not a comparison you can make...would Shanny have done that with those two guys? Who knows? We do know that other teams like Detroit are on the rise because of this strategy...drafting Calvin Johnson and Stafford. What about Atlanta? They drafted Roddy White and Matt Ryan...I can go on and on with this but the question is does success like this make it right? Maybe, but like I said who cares about other teams? I only care about the Redskins.

As for your thinking I'm saying that we've been burned before drafting defense to me the thing is your not getting my point. We used a philosophy when drafting those guys and went with those guys because the team believed that the strategy like your saying worked best. BPA regardless of position...build the defense and the offense will come together...Excuse me but are you blind? I mean we drafted defensive players 5 out of the last 7 years yet here you sit saying that Defense is still our biggest problem? If your strategy was sound we should have a top 10 defense this and every year, but we don't. Are you surprised that we've struggled so much since your thinking the way the front office drafted? If that was the best strategy to use why do we see the team needing so many Defensive holes fixed still? Is it going to take drafting 10 years straight of defensive players for us to actually have a good defense again?

The point you refuse to accept is that we've been doing what you've said for years and it gets us nowhere but you still want us to follow that plan? Throwing good money after bad isn't something I subscribe too. Learning from your mistakes is a must. And your mentioning ancient history here with those two guys. The players on the defensive side of the ball and failing are still here. It's time this team went offense heavy in this draft and in the next three if we want to turn it around and not look back to 1995 as the reason we are insane doing the same **** over and over again expecting different results.

As to your point about playing in several close games...wouldn't a slightly stronger defense also help your odds of turning some of those losses into wins?

Who wants to be in close games? Wouldn't scoring 30+ a game lead to us not having that many overtime games decided by a coin flip? And thinking some DT is going to turn your entire team around is just silly. How many Stubblefelds and Hanyesworths do you want?

I'll repeat, I'm not a defense guy necessarily, I just think you're oversimplifying this by assuming that a few drafts of QB/WR/OL will fix everything. It certainly could, but we might be right where we are today with a slightly better offense and no ability to stop anyone on defense.

Well we know it's not been tried before with this group of coaches or and I don't believe our offense will work as its wanted to with a crappy offensive line that surrenders 5 or more sacks a game. We also know that drafting first round defensive players hasn't helped us this or the past decade. But hey lets just keep doing dumb moves in the draft. I'm sure some other teams throw away will lead us to the promised land like this

And, I think we should take this to another thread or PMs if you want to...it seems that I've derailed this thread long enough!

Fire it up then

[TD_washingtonredskins]

addicted...I give up. You keep telling me that I'm insisting on drafting defense when I'm not. I'm just not AGAINST the team drafting defense if that's what they feel will help the team the most. It's difficult to discuss this with you in that environment. Despite stating in this thread that I'd like a QB in the first round and would value an OT over a NT in the first round, you wrote this:

"Yet your convinced we need to go defense."

So, for the last time, I would be perfectly happy if the team drafted QB/OL this year...but I don't think that's the only way to improve our situation.

[USS Redskins]

The Skins were in the elite category back in the 80's and early 90's. Thats awesome but you can live in the past only so long until it starts to be kind of pathetic.

18 Years and 5 winning seasons later and they are what they are: one of the consistent doormats of the league, along with Cincy, Detroit, Cleveland, Arizona etc....

[addicted]

addicted...I give up. You keep telling me that I'm insisting on drafting defense when I'm not. I'm just not AGAINST the team drafting defense if that's what they feel will help the team the most. It's difficult to discuss this with you in that environment. Despite stating in this thread that I'd like a QB in the first round and would value an OT over a NT in the first round, you wrote this:

"Yet your convinced we need to go defense."

So, for the last time, I would be perfectly happy if the team drafted QB/OL this year...but I don't think that's the only way to improve our situation.

Are you one of those people who insists on having the last word? It seems that way after you said you wanted to take this to another thread yet you insist on speaking about our differences here.

As for your selective posting with examples that favor defense in your 8/10 to 10/10 exercise, your posting things like our offensive failures, I mean I chalk this all up to you and me completely being on different sides of the fence. I feel you that this is frustrating because when Im speaking with someone who can't even understand that we've used your way of thinking for years now and it gets us absolutely no where yet you still think its the "right" way to go, that we've been drafting defense at a 5-2 selection over the past 7 years because the team thinks like you do and we still have a no good defense, and all the failures at NT and Defensive Line but you still want to argue against building our offense should take priority over the defense? Like I said before this isn't getting anywhere. The truth is we to go offense in the draft and build that way before we even think about the defense. We don't even need to discuss the possibility of "BPA" which doesn't help us or fix anything because that is reserved for the best teams not a rebuilding club like ours. What works for clubs like ours is to fix the offense in the draft, work on the defense in Free Agency, spend the most money on the positions that improve a club the most and not the least.

It's pretty simple, problem is people are stubborn. Guess that's what we have here now

[TD_washingtonredskins]

What works for clubs like ours is to fix the offense in the draft, work on the defense in Free Agency, spend the most money on the positions that improve a club the most and not the least.

Show me examples of that. If you can show me how that's a template for bad teams becoming good, I'll admit that I'm wrong in thinking we should draft both offense and defense.

[addicted]

Show me examples of that. If you can show me how that's a template for bad teams becoming good, I'll admit that I'm wrong in thinking we should draft both offense and defense.

Read my friend, stop posting and read what I am saying here.

I already mentioned a couple teams so at the risk of repeating myself to you I present you the Atlanta Falcons....drafted Roddy White in the first round one year, then Matt Ryan in the first round. Turned the offense around instantly and made them a contender.

What about what our coach did in Denver in 2006?

First round - QB

Second round - TE

Third round - No pick

Fourth round - WR

Fifth round - Guard

Sixth round - Center

Seventh round - No pick

Jay Cutler, Tony Scheffler, Brandon Marshall....now they suck because they decided to trade all of these guys because they are stupid but in the hands of our own coach they did this making the offense much better then it had been

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Read my friend, stop posting and read what I am saying here.

I already mentioned a couple teams so at the risk of repeating myself to you I present you the Atlanta Falcons....drafted Roddy White in the first round one year, then Matt Ryan in the first round. Turned the offense around instantly and made them a contender.

What about what our coach did in Denver in 2006?

First round - QB

Second round - TE

Third round - No pick

Fourth round - WR

Fifth round - Guard

Sixth round - Center

Seventh round - No pick

Jay Cutler, Tony Scheffler, Brandon Marshall....now they suck because they decided to trade all of these guys because they are stupid but in the hands of our own coach they did this making the offense much better then it had been

Again, I like the idea of drafting a franchise QB and THAT is what turned the Falcons around (along with acquiring Turner). They drafted White in 2005 and he was approaching BUST status until they drafted Ryan in 2008. They also drafted about 3-4 defensive starters (Babineaux, Anderson, Lofton, etc.) high in the draft between White in 2005 and Ryan in 2008.

I do like what Denver did in 2006 and agree that the Bronocos would have been a force to contend with by now if they kept those guys together. However, the Broncos weren't a rebuilding team in 2006 like the Falcons were pre-2008 or we are now. They were coming off 10-6 and 13-3 in the previous two years, so they were NOT drafting for need at those positions, other than maybe TE?

So, it looks like you found a rebuilding team that picked a WR and a QB in the span of 4 drafts (and drafted twice as many defenders in the higher rounds in that span) and an already-established team that drafted all offense in one draft. Neither case, in my opinion, supports your theory that the way for bad teams to get good is to go all-in on offensive selections. I think balance is still the key (unless every time you are up to draft the offensive player is the best value) with the exception of a franchise QB.

[HEavyJumbo85]

I'm going to be that guy...I think it would be brutally misguided to talk trash even if the team were currently winning Super Bowls. I don't know if I can stress enough, how much I disagree with the common sports fan mindset. You're talking trash about "our" accomplishments? If your name wasn't on the roster, you didn't "accomplish" anything. You watched a group of men accomplish something; the group of men can talk trash about their accomplishments if they feel like it. Fans that talk trash (Not talking gentle ribbing, we're talking serious trash here) to other fans about "their" respective teams, for which they don't play for, are idiots, really. Some fans think they're on the team and think that they have a duty to speak/act on behalf of the team...in parking lots and in the stands, while intoxicated. You're the reason children can't go to live sporting events anymore, thanks. Regardless of what you may have heard, the point of being a sports fan isn't so you can talk trash. Although, I guess it might be to some people. /touchy subject

[Mursilis]

I'm going to be that guy...I think it would be brutally misguided to talk trash even if the team were currently winning Super Bowls. I don't know if I can stress enough, how much I disagree with the common sports fan mindset. You're talking trash about "our" accomplishments? If your name wasn't on the roster, you didn't "accomplish" anything. You watched a group of men accomplish something; the group of men can talk trash about their accomplishments if they feel like it. Fans that talk trash (Not talking gentle ribbing, we're talking serious trash here) to other fans about "their" respective teams, for which they don't play for, are idiots, really. Some fans think they're on the team and think that they have a duty to speak/act on behalf of the team...in parking lots and in the stands, while intoxicated. You're the reason children can't go to live sporting events anymore, thanks. Regardless of what you may have heard, the point of being a sports fan isn't so you can talk trash. Although, I guess it might be to some people. /touchy subject

Amen to this.

[addicted]

Again, I like the idea of drafting a franchise QB and THAT is what turned the Falcons around (along with acquiring Turner). They drafted White in 2005 and he was approaching BUST status until they drafted Ryan in 2008. They also drafted about 3-4 defensive starters (Babineaux, Anderson, Lofton, etc.) high in the draft between White in 2005 and Ryan in 2008.

Zoooomm again right over your head....weeeee...this isn't fun to me to argue the same points over and over and over again.

Look what your still not getting about this is that the Falcons were a ****ty team, who turned into a pretty good team because they drafted that QB and that WR. Where is our drafted QB and WR's? Since you still don't get it, let me ask you Mr lets turn this around by drafting BPA aka Defensive player? If the best way to improve the offense was to draft defense then tell us why in the hell haven't we established a dominant Defense and Offense since we used 5 of 7 top picks on those Defensive players?

You can argue the schematics of this just to try and tear me down but really you've proved nothing with your own points. You decided to once again speak on a topic that you had previously said you wouldn't because your one of those guys who loves the last word and just want to argue and will manipulate a topic however it suits you as long as it suits your point. I've seen and called out all of your tactics since you started speaking to me about your "refreshing" idea of BPA and once again you've attempted to adjust this conversation to suit your beliefs and ideas with your last post. The shame of it is that since you constantly ignore my points showing that we've actually been doing EXACTLY what you want us to do and it doesn't work your resorting to an argument of "show me or it doesn't work" yet even when your shown that it can be done successfully the argumentative person inside you simply won't let it be. If it hasn't happened it can't work is a wimpy argument. Did we not prove to the world that with a successful system you can win with anyone under Gibbs? Guess what? No one did that before him, guess if we were arguing that in 1980 you would believe the same way you do now?

You can ***** about Denver not being a rebuilding club but the truth is that draft was done by our own head coach, that for years we've tried addressing the Defense in the draft and FAILED again and again and here we are in 2011 with the same old problems. Why can't you understand that drafting a Defensive player hurts the chances of helping your offense? If you've got problems on offense you help the offense, not draft a defensive guy...How in your mind did we ever win those titles? What are those teams legacy's to you? Did we win because we had a bad ass offense or a bad ass defense? What is this organizations legacy?

What your saying sure aint anything "new or refreshing" to do. It's what this teams done for the past 20 years. Truth is this team is likely to go into Aprils draft and spend money on the Defensive side of the ball and yet again ignore the most pressing needs of the team because they want to search for that magical "balance" which we are always in search of. And then the seasons going to come and go like it always does and we will finally (as if this is a goal anyone wants) reach that magical 20 years removed from our last championship year and still have the same problems on offense and defense we always do. All because the idea that we go offense and fix that **** first is just to hard for some to image. What doesn't make any sense to me is this...

In your mind of BPA will any Defensive player fix the glaring holes we have at QB, at WR, or on the Offensive line?

The answer of course this year and every year is hell no. You can only get better at those positions by adding something to it.

Not to mention that if we actually produced a bad ass offense that we would be miles ahead of where we were last year since once again all of those high draft picks we used on Defense can't cover or stop anyone. Giving them less time on the field would help the Defense. And I don't believe some NT is going to improve this team or LBer as much as it would if we got a stud offensive line that could bulldoze over everyone and actually protect our QB, or a WR who could catch anything out of the sky. But as I said you must be in love with the "balance" that this teams had over the years since that is what your screaming for yet again. The stupidity here is actually pretty amazing to me.

So go ahead and have your last word since we both know that its coming and your not actually going to argue anything. But know this. I've told you and I've shown you what the possibility could be for this team going forward if we make the offensive side of the football the priority here. I've told you and I've shown you the reasons why you do this if you have Mike Shanahan as your coach. But some people just can't learn and the truth is we are just fans of the team and aren't making decisions ourselves. So next year after all of this happens I'll send you that PM you wanted and we can have that conversation you mentioned and I'll expect it to start with you saying "Damn Addicted, you were right" because I guarantee you that if we don't address those positions in this draft you will be saying that to me. The answer is clear as can be. We need to fix the offense in the draft first, second, and have a Denver draft this year. Or we can not do that and go Defense again and never see this team take off. If that's what you want then good luck, all I want is to see this team once again make it to the promised land.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I took "talk trash" a little less literally. I didn't take it as going around and instigating debates about why the Redskins are awesome, but more holding those championships as still relevant to the pride you have for your team (and referencing them whenever comparisons with other teams do come up).

---------- Post added February-2nd-2011 at 03:03 PM ----------

Wow...calm down big guy.

Seriously, just answer this...why can't we draft both? Every single one of your points has a counter point. Of course, drafting a NT, for example, won't fill our need at WR. On the flip side, drafting a WR won't fill our need at NT. Both WR and NT are weak right now, so why would you go out of your way to ONLY upgrade a weak offense and not be more open-minded about it?

Also, saying that drafting D hasn't worked therefore it won't work (your words above) is no different than me pointing out that we've also drafted O (Shuler, Westbrook, Gardner, Ramsey, Campbell, Thomas/Kelly, etc.) and that also hasn't worked. Neither point is any more or less relevant. Because of our history being inconclusive, I asked you to show me examples of rebuilding teams that have gone all-in with offensive players. You mentioned the Falcons as your shining example and even chastised me for missing it the first time. It took me all of 3 minutes to review their past 5 drafts and show you that they drafted a WR in 2005 and a QB in 2008 and went almost exclusively D other than those two positions. To me, that proves that they didn't get good by only focusing on those two positions. Don't lash out at me when you make an assertion and give an example that doesn't validate your assertion. Had you showed an example that worked, I'd have been fine saying "Oh, that's a good point" and moving on. You can check my other posts, I don't have any issue doing that since I've been here.

I suppose you're right though...you seem defensive in nature when replying to me, so we're not going to get anywhere. We can agree to disagree. If the Redskins employ your strategy and succeed, no one will be happier than me!

[HailinginSeattle]

I was just thinking about this today. When the Super Bowls were won does not matter, the fact is that we have tradition and have been the best multiple times. Of course I'd like a more recent Super Bowl, but for example, I live in Seattle so when there fans try to talk trash I brush them off because they have NO history, no tradition, no nada. Yes our last Super Bowl was almost 20 years ago, BUT how many Super Bowl's have they won in the last 20 years? Zero. And before that time? Zero. I am proud of the history of the Redskins and our Super Bowls are a big part of that history and something we should always be proud of as fans.

[addicted]

Wow...calm down big guy.

Nailed it....couldn't just not reply could you?

Seriously, just answer this...

Why bother? You refuse to answer anything I've asked you. Do you think that one way conversations work? Apparently you do like to have them

why can't we draft both?

Every single year we go into the draft with issues on offense, everyone in the world sees our needs there, but 5 of the last 7 years we ignored them to draft Defense. Every year the same old stupid things are said like you've been posting here and our fortunes never changed. Yet you want us to continue down this path? Why?

If you cared about winning then you figure out where you screwed up and don't make those mistakes again. Or you repeat them. And you want us to repeat them although your "points" don't work or help us any but yet you want to continue doing them. Good luck with that. If your method worked we'd have a great team, but we don't. And we won't until we decide as an organization to address the offense. Otherwise we will continue down that same path. I'll send you that message I promise next year pal. Hope your man enough to admit you were wrong

[TD_washingtonredskins]

You pose questions and then mock me for responding...nice. I'll answer your question and then give my closing statements.

First of all, I didn't say to ignore offensive needs, I said to not ONLY draft offense. You can fill QB and NT in the same draft, can't you? Secondly, I'd continue down the path of addressing all areas of need since that seems to work for most teams. I have still yet to find a team that drafts only offense and succeeds (pssst...Atlanta didn't do that as I showed you).

This WILL be my last post in response to your opinion that the Redskins should, in your words, mimic their past success and draft only QB/WR/OL. All I've ever done in this thread is disagree that our or any team should only draft one side of the ball. I don't see the logic. To use your logic of "drafting defensive players over the past 7 years hasn't worked" seems pretty faulty.

When it comes to the more recent posts, all I asked you to do was show me a rebuilding team (and I only set that parameter because YOU told me that bad teams need to draft offense while already-good teams can afford to draft BPA) which drafted only offense. So, you gave me the Falcons and I showed you that they were not an example since they drafted twice as many defensive players as offensive players in the four years it took them to draft White (2005) and Ryan (2008). Instead of simply replying with a concession that you either didn't really know how they drafted or didn't properly articulate what you're proposing, you got very defensive that I pointed out the faults in your logic and facts.

Now, you seem more concerned with the fact that I continue to engage in this debate rather than going dark. Well, all I'm looking for is for you to either prove to me that our ONLY option at success is to draft exclusively on one side of the ball or to concede that your idea might not be the only way to build a winner (since it's never been attempted with success).

For my part, I've said countless times now that I'd love to see us draft a QB and maybe some more OL. However, I'd love to see us fill as many needs as we possibly can. Somehow though, you spent the first several posts telling me that I'm in favor of drafting defense. I'm also not convinced that some offensive positions can't be addressed via FA or trades. In closing though, I concede that it's possible your plan could work, I just find it hard to believe it's the only answer out there.

Cheers and good luck.

[addicted]

You pose questions and then mock me for responding...nice. I'll answer your question and then give my closing statements.

Only out of a joking way because since this started I've seen you try and use trick after trick and constantly ignore my questions to you. Seems to me that if you had bothered to answer anything other then your insistence of half assed attempts to steer the conversation your way with questions then this could have gone better. Instead you continue to drive by, ignored almost everything I posted, never actually denied anything I said, and now think some how I didn't prove anything and you've won a debate? To me the only thing lost here is your comprehension and understanding of several things like

1. The draft

2. The teams priorities

3. Our history

I mean if you don't know anything about this but think you've got it figured out then how could anyone convince you of anything to open a closed mind?

So in short here ya go:

The draft - Over the past 7 years we've gone into the draft with a BPA mindset. Using that thinking we've drafted 5 Defensive Players and 2 Offensive players. Last year showed us that we had offensive and defensive issues to contend with. The thing about all of these drafts is that every single year before the draft we knew we had offense issues yet went Defense anyway. The reasoning behind that was we were searching for a balance of good offense and good defense. However the only "balance" we saw doing this was that both sides of the ball were pretty bad. Once again as we approach this draft we stand to make a choice - Offense or Defense - and must decide. I am of the opinion that our best chance knowing the successes and failures of the people making these choices this year is to draft offensive players. My reasoning is this. In today's NFL offense is king and if we were to actually have a productive offense it will help the defense by keeping them off the field. We have glaring needs at several positions like QB, WR, and Offensive Line that upgrades are needed if we want to improve the offense so the idea of "there isn't anyone to help us at that spot" really isn't true. We have a chance to actually use the best strength of the coaching staff and go offense and finally put something respectable on the field if we do the right thing or we can continue the nasty cycle of saying one thing and doing another. Drafting Defense with our top picks have not yielded the results we should require to continue doing that again.

The teams priorities - Over the past several years we can look back on the teams failures and say things like "If we scored 20 a game we were in the playoffs" and look at all of the close games and wonder what if we had more playmakers on offense. This year our biggest asset on offense is now a Free Agent - Santana Moss. No one during this season produced nearly as much as he did. Yet we aren't looking his way to re-sign him yet. We don't have much behind Moss, and we don't have a QB either or an NFL caliber offensive line. Sure we have some issues on Defense like you keep bringing up but compare them to the offense and you'll see more holes there. The need for NT could already be on the team now. But who is on the team who can stop a unit that's giving up 5 or more sacks a game? Who is on the team to step into the possession receiver role? Who is on the team to be the franchise QB for years to come? Like other years past we could have a great defense which wins you games but with no offense the team goes nowhere. Oh wait that actually happened this year AGAIN in the wins against Green Bay, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Tennessee. How can this Defense need help so much as to use our first two picks on that side of the football when its good enough to beat those teams? The priority this offseason must be offense.

Our History - I've already shown you what Mike Shanahan can do concentrating on the offense in the draft. And I've shown you what drafting Defense can do for us. And I've already talked at length about us needing as a franchise to get back to Redskins football - Smash you in the mouth from the trenches dominant offense. Looking at the history of the team the answer is clear. We must go offense and fix that to compete in this league today. And drafting defense won't help the offense

One thing you don't seem to appreciate with me saying this is our current selection of picks. We have a first and a second round pick. Then we have a fifth. We don't have a third or fourth round pick. Besides all of the reasons above when I insist that we go offense in the draft I know this and since we don't have many picks know that those two picks are much more important to use then normal. The two players we get at those two positions have to be impact players. Otherwise our bandaid approach continues that you seem to enjoy so much.

In the end we are but two fans discussing the team future. To me trying to improve these positions in FA doesn't work, if it did McNabb would be our starting QB, Randle El and Brandon Lloyd would still be our WR's, and god knows who would be on the line. Cheers and good luck to you too

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I was just thinking about this today. When the Super Bowls were won does not matter, the fact is that we have tradition and have been the best multiple times. Of course I'd like a more recent Super Bowl, but for example, I live in Seattle so when there fans try to talk trash I brush them off because they have NO history, no tradition, no nada. Yes our last Super Bowl was almost 20 years ago, BUT how many Super Bowl's have they won in the last 20 years? Zero. And before that time? Zero. I am proud of the history of the Redskins and our Super Bowls are a big part of that history and something we should always be proud of as fans.

Great post! Teams start every year with a goal of winning the Super Bowl, so why not be proud of the 3 times we accomplished that goal.