It needs to be said - CSN TRR - A win is a win

[grego]

I don't think anyone is complaing about how the 'Skins looked at 17-0 vs. Rams....that is how the game should have been going, stats-wise 'Skins were dominating the game. The problem is once up 17-0 with 3 possession league, all of the sudden offense play caller felt the need to get cute again, put offense into the hands of a QB known for throwing ill-advised turnovers, while the running game seemed to be working anytime the ball was put in Torain's hands.

Again, I ask....WHY?

youre not the only one. although i thought last weeks play calling was worse, this week, at least he tried to run a few times late.

i think kyles playcalling is clearly questionable at time, but i still want to know why the pass game is so stagnant. is it rex? the WRs? who? its maddening.

[ladyskin76]

this message board is a way for redskins fans to vent, we all want to win, even if we know its not gonna be this year... if we were all so sane and patient, then there would be like no posts on this board.

soooo true but yeah we need to remember that this is a rebuilding year. I believe we will draft or sign a franchise QB next year

[HapHaszard]

If you're going to blunty make that claim that we aren't even contention for a Super Bowl, we should just pack it in for draft picks.

If you're going to argue the opposite, that we've got a chance, my point stands and complaining about sloppy play against poor teams is warranted.

My point is that we are way ahead of last year, we are improving but are not an elite team yet. We have exceeded what I expected out of this team in the second year. No I don't think we are going to the Superbowl this year, we need more talent, but we are still playing above our talent level.

[LD0506]

Tandler has more common sense in his big toe than half this board does combined.

[Larry]

A win is a win but don't kid yourself about how it happened.

I'm not kidding myself.

This was the most dominating performance I've seen from the Skins in years.

No, it wasn't perfect. (Among other things, whatever happened to "least penalized team in the NFL"?) But it was really good.

Heck, I actually felt sorry for Bradford for most of the game.

[The Bounty Hunter #21]

I think we just have to admit to ourselves that we can't over-hype this team and can't just expect to win week in and week out. Obviously we can all nitpick about a ton of things involving Grossman today etc. etc. but at the end of the day we got the victory and we're 3-1 going into the bye. I'm preventing myself from totally losing my cool about this team in result of knowing that we're still growing in many ways and that we'll address the QB situation hopefully during the draft, so i'm feeling pretty good that we have already reached the 3 win mark and interested to see how we respond after having a week to work on some things before facing Philly.

[HapHaszard]

Just to add a little fat to the fire this from John Keim article I just posted in BRBN.

But they should have closed this one out better all the way around. St. Louis, now 0-4, committed nine penalties, dropped probably a half-dozen passes at least (including one in the end zone on a field goal drive and another inside the 10 early in the game). The Rams were outgained by 167 yards. They had no business being in that game late. So what does this mean? That the Redskins are 3-1 but flawed. Of course, in the past, they’d be 1-3 and flawed. Which one would you rather be? The question is: will this team get better as the season unfolds or exposed? Stay tuned.

[#98QBKiller]

I'm not kidding myself.

This was the most dominating performance I've seen from the Skins in years.

No, it wasn't perfect. (Among other things, whatever happened to "least penalized team in the NFL"?) But it was really good.

Heck, I actually felt sorry for Bradford for most of the game.

I wouldn't call 17-10 dominating by any stretch..especially when all 10 of their points were scored in the 4th. Believe me, I'm very pleased with the win but I also understand that this is a building year and exceeded expectations are welcomed. But this team is at least a season or two away from seriously contending for the division at the end of the season...assuming we draft a good QB.

[chipwhich]

We aren't going to the Super bowl, but we are in first place in the NFCE, baby steps my friend, baby steps we are getting there.

Agree, people have lost their mind.

This team was terrible last year, and went total rebuild in the offseason.

No reasonable person would have picked us to go 3-1.

[LD0506]

That the Redskins are 3-1 but flawed. Of course, in the past, they’d be 1-3 and flawed. Which one would you rather be? The question is: will this team get better as the season unfolds or exposed? Stay tuned.

That's the crux of the matter right there Hap, I don't know why it seems so hard to see. Has everyone really forgotten what we were like a few years ago? I know I haven't. When the day comes that I get sucked down into the bowels of Hell I'll smile, because then at least I'll have a chance to kick Cerrato's ass.

[ddub52]

Weve scored two (edit: passing) TDs in the last 2 games. If we could have scored on that drive when we were up 17-0 instead of turning the ball over and then them scoring we could have totally ended that game long before the final 2 minutes.

[Atlanta Skins Fan]

Weve scored two TDs in the last 2 games.

What games are you watching?

I agree, Rex's 4 INTs were killer today.

[HapHaszard]

That's the crux of the matter right there Hap, I don't know why it seems so hard to see. Has everyone really forgotten what we were like a few years ago? I know I haven't. When the day comes that I get sucked down into the bowels of Hell I'll smile, because then at least I'll have a chance to kick Cerrato's ass.

Exactly, I was having flashbacks to the early 60's during Cerato's reign. We never sunk to the level of the 1961 Skins but we were close. How about them Eagles, they went out and spent big money for all those stars and lookit, they are the new Redskins

[ddub52]

What games are you watching?

I agree, Rex's 4 INTs were killer today.

What I meant to say was that weve only had 2 passing TDs in the last 2 games. And I wasnt complaining about his INTs. Nice touch though

[NoCalMike]

3-1 and being flawed is fine, that isn't the issues. Of course this team is flawed, you don't go from being a 6-10 to a juggernaut in a single offseason, but chalking Grossman's antics up to "we're flawed like everyone else" is a cop out.

The fact is, Grossman has shown he will hold back this team's progress when given the chance, and why Kyle Shanahan entrusts Grossman with the ball in a game where the 'Skins running game behind Ryan Torain was picking up chunks of yards with ease is even more mind-boggling.

Look, I totally buy into Shanahan's stance that Grossman is the best option for the 'Skins in 2011. I am not arguing that Grossman starting is a mistake. Obviously if Beck was better, he would be in. However what I am arguing is that putting the ball into Grossman's hands when you are up 17-0 is not asking for unnecessary drama in a game that the Rams were being totally outclassed in.

Kyle Shanahan's explanation of "we wanted to keep Rams on their toes" is just not going to cut it. Keep the Rams on their toes? Really? I think Torain, with the blocking of Cooley and the O-line was doing a damn swell job of keeping the Rams on their BACKS...as in, Torain was running them over at ease. The 'Skins had 198 rushing yards in a game that the playcalling clearly decided to stop running the ball in for periods of times.

Grossman and this WR core has shown through 3 games so far that they are just not good enough to simply abandon what is working merely to "trick a team" Just stop that notion all together. Thank goodness is it was the Rams that they played today, who were all but incapable of capitalizing on just about anything handed to them on a silver platter.

If this type of playcalling keeps up it is going to burn this team now that the schedule is getting tougher.

[4skins23]

I agree a win is a win. I'll take it. Not sure how many more we have coming. The skins could easily be 1-3 right now.

[Destino]

There are no style points in the NFL. Just results.

The Lions were gifted a game against the boys today. Think they give a ****?

The Raiders should have defeated the Bills. That's not going to matter if they are a game short of clinching a playoff appearance.

Mike Vicktim left a game because of a bruise on his non-throwing hand. Think the Falcons should have let the Eagles win to avoid getting a bad win?

Skins won. 3-1 is awesome and I think we are closer to 4-0 than we are to anything else. The cowboys defense held up nicely because one more TD in the redzone or if that FG doesn't get bobbled and we are undefeated and just as flawed as the Lions at 4-0. Face it people the difference is that for once the skins aren't the ones talking about "we should have won". We are winning and the other teams get to think "what if".

The eagles are 1-3 and the cowboys are 2-2. I'll take a share of first place for the 1st QTR of the season.

[Larry]

I'll take a share of first place for the 1st QTR of the season.

Actually, we have the tie breaker against the Giants, because we beat them.

(Although, they'll probably pass us next week, when they have Seattle at home.)

[thebluefood]

I can see things from both sides here.

On one hand, the Redskins have a bad habit of letting teams back into games when they have their foot on their throat. For as long as I can remember, the Redskins have been one of the most generous teams in the league. We can't bring ourselves to just blow teams out. I can understand the years of built up frustration because I feel it, too.

On the other hand, the team is looking much improved from last year. I don't think many of us were expecting a 3-1 start going into the bye. If it weren't for dumbfounding play calling toward the end of the fourth quarter, the Redskins might be standing alongside the Lions as the only unbeaten teams in the NFL. If we're going to build a football team properly, we have to take baby steps. Do you think the Steelers of the '70s or even the (groan) Cowboys of the 90s were built over night? It took years of careful building from the front office to make it happen. We can do the same thing in Washington. Though patience, smart draft picks (like the ones we made with Kerrigan and Rak), and smart free agent acquisitions (like we got with Hightower) we will be winners in Washington again.

Will Washington win the Super Bowl this year? Probably not. Will we win the east? Perhaps, but that's also unlikely. Will we show improvement from last year? We already have and THAT is the important thing.

We can't rush rebuilding. That's what got us in trouble to begin with.

Edit: I think Green Bay is perfect, still, too.

[NoCalMike]

Oh hey, I am extremely happy with the 3-1 start despite my opinions on Rex Grossman, just to be clear on that.

I think what my main point is that until either Rex shows he can be a better QB than he is known for being, or we find a QB that can be a true franchise QB, I will always have tempered expectations for the ceiling this team has over the course of a 16 week season. I've stated numerous times in other threads, it's not as if I don't think we could be a playoff team just because Grossman is the QB, but at the same time I also think Grossman could very well keep us from the playoffs due to how his performance declines when he is expected to do more than he is capable of.

Grossman's turnovers might night lose a game for us against the Rams or Cardinals, although it did make two games that the 'Skins were statistically dominating, and make them one possession games that pretty much came down to 2 big stops by the defense in the 4th quarter. But once we start playing stronger teams, turning the ball over at mid-field and giving opponents a short field could start to yield much more damaging results. We could easily end up going back to losing 20-17 type games instead of winning those ones.

[601skinsfan]

We put money and draft picks into a defensive overhaul, they are better. This offseason it will probably be the offenses turn. We have a ways to go offensively. We have decent runningbacks, good tight ends, and an offensive line that has improved to managable. We really need some playmakers to throw to and obviously a longterm prospect to throw to them. But i cant wait to watch this defense grow!

[Mocountyskins]

Yes a win is a win thats true doesnt matter if it was a bad win or a good win all that matters is that you see is a W in the win column

BUT good teams look at wins and say well we did this this and this wrong and we need to improve on them to become a better football team. bad teams just take a W and are happy with it and dont really look on what they could do to improve.

[CapnRedskins]

It's all about perspective really. If I had told anyone before preseason when we were expecting a 3-5 win season that we'd be 3-1 going into the bye we'd all be ecstatic even if I said that 2 of those wins would ugly ones against NFC west teams . However, a successful preseason, a lot of overconfidence from the team, and a good week 1 win against a division foe set everybody's hopes too high and gave unrealistic expectations as to how good this team really is. Therefore, people see a 22-21 victory of the Cards and a 17-10 victory over the Rams to be beneath this team. SPOILER ALERT: They're not. We're gonna have plenty of rough games this season. Some will be wins some will be losses.

[Backpack3r]

Absolutley agreed. With 5 minutes left in the 4th, Kyle calls a pass on first down??? Two runs and we are down to 3 minutes and some change. Instead we get the BAD interception from Rex. Terrible playing calling there.

I dont think thats play calling really. Of course i would RATHER have them run the ball in that situation, but lets say we ran it and we got stuffed for 2 yards, everyone on this forum would be saying, "Be more aggressive! Why are we trying to hold on for dear life instead of getting first downs!" Grossman is just an idiot who threw a terrible pass. That being said, i do agree that Kyle has to step up his play calling, sometimes he overthinks stuff, for instance Hightower's TD against Dallas. You have to run in that situation, thank GOD it worked lol. But even with the play calling woes, we need better QB play.