Blame Shanahan

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Here is my problem with Shanahan:

He was given a difficult situation....and immediately made it worse.

Yes, it would have been difficult to win immediately with that roster. But he didn't have to switch to a 3-4 for no other reason than he wanted to run a 3-4. He didn't have to trade for McNabb. He didn't have to get into a distracting, year-long pissing contest with Haynesworth. He didn't have to draft 7 receivers, running backs, and defensive backs last year while ignoring the line and QB position.

I could accept the first year being an evaluation process if the team was not in far worse shape at the end of it than at the beginning.

I think, right now, this team is worse than it was at the same point last year.

[Mursilis]

Think about the giant **** sandwich Mike Shanahan was handed when he signed up for this gig. In the year and a half he's been here, he's had two depleted drafts (yes, our 2011 draft was depleted, we traded down mostly just to get picks we should have had to begin with, those would have been extra picks in a normal draft) and a lockout to overcome in rebuilding this roster. So much damage was done in the preceding years that we're undermanned at nearly every position. Yet plenty of folks here and practically tripping over themselves to declare that Mike is a failure.

You do understand that Mike made some of those trades himself, right? He's part of the reason those drafts were depleted.

My belief is that we're running an offensive system that's proven to work when you have good players,

Most offensive systems work when you have good players.

[SWFLSkins]

Yes i agree with this post. people have no patience whatsoever. I recall many people saying "We wont be competitive till 2013" last summer. But since we went 2-0 in the beginning of the season, people showered themselves with koolaid thinking we would be competitive this season. We have one of the least talented, if not least talented roster right now. Give Shanny another two years to implement his system and put HIS guys in there. But ****, we all know thats not gonna happen, especially because Snyder thinks the same way the majority of the people here on ES do.

What over the past two years has led you to believe that?

Right on Hitman the team Snyder owns now operates like an NFL team should but it takes time to shoulder the burden and realize the benefits of change. The culture had to change and that is not easy. It appears though with less than half of the season over there are fans that can't stomach the difficulty of change.

[fancrazyskin]

I don't think Shanahan was to worried about his legacy, He had options of staying retired or picking another team to coach. I pretty sure he did his due diligence in reviewing the roster and telling Snyder that it's going to take sometime to fix the cluster **** he and Vinny created. Now if Snyder will hold fast and not listen to the media or some of the fans that just don't understand that it takes time then were are diffidently screwed.

[Aghar]

Alright, so let's say that we finish this season off dismally like we all expect and we draft a QB that we all agree is good for us. Then, next year the rookie doesn't start for a bit and our team looks shaky like this year. He comes in and is somewhat effective but obviously needs time to develop. We finish next season at 6-10 or 7-9. Do we all want Shanny to get fired or give him another year? My point is this, if we are showing some signs of improvement and moving in the right direction next year, but still are not good enough to compete for the division or wild-card, do we say Shanny had enough time and call it quits?

In my opinion, I say we give him his 5 years and if we still aren't there, hire a young, hungry coach. Our roster will absolutely be much better by then and some fresh blood could be the answer. I definitely think people that want to fire SHanny right now are exactly the same as people who are responsible for the mismanagement of this team for the past decade.

I've highlighted the most important part of your quote. We MUST show improvement. I'm all about calling out Shanny and his son, especially for their evaluation of the QBs we have had on this team and their unwillingness to adjust their gameplanning to the talent, or lack thereof, we have on the current roster. I am also all about giving him the chance he needs to move the team where he believes it needs to be. Calling for his head last year or this one, is crazy. However, if next season this team does not show improvement, he is done. When I say improvement, I don't mean an x# of wins. I mean IMPROVEMENT. Visable improvement. That is something we have not seen as of yet. Our defense is worse than 2 years ago. Our offense is far worse. Our special teams...maybe a wash. So year 3 is the make or break year for Shanny. He must show this team, its fans, and most importantly his GM and owner that he is heading in the right direction. Nothing yet shows me or many other fans here as much. Not signing big name FAs, being smart in the draft( or seemingly so ), and gutting a team of misfits and replacing them with "your guys" who "fit the system" without the product on the field looking like it is growing into something each and every week is considered progress in my opinion. It's doing things the right way, yes. And if this franchise has fallen so low to call "Doing things the right way" progress after 3 years with a new staff; Well.... :doh:

[TE#80]

another Chicken Little thread.

Wouldn't that make this a chicken little post?

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

My belief is that we're running an offensive system that's proven to work when you have good players.

This is true of every offense in the league. Miami would have a good offense if it had good players.