Post game thoughts, rants, etc

[Zazzaro703]

Yes, I thought the plan was Robert and Rex on gameday and if God forbid anything happened to Robert, it would be Cousins and Rex on gameday. Rex always being the backup. Shocking that we sent in a rookie backup quarterback in the game. Talk about setting a person up for failure.

[wildbill1952]

Just some rants:

OL: Anybody know if Jamaal Brown is due back? I know how the FO and the fans hate to spend draft picks on OL, but there needs to be a big improvement in pass protection. Drafting another 3rd or 4th round pick and seeing him on the bench all year does not inspire confidence in the guy evaluating the OL on draft day. I don't see any of the draft picks we spent on OL starting anywhere in the NFL with the exception of Trent Williams.

Kicking: Cundiff's pluses were he kicks it deeper than either Rackers or Gano. And he was was supposed to be able to kick it quicker on field goals. Quicker doesn't mean squat when a 30 yarder is a 50-50 proposition. Bring back Gano. Whoever made the decision to bring in Cundiff also needs to be reconsidered as a talent evaluator.

[RandyHolt]

I will jump on board with Shanahan's OL choices. I did see Rhino starting in Buffalo, I think Willie Smith may be getting snaps in Oakland. But taking LeRib was a reach per pre-draft rankings, and he is a guard. We needed a tackle first and foremost, and I think all fans knew it. We could have gotten Rib later.

I know I know Shanahan doesnt like the same lineman the draft gurus predict will be good. He is very stiff on this one. I wonder if Allen and Kyle feel the same way but at some point, it needs to be pointed out in our 3rd year, we have Black as our only backup T, who we asked to come out of retirement.

Other teams that prefer the OL he abhors, win super bowls. There is more than one way to block, and passing on good OL eventually should be re-evaluated. He puts so much effort into choosing the right lineman, the right QB, but then punts on 4th and 1 when the offense is dominating (think Cincy).

[ncr2h]

I would've been a lot more comfortable with Grossman at the helm as well. We're talking about someone that started the majority of games for the team last year as opposed to a rookie who has never sniffed the field. Sometimes I don't understand Shanahan's logic. Yesterday was a perfect scenario where Grossman would be very useful

Like a few other things Shanahan has done here in Washington, he's wrong on this either way you look at it:

Either Cousins is better than Grossman and we're therefore wasting a roster spot on Grossman

OR

Grossman is better than Cousins (at least for an in-game substitution) and we just lost the game because we didn't have the right personnel active on our game day roster

Either way, Shanahan is messing up the Cousins situation. IMO, Grossman played well enough in preseason that combined with his history with the offense has earned him the #2 spot. Cousins played very very well in the preseason. If you want to tip your hat to him by giving him the #2 job for one week, fine. But don't continue this charade at the expense of wins.

[RandyHolt]

Final Rant before the O's game.

Shouldn't Cundiff have been replaced after he missed 3 FGs? Sure he got the game winner 2 games ago, but even that was close to missing. I know all kickers miss, but when you miss 3 in game 3 after being brought in late in camp, I thought he was going to get cut. We didnt spent a draft pick on him, and there are plenty of mediocre other options available.

Maybe a lurking reporter here can dig and find out, who wanted him over Racks and Gano?

[skins2victory]

- I think Rex should have been the number 2 QB..... I want some one who has experience stepping into a bad situation like that.

-Cut cundiff......... He is 1 of his last 5...... High school kickers are making 31 yarders look easier!!

[GaryGreenMonk]

I wait a day to rant.. just to clear my head.

so my rant now..

1) Dont know what happened to our DL but it needs to be fixed. Carriker and Bowen combined for 12 sacks last year. This year through 5 games.. Barry has 1 sack, everyone else on the DL has zero.

2) Our special teams are a disaster in some aspect of the game every freaking year.. i'm sick of it. I love Enzo.. but i'm just tired of the excuses. Its either kicks getting blocked, punts getting blocked, a horrible choice of a kicker, penalties on every big kick return,.. i'm sick of it. Danny Smith has to go, he's a terrible coach, I dont care what the players think. In the business world, a lot of times good managers arent necessarily liked, they may be respected but not liked. The players liking him and thinking hes a good coach just isnt showing up on the field year after freaking year.

3) Our OL is not a problem right now. Get off it. Its not a problem. We could use an upgrade at RT, but it's not like its a glaring issue that stands out every week.

4) I have a sinking feeling looking at our schedule that we will only win 5 or 6 games this season

5) The stupid cap penalty is hurting us badly and will continue to hurt us badly next year.. we are going to be looking at year 5 of Shanny and RGIIIs 3rd year when this team finally breaks out a bit when we can fill some holes with that 18 million a year we are missing

6) FED Ex is cursed. I hate that Stadium.. its the worst ever. Shanny is 4-15 in it. We havent won a game there since Sept. 2011 and we probably aren't winning next week against a hot Minny team either

7) I pray that by the end of this week I never have to see Cundiff kick a ball again. And for people like Grant Paulsen that will never understand why fans blame Danny Smith for something like Cundiff missing kicks.... well.. that would be because I have to think Danny had lots of input in the dumping of both Rackers and Gano and signing Cundiff without him even participating in the competition... only to watch him completely suck. Thanks Danny... nice call... that can be added to your resume with the block punts. Special teams is probably responsible for losing/not getting ~21 points for us so far this season.

8) Kyle has to stop getting too cute with his play calling. Morris was killing them and he felt the need to keep trying to switch off before they proved they could stop it.

9) In the good news department, I liked our switch back to the bend but dont break defense. I actually think thats the correct defense to run when you have an offense that can average 25+ points a game.

[Laron Burgundy]

I wait a day to rant.. just to clear my head.

so my rant now..

1) Dont know what happened to our DL but it needs to be fixed. Carriker and Bowen combined for 12 sacks last year. This year through 5 games.. Barry has 1 sack, everyone else on the DL has zero.

3) Our OL is not a problem right now. Get off it. Its not a problem. We could use an upgrade at RT, but it's not like its a glaring issue that stands out every week.

9) In the good news department, I liked our switch back to the bend but dont break defense. I actually think thats the correct defense to run when you have an offense that can average 25+ points a game.

Liked a lot of your points. I think the problem with the dl has been that our defense has gone very vanilla this year. It seems like Haslett is scared of dialing up exotic blitzes, but meanwhile was content to sit in cover 0 the first 4 weeks and get us murdered by long plays anyways.

As far as the oline goes, absolutely. People are crying bloody murder on our RT and, to a lesser extent, our interior. We're league average in sacks given up AND we're 3rd in ypc, only behind GREAT lines like the 49ers and KC and tied with Buffalo. So statistically, if the eyeball test isn't enough, we can't possibly call our line among the league worst at this point. Our line is playing well enough that it is no longer an issue. We could certainly upgrade, but it's on par with trying to upgrade our rbs or wrs to me.

Defense looked better this past week. Had we had Orakpo and Carriker, this defensive gameplan probably could have gotten us into the playoffs. Our defense was lights out considering that Atlanta averaged a td more a game while passing 15 fewer times. If our offense maintained drives at the end I'm sure our defense would have had the energy to finish out that game.

[NewCliche21]

I wait a day to rant.. just to clear my head.

so my rant now..

1) Dont know what happened to our DL but it needs to be fixed. Carriker and Bowen combined for 12 sacks last year. This year through 5 games.. Barry has 1 sack, everyone else on the DL has zero.

2) Our special teams are a disaster in some aspect of the game every freaking year.. i'm sick of it. I love Enzo.. but i'm just tired of the excuses. Its either kicks getting blocked, punts getting blocked, a horrible choice of a kicker, penalties on every big kick return,.. i'm sick of it. Danny Smith has to go, he's a terrible coach, I dont care what the players think. In the business world, a lot of times good managers arent necessarily liked, they may be respected but not liked. The players liking him and thinking hes a good coach just isnt showing up on the field year after freaking year.

3) Our OL is not a problem right now. Get off it. Its not a problem. We could use an upgrade at RT, but it's not like its a glaring issue that stands out every week.

4) I have a sinking feeling looking at our schedule that we will only win 5 or 6 games this season

5) The stupid cap penalty is hurting us badly and will continue to hurt us badly next year.. we are going to be looking at year 5 of Shanny and RGIIIs 3rd year when this team finally breaks out a bit when we can fill some holes with that 18 million a year we are missing

6) FED Ex is cursed. I hate that Stadium.. its the worst ever. Shanny is 4-15 in it. We havent won a game there since Sept. 2011 and we probably aren't winning next week against a hot Minny team either

7) I pray that by the end of this week I never have to see Cundiff kick a ball again. And for people like Grant Paulsen that will never understand why fans blame Danny Smith for something like Cundiff missing kicks.... well.. that would be because I have to think Danny had lots of input in the dumping of both Rackers and Gano and signing Cundiff without him even participating in the competition... only to watch him completely suck. Thanks Danny... nice call... that can be added to your resume with the block punts. Special teams is probably responsible for losing/not getting ~21 points for us so far this season.

8) Kyle has to stop getting too cute with his play calling. Morris was killing them and he felt the need to keep trying to switch off before they proved they could stop it.

9) In the good news department, I liked our switch back to the bend but dont break defense. I actually think thats the correct defense to run when you have an offense that can average 25+ points a game.

I agree with a lot of your points, but number eight is just no.

We were 24 pass versus 21 run. Prior to the attempted comeback with Cousins, we were running more than passing. We were also in third and forever (more than four yards) most of the time, so those are passing downs.

We give them **** when they don't run a balanced offense. We give them **** when they do run a balanced offense.

[BDOG510]

Other than RG3 we are no better off in year 3 than we were at the start of his regime. Shanny is overrated and a strong case can be made that the only reason he was successful in Denver was because of #7. RG3 cannot play every position on the FB field... I do not see the Super Bowl no where in our immediate future.

[NewCliche21]

Other than RG3 we are no better off in year 3 than we were at the start of his regime. Shanny is overrated and a strong case can be made that the only reason he was successful in Denver was because of #7. RG3 cannot play every position on the FB field... I do not see the Super Bowl no where in our immediate future.

Yeah man, our offensive line isn't better. Our running backs are way worse. Our outside linebackers are terrible. The depth on our defensive line is non-existent. Our offense in general is ****.

You're absolutely right.

[Murphs56]

Other than RG3 we are no better off in year 3 than we were at the start of his regime. Shanny is overrated and a strong case can be made that the only reason he was successful in Denver was because of #7. RG3 cannot play every position on the FB field... I do not see the Super Bowl no where in our immediate future.

I disagree to a certain extent. I think quite a few good ball players have been developed under his watch. Griffin and Morris already are promising, Young, Williams, Kerrigan, and hopefully Riley and Jenkins. Along with those guys and Orakpo, Davis, Garcon, and a few others i'm waiting on, that's a very good, young foundation. Unfortunately, Shanahan has failed at addressing the Secondary, which has absolutely killed us this year and our offensive line could use an upgrade at tackle. But, those things can be improved through the draft and free agency. I expect they will

[NewCliche21]

I disagree to a certain extent. I think quite a few good ball players have been developed under his watch. Griffin and Morris already are promising, Young, Williams, Kerrigan, and hopefully Riley and Jenkins. Along with those guys and Orakpo, Davis, Garcon, and a few others i'm waiting on, that's a very good, young foundation. Unfortunately, Shanahan has failed at addressing the Secondary, which has absolutely killed us this year and our offensive line could use an upgrade at tackle. But, those things can be improved through the draft and free agency. I expect they will

Meh, it's pick your poison.

When Shanahan came here, our secondary wasn't a major issue. The line, the backs, the quarterback, and the receivers were huge. Our defense was a strength.

Imagine what you would be thinking if we bolstered our secondary in lieu of our offense.

[BDOG510]

God Bless the long suffering Redskins Fans...

[Murphs56]

Meh, it's pick your poison.

When Shanahan came here, our secondary wasn't a major issue. The line, the backs, the quarterback, and the receivers were huge. Our defense was a strength.

Imagine what you would be thinking if we bolstered our secondary in lieu of our offense.

Well, losing the money was a big problem. It didn't allow us to upgrade the offensive line and secondary. Additionally, we gave up our 2nd round pick to get Griffin. This year, even though we are out money again, we don't need to upgrade anything but Secondary, Offensive Line and probably kicker. Unless of course Shanahan decides to use our 2nd round pick on a Quarterback So, our needs won't be nearly as large as this past year and hopefully the necessary upgrades can be made

[Laron Burgundy]

I disagree to a certain extent. I think quite a few good ball players have been developed under his watch. Griffin and Morris already are promising, Young, Williams, Kerrigan, and hopefully Riley and Jenkins. Along with those guys and Orakpo, Davis, Garcon, and a few others i'm waiting on, that's a very good, young foundation.

Not to mention it's way too early to write Hankerson off. He's 11th in ypg among sophomore receivers. Which, although not astounding, when you consider our logjam at wr the only other sophomore who has near the competition for reps that he does is Randall Cobb. He could be the best receiver we've drafted in decades.

[Murphs56]

Not to mention it's way too early to write Hankerson off. He's 11th in ypg among sophomore receivers. Which, although not astounding, when you consider our logjam at wr the only other sophomore who has near the competition for reps that he does is Randall Cobb. He could be the best receiver we've drafted in decades.

Hankerson along with Crawford, Gomes, Robinson, and LeRibeus were the guys I'm waiting on. They haven't been consistent enough, some barely play as rookies, but I'm waiting on them to see if they fit with the guys I mentioned that I think are the core of this team

[BDOG510]

It's Coaching- Under Harbaugh this same personnel would be undefeated

[ldysknzfn1]

I feel we hung in there til the end to a degree...someone else said it earlier...we didn't roll over...if not for the injury I think we would have pulled the upset..the FG kicker needs to go..didn't like signing him in the first place...Cousins showed us why he's a back up ...but had a nice TD pass to help the cause...play calling was questionable...where was the pass rush? I guess we sacrificed that in order to cover Jones, White and Gonzales...Love Kerrigan...he plays lights out every game...all in all..I wasn't too disappointed...we didn't get blown out...defense played just enough to keep us in the game...and were just worn out in the end....

[BDOG510]

we as fans have learned to accept mediocrity from a once great franchise. Im sick of losing!!!

[Ghost of]

It's Coaching- Under Harbaugh this same personnel would be undefeated

Ya know, there is a part of me that wonders if this is true. I'd throw in something about IF we had a good defensive coordinator too. Shoulda grabbed Philips when he was available.

[Warhead36]

Harbaugh wouldnt be better than 2-3 here. The 9ers are loaded with talent especially on D.

Talent wins. We lack it, badly.

[GaryGreenMonk]

Harbaugh wouldnt be better than 2-3 here. The 9ers are loaded with talent especially on D.

Talent wins. We lack it, badly.

that's a sorely unknown point..

The 49ers have drafted better than anyone by far over the last 6 seasons. That's how you build a championship team. Harbaugh just inherited a team that had phenomenal drafts for 5 years straight.

We are drafting talent, but it takes time. Plus Shanny was handcuffed year 1 with hardly any picks cause Vinny traded them all away.

We're also now losing out on a couple 1's cause we needed a QB.

It's honestly taking 3-4 years just to erase the shadow of Vinny from this team.

---------- Post added October-9th-2012 at 11:56 AM ----------

I agree with a lot of your points, but number eight is just no.

We were 24 pass versus 21 run. Prior to the attempted comeback with Cousins, we were running more than passing. We were also in third and forever (more than four yards) most of the time, so those are passing downs.

We give them **** when they don't run a balanced offense. We give them **** when they do run a balanced offense.

My response to that would be to ask...

why were we 24 pass / 21 run against a team that ranked 29th against the run and 9th against the pass??

We should have been 26 runs / 19 pass

Morris was ripping off 10 yard+ runs.. so they creep the defense forward.. Kyle automatically always thinks deep post when the D creeps forward...

How about a draw or a screen? When was the last time you saw us run a draw?

[Bibby]

Cousins throws one TD and 2 INT's. Rex Grossman could have done that and the Skins would have more depth in the secondary instead of using their 4th round pick on a backup QB

Cousins was thrown in middle of the game and did as best he could for a rookie seeing his first live regular season action. (He did give us a chance of winning by taking the lead with the Moss TD) The selection of Cousins in the 4th round will bring this team much more value in the long run then some secondary 4th rounder.