Coaching Afraid...

[Burgold]

How much of our problems on offense, defense, and special teams have to do with fear.

 

 

On special teams, have you ever seen a more cowardly approach than what we did last game.  Every kickoff was a pooch kick or a dribbler.  The strategy was surrender.  Great message to send your team and the opponent.  Also, sure helps the enemy to have such great starting position.

 

On defense, the cushions seem to be back.  And I have to wonder if the coaching is fear based when we go so heavily bend, but don't break... it seems that whenever we score we lay back so that the opponent can score too.  We're just hoping that they make a mistake and praying we don't make one.

 

 

Even on O, we held out almost everyone from the entire preseason, not just RGIII, but a healthy Morris, our receivers, etc. Were we afraid of injuries? The result, the team had no chemistry the first few games. Neither the running or passing game worked. The first four games, at least, seemed to be preseason.

 

More fear... all the protect Griffin and don't run him talk. If he's fit to play he should be played. Telling the d what you can and won't do gives them the upper hand. If he shouldn't play then let him sit.

 

I think the special teams and defense are more guilty of playing without courage, but I think that style of play may be playing a huge role in our ineffectiveness this season.  Players need to believe, but the coaches clearly don't.

 

Am I misinterpreting the power of this or imagining something that's not there or are the Redskins playing afraid this year?

[Jacoah]

Every kickoff was a pooch kick or a dribbler.

 

I can't tell you how INFURIATING this was to me. Kick the goddamn thing through the end zone like every other team in the league and this bull**** wouldn't be an issue.

 

I tend to agree with you: it's the fear factor. Every player seemingly has very little confidence in themselves or the team as a whole. And once again the fan is already looking ahead to next season.

[RedskinWill]

You hit the nail right on the head. It's the approach of trying to conserve a lead instead of putting the foot on the gas, reason we lost at Minnesota and almost lost to SD. They need to play fearlessly and leave it all on the field. If we continue with this approach we will lose this Sunday guaranteed. Furthermore, I've stated that I'm not going to worry about Rg getting hurt, just let him play his game and let the chips fall where they may.

[Tyron Biggums]

Seems like the offensive problems begin as soon as Kyle takes his foot off the gas pedal i.e Denver,SD,Minny. The Chicago game was the only game in which I saw Kyle be aggressive the entire game. I believe that the game was the Skins highest point total thus far.

 

Defense: Bend but don't break is actually killing the Skins IMHO. They should be selling out to get the QB. Sure they are going to score quickly sometimes that way, but that puts our best part of our team(offense)right back onto the field.

 

Special Teams: Hopefully Nick Williams can give the return team a spark and some confidence.

 

Hail

[Jacoah]

Edit: Oops, posted to wrong thread.

[chipwhich]

Don't you mean scurred.  They scurred.

[SWFLSkins]

It is a valid point, the calls are tentative and so the players are playing tentative. 

[Mania]

I completely disagree with this post.

In regards to kicking off to a returner that is averaging 38 yards per return. Patterson returned one 109 yards from 9 yards deep. Not many kickers can kick it through the end zone or else Pattersons average wouldn't be 38 yards per return. This was strategy and good strategy and we kept him in check.

This game was lost by the defense and only the defense. Yes we could have scored more points in the second half, but we have to give some credit to the Vikings for stopping us. Kyle is a very aggressive OC and is not taking his foot off the gas.

[skins island connection]

 My take on it is I believe the defense is keeping their mouths shut to keep distractions from being another nail in the coffin for the team.

 The day Haslett is gone, I would bet that most of them will say they didn't buy into his philosophy, and when players don't buy into a philosophy or scheme, its difficult for them to execute, even though they are players who are paid to play. Emotions play a much bigger role than brute strength; Gibbs had cast-offs from other teams, but he got them together and got their minds in place, focused, and they believed what he said.

 

 Haslett was simply the wrong choice, and a bad one as well, for this team; Mike carries blame as well, taking a 4-3 defense which was playing pretty well and dismantling it, forcing a 3-4 on players who don't fit the bill in certain positions. The perceived 'ego' of Mike not seeing the turmoil of the defense and apparently not willing to abandon his choice of defensive format could very well possibly be a huge dent in his resume.

 

Younger coaches, for the most part, have a much easier time relating to younger players than older coaches. There is a line where the respect of a proven coach can carry over to all playrs, but if it is not working, and the players become uneasy or disappointed in the results, its much harder for any coach to recapture that respect without making changes which suit the players better.

 

SIC

[Campbell's_da_man]

Playing afraid, I doubt anyone is afraid, except maybe Keith Burns, who is in over his head.  He's simply not getting the job done, period.  Why is he still here?

 

On defense, we should have no excuses.  When you have a relatively healthy team lining up against teams that have been bitten hard by injuries and can't find a way to win, only one word comes to mind, "pathetic."  Haslet is killing us with his zone coverage's.  We need to be more aggressive.  We should be jamming receivers and run blitzing on the way to the quarterback.  But haslet seems content giving QB's all day to pick our zones apart and watching team's march down the field.  The light's on, but nobody's home!

 

On offense, I hate the way Kyle Shanahan calls the plays.  Not to mention that we run that stupid wide receiver screen way too much and defenses are sitting there waiting on it.  How about running a screen to the running back for a change, especially when you know a blitz is coming?  The design of the plays is not the problem.  It's knowing when to call certain plays.  What ever happened to being more aggressive and attacking defenses?  Hmmmmm, maybe our coordinators are scared?

[Zazzaro703]

 My take on it is I believe the defense is keeping their mouths shut to keep distractions from being another nail in the coffin for the team.

 The day Haslett is gone, I would bet that most of them will say they didn't buy into his philosophy, and when players don't buy into a philosophy or scheme, its difficult for them to execute, even though they are players who are paid to play. Emotions play a much bigger role than brute strength; Gibbs had cast-offs from other teams, but he got them together and got their minds in place, focused, and they believed what he said.

 

 Haslett was simply the wrong choice, and a bad one as well, for this team; Mike carries blame as well, taking a 4-3 defense which was playing pretty well and dismantling it, forcing a 3-4 on players who don't fit the bill in certain positions. The perceived 'ego' of Mike not seeing the turmoil of the defense and apparently not willing to abandon his choice of defensive format could very well possibly be a huge dent in his resume.

 

Younger coaches, for the most part, have a much easier time relating to younger players than older coaches. There is a line where the respect of a proven coach can carry over to all playrs, but if it is not working, and the players become uneasy or disappointed in the results, its much harder for any coach to recapture that respect without making changes which suit the players better.

 

SIC

Problem with this is in hindsight it was def the wrong choice. However when the choice was made I'm sure they weren't planning on having their hands tied with the cap penalty and not being able to bring in the right pieces. They change the defense and then don't have the money to fill in the pieces. But yes, it didn't work.

[Dirt]

It sure does seem like we just let the opponent score, too lol...

 

It really is the weirdest thing, no other team is like this.  We score 10, they score 10.  We score 50, they score 50, no matter who the team or the QB is.  Our games will end 14-13 or 49-45, nothing in between.  It's almost like it's done on purpose, it's freaking crazy.

 

"coaching scared" could indeed be the answer, but I still think the defensive play-caller just does not have a very good idea of what he's calling.  He probably over-thinks things, we should hide the scoreboard from him.

[Rufus T Firefly]

The clock management issues at the end of the first half seem to be related to playing scurried, or scat, too. It seems like we often are so concerned with leaving the other team 30 seconds left when they get the ball that we run the clock to a point where we run out of time and settle for a field goal without taking much of a shot at the end zone.

[RandyHolt]

Burgold nails it and articulates what I have been seeing.... anytime we get the lead, Haslet goes into... a shell.... prevent, let's call it.  Playing afraid with a lead is mind boggling. Late in a game, sure we have all seen prevent run by all teams.  With a lead most of the game to go, that is the time to tee off on the QB. .

 

Baby steps I suppose, it was only a year ago that we FINALLY tried to blitz rookie QBs; we were 0-8 versus rookies. I am still stunned that we finally changed. Talk about stubborn, yeesh.

 

I have to think, this is all Mike, right? There is no way Mike is letting this happen on his watch and it not be a part of his game plan. Haslet is asked to take the least amount of risk, only, the risk is from becoming complacent. I am not sure D players can turn on and off aggressiveness effectively.

 

Perhaps the thinking is, we are steam rolling on offense, my son is dominating, we will just score again if we have to.

 

Only, our offense is not that polished to consistently regain the lead over and over. 

 

We never finish a team off. its even like we are afraid of running up the score. Tom Brady tries to do it weekly. We may try once a year. Who am I kidding, we never do.

[MustangSteve]

Seems like the offensive problems begin as soon as Kyle takes his foot off the gas pedal i.e Denver,SD,Minny. The Chicago game was the only game in which I saw Kyle be aggressive the entire game. I believe that the game was the Skins highest point total thus far.

 

Defense: Bend but don't break is actually killing the Skins IMHO. They should be selling out to get the QB. Sure they are going to score quickly sometimes that way, but that puts our best part of our team(offense)right back onto the field.

 

Special Teams: Hopefully Nick Williams can give the return team a spark and some confidence.

 

Hail

Do you see this Jim Haslett? Take a damn look and apply it to your defense. Go after the Damn QB!

[skins island connection]

Problem with this is in hindsight it was def the wrong choice. However when the choice was made I'm sure they weren't planning on having their hands tied with the cap penalty and not being able to bring in the right pieces. They change the defense and then don't have the money to fill in the pieces. But yes, it didn't work.

 

 The 'Cap Penalty' excuse can only hold so much water, and yes, they had the money, maybe not for a big time player, which this team has been snake-bitten by over the last decade, but this isn't nearly as much to do with the players as it is Haslett. The guy has never been a success anywhere he's been, despite the 'feel good' effort he had in N.O., where the credit really belonged to the assistants there, not Haslett.

 Considering how the defense played a lot better the 2nd half of last season,  then getting some players back healthy and ready this season, only to watch in disbelief as they looked completely lost, misplaced, and playing exactly like they did at the beginning of last year.

 

The discussion of 'getting the right pieces' IMO is a precursor to 'well, we just got the pieces we need, now Haslett needs a few years to get them all on the same page' excuse.  The excuses never end, and how anyone, with a straight face, in ANY form, can defend Haslett for his failures is a joke.

 

There ARE players out there who are not getting noticed, maybe on practice squads on other teams, who are praying they get noticed, and would happily sign on to at least get their foot in the door of an NFL line-up; that falls on the scouts. The focus needs to stop being directed at high profile high dollar high demand players a la Haynesworth who KNOW they can get a big fat paycheck here, and start looking for players who are hungry and eager to prove they belong, and who won't rape the cap.

[USS Redskins]

I have to agree. The Special Teams especially - how embarrassing was it that they told Forbath to short kick it to avoid big returns and thats exactly what happened anyway? the Vikings had the ball past the 30 on several occassions. FEAR.

 

The D didnt blitz at all - if they did I missed it and it didnt matter anyway - FEAR of a really crappy QB????  nobody fears Ponder. what a joke.

 

2nd half 13 point lead - lets go into conservative playcalling to maintain the lead - FEAR of one of the crappiest defenses in the league (right along side the Skins D).

 

Coaching with NO balls at all.

 

Reminds me of Gibbs II - he coached with an amazing amount of fear. Remember all the wasted timeouts and delay of games becuase they were discussing the next play, fearful of making the wrong call? Telling Brunell to throw the ball away b/c of the fear of taking a sack or throwing an INT. No Balls.

[HtownRocks111]

I agree with bits and pieces here.  I think maybe. just maybe, if Kai's distance doesn't improve on his kickoffs, we should carry 2 kickers on the team.  One who can bomb it and keep Kai for FGs..... hell, even the bomber could give us a chance for a desperation 55+ yarder.  OR try to find a punter who could come in on kickoffs to do the job.  Its easy to throw the blame on offense/defense but I honestly believe if our special teams is to blame for atleast 2 of our losses.  The Cowboy game their 2 huge (1 TD and 1 60+ yd return) gave them momentum and got their crowd into it.  The first 4 games of the season it seems like we got penalties called on us when we had our KR guys out there and the punts from Rocca have either been short, or he bombs them out of the endzone with no chance to pin them deep.  The avg starting field position killed our hopes at the beginning of the year.

[WhoRUSupposed2Be]

I have lost the confidence in this regime.

 

Between the clock mis- managment to the reluctancy to pull under-performing players, Mike clearly has become Gibb 2.0.  Sorry to say the least.

 

The writing is on the Wall for him.

[Duckus]

I don' think our offense plays scared...until 4th down. Our understanding of 4th down strategy is abysmal. 

 

I don't know how many times I can watch us punt the ball near the 40 on 4th and short and net a pitiful 15-20 yards after our special teams craps the bed.

 

But the worst...

 

4th and 1 at the Vikings 1 yard line early in the 1st quarter. 0-0 game and coming off an exciting early TO. 

 

We have the #1 RB in the NFL in yards per carry (5.2) and #3 in yards from scrimmage.

 

What do we do? Kick a FG of course!

 

Shanahan seems happy to blindly follow the theory "never leave points on the board" regardless of game situation.

 

**** that. 1st quarter against the Vikings, you hand the rock to our star RB and ram it down their throats. I have defended Mike Shanahan in the past. I was done with him at that exact moment. 

 

 

 

 

 

[skins island connection]

 

I don' think our offense plays scared...until 4th down. Our understanding of 4th down strategy is abysmal. 

 

I don't know how many times I can watch us punt the ball near the 40 on 4th and short and net a pitiful 15-20 yards after our special teams craps the bed.

 

But the worst...

 

4th and 1 at the Vikings 1 yard line early in the 1st quarter. 0-0 game and coming off an exciting early TO. 

 

We have the #1 RB in the NFL in yards per carry (5.2) and #3 in yards from scrimmage.

 

What do we do? Kick a FG of course!

 

Shanahan seems happy to blindly follow the theory "never leave points on the board" regardless of game situation.

 

**** that. 1st quarter against the Vikings, you hand the rock to our star RB and ram it down their throats. I have defended Mike Shanahan in the past. I was done with him at that exact moment. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It could very well be Mike is out-thinking/out-witting himself, especially on 3rd & 4th downs.

 If a particular drive consisted of most all runs, Morris getting 3.4-6 yds per carry, then the drive gets to the 25 and bogs down; so its 4th & 3, and Mike wants to run, but he figures they're going to load the line to stop it, so he will think about a short pass, but then he thinks to himself everyone will be at the line expecting a short pass being we've been running the ball successfully, then it becomes mashed potatoes, and he sends in the FG unit.

 

Simply over-thinking, but I will admit that drives need balance to be successful, at least in an overall aspect.

[BleedBNG]

Am I misinterpreting the power of this or imagining something that's not there or are the Redskins playing afraid this year?

 

Seriously, how the hell can you be in fear of the 1-7 Minnesota freakin' Vikings? AP maybe, but we had him pretty much in check. Their problem is they have to believe thruout the WHOLE game that they are BETTER than most of their opponents. The good teams do even when they are behind, and then play accordingly with better execution. This has been kind of tough on the O this year because the D is NOT cooperating. The only game this year where the O didn't give in to the D's nonsense was against the Bears.

[Tyron Biggums]

“If he loses this game, this is the end of the Red Lobster,” Smoot said via The Washington Post. “I think you can put him in the broiler if he loses this game right here.”

Like last time,  Smoot went on to say how “terrible” Shanahan is and that the Skins need a head coach that “understands RGIII talent.”

Smoot did give Shanahan credit for bringing in good players.  But said he can’t coach.

“I didn’t say he shopped for bad groceries. He shopped for good players,” Smoot said, before launching into the most Smoot-like analogy of all Smoots.

“Like we said, he just cannot cook. You know, sometimes grandma gets too old. She know what to go in the grocery store and get, but she just cannot whip it up like she used to.”

“Great coaches get the most out of players, even the players that are not that good, they get the most out of these players. With Shanahan right now, I think right now the game has just passed him. Like he’s not a bad coach, he’s a Super Bowl winning coach, but I just think right now, today’s athletes, and everything that goes on with today’s football, has just simply passed him.”

http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/article_external/rg3_i_cant_take_those_amount_of_hits/15054779

[skins214428hail]

Problem with this is in hindsight it was def the wrong choice. However when the choice was made I'm sure they weren't planning on having their hands tied with the cap penalty and not being able to bring in the right pieces. They change the defense and then don't have the money to fill in the pieces. But yes, it didn't work.

Man. cap penalty. really? Every player in the nfl is good. Haslett has been in a coaching slump his whole career. Haslett plays scared or balls to the wall. Haslett should be the poster boy for the nfls concussion problems. Sorry man not dumping on ya. I have read alot of your post and iam just a little surprised your still using that excuse.

[Burgold]

In the opener we were carved up. If this game the defense plays primarily soft zones we will know what we need to. Players need to know their coaches believe in them. When they don't they become tentative and play in their heads, they start second guessing and that leads to physical mistakes including possibly missed tackles.