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Hindsight is 20/20: This Year Was Setup to be a Wash and Shanny deserves year 5

HeluCopter29

By HeluCopter29
in The Stadium

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HeluCopter29

HeluCopter29

Posted
Posted

Since I'm about to defend the Shannaplan let me start with saying that I don't think he's perfect.  I do not think he is elite and I thought he was oversold when he got here.  However, as Mike himself pointed out we need to put everything into perspective.  I get that he's 25-40 since showing up but he also said that he needed 5 years to clean up the mess and we owe it to him to see this thing through.

 

Let's start by saying some simple facts:

 

  1. Anyone who expected us to beat San Fran in the pre-season is a massive homer who had no sense of reality.
  2. The turnaround we expected Shanahan to do was a far bigger project then any other turnaround anyone else was expected to orchestrate.
  3. 3-8 at this point is underachieving, but the best we should have been right now is 5-5.

 

The last point is really what I'm driving at when I say Shanny should be given his fifth year.  One very astute caller before the game said "In the NFL you're either getting better or you're getting worse. You're never the same."  This guy was spot on.  Yes there are exceptions to this rule but you either get worse or you get better in the NFL.  Largely this team, statistically looks a lot like last years with the big difference in terms of turnovers.  Coaches, all of whom are really smart, discovered that RG3 isn't a very good passer (which I was saying since we started talking about him) and that if you put him in uncomfortable positions, he will turn the ball over and thus we're 3-8 and don't look very good at all.  But rather then exploding and freaking out about this, let's have a real conversation and look at what led us to this point.

 

We know these things about the offseason:

 

  1. It resulted in us being worse.
  2. We didn't have a huge turnover of players.
  3. The guys we did bring in weren't expected to be clear upgrades.
  4. RG3 didn't have a chance to get better because he had to spend an offseason becoming himself again.  He has never had a full NFL offseason. 

So we didn't get better and thus, because this is pro-sports, we got worse.  But that's not enough to save Shanny since he's in charge of player personnel.  So why did he not upgrade us this offseason?

 

Let's start with cap-gate.  The Redskins had no money this off-season.  We were very fortunate to be able to keep the 2012 squad mostly intact going into this year with lots of guys taking huge pay cuts.  Now, we can't blame cap-gate for everything and certainly we've had some bad experiences with FAs.  But it's tough to get better when you can't bring in proven, good players like Pierre Garcon or London Fletcher.  Fear not though!  In case you haven't heard, we have a lot of money going into next year and if the Shannallen's have shown us anything they will spend it wisely and bring in players that will make us better.

 

We also didn't have a first year pick because of, what I think we've mostly concluded was a positive trade.  Yes, we were able to bring in some guys who could replace some of the old PoS guys but even they are marginally better.  Anyone who expected David Amerson and Baccari Rambo to be Darrel Green and Sean Taylor needs to put down the crack pipe.  I mean, these guys are rookies who were not highly touted coming out of college.  None of them were going to come in and immediately make us better.  Just marginally worse at these positions which I would argue they have to some extent.

 

So we didn't get better, but how could we?  By now you're likely thinking "So we should be worse but even how could a 10-6 division winning team drop to this low?  I get that opposing coaches would figure us out somewhat but they shouldn't have that much.  Surely that means we have to fire to coach!"  Wrong.

 

For the most part this team looks very similar to last years squad in terms of meaningful players but talent level actually got worse because of two of the most important positions: MLB and QB.  

 

Before I get to those, let me address Brian Orakpo who came back this year.  He isn't that great.  He's good and certainly the pass rush isn't the problem but we've oversold how good he is.  

 

Alfred Morris did get better, IMO, and we got Roy Helu back but a couple of great/better tailbacks just are not enough to upgrade any offense immensely.  You have to be able to throw it well in the NFL today and that's where we needed to upgrade.

 

We've noticed London Fletcher's regression for a while now but this year the wheels truly have fallen off.  He's been a non-factor all year and the tackling has gone down because of it.  The defense used to at least play with fire and energy even if they sucked but that is no longer the case and we have to attribute that to London's downfall.  Dude's a HoFer no doubt but his time has come.  I have no idea how we're going to replace him but his downfall has had a huge part in this team's lackluster performance.

 

So far as RG3 is concerned, he spent a full offseason becoming himself again.  He didn't have a chance to get better and fix those passing mechanics we knew he had to fix.  He has never had that all-important first NFL offseason.  This year he gets it (knock on wood) and we'll get to see him get better.  The biggest leaps in progression happen in the first few years so we couldn't expect those around him to get much better with the exception of Morris.  Most QBs have a sophomore slump but it's fair to say Robert's was heightened because he spent more time rehabing then most rookie QBs.

 

Al Galdi said after the game last night that if last night is the course this team takes for the rest of the season you have to consider firing this staff.  I agree with that.  But right now, there are five games left and this outcome should have been expected as this team had plenty of question marks coming in.  Galdi also said we should keep Shanahan for one more year and that's something we all should agree with.

 

Some drunk guy was yelling in the bathroom last night that this fan base has way to much negativity.  Mike is not Jim Zorn or Steve Spurrier.  Let's not call him that until we see the swinging gate make a return, shall we?  Dude has won two SBs so lets give him the fifth year he said he needed.

 

We should expect some major shakeups after this year but these problems are not as deep rooted as I think we believe they are.

 

In Shanny I trust.... for now.

 

Hail to the Redskins.

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Cooleyfan1993

Cooleyfan1993

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Posted

I don't think it's fair to say that people who thought we would beat San Fran during preseason are big homers with no sense of reality. Just because someone is a diehard skins fan doesn't mean he or she has no sense of reality at all. It just means they have faith in their team. I always have faith in my team to win every game. Does that mean I have no sense of reality at all? No. It doesn't. It means I love my team a lot.

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BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93

BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93

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I don't think it's fair to say that people who thought we would beat San Fran during preseason are big homers with no sense of reality. Just because someone is a diehard skins fan doesn't mean he or she has no sense of reality at all. It just means they have faith in their team. I always have faith in my team to win every game. Does that mean I have no sense of reality at all? No. It doesn't. It means I love my team a lot.

It's not even that.

 

It's the fact that a 10-6 team should be expected to have a decent shot against them.

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drowland

drowland

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Posted

I don't care about SB rings from 15 years ago.  I've watched him get out coached on a weekly basis.  Mike can give you a productive running game but lacks an understanding of sitational football.  Kyle and Haslett can put together a good game plan, but are not good game callers.  There's no feel for the game from anyone on that sideline.  I don't see the point of giving Mike 1 more year and spending money

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drowland

drowland

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Posted

I don't care about SB rings from 15 years ago.  I've watched him get out coached on a weekly basis.  Mike can give you a productive running game but lacks an understanding of sitational football.  Kyle and Haslett can put together a good game plan, but are not good game callers.  There's no feel for the game from anyone on that sideline.  I don't see the point of giving Mike 1 more year to spend money on free agents.

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skinfan2k

skinfan2k

Posted
Posted

How long are we supposed to tolerate a piss poor defense?  The change from a 4-3 to a 3-4 has been unsuccessful and it actually costs more money to build a 3-4 for the long term. 

 

How long are we supposed to tolerate piss poor game management? I can do it from my seats.  This team has no clue how to run a 2 min, 4 min, or inside 1 min offense?

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mike42

mike42

Posted
Posted

I agree with the OP, even if begrudgingly.

 

RG3's injury, the salary cap penalty, and a really tough schedule were a perfect storm. This season was a nightmare waiting to happen.

I think the season is a nightmare because of Shanahan. He didn't make the right adjustments to his coaching staff when needed the most. The teams performance dictates whether a schedule is tough or not.

 

Cap penalty went into effect last year and suddenly we see the backlash? Players took pay cuts. Cap penalty argument doesn't add up and it is a unfair excuse to defend Shanahan.

 

RG3's injury hasn't held him back since week 3. RG3 isn't the problem, its the offensive line, defense and really special special teams.

 

Shanahan career through first 11 games:

 

2010: 5-6

2011: 4-7

2012: 5-6

2013: 3-8

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GreenMenace

GreenMenace

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Posted

What's the thrill of posting on another team's board?

 

I really don't get it. Why do you care about the Redskins? This a dead serious question

I enjoy all of your misery . 

 

no really I enjoy football and yo can learn a lot by reading other teams Forums . Im also in the Giants and Cowgirls

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The Robert Griffin Experience

The Robert Griffin Experience

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Cap penalty wouldn't be a problem if Shanny was good at evaluating talent, especially in the draft, or didn't throw money at unproductive or injured players.

 

It's become too much to ask that Shanny be able to get more than one or two starting-quality player a year in the draft, and be able to have decent depth from the draft.

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ILikeBilly

ILikeBilly

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Posted

Money and no preseason has little to do with a 2nd round overall pick not knowing how to being a pocket passer  or being able to hold on to the ball.

Watch Tom Brady - He is a pocket passer because he has a well formed pocket that stays that way for 5 seconds.  This happens almost every time he drops back.  Robert doesn't know if he will have 2.5 seconds or 5, but it is rarely 5 seconds.  If we could provide a consistent 4 seconds to pass when Robert drops straight back into the pocket, he would quickly become a GREAT pocket passer - This could be said about almost every NFL starting QB. 

 

Robert knows how to pass from the pocket, he is just rarely given a pocket.

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steve09ru

steve09ru

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A lot of people keep wanting WIN NOW and looking at last year.  The fact is, they are developing Griffin into a pocket passer and he's going to go through rough patches.  Do you just want them running what they ran last year and win for another 1 or 2 years until Griffin then has to learn the drop back game?  He's going to learn it some time or another and I would much rather that happen now then 3-4-5 years down the road.  With Griffin getting these reps, a full off season of work and study and $18 million (3-4 starters) then I'm not too worried.

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steve09ru

steve09ru

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Posted

Cap penalty wouldn't be a problem if Shanny was good at evaluating talent, especially in the draft, or didn't throw money at unproductive or injured players.

 

It's become too much to ask that Shanny be able to get more than one or two starting-quality player a year in the draft, and be able to have decent depth from the draft.

lol

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s0crates

s0crates

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Posted

The OP makes a good case.

We fooled ourselves into thinking we had a chance this year, we never really did. Last year was an anomaly. Next year is when we find out if we have successfully rebuilt.

Hopefully this team shows something down the stretch, otherwise I fear the Dan will hit the rest button like the fans want.

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