Is this the best Redskins team since 91?

[skins island connection]

1999...I'm still crying.

 We would have shut down the Rams and pulled a 87' on the Tight-ones, I mean the Titans.

 But thanks to the brothers Turk, Dan and Matt, it didn't happen.

It took me awhile to get over the idea that this particular game was rigged.

[HuhWHATdefense]

I think we could have beaten the Steelers in that game too. In fact, that was one of the weakest Super Bowls I've ever watched.

I'll never forget Carlos Rogers, as a rookie dropping a pick in the end-zone. I vividly remember that and had he caught that, we would haven beaten the Seahawks that game. I was devastated and knew Rogers wasn't going to be intercepting a lot of passes after that. It was the easiest catch ever, and he drops it.

[HAILstorm]

I'm as excited as any fan but this team is 8-7

 

 True although we weren't supposed to be nearly this good. This team was 4-12 last year and 3-13 the year before. Granted if it wasn't for Romo's injury Dallas probably would've won the division but I like Scot as our GM over Jerrah as theirs, so we're set for the long run.

 

 I definitely think that Jay Gruden should be up for Coach of the Year.

[TheCoach22]

Honest question: have we beaten a good team yet this year?

I'm thrilled by their performance and look forward to what this team has in store for us, but the answer is a resounding no.

Define "good team?" The NFL has very few right now. Of the other 11in the playoffs we will have played 3 at most. Other than Carolina or Arizona, we are as good as anyone in the NFC. The AFC is much tougher, but we match-up well but for the Pats IMHO. The NFL got what it wanted... The difference between being the fifth best team and 25th best team is nil. That is why hypothetical questions like this OP are hard to answer.

As others have said, this team is best set-up for the long haul... The 99 and 05 teams were probably more talented.

[Jumbo]

Some may have predicted Kirk would be The Man before the season started, but did anyone predict there would be a thread asking this question, this year? Even here in...well...here?  

[Bishop Hammer]

No. This is not the best team since 91. Come on. The team with Brad Jonson in 99 was real good. Remember them. Michael Westbrook, Stephen Davis (rushing king), James Thrasher, and Brad Johnson? Brad Johnson won a SB....just not with us. Wow winning cures a lot huh, and makes us forget too.

99 was a great season. The Skins being so good and making the playoffs totally caught me by surprise, albeit pleasantly.

[SKINSFAN87]

They're probably the best setup to have continued success beyond just this season, but on an individual season basis, no they're not as talented as the rosters from 1999 and 2005 teams at the least

I would agree with you on the 1999 team but not the 2005. One thing that this team has going on that's a lot better than both of the previous teams including the 1991 team is that we have the best GM in place now and our group is made up of mostly young "core" players that will be here for years to come and they are actually talented and not just "overhyped". Great time to be a skins fan!

[FunBunch7]

Looking at the team from game 1 through game 16... 92, 99, 05, 12 were all better... heck, you could even make a case for 96 even though that team folded.

 

This is not to say that this team in 15 can make a run deep into the playoffs... in reality, I think we can get a 1st round win but don't haven the defense to take down Arizona or Carolina.

 

HTTR

[autoidiodyssey]

The best Skins team since 91, excluding the 92 team, was actually the 2000 team, if only they had a kicker. That team beat both Super Bowl participants (Ratbirds and Giants) and also beat the Greatest Show on Turf Rams in St. Louis.

 

How bad was the kicking after Brett Conway got hurt/cut? How about 63% from the 4, FOUR, other kickers that year.

 

The team started out 6-3. They lost a 1 pt game to the 3-13 Cards. Kris Heppner missed two kicks including a 33 yarder with just over 5 minutes to play.

 

They bounced back and beat the Rams after a bye. Then went to Philly at 7-4. they lost by 3 to Philly with Eddie Murray missing a 44 yd kick with 1:21 to play.

 

The next week was the end of the line for Norv. A 9-7 loss to the Giants with an 0-2 performance by Murray. One from 39 and the final nail in Norv's coffin, the 49 yd kick at the end of the game that everyone in the stadium but Norv new would come up short.

 

With a decent kicker that team could have easily been 10-3, two games up on both the Giants and the Eagles with 3 games to play. With a decent kicker that team wins the East and has home field through the playoffs instead of the Giants.

 

As far as the given choices go, I'd say 99 was better than this team. 2012 might have been also, but in 2012 you have to consider that RG3 was hurt at the end of the year. Hurt RG3 2012 is not as good as this team. I'd take this team over 2007 and maybe 2005. 2005 was pretty good at the end of the year though. If Stone Hands holds on to that pick six who knows where that team ends up. 

[TheItalianStallion]

The best Skins team since 91, excluding the 92 team, was actually the 2000 team, if only they had a kicker. That team beat both Super Bowl participants (Ratbirds and Giants) and also beat the Greatest Show on Turf Rams in St. Louis.

 

 Yep I was going to mention the 2000 team myself. Some strange losses on a team that went 8-8. Wasn't there a TO in the endzone by us that was returned 100 yards the other way in a game against Arizona that year, in a game that we lost by less than 3?

 

That, and Brad Johnson got hurt and struggled during the later part of the season, and I think one of our good WRs (Connell?) also got hurt.

[autoidiodyssey]

 Yep I was going to mention the 2000 team myself. Some strange losses on a team that went 8-8. Wasn't there a TO in the endzone by us that was returned 100 yards the other way in a game against Arizona that year, in a game that we lost by less than 3?

 

That, and Brad Johnson got hurt and struggled during the later part of the season, and I think one of our good WRs (Connell?) also got hurt.

 

That was a 16-15 loss with the two missed FGs I mentioned above. Aeneas Williams, officially a 103 yd return off the Stephen Davis fumble into the endzone. There was quite a bit of Norv magic that season.

 

I don't remember what happened to Johnson, but Jeff George started several games in the 2nd half of the season.

[Darth Tater]

That, and Brad Johnson got hurt and struggled during the later part of the season, and I think one of our good WRs (Connell?) also got hurt.

Westbrook was the WR who got hurt. Had finally seemed to get it in 1999. My big bad memory from the 2000 season was the Titans game. We were driving for at least a FG and maybe a go ahead TD when BJ threw a interception returned for 81 yards so slow that I think that I would have a hard time going slower!. We lost that game by 6 points. I think they had just gone up 13-7 due to a PF called on our punter which put the ball in chip shot range for an offense that didn't even manage 200 yards for the game . We lost so many games we totally dominated.

[autoidiodyssey]

My big bad memory from the 2000 season was the Titans game. We were driving for at least a FG and maybe a go ahead TD when BJ threw a interception returned for 81 yards so slow that I think that I would have a hard time going slower!.

 

More Norv magic. So many inexplicable things happened to Norv coached teams. Not just us, the same weird stuff happened to the Raiders and Chargers. Remember the 4th and 29 conversion the Ratbirds had against the Chargers? That was a Norv team.

[Jumbo]

<messed up lol>

[HAILstorm]

 Yep I was going to mention the 2000 team myself. Some strange losses on a team that went 8-8. Wasn't there a TO in the endzone by us that was returned 100 yards the other way in a game against Arizona that year, in a game that we lost by less than 3?

 

That, and Brad Johnson got hurt and struggled during the later part of the season, and I think one of our good WRs (Connell?) also got hurt.

 

 Yep it was a Stephen Davis fumble in Arizona recovered by Aeneas Williams I think. I remember that season; Davis was a great back but ALWAYS fumbled at the worst times. He also fumbled that year against Dallas when we were driving for the score that would've put the game on ice (Cowboys came back and scored a field goal to win it). That was in the midst of our ugly losing streak to the Cowboys. This current era of football has been nothing to be proud about, except this year of course, but at least we've been competitive against Dallas the last ten years. I remember losing to them ten straight times in the early 2000s and I'd thought we would never beat them. Scrubs such as Quincy Carter would look like dog crap against the rest of the league but play like a Pro Bowler against us.

 

The Skins started out 6-2 in 2000 but had a bunch of injuries on their Oline which doomed us. They were Sports Illustrated's mid-season pick to go to the Superbowl.

[Jumbo]

What injuries can do to a team is huge, but I rarely dwell on injuries since "they happen to everyone."

 

Nevertheless, I'm posting this in here (fits well enough) as a solid recap of another challenge we went though this year--a notably more-than-average number of impacting injuries:

 

 

http://www.csnmidatlantic.com/redskinsblog/redskins-overcome-injury-adversity-make-playoffs?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo

 

Redskins overcome injury adversity to make playoffs

 

 

The Redskins overcame some of the worst injury adversity in the NFL this year while winning the NFC East title.

 

According to the injury tracking website ManGamesLost.com, the Redskins lost 215 man-games due to injuries. Only three other NFL teams had players lose more time.

 

The Redskins’ injury issues started early as the team lost TE Niles Paul and OLB Junior Galette went out for the season with injuries before the third preseason game was played. In the first quarter of the season opener WR DeSean Jackson suffered a hamstring injury that sidelined him for six games. Shortly after that, S Duke Ihenacho was lost for the season with a wrist injury. In Week 3 G Shaun Lauvao went to IR with an ankle injury and DB DeAngelo Hall suffered a toe injury that put him on the shelf for five games. CB Chris Culliver missed a few games with some knee inflammation and after returning he suffered a torn ACL and MCL in practice on Thanksgiving Day.

 

But the Redskins filled in and kept rolling. They found spare parts in different places. Will Blackmon, an eight-year veteran, was signed after Week 1 and started 10 games at cornerback. They found more cornerback help from rookie Quinton Dunbar, who had come to training camp as a undrafted wide receiver. A pair of former third-round picks, G Spencer Long (2014) and C Josh LeRibeus (2012) filled in along the offensive line.

 

In all, the Redskins have 13 players on injured reserve and those players missed a total of 160 games. That is the second highest total in the league behind the Ravens (177).

Of the teams in the top 10 in terms of man-games lost due to injuries, only the Patriots, Redskins, and Texans are participating in the NFL playoffs. 

 

 

 

Great job by the coaching staff/FO to keep things rolling with all this on top of all else.

[autoidiodyssey]

 That was in the midst of our ugly losing streak to the Cowboys. This current era of football has been nothing to be proud about, except this year of course, but at least we've been competitive against Dallas the last ten years. I remember losing to them ten straight times in the early 2000s and I'd thought we would never beat them. Scrubs such as Quincy Carter would look like dog crap against the rest of the league but play like a Pro Bowler against us.

 

 

One of the best things Gibbs did in his second run was end that run of losses to Dallas. He went 4-4 vs Dallas. That losing streak to Dallas was crazy. There was a 3 year stretch where they only won 15 games (the Dave Campo era) and 5 of those were against us.  

[ke27on]

1999 team was definitely better than this one. probably 2005 team too if it weren't for brunell. seriously dont get why they didnt let ramsey throw. Brunell couldnt do anything at that point. both of those teams had better defenses.

 

this team does seem to have some good upside though

[Darth Tater]

Redskins overcome injury adversity to make playoffs

This is what should make us optimistic about the future. Not that those guys will be coming back (though that is big) but that unlike 2000, 2008, 2012, injuries did not kill the season. We figured out a way to win even though some very important guys missed the whole season or huge parts of it. We looked like a great running team with an awesome deep threat. Lauvou and Licht go out while our deep threat is still down, the running game dies and we figure out how to force the short passing game to replace the missing run game. When Dunbar was converted to corner, a position he hadn't played since HS, I thought he had given up any true opportunity to make the team. Not only did he make the team, he became a solid Sunday contributor who could become more.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

What injuries can do to a team is huge, but I rarely dwell on injuries since "they happen to everyone."

 

Nevertheless, I'm posting this in here (fits well enough) as a solid recap of another challenge we went though this year--a notably more-than-average number of impacting injuries:

 

 

http://www.csnmidatlantic.com/redskinsblog/redskins-overcome-injury-adversity-make-playoffs?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo

 

 

Great job by the coaching staff/FO to keep things rolling with all this on top of all else.

 

I completely agree that the coaches and front office have done a fantastic job of navigating a lot of injuries. From using OLs as TEs to using WRs as CBs, they have been creative and flexible in getting the best 11 players on the field for each situation. 

 

I would also point out that some of the injuries opened doors to players who were likely better than we expected. I don't think that anyone honestly expected that Compton would be an upgrade over Robinson. I know the team was high on Compton, but if he was thought of as a starter, he would have been starting before Robinson got hurt. So, there are some cases where we benefited just a bit from injuries. 

[TheDawnofaNewEra]

Each team had their weaknesses.

 

'99 team had a slow but bruising back in Stephen Davis who would not have obtained a roster spot in today's NFL.  I never cared too much for Brad Johnson, Michael Westbrook and Albert Connell... talk about system players.

 

'05 team was amazing in terms of raw speed and talent between Portis, Moss and Taylor.  The three Miami Hurricane alums were what made that team fun to watch.  I can't forget about Cooley either. 

 

'07 team was just a passing by moment that allowed Gibbs to go out with a bang in remembrance of Sean Taylor.

 

'12 was all about the transcendence of RG3 until his injury and eventual demise of his time here.

 

'15 feels like more of a complete team/ organization especially with Scot on board to assemble the pieces.  Kirk is looking more and more a quarterback who is able to learn on the fly while everything else is falling into place.   

[Stadium-Armory]

I liked our running game in 2012 better. Felt like that team we better prepared to win in January.

[Playaction2Sanders]

Not by a long shot. We're definitely better at the QB position(I'm sorry Ryp). You can't find many Olines that compare to the '91 line that gave up 9 sacks and opened up holes for Byner, Ervins, and Riggs. And this was against those Giant, Eagle, and even Cowboys fronts ( Their Dline was basically the same one in '91 that lead them to 3 rings in the '90s)

 

When its comes to the WR's/TE's. Its almost a wash ( no pun) because of Jordan Reed. I'd give it to the posse at WR's because that 3 threats. Crowder isn't there yet, we know about Djax, and Garcon is shorter ill tempered version of Monk who excels at different routes..But Don Warren, Terry Orr and Ron Middleton are no Jordan Reed, they were more blocking TE's who didn't factor much in the passing game. Imagine if we had Paulsen and Paul.

 

RB- 91 team, Byner and Ervins did everything, Riggs got over his fumbling trouble and was a guaranteed TD or 1st down when we needed it.. Almo can only run, Matt Jones hasn't done much since the Rams game on the ground but can catch and excels in the screen game, as we saw vs Buf and NO.And Thompson can't stay healthy.

 

 

DEF - Cmon the 1991 team was called the national defense.. 

 

 

If the two teams took on each today I think the final score would be line 28-17 the '91 team. They would control the ball, rip the 2015 secondary with the posse. And the defense would give Cousins fits all day..