Time for a dose of reality

[NattyBo]

Sure, it's only one game.  However, the trend for this team has been to have 1 good season in the midst of several very bad ones. It looks like it's continuing. We're among the dregs of the NFL.  

Let's play a game: 

Margins of victory NFL Week 1: 1, 7, 6, 9, 4, 6. 1, 11, 19, 9, 2, 1, 4, 2, 22, 28.

Now: Spot the Browns, Redskins and Rams margins of defeat.

 

This team has a long way to go, and expecting anything better than .500 at this point (which looks shaky based on the inability to address problems stopping the run and running the ball ourselves), would be madness.

 

This is where we stand league wide. We're a slightly better version of the Browns or the Rams.  

[SkinsHokieFan]

This team has the play makers to beat NFC East teams and win 8 to 9 games

Against the top 8 or 9 teams in the NFL? No chance. We are a long ways off 

[NattyBo]

Just now, SkinsHokieFan said:

This team has the play makers to beat NFC East teams 

 

 

I don't think that is a given.  Ezekiel Elliot is going to have holes the size of a mack truck to run through on Sunday. It's a problem we're going to see every Sunday. 

[dyst]

Every team thinks they have playmakers and can win games. Not saying we don't but last night looked and felt awfully familiar.

[SkinsHokieFan]

2 minutes ago, NattyBo said:

 

I don't think that is a given.  Ezekiel Elliot is going to have holes the size of a mack truck to run through on Sunday. It's a problem we're going to see every Sunday. 

 

Agree. So long as its not under the lights Kirk hits guys. The Dallas D isn't as good as the Steelers D.

We have a chance to win 8-9 games, tops. Beyond that the team is going to struggle 

[WilberMarshall]

It is week one folks.  Week 1.

 

Clearly, we are only as good/hot as Kirk.  He is actually the solution to our non existent run defense.   

[SemperFi Skins]

“One on one with the corner with no safety help/I perform like Josh Norman, I ain’t normal, ni**a.” Jay-Z

 

Seems Jay Gruden and Joe Barry need to listen to more rap... Or maybe they interpreted Josh Norman as Bashaud Breeland...

[skinsmania123]

20 minutes ago, NattyBo said:

 

I don't think that is a given.  Ezekiel Elliot is going to have holes the size of a mack truck to run through on Sunday. It's a problem we're going to see every Sunday. 

And if you really wanted to compare percentages Alfred Morris ran better then Elliott so you have a tandem assault.   The Skins are very imbalanced at this point.  NO effort was placed on drafting a top notch D lineman not this year or last year.  Instead we went out and added yet another receiver.   This really has the potential to fall apart real quick because the talent is not there and there is that really pervasive quality the Skins players have had for years - tons of penalties, missed tackles, and the inability to capitalize on the opportunities - red zone, fumbles, miscues by the other team.  

[SkinssRvA]

The best part about last night is that it's just one game.  I'm as angered and frustrated as anyone else on this board, but it's just one game.  Professional athletes get paid to play the game one at a time.  Next week is a new challenge and we will all have new thoughts to dwell on next week, positive or negative.  

[NattyBo]

1 minute ago, SkinssRvA said:

The best part about last night is that it's just one game.  I'm as angered and frustrated as anyone else on this board, but it's just one game.  Professional athletes get paid to play the game one at a time.  Next week is a new challenge and we will all have new thoughts to dwell on next week, positive or negative.  

 

I get that. I'm not trying to over react, just showing where we stand in comparison to the rest of the league.  It's not just that it's a loss, it's how we lost.

 

This week presents a very similar challenge. How do you see things changing in 6 days in terms of stopping the 2 headed running attack Dallas will present?  The answer is nothing will change on defense. We're going to have to score a LOT of points to win any games this year. 

[TradeTheBeal!]

I ain't tripping.  I know this team has a 9-10 win ceiling and last night doesn't change that at all.  It's Dallas week...lets get to work!

[SkinssRvA]

1 minute ago, NattyBo said:

 

I get that. I'm not trying to over react, just showing where we stand in comparison to the rest of the league.  It's not just that it's a loss, it's how we lost.

 

This week presents a very similar challenge. How do you see things changing in 6 days in terms of stopping the 2 headed running attack Dallas will present?  The answer is nothing will change on defense. We're going to have to score a LOT of points to win any games this year. 

I hear you.  Before the game in the prediction thread I said Pittsburgh would be a good barometer for us.  And last night showed us where we stand in comparison with one of the best teams in the league.

 

Next week is different.  Dallas didn't look too convincing against the Giants, but they can say the same about us.  Zeke, when he gets comfortable, will have holes to run through against our defense.  We can't change our front 7, but we need to do something scheme-wise or else it's going to be another long day of sustained oppo long drives.  It will be an interesting game, but I think our offense bounces back in a big way.  

[flexxskins]

Watching the game last night was a big dose of reality. I'm about to OD now.

[CrypticVillain]

2 minutes ago, TryTheBeal! said:

I ain't tripping.  I know this team has a 9-10 win ceiling and last night doesn't change that at all.  It's Dallas week...lets get to work!

#Facts

I don't think we could play any worse than we did last night. I still got us winning the East.

[Aireskoi]

I'll take one of those.

[flexxskins]

1 minute ago, MLSKINS said:

#Facts

I don't think we could play any worse than we did last night. I still got us winning the East.

I want to believe that and I actually did before I saw how Williams and the Steelers o-line just eviscerated our defense as a whole. The boys have the potential to do even more damage to us if changes aren't made.

[bird_1972]

32 minutes ago, SkinsHokieFan said:

This team has the play makers to beat NFC East teams and win 8 to 9 games

Against the top 8 or 9 teams in the NFL? No chance. We are a long ways off 

That is almost inexcusable given that everyone inside and outside the organization knew what the weaknesses of this team were headed into the offseason.

1) Run game  2) Interior OL   3) DL   4) ILB

Only the ILB has been addressed and is still up for debate as to whether or not it's been improved or not.

We've had several bites at the apple to improve OL/DL but opted for "BPA" in draft and now are just as weak as we were at the end of last season.

Top that with the fact that our coaches have shown an inability to prepare and motivate our players for the start of the season and now I think we need to consider ourselves under 8 wins for the season.

[NoCalMike]

In 2015 the Redskins were the best of the mediocre teams.  The NFC East is a division of mediocre teams.  Week 2 will give us an early look if the 'Skins are still at the top of the heap of mediocre teams or if other mediocre teams have forged ahead of us.

[PlayAction]

The "Dose of Reality" is that the Skins aren't a truly competitive team yet.  We all want it NOW and will second guess the GM for the rest of the season.  The GM's goal is for the long-term.  Go BPA all the way and eventually he will have a team with the necessary depth.  Of course, BPA assumes that you guess right!!!  Right now everyone is upset because we had minimal year 1-game 1 contributions from the draft picks despite there being players available that we thought were high quality in areas of need.  Doctson is for the future - but I know I'm going to wish all season long that the Skins had been able to pick that Center.  All season long!!!!  Sua Cravens may be a good pick but right now the safeties seem to be good and the ILB group acceptable.  Fuller is for the future - Skins have depth at CB and that's a good thing.  But we all know that DL/OLB group is just not good enough - and there were possibilities in the draft.  That's really frustrating.  The OL is frustrating as well.  Penalties in the preseason show up in the regular season - that's no surprise.  Minimal running game by the #1s last year and in the preseason shows up again in the first real game this season - why are we surprised? 

The reality is that the Skins can't stop the run and can't run.  We may have a ceiling of 9-7 unless something changes.

[bird_1972]

24 minutes ago, NoCalMike said:

In 2015 the Redskins were the best of the mediocre teams.  The NFC East is a division of mediocre teams.  Week 2 will give us an early look if the 'Skins are still at the top of the heap of mediocre teams or if other mediocre teams have forged ahead of us.

What about improving from 2015?

I'd like to think the team was able to build on something although it appears that isn't the case - at least based on the regression in week 1.

13 minutes ago, PlayAction said:

The "Dose of Reality" is that the Skins aren't a truly competitive team yet.  We all want it NOW and will second guess the GM for the rest of the season.  The GM's goal is for the long-term.  Go BPA all the way and eventually he will have a team with the necessary depth.  Of course, BPA assumes that you guess right!!!  Right now everyone is upset because we had minimal year 1-game 1 contributions from the draft picks despite there being players available that we thought were high quality in areas of need.  Doctson is for the future - but I know I'm going to wish all season long that the Skins had been able to pick that Center.  All season long!!!!  Sua Cravens may be a good pick but right now the safeties seem to be good and the ILB group acceptable.  Fuller is for the future - Skins have depth at CB and that's a good thing.  But we all know that DL/OLB group is just not good enough - and there were possibilities in the draft.  That's really frustrating.  The OL is frustrating as well.  Penalties in the preseason show up in the regular season - that's no surprise.  Minimal running game by the #1s last year and in the preseason shows up again in the first real game this season - why are we surprised? 

The reality is that the Skins can't stop the run and can't run.  We may have a ceiling of 9-7 unless something changes.

See, where I differ is that I think we should be seeing improvement from year to year. I don't "want it all NOW" since I know the team overperformed last year in a poor division.

The fact that there were DL possibilities in the draft, OL is "frustrating", and minimal running game "shows up again" - all as you put it above - speaks to a disconnect between the glaring holes the team had and the lack of attention the FO gave to addressing at least a couple of those.

For me, I'm less focused on the record of the team and more focused on how poor they looked in the above areas + the lack of discipline preparedness (which falls on Gruden and his staff)

[Alexa]

Not sure about the rest of you but I had this game down as an L.  What is so disappointing  is the way we lost. Steelers are a better team top to bottom. Right now we're good enough to beat teams like Cleveland, but not good enough to beat Pittsburgh. That's where we're at. 

[bird_1972]

29 minutes ago, Alexa said:

Not sure about the rest of you but I had this game down as an L.  What is so disappointing  is the way we lost. Steelers are a better team top to bottom. Right now we're good enough to beat teams like Cleveland, but not good enough to beat Pittsburgh. That's where we're at. 

Agree with you but think you also have to consider they were without three key players - Le'Veon Bell, Marcus Wheaton, and some dude on the DL (I believe).

So it wasn't even their full strength team!

[Voice_of_Reason]

2 hours ago, NattyBo said:

 

I don't think that is a given.  Ezekiel Elliot is going to have holes the size of a mack truck to run through on Sunday. It's a problem we're going to see every Sunday. 

I have no idea if that's true or not.  To be seen.

What I do know is that Garrett is not as good as a coach as Tomlin, Dak is nowhere near Ben, Brown is better than Dez (even though Dez is pretty good), and overall, the Steelers are better and more talented than the Cowboys.  

If Barry has half a brain, he'll figure out a way to make sure that Dez is not matched up on Bree 1:1 with no help in every situation, they can stack the box, and come after a young QB.  If you do that, you have a chance.

The steelers are a tough matchup for ANYBODY.  But they're especially a bad matchup for the 'Skins, because the 'Skins can't generate pressure with 4, and Ben can move around to give receivers time to get open.  You can't really blitz, because if you don't get home, they have weapons 1:1, and you're going to lose.  You can put extra guys in the box to stop the run, because of the same reason.

That actually might be the toughest offense we will face this year.

The Cowboys offense does not have anywhere near the weapons or the HOF caliber QB that the Steelers have.  

[gortiz]

I don't want to panic, but certain things are hard to brush off as it just being one game ... 

•  - the penalties
•  - the botched running play, where I think kirk tried to audible
•  - the extra point that was a cluster F
•  - kirks inaccuracy 
•  - anemic running game 

[ExoDus84]

Steelers are a deep, fantastically coached, veteran team that's probably a Super Bowl contender. They just beat our ass. Not the end of the world. It's week 1 man.

I just saw a stat that says the Skins have lost 15 out of their last 16 MNF home games. That's....incredible. It doesn't even seem like it could be possible. Can we never, ever have a home MNF game again please?

That being said, it's 1 week. Maybe this team was full of itself and wasn't working as hard as it should. Getting ass pounded should help them focus and get their heads on straight. It's Dallas week. Let's get out there and get better.

7 minutes ago, gortiz said:

I don't want to panic, but certain things are hard to brush off as it just being one game ... 

•  - the penalties
•  - the botched running play, where I think kirk tried to audible
•  - the extra point that was a cluster F
•  - kirks inaccuracy 
•  - anemic running game 

 

The running game and the run defense will probably be a season long issue. Penalties can be corrected. Kirk has bad moments to go along with good ones. He'll bounce back.

What pisses me off the most was the defensive strategy of leaving Breeland 1 on 1 against Antonio ****ing Brown, with NO safety help. Who the hell tries to play cover 0 against Antonio Brown, probably the best receiver in the league? Breeland is good, but you can't ask the man to do that. Brown will destroy any corner 1 on 1. WTF was Berry/Fewell thinking?