Fading Down the Stretch

[TD_washingtonredskins]

For as many times as we've surged over the past 10+ years to make a late-season playoff run (2005, 2007, 2012, and 2015), it's looking like 2016 will fall more into the category of 1996, 1997, and 2008. 

 

Just about a month ago, we were about as high as we've been in a very long time...6-3-1 and coming off back-to-back wins over Minnesota and Green Bay. Since then...

 

* Lose to Dallas on Thanksgiving - don't really wake up until the second half

* Lose to Arizona after a mini-bye of sorts - again we kind of sleepwalk around until the second half

* Scrape out a close win in Philly - we start slow and seemingly let a bad team back in the game after taking control

* Lose pretty ugly to Carolina - VERY slow start and never really seem to wake up despite a million things going our way

 

This is now a trend and, alarmingly, our offense is pretty complicit in most of these games going the wrong way. Since putting ourselves in great position for the first time in forever and finally not needing a magical run just to squeak into the playoffs, we completely **** the bed and are now firmly on the outside looking in (needing help from two teams plus winning out to get in). It's very disappointing to watch, especially when you consider how it's happened. 

 

I still want to invest in Cousins, but he's come up pretty small over the past the month (Dallas aside). The first half outputs in each of the past 4 games has been: 6, 6, 7, and 9. In addition, in the past 2 games, the offense has essentially handed our opponent points in the second half (pick-6 vs. Philly and the sack/fumble last night) when we've had chances to take back some momentum or control of the game. 

 

It's eerie...this is really starting to feel A LOT like 1997 (the tie, the second of back-to-back winning seasons, a middling performance after a pretty promising start, etc.). What I don't know is if that's a good thing (we were better back then than we have been since) or if it's terrifying (we never really took the next step). Obviously, we need to play this out with McCloughan and Gruden...but it's time for this team to get tougher and improve. It's time for this franchise to finally step up, shake off the ghosts of the past 20 years, and commit to being good again rather than consistently sliding back to its familiar role as underachievers and mediocre-at-best teams. 

 

I'm pretty doubtful that we'll turn this around in 2016 (anything can happen and I do like that games in late-December matter). But I'm becoming increasingly convinced that this coming off-season and how next year goes is probably as critical a 12 months as this franchise has seen since the ownership change. 

 

#HTTR

[dyst]

We've been over achieving last year and somewhat this year. The personnel and coaching staff is not that good.

 

Got into the playoffs last year because he NFC East was weak. Many people didn't want to believe that but it was 100% true.

 

Absolutely correct, this team is in a downward trend. We've only won like 2 out of the last 6 or 7 games. Something like that. 

[Nfcbeasts4721]

Downward trend?....that don't make sense

[Ashburn Dave]

This off season Scot has got to focus on the lines especially the defense.  Thought we were going to beat teams up but that's just a wet dream right now.

 

Coaching on both sides is flawed but better line play can mask that so I'm not ready to call for any coaching changes.

 

No more WR's in the first round either.  Stick to the plan and get big ugly's.

[kleese]

Agree that this four game stretch following the high of the GB game has been disappointing. We played really, really poorly last night and the score likely should have been worse than it was. Disappointing to play your worst game of the year (at least since week one) in week 15 when you control your own destiny. I'm not stunned we lost, but I am surprised we played like that because that really hasn't been the trend the last two years. 

 

Agree that this season has the feel of the late 90s, where we stumbled late in those seasons. 

 

But I'm still pretty good with where we are. 2014 was a total regroup and rebuild year. Roster was awful. 4-12 while Gruden gets feet wet and GMSM comes in late to start cleaning things up. In 2015 we made strides-- but that was probably a 6-10 or 7-9 type of team that caught a bunch of breaks and won division at 9-7. That was great though because taking advantag of what is in front of you is always a good thing. But no doubt, we weren't THAT good and were at best a .500 team wearing the costume of a division winner. 

 

This year, I think we are a little better. Now we are what our record says we are-- I don't think we are really over or under achieving. This looks like an 8-8 or 9-7 team to me. 

 

So for three years I think we've gradually improved-- even if we fall short of our accomplishment from last year. And of course if we win the last two we will technically improve our record from last season. Been awhile since we did that in back to back to back years. 

 

Without question, this off season will be big and next year in order to feel like we are making real progress we need to make that next jump-that jump to where 10-6 feels like the minimum, not the max, we can reach. 

 

It will for sure take a pretty decent overhaul of players on defense. We need to fix the middle at DL, S, and possibly ILB. Need to strongly address at least two of those areas. Offensively, we don't need much. I'm most excited that the OL looks established. A new LG wouldn't hurt and with Garçon and DJax aging and one or both likely gone, we might need to find another WR for insurance in case Doctson doesn't pan out. 

 

But the good news is that we don't need a ton. No team in the league is weakness-free. We won't be able to fix it ALL, but hopefully we fix enough. 

[PortisBetts]

We need to invest across the board on defense and not in 1 player.

 

Cousins needs to get his head out of his ass. Not sure what happened to him since GB, but he has not played well.

 

I still want Cousins to be here.

[Gregpeck99]

The elephant in the room now becomes the QB.

 

Do the Skins "buy" KC and attempt to build around him?

 

Or veer in a dramatically new direction.

 

The next two games will be instructive.

[NoCalMike]

What worries me is that the offense seems to have regressed.  As bad as the defense is statistically, it's not like they are giving up massive amounts of points every week. Their one positive stat is seeming to be able to keep teams from scoring TD's all the time, or at least enough to keep games close.

 

The defense was bad last night again but the Panthers scored a total of 26 points.   If you told me that before the game, I'd have figured the the 'Skins would have won the game. That has been a recurring theme the past month plus......

 

The defense is easy to pick on because it's true, they are bad, but they also lack the personnel to be good.  The offense for all the praise it gets, is not really doing their part on the scoreboard either.

[Stevej2016]

Defense remains an embarrassment - blown assignments, get ‘in pushed around like a bunch of high schools kids, totally 100% unacceptable - I also agree with PortisBetts, Cousins is inconsistent and needs to make things happen on the offensive side.  Coaching is not conducive of a playoff team – you guys are out there get’in paid millions of $$ to play a game -  act like it or hit the road and go get a 7.25 an hour job and see how you like it !

 

[Bigmuss1]

The middle of this defense needs fixed.  It is so obvious what is wrong.  2 MLBs, 2 safeties and one D lineman.  Throw another corner in there as well.  

 

Kirk has to be signed or franchised again, make a decision at WR, look for a Center and Guard.  

 

This team is playing "meaningful" football late in December back to back years.  It is disappointing that they have "faded", but realisitically the 2016 Redskins were not setup to be much more successful than they are.  Credit offensive coaching to keep them in almost every game.  

 

Let's go GMSM, ball is in your court to fix this D.  He does that, and like many of u say, just make them average!  Our team will be very dangerous to play! 

[youngestson]

Last night was a bummer, but really the team is about where I expected them to be at the start of the season.

 

There are still some pretty glaring holes in the talent range, and that shows up. The fade, I suspect is that teams have figured out what to do to our offense. At the start of the season, plenty of people noted we still have to fill holes and it will take several drafts. Just have to stay positive and remember some of the good things happening with the team as we move towards the offseason.

 

 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

The offense down the stretch has been very predictable, particularly when trying to run the ball.  It's very hard to establish the run when your personnel and formation tells the whole story.  The offense tends to do what their tendencies tell everyone they are going to do. 

[SkinsGuy]

12 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

The offense down the stretch has been very predictable, particularly when trying to run the ball.  It's very hard to establish the run when your personnel and formation tells the whole story.  The offense tends to do what their tendencies tell everyone they are going to do. 

 

The problem with that, BFS, is that I've been hearing and reading that claim for YEARS now.

 

And when I say "years", I mean all the way back starting at Gibbs second time around (2004).

 

Seems like that is the complaint every year for the last dozen years..........

 

"Our offense is too predictable. We don't do anything new. The defense knows what we are going to run before we run it."

 

Gibbs 2.0, Zorn, Shanahan, Gruden... I hear that same reasoning about all our offenses. That can't all have been so blatantly predictable.

 

I don't mean this to come off as directed at you, BFS. I just have to chuckle when I see the "Predictable offense" line again.  

 

 

[Nfcbeasts4721]

57 minutes ago, Ashburn Dave said:

 I'm not ready to call for any coaching changes.

 

Including Barry?

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

9 minutes ago, SkinsGuy said:

 

The problem with that, BFS, is that I've been hearing and reading that claim for YEARS now.

 

And when I say "years", I mean all the way back starting at Gibbs second time around (2004).

 

Seems like that is the complaint every year for the last dozen years..........

 

"Our offense is too predictable. We don't do anything new. The defense knows what we are going to run before we run it."

 

Gibbs 2.0, Zorn, Shanahan, Gruden... I hear that same reasoning about all our offenses. That can't all have been so blatantly predictable.

 

I don't mean this to come off as directed at you, BFS. I just have to chuckle when I see the "Predictable offense" line again.  

 

 

 

There are a number of reasons why this team has faded down the stretch and the above is by no means meant to fully diagnose our failings. 

 

But there is a reason they are looking at 2nd and longs so often.  That reason is they lined up on 1st down with obvious personnel and formations that said we were going to attempt to run it into a brick wall.  Sure, blocking and everything else plays its part too - but you can't tell me that when you've watched us of late that you haven't been able to diagnose the majority of the plays at the LOS.

 

 

[GoDeep81]

Soon as Reed got hurt, the offense has no answers.. Kirk or McVay (both?) have no confidence in the middle of the field and what was once just a redzone issue is now a "between the 20's" issue as well.. No running game against good defenses. (also no answers and no adjustments) Glad someone is getting paid good money to figure that stuff out, cause I don't see any fixes with current personnel (coaching and players) and I doubt we'll be changing much on O outside of losing a rx..

[Idaho fan]

I think when we were 6-3-1 to many players (and possibly coaches) though they had arrived.  When we beat the Eagles the first time the talk was how the Skins ran the East.  How they were seemingly fool of themselves after winning a weak division last year and sitting at 6-3-1 I don't know.  I think assumptions were made that if they just went through the motions from then on that goals for the year would be reached.  The hunger and fight faded.  The fans were screwed.

 

Every player including Kirk needs to humble themselves a bit in my opinion.

 

Scott our savior at GM needs to see that he didn't do enough last year to put together a NFL caliber defense.  Our first round pick was a mistake (in my opinion).  Not that there ever was one, but the honeymoon with everyone associated with this team is so over.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

@kleese good post. 

 

I agree that we aren't necessarily off-schedule when it comes to the big picture. In fact, in 1996 and 1997 it also felt like we were building toward something. I just hope that this iteration of the franchise can take that next step that we seemingly haven't taken since 1990-1991. 

 

I think what's more disappointing is that we aren't peaking at the right time. I would almost be more encouraged if we didn't have these streaks...lose 2, win 4, lose/tie the next 2, win the next 2, lose 3 of 4...

 

But, and this is important, you are correct that we "feel" like a better team. Against a tougher group of opponents than last year, we are playing more competitively and have really only had 2 horrible games. Last year, we had no shot whatsoever in at least 4 games (Giants, Jets, Patriots, Panthers). So, that too is improvement. 

[jpage520]

28 minutes ago, SkinsGuy said:

 

The problem with that, BFS, is that I've been hearing and reading that claim for YEARS now.

 

And when I say "years", I mean all the way back starting at Gibbs second time around (2004).

 

Seems like that is the complaint every year for the last dozen years..........

 

"Our offense is too predictable. We don't do anything new. The defense knows what we are going to run before we run it."

 

Gibbs 2.0, Zorn, Shanahan, Gruden... I hear that same reasoning about all our offenses. That can't all have been so blatantly predictable.

 

I don't mean this to come off as directed at you, BFS. I just have to chuckle when I see the "Predictable offense" line again.  

 

 

 

Agreed. Happens every year when the chips go down, but not mentioned much if ever at all when they're up.

 

11 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

 

There are a number of reasons why this team has faded down the stretch and the above is by no means meant to fully diagnose our failings. 

 

But there is a reason they are looking at 2nd and longs so often.  That reason is they lined up on 1st down with obvious personnel and formations that said we were going to attempt to run it into a brick wall.  Sure, blocking and everything else plays its part too - but you can't tell me that when you've watched us of late that you haven't been able to diagnose the majority of the plays at the LOS.

 

 

 

You're right. I'm with you there. During multiple points of the year when the offense is clicking it seems like Sean and Jay have no issue dialing up the air attack on 1st down. But that seems to dwindle as we move through the first few series and the guys seem to fall into a bit of a rut.

 

 

Aside from that point, anyone else notice Barry seemed to be making it a point to throw some interesting looks at Cam. Putting Kerrigan on the weak side and back to strong again every few plays? Changing gaps on interior pressure and the like? Then, after a couple drives, that went away. Along with most pressure. That was disappointing to me. On the first couple series, I was actually thinking "Okay, look at this. Maybe we're gonna see the results of a man coaching with nothing to lose since it's no secret his job is already on the line." and then it just seemed to roll back to the same old stuff.

[RVAskins]

'They are who we thought they were'. - D Green

[TD_washingtonredskins]

21 minutes ago, Idaho fan said:

I think when we were 6-3-1 to many players (and possibly coaches) though they had arrived.  

 

I really hope this hasn't happened. Then again, it's probably the 5th or 6th time since we've actually been a good franchise that we've heard or assumed this. A couple times under Norv, under Spurrier, under Gibbs, and under Shanahan I feel like this team has bought into themselves whenever they've had any minor amount of success. Milestones that would make teams like the Patriots, Ravens, Steelers, Giants, Seahawks, Packers, etc. yawn (like getting to week 10 and only having 3 losses or reaching double-digit wins in week 17) seem to give this franchise the signal to take their foot off the gas and flex in the mirror. 

 

Now, I fully acknowledge that it's possible this has never happened and I know this is completely fan talk. I also realize that even if it's true it's not the same guys doing it as teams turn over every 4-5 years. But I'm over it. Snyder/Allen/McCloughan need to set the culture. Put a sign up or something in the locker room reminding these guys that we haven't won a thing and haven't arrived yet. 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

4 minutes ago, TD_washingtonredskins said:

 

Now, I fully acknowledge that it's possible this has never happened and I know this is completely fan talk. I also realize that even if it's true it's not the same guys doing it as teams turn over every 4-5 years. But I'm over it. Snyder/Allen/McCloughan need to set the culture. Put a sign up or something in the locker room reminding these guys that we haven't won a thing and haven't arrived yet. 

 

I'm not sure we'll ever really know the answers to whether getting full of themselves actually happens and if so - what kind of impact it has.  With that said, the Stephen A Smith rant after the Eagles game doesn't seem as outlandish and stupid as it did at the time.  Since that time, they are 3-4-1 and have played dead on a few occasions in spots they could have made a statement, against teams that really weren't playing any better than them.  At the end of the day, he was right - this team was full of themselves and since then have lacked any of the juice they had during their 4 game win streak.

[DM72]

We went 9-7 last year. We had another FA and draft. We should have been better. 

 

I'm really not trying to hear that "we weren't supposed to be any good this year." Were the Cowboys supposed to be 12-2? How about TB? Are they more talented than the Skins? The Giants are on a tear. 

 

How ow long are we going to hear, "it wasn't supposed to be our year"  only to see other teams come from nowhere and make noise?

[TD_washingtonredskins]

13 minutes ago, DM72 said:

We went 9-7 last year. We had another FA and draft. We should have been better. 

 

I'm really not trying to hear that "we weren't supposed to be any good this year." Were the Cowboys supposed to be 12-2? How about TB? Are they more talented than the Skins? The Giants are on a tear. 

 

How ow long are we going to hear, "it wasn't supposed to be our year"  only to see other teams come from nowhere and make noise?

 

No, you make a valid point. I think the main retort is that we were BARELY a 9-7 team last year. We had 2-3 coinflip wins that would have put us a little more in the 6-7 win range. 

 

We beat the Bucs in a game where we probably had a 5% chance at 24-0. We beat the Eagles needing a 90-yard TD drive in the final minutes. We beat the Bears, mostly due to the fact that their kicker missed a FG. I'm not necessarily discounting what we did last year...Cousins broke out and we put together some nice games. But that team pretty easily could have been 7-9, which makes this year seem a little more linear (assuming we win one more). 

[Ashburn Dave]

1 hour ago, Nfcbeasts4721 said:

Including Barry?

 

I've been calling for his head most of the year but I'm now leaning toward we don't have enough talent.  Not saying Barry's my guy but stability counts for something and I'm OK with him for one more year...............unless a gotta have DC drops in our laps similar to Phillips a while back.