PRESEASON GAMEDAY THREAD: BENGALS@REDSKINS

[Vanguard]

I don’t know if this bothers anybody else.  But have you noticed how unconfident Jay Gruden looks on the sideline?  Now when there’s a bad call he’ll fo after the ref, and I like that.  But I sometimes wonder if that angst kind of trickles down to everyone else.  You look at the other good coaches, they don’t look as nervous as he does.  Show confidence in your team, even if you really don’t have any.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

19 minutes ago, Vanguard said:

I don’t know if this bothers anybody else.  But have you noticed how unconfident Jay Gruden looks on the sideline?  Now when there’s a bad call he’ll fo after the ref, and I like that.  But I sometimes wonder if that angst kind of trickles down to everyone else.  You look at the other good coaches, they don’t look as nervous as he does.  Show confidence in your team, even if you really don’t have any.

I don’t think the players are looking at the head coaches facial expressions.  I think he tends to look more annoyed than nervous.

[Bang]

2 hours ago, -JB- said:

I remember once upon a time you were gung ho on running Danny Smith up out of here.  I’d say the man is doing quite well for himself now coaching the Steelers teams.

 

Ben Kotwica isn’t even the special teams coordinator now.  He left for greener pastures.  The guy in charge now is Nate Kaczor!

What Smith does in Pittsburgh has no bearing on the job he did here. Sorry, but 6 blocked kicks in any given season should be enough.

 

 

So anyway, the special teams suck on coverages so far. Is there an argument?

 

~Bang

[Cooleyfan1993]

2 hours ago, Vanguard said:

I don’t know if this bothers anybody else.  But have you noticed how unconfident Jay Gruden looks on the sideline?  Now when there’s a bad call he’ll fo after the ref, and I like that.  But I sometimes wonder if that angst kind of trickles down to everyone else.  You look at the other good coaches, they don’t look as nervous as he does.  Show confidence in your team, even if you really don’t have any.

Nope, i dont think he looks unconfident. I think he looks PO’d, just like any skins fan is when watching a skins game 😂😂😂 

 

 

[stoshuaj]

3 hours ago, Vanguard said:

I don’t know if this bothers anybody else.  But have you noticed how unconfident Jay Gruden looks on the sideline?  Now when there’s a bad call he’ll fo after the ref, and I like that.  But I sometimes wonder if that angst kind of trickles down to everyone else.  You look at the other good coaches, they don’t look as nervous as he does.  Show confidence in your team, even if you really don’t have any.

 

He’s watching the same thing we are and looks just like one of us.

[JaxJoe]

Is it me or does JP Holtz look like a better TE than Sprinkle? He blocks well especially sealing the edge on outside runs. He has good hands and looks better running than Sprinkle. 

[max21]

I’ve completely forgot about Bryce Love, what’s the status with that dude 

[dyst]

6 hours ago, Vanguard said:

I don’t know if this bothers anybody else.  But have you noticed how unconfident Jay Gruden looks on the sideline?  Now when there’s a bad call he’ll fo after the ref, and I like that.  But I sometimes wonder if that angst kind of trickles down to everyone else.  You look at the other good coaches, they don’t look as nervous as he does.  Show confidence in your team, even if you really don’t have any.

He looks more like a coordinator than a head coach to me. He may be confident but I don’t have confidence in him and really doubt the players do either.

[Otis Wonsley Posse]

18 hours ago, wolfsire said:

And Ryan Finley torched our asses on 20-26 efficiency for 150 yards and 2 TDs? Where was he drafted? And yeah.... our staff is a reach. If Jay can’t run the ball, we’re screwed. Honestly, I won’t be surprised if we have the first pick in the draft next year. When we win this year, it will be 9 to 6. Haskins is nowhere near ready to play and it reflects on Gruden. Our opponents read him like a juicy tabloid. They just feed on it.

 

Finley and Daniel Jones both looked good so far

[HigSkin]

56 minutes ago, max21 said:

I’ve completely forgot about Bryce Love, what’s the status with that dude 

 

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/redskins-rookie-bryce-love-expected-to-miss-start-of-season/

Since Love is expected to remain on the NFI list when the season starts, he'll have to miss the first six weeks of the season. The earliest Love can be activated to the roster is Week 7. 

 

Once Week 7 arrives, the Redskins then have three weeks to decide whether or not Love can begin practicing with the team. Once Love begins practicing, they then have three weeks from the date of his first practice to decide to add him to the 53-man roster. If Love is unable to play, he will have to be placed on injured reserve and will be out for the rest of the season.

[RandyHolt]

Yeah we all saw poor Perine did nothing.

 

He will need to add a jump cut to his arsenal to avoid the DL unblocked behind the LOS every time he touches the ball.  Seriously the guy has a defender in his face as soon as he gets the ball.  If Jay really wants to pump his value before the upcoming cut, he should try him out of pistol, and give him a little bit more of a jump on the play.  He is not cut from the long slow developing run play mold. He is used to scooting through holes, not running guys over standing at the LOS waiting for him. He may be well served to add a stiff arm to his playbook.

 

But Jay runs him between the tackles almost exclusively and its ****ing tough sledding in there.  He is basically an emergency/short yardagie type back.   You see Reynolds and the other backs look much better but they get to run wide far more, IMO.

 

More than wondering when will Perine get cut is when the hell is Guice going to get cleared?

[Commander -JB-]

6 hours ago, Bang said:

What Smith does in Pittsburgh has no bearing on the job he did here. Sorry, but 6 blocked kicks in any given season should be enough.

 

 

So anyway, the special teams suck on coverages so far. Is there an argument?

 

~Bang

The Skins special teams were immediately worse when he left lol

[THE HAMMER'IN HOG]

IMO, The Skins from Jay on down are mortified of injuries after the last 2 seasons, and are doing as little as possible to at least get guy's to the start of the season healthy, even if it means they are not fully up to speed with the offense!!! 

[Darrell Green Fan]

17 hours ago, sportjunkie07 said:

Maybe for sustained success. The bucs did it without a qb. 

 

Young qbs generally have a better shot at success if they get supported by other strong parts of the team. Having a defense that can carry a game when your rookie has 3 turnovers allows him to improve. See the Texans. 

 

My point is we are getting close to being there and the foundation on defense should be strong for a while. 

 

This is unlike past teams in that regard, which is why I think we are setup for success better than before. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well we'll have a top 10 pick next spring so there's that. But of course they will need to use that to find a LT, a position many of us felt we still had locked down for a few more years at least.  But there is a lot of truth in the comment that the future is tied to Haskins.    Sure you need other parts but the reason the Browns are now suddenly favorites in their division is the play of the QB, not the defense.  It's pretty much the reason teams like Pittsburgh and New Orleans are consistent contenders. The QB is by far the biggest indicator of success or failure in this league.  

[Bang]

8 hours ago, -JB- said:

The Skins special teams were immediately worse when he left lol

So i imagine you hold on to your trash in case tomorrow's trash isn't as good?

Trash is trash. After letting Smith walk after his reputation FAR FAR FAR outweighed his production over 8 years.. When Shanahan's hire turned out to be trash, to the team's credit, they fired him as they cleaned house.

 

Not sure why folks have a hard time with this concept. You don't keep trash because you're afraid of finding more trash. Trash is trash.

 

Maybe you're right though.  i must be mistaken in watching our special teams give up long return after long return this preseason and thinking it's terrible. 

Maybe the NFL inserted some new "reverse points" rule where we get something for giving up a **** ton of yards on kicks. I mean, i did forget Kotwica moved on, and i did mistakenly think Smith's averaging in the low 20s in most measurable special teams stats over 8 years was bad.  So maybe I'm off on this.
 

~Bang

 

[Commander -JB-]

1 hour ago, Bang said:

So i imagine you hold on to your trash in case tomorrow's trash isn't as good?

Trash is trash. After letting Smith walk after his reputation FAR FAR FAR outweighed his production over 8 years.. When Shanahan's hire turned out to be trash, to the team's credit, they fired him as they cleaned house.

 

Not sure why folks have a hard time with this concept. You don't keep trash because you're afraid of finding more trash. Trash is trash.

 

Maybe you're right though.  i must be mistaken in watching our special teams give up long return after long return this preseason and thinking it's terrible. 

Maybe the NFL inserted some new "reverse points" rule where we get something for giving up a **** ton of yards on kicks. I mean, i did forget Kotwica moved on, and i did mistakenly think Smith's averaging in the low 20s in most measurable special teams stats over 8 years was bad.  So maybe I'm off on this.
 

~Bang

 

Is it really that hard to admit you were wrong?? Sheesh lol

[GoDeep81]

Saw the tape.. Trouble running the ball, trouble tackling, trouble protecting the QB, trouble on ST's.. What's not to like.. 🙄

[SkinsGuy]

7 minutes ago, GoDeep81 said:

Saw the tape.. Trouble running the ball, trouble tackling, trouble protecting the QB, trouble on ST's.. What's not to like.. 🙄

 

The starting defense didn't play a lot, but they held the starting Bengals offense to zero points and few yards. That is something to like.

 

AP looks as spry and shifty as his prime days. That is something to like.

 

Haskins, while not great, did better this week than last week. That is the weekly improvement we want to see. That is something to like.

 

Not to mention individual efforts of certain young players like Moreland, Davis, Colmes, etc. Heck even Flowers got credit for good play (Hogs Heaven gave him a "stud" rating for this week).

 

There was a lot of good in midst of bad special teams, bad penalties, and bad officiating.

[Bang]

1 hour ago, -JB- said:

Is it really that hard to admit you were wrong?? Sheesh lol

Well, once again, if you think a guy who's teams average rank over his tenure was in the low 20s, then I guess i'd have to.
We have a different definition on what is good.

 

~Bang

[Burgold]

4 minutes ago, Bang said:

Well, once again, if you think a guy who's teams average rank over his tenure was in the low 20s, then I guess i'd have to.
We have a different definition on what is good.

 

~Bang

Side to the discussion, the argument you are having is the exact one being made to keep Jay and it's one that bugs me. Jay's defenders say, "Well, he's not bad. He's probably a C+, but what if the next guy is worse? Won't we miss that C+???

 

No! I really won't miss mediocrity. Even if I'm cursing 4-10 and 3-13, I will  not long for the days of 7-7 or 8-7-1. Sports is one of the few arenas where it's dumb to play it safe. You win nothing by settling for mediocre.

[Commander -JB-]

Just now, Burgold said:

Side to the discussion, the argument you are having is the exact one being made to keep Jay and it's one that bugs me. Jay's defenders say, "Well, he's not bad. He's probably a C+, but what if the next guy is worse? Won't we miss that C+???

 

No! I really won't miss mediocrity. Even if I'm cursing 4-10 and 3-13, I will  not long for the days of 7-7 or 8-7-1. Sports is one of the few arenas where it's dumb to play it safe. You win nothing by settling for mediocre.

But what if the ones in charge are wildly mediocre?  That’s the real problem, certainly not the fans.

 

and, yes, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Steelers Fire Danny Smith soon lol

[Burgold]

1 minute ago, -JB- said:

But what if the ones in charge are wildly mediocre?  That’s the real problem, certainly not the fans.

 

and, yes, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Steelers Fire Danny Smith soon lol

I'm a fan of "And"

 

Fire Jay and Bruce. Bruce's ten year tenure hasn't had any moments that scream, "Trust me! I deserve a lifetime appointment!"

 

If you're talking about Dan. That is an unsolvable problem. But should we have gotten rid of Bruce long ago? Is Jay not likely to ever get to the Superbowl with the 'skins? These are answerable questions.

 

As for we the fans (and some days that even includes me), my only gripe is this undercurrent of defeatism. This notion that nothing good can happen and so there's no point in even trying.

[Bang]

58 minutes ago, Burgold said:

I'm a fan of "And"

 

Fire Jay and Bruce. Bruce's ten year tenure hasn't had any moments that scream, "Trust me! I deserve a lifetime appointment!"

 

If you're talking about Dan. That is an unsolvable problem. But should we have gotten rid of Bruce long ago? Is Jay not likely to ever get to the Superbowl with the 'skins? These are answerable questions.

 

As for we the fans (and some days that even includes me), my only gripe is this undercurrent of defeatism. This notion that nothing good can happen and so there's no point in even trying.

I agree with this 100%. 
Jay is certainly in his make or break year, and if i had my money down, it's on 'break'.
i think he's a bit better than a C+ guy. He tends to wilt in the big situation, though.. especially at the end of a season (including those he's gotten thru somewhat healthy. To be fair, Cousins did the same swan dive at the end of last year too, so.. 
Bruce has made some OK deals, and his last few drafts look good. But no one likes him, apparently the team doesn't trust him..  so that makes him bad at what he's doing. Hes' not a team player.. keeps his people in the dark. I'd be for Doug Williams to give a shot at being a GM.

This team going back to Norv has long had a history of holding on to losers too long, and running the occasional winners out of town. 

Bottom line for me,, special teams coverages and placekicking are horrid right now. It needs to be fixed. RIGHT NOW. The majority of the time when a long return happens, it's a breakdown in discipline on the coverage, and at the rate it is happening here now... that points directly at the coaching.

 

~Bang

[Commander -JB-]

6 hours ago, Burgold said:

I'm a fan of "And"

 

Fire Jay and Bruce. Bruce's ten year tenure hasn't had any moments that scream, "Trust me! I deserve a lifetime appointment!"

 

If you're talking about Dan. That is an unsolvable problem. But should we have gotten rid of Bruce long ago? Is Jay not likely to ever get to the Superbowl with the 'skins? These are answerable questions.

 

As for we the fans (and some days that even includes me), my only gripe is this undercurrent of defeatism. This notion that nothing good can happen and so there's no point in even trying.

Dan Snyder is a buffoon.  Very unsolvable problem, especially considering he probably outlives us all.  But as far as defeatism goes, c’mon man.  We can’t try anything, we are just fans!  All we can do is stop showing up to games in a hope that Snyder will eventually sell the team!  

[NickyJ]

3 hours ago, -JB- said:

Dan Snyder is a buffoon.  Very unsolvable problem, especially considering he probably outlives us all.  But as far as defeatism goes, c’mon man.  We can’t try anything, we are just fans!  All we can do is stop showing up to games in a hope that Snyder will eventually sell the team!  

The NFL, like many sports, is an amazing institution that manages to accomplish something that many ways of spending time doesn't accomplish: A sense of camaraderie. An object that we have extremely little influence over is considered to be a part of us. Many families devote time to enjoying the sport together, being friends with other people who enjoy the same sport and support the same team. It becomes so ingrained that those people consider themselves part of the team. And in a way, they are: Many people have supported their favorite teams longer than the players and coaches have been alive. It truly is a magnificent thing that it can bind so many people together into a single unit, a single team.

 

So why, in the face of this magnificent social construct, does it hurt your feelings that people refer to their preferred team as "we"?