Jay Mariotti is an idiot!!

[Atlanta Skins Fan]

Originally posted by Art

I'd be stunned if Gibbs had us to 10-6 next year. It's a LONG time for him to be out to just show up and get everything that good.

I think 10-6 is not out of reach, Art, though I wouldn't quite predict it yet.

As badly as the Skins were coached this year, they still won games. Many of the games they lost, they had a clear chance to win.

I think you will see a far more fundamentally sound team under Gibbs and Williams -- without the stupid stretches of false starts, the Gardner penalties, the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, the blown assignments by RBs and OL that got Ramsey killed, the blown assignments by LBs, and so on. That's got to be worth at least four games right there, without even getting into game planning.

I think our weaknesses going into the season will be the following:

• A lot of personnel holes to fill: RB, TE, DL especially.
  
• Ramsey's growth under Gibbs. It took a while for Gibbs to discover the weaknesses and strengths of his QBs, and for his QBs to grow under Gibbs. So there will be a clear learning curve, and possible bad days by Ramsey in the first half of the season.
  
• Tentativeness and confusion on defense. While the offense can learn its playbook and go out and execute its plays, the defense has to react on every play. This means the defensive system has to be internalized to the point of being instinctive -- which isn't going to happen in the offseason alone.
  

We always have trouble shifting to new defensive coordinators -- and as good as Gregg Williams is, he can't change the laws of learning and instincts. It takes time. So, look for our defense to start out worse than they will finish.

As for personnel holes, it's too early to guess where they'll be, and injuries will play a big factor. We could be fine, or we could be in trouble. Check back in August.

The real wildcard is Ramsey. How fast can he get up to speed under Gibbs? Can he improve his blitz and pocket awareness, which clearly contributed to many sacks? I don't think we can predict with any certainty. I wouldn't be surprised either way.

Then, finally, we get to the Gibbs/Williams game plans and game calling. Remember that Williams has not been out of the game, so our defense should improve over Edwards with the superior Williams system -- though this will show up more in the second half of the season. As for Gibbs, I think it won't take him long to shake out the rust and adjust to today's NFL. He was always known as a hard study of other teams -- he did this continuously week by week. I think you are overstating how difficult it will be for him to do again what he always did best.

I think the second half of the season should be a nice stretch run for us, to see what a modern Gibbs team might do in the NFL. The first eight games might be the only disappointment, as the team finds its way.

I do think it will be very difficult to win the division, with the Eagles already well oiled, and Parcells back with a better QB and RB. The Eagles and Cowboys aren't going to be blowing games due to fresh-start foibles, so we need to spot them two games out of the gate. Making up those two games in the final eight is a tall order, perhaps too tall.

But I still think we'll like the season when it's over. It might be 9-7 or 10-6 or even 8-8. But we'll see in the final eight games the shape of things to come -- when we make our real run in 2005 under Gibbs.

[Art]

You might be right. Again, I'll just say, Parcells wasn't out of the game very long and he said he just didn't know the players well enough to make decisions until about half way through. Vermeil said when you start coaching again you realize how much you forgot and how different things are. So will Gibbs. I won't put ANYTHING past the guy. I just would be surprised if even Saint Joe is so good as to get us double digit victories next year. It's a different situation than the Cowboys and Parcells.

[Art]

You might be right. Again, I'll just say, Parcells wasn't out of the game very long and he said he just didn't know the players well enough to make decisions until about half way through. Vermeil said when you start coaching again you realize how much you forgot and how different things are. So will Gibbs. I won't put ANYTHING past the guy. I just would be surprised if even Saint Joe is so good as to get us double digit victories next year. It's a different situation than the Cowboys and Parcells.