Walking Deadman
December-25th-2005, 12:58 AM
Before I start, I want to say that I believe that we will beat the Eagles on Sunday and at least earn a Wild Card.......but, just looking at 15 games I want to say that the 2005 season has proven to me that the franchise since Gibbs has come back is succeeding and will succeed in the near future.
Why????
1. The team has bought into Joe Gibbs way of life (football):
Gibbs style is not just a "system" but much like what other successful teams like the Patriots have instilled. It's a way of life.
Responsibility, Being unselfish, toughness and being a team and not an individual is what makes up Coach Gibbs and his team.
THis squad appears to follow those ideas.
Note how Portis and Taylor and others on this team have become leaders.
How Jimoh and Prioleau and other "no-names" like Clemons etc. have stepped up and have gone from being (fan: oh no...XXXXX is in the game, crap!!!) to a contributer.
It is a team effort and guys have bought into what Coach is doing and know that they play a role and don't have to do everything theirselves in order to win or be successful.
2. Draft/FA pick ups.
Who thinks we should have drafted Winslow now?????
Who thinks that it was a mistake to move up to get Cooley???
Who thinks that it was a mistake to pick up FA's like Washington, Griffin, Springs, Harris, Thrash (we traded for him back), Salave'a and Brunell????
Who thinks it was still a mistake to get rid of Gardner and McCants????
Who thinks we made a mistake trading Portis for Bailey/Bell (2nd rounder)??
Who thinks we should have kept Coles and not traded for Moss???
Yeah, there have been a couple of so-so pick ups (Barrow, Patten), but they were more injury related than performance.
Some of the lower round draft picks have been failures and losing Pierce to the Giants was bad ( but in my op. still not worth what we would have had to pay to keep him, sorry AP).
But overall good job with keeping good talent on the roster and having depth (Ray Brown, secondary, Warrick Holdman as examples) when we have injuries.
3. The fans are back:
Has FedEx ever been more loud the past 2 weeks??? Other than the sad Raiders game, this has been a great year to attend Redskins games. FedEx is now a true football stadium. The fans (much like the players) have bought into the idea of what Gibbs (Redskins Football) is all about and it seems that we (fans and players and coaches) feed off each other at home.
6-2 this year.....6-0 vs the NFC. What a great season at home.
4. We can compete with our Divisonal Rivals:
I thought if we could go 3-3 with the NFCE we'd be doing great. We are so far (with 1 NFCE game left) 4-1. Yes, 4-1.....impressed right? You should be.
Last year we were 1-5. If we can stand against the current Dallas, Giants and Eagles (with healthy Westbrook and Mcnabb) then I think we can play any NFL team and have a shot at winning. Yes, I do believe that the NFCE is that good.
This is just a few......what I see in the future is that FA/Draftees will want to play here not for the $$$$ but to win. And coaches will want to stay (Gregg Williams) b/c of what this team is to the community and what he can do as a Redskins coach will be much more important than anywhere else.
BTW: we are 9-6 right now (Finally a winning season YAY!!!!) in Year 2 of 5 in Joe Gibbs 2.......2006 and 2007 will be years that we (barring injury or too much cap ramifications) will bring significant rewards if we can just stick to the plan.
So, enjoy this win everybody and enjoy this season, hopefully this is just the true start of something great happening :cheers:
Why????
1. The team has bought into Joe Gibbs way of life (football):
Gibbs style is not just a "system" but much like what other successful teams like the Patriots have instilled. It's a way of life.
Responsibility, Being unselfish, toughness and being a team and not an individual is what makes up Coach Gibbs and his team.
THis squad appears to follow those ideas.
Note how Portis and Taylor and others on this team have become leaders.
How Jimoh and Prioleau and other "no-names" like Clemons etc. have stepped up and have gone from being (fan: oh no...XXXXX is in the game, crap!!!) to a contributer.
It is a team effort and guys have bought into what Coach is doing and know that they play a role and don't have to do everything theirselves in order to win or be successful.
2. Draft/FA pick ups.
Who thinks we should have drafted Winslow now?????
Who thinks that it was a mistake to move up to get Cooley???
Who thinks that it was a mistake to pick up FA's like Washington, Griffin, Springs, Harris, Thrash (we traded for him back), Salave'a and Brunell????
Who thinks it was still a mistake to get rid of Gardner and McCants????
Who thinks we made a mistake trading Portis for Bailey/Bell (2nd rounder)??
Who thinks we should have kept Coles and not traded for Moss???
Yeah, there have been a couple of so-so pick ups (Barrow, Patten), but they were more injury related than performance.
Some of the lower round draft picks have been failures and losing Pierce to the Giants was bad ( but in my op. still not worth what we would have had to pay to keep him, sorry AP).
But overall good job with keeping good talent on the roster and having depth (Ray Brown, secondary, Warrick Holdman as examples) when we have injuries.
3. The fans are back:
Has FedEx ever been more loud the past 2 weeks??? Other than the sad Raiders game, this has been a great year to attend Redskins games. FedEx is now a true football stadium. The fans (much like the players) have bought into the idea of what Gibbs (Redskins Football) is all about and it seems that we (fans and players and coaches) feed off each other at home.
6-2 this year.....6-0 vs the NFC. What a great season at home.
4. We can compete with our Divisonal Rivals:
I thought if we could go 3-3 with the NFCE we'd be doing great. We are so far (with 1 NFCE game left) 4-1. Yes, 4-1.....impressed right? You should be.
Last year we were 1-5. If we can stand against the current Dallas, Giants and Eagles (with healthy Westbrook and Mcnabb) then I think we can play any NFL team and have a shot at winning. Yes, I do believe that the NFCE is that good.
This is just a few......what I see in the future is that FA/Draftees will want to play here not for the $$$$ but to win. And coaches will want to stay (Gregg Williams) b/c of what this team is to the community and what he can do as a Redskins coach will be much more important than anywhere else.
BTW: we are 9-6 right now (Finally a winning season YAY!!!!) in Year 2 of 5 in Joe Gibbs 2.......2006 and 2007 will be years that we (barring injury or too much cap ramifications) will bring significant rewards if we can just stick to the plan.
So, enjoy this win everybody and enjoy this season, hopefully this is just the true start of something great happening :cheers: