The turning point

[Darth Tater]

When did you really begin to realize that the Redskins were not going to the playoffs, at least without help?

We were leading the Titans 14-3 and our defense was rocking and our offense was rolling. A short pass to CP breaks big, we're going to go up 21-3! Wait, a flag and the big play turns into a 5 yard loss! Nothing worked after that and our defense left the building.

[DieHard86]

I think it was the Titans' possession following the Skins second touchdown. It was the time the defense was supposed to put the death blow on the rookie quarterback and turn the game into a blowout (like the Niners game last season). But the Redskins D had nothing - completely impotent. In the back of my mind I feared our team just didn't have "it"

[hail2skins]

After the nice run last year I think a lot of people thought that we might be something special this year. The 0-2 start was frustrating but after the thrilling win against Jacksonville I thought there was still hope. But then we laid the big egg in NY and I knew this team was going to struggle big time.

As far as playoff hopes, I'd say the coffin was shut when we lost in Indy to go 2-5 heading into the bye. Beating Dallas after the bye was nice, but even then I think a lot of folks realized our season was over.

[redskinsfan79]

when the fat lady sang (after the titan game) uuuug hate it when that happens
HAIL TO THE REDSKINS

[chipwhich]

It was definitely when I watched them in preseason.

[CaptChaos86]

I had hope all the way until we were mathematically eliminated. It sucks being so optimistic sometimes.

[RedskinzOwnU]

I think it was the first quarter of our second game of the season, when we got romped in dallas. I haven't felt joy about the season since then. Pretty depressing. Even when we beat dallas a few weeks later, it didn't do much for me. All I care about these days is the playoffs.

[Supreme Wu]

Opening night, vs Vikings

Crowd is hopping up and down, everyones pumped.. opening kick off.. and a Redskin goes down. "Looks like its Pierson Prelou on the Redskins, he is not getting up."

Yah. Good omen right there. I felt a chill then that has never left all season.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

when we lost to the eagles 21-19, it was mathematically over. you could tell by midseason that someone was getting in at 8-8 and i figured we could finally wake up and make a decent run. didnt happen, the end.

[DWinzit]

The preseason was beyond disappointing.


The Titan loss was crushing.:(

[TMK9973]

I was keeping track of the playoffs picture through the Egales game and wanted to beleive that it was never to late and if we could just sneak into the playoffs... we would be like the steelers last year....

However - If I need to be honest, I was at a minor league baseball game in CA with my son, looked up at a TV that was showing preseason highlights of the Pats and the Redskins (41-0). This was after the coaches saying that week 3 of the preseason was all that mattered in the preseason..

Right there - I looked at my son and said "Um... Looks like we may have to rethink this years Redskins Team". I didn't want to beleive, but I new something was wrong....

[nyfan]

When we lost at home to the titans. This was one of the few times in my life that I was 100% sure we were going to win. I have never left Fed Ex as mad as I was on this day. Deep down I knew our season had little hope. I did not calm down until exit 8 on the NJ turnpike.

[CGSKINS]

after the GIANTS game. I knew we wher done

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Not that it was anyone's fault, but you could tell that things might not break our way this year when Brunell hit Moss in the back of the end zone late in the first half vs. the Vikings and Sharper lit Moss up resulting in an incompletion and FG. We lost 4 points on that possession that ultimately were the difference in the game.

That was an omen that we were just a step late to make the key plays this year.

[SackMachine]

The preseason at first but everybody convinced me that it was because we werent using our playbook and not because the fundamentals weren't there.

I guess it was the game against the titans that did it.

[spagolli94]

I had my doubts in the preseason. Sure, teams have been 0-4 in the preseason and gone on to win the SB. But the Skins weren't just 0-4, they were a BAD 0-4. Then they came out to start the regular season 0-2. At that point, I realized that the preseason wasn't just a fluke and we had major problems to deal with.

[Darth Tater]

After the nice run last year I think a lot of people thought that we might be something special this year. The 0-2 start was frustrating but after the thrilling win against Jacksonville I thought there was still hope. But then we laid the big egg in NY and I knew this team was going to struggle big time.

As far as playoff hopes, I'd say the coffin was shut when we lost in Indy to go 2-5 heading into the bye. Beating Dallas after the bye was nice, but even then I think a lot of folks realized our season was over.

I didn't say it here because I generally try to be optimistic but I had a bad feeling about the first Giants game. At that time, even though they'd been losing, I was worried they'd stop shooting themselves in the foot (if they hadn't, I think they'd have been undefeated when we faced them). I don't remember any glaring mistakes made by the Giants and I remembered the stinker we played there last year (after crushing San Fran). I wasn't worried after that game although since we'd lost to Dallas in Dallas and Minnesota, I guess we really needed that one.

[Darth Tater]

I had hope all the way until we were mathematically eliminated. It sucks being so optimistic sometimes.
I had hope but the Redskins were no longer in control.

[RySkins]

I figured this season was pretty shot when out defense failed to produce a single big stop at home against a Titans offense that was the worst in the league at that point in the season. I knew at this point that our defense was awful and that there were serious internal problems with this team. Come to think of it, I still can't believe we managed to lose to both the Vikings and Titans AT HOME!

[NVskinsfan]

When we needed a big 3rd down stop in EVERY game and got very few...:doh:

[tjlax]

Pats 41, Skins 0

I don't care if the preseason doesn't count, but the way the d got manhandled, taking advantage of our linebackers and secondary... and the way the offense couldn't move the ball at all!

[deejaydana]

I never bought into the offseason hype. I thought we invested (with way too much cash and draft picks) in guys who weren't going to perform well. Watch us do it again this offseason and the hyperbole to continue.

[Raub]

When I saw that Warrick Holdman was going to start.

[Darth Tater]

When I saw that Warrick Holdman was going to start.
So, when Lavar left?

[Lil Kenzo]

The home game against the Jaguars. I know that we won and all. But we had a 10 POINT lead late in the game. And then what happened, they came back. Not only did I notice that, once again, our team had no killer instinct. But it showed how truly bad our defense was.

[wildbill1952]

I started wondering what kind of season it would be when I saw the schedule and that our first three NFC East games were away. Then I looked at the bye schedule and saw that we played 3 or more teams after they had an extra week off. I still held hope after the abysmal pre-season, although the 41-0 shellacking made me think nothing but bad could come of this. And when I saw Portis hurt, and Springs out for the first 4 games, I just felt like things were going to get worse. Then Pierson Prioleau went down on the first play and I thought that it might be an omen of worse things to come, if that were possible. (At least we didn't play Dallas the week after the semi-bye they get every Thanksgiving...)

But I guess the final straw was when I saw our third NFC East game and the offense totaled 3 field goals for all 3 games. I guess I could have given up earlier, but who else was I going to cheer for? There's only the Skins. The season ends Saturday night.

[dlwredskins]

First sign of trouble....New Offensive System with Saunders (continuity was messed up)
Second sign of trouble....No real answer to the QB situation (an aging vet, untested rookie, and Todd Collins)
Third sign of trouble...Portis goes down in preseason
Fourth sign of trouble...Pierson P goes down for the season opening kickoff
Final nail in the coffin...losing to the Titans

[AzSkinsFan63]

I was worried at how bad Brunell Looked against Dallas that first game...It didn't look good and I knew JG would keep him in there too long. I Liked Brunell last season but he played about as poorly as a QB can play that game.

Putting in Campbell sooner and the Skins might still be in the thick of the playoff race with another win or 2 at best. The defense going from 9th to 30th..I'm sure surprised each and every fan.. I do credit most of those losses to Springs being out and not having the right depth.. we did not plan well for losing our number 1 corner.

[SAli457180]

Definitely the Titans' game.

[S21Taylor]

when we were eliminated from playoff contention. NEVER SAY NEVER

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

2nd Eagles game when we got blown out.

[Uno Boss]

2nd Eagles game when we got blown out.


?????

Did you see the game..


We lost by 2....:doh:

[steve57]

Which coffin nail to choose from? The Viking game pretty much signaled that the preseason bs was just that, bs (oh, but I forgot, it's a 3 year plan now). It's the kind of game (supposedly weaker team with first year coach -- and at home) we need to win -- and lost. There's been a lot of those. But perhaps the real indicator was the Giants game, where a gutless performance was there for all to see, and the weak excuses that followed ("it always tough up there in the Meadowlands"). Sometimes it's not whether you lose, but how you lose. In both the Giants game and the first Eagles game, hated division rivals where you have every reason to expect your guys to be totally cranked, the bunch that "fights its guts out week by week" couldn't find where those guts were located.

[Cooley4President]

Hate to second what so many other people have said, but it was definitely the Titans game for me, particularly when they blocked the punt for the safety and I could tell that we were being outplayed, not just on a fluke. The walk back to the car from our seats that day was terrible because we realized that the Skins just aren't very good, plain and simple. The wins against Houston and Jacksonville seemed to redeem our 0-2 start, and the Giants game I was willing to look past because of our history at the Meadowlands, particularly last year, but watching an 0-5 team with a Rookie QB come to our house and beat us while we didn't even force them into a single interception (not to mention Travis Freakin Henry putting up over 170 on us) really made me realize that we just weren't very good.

[Supreme Wu]

2nd Eagles game when we got blown out.

We dominated that game statistically and lost because of a pick 6.

You are badly confused.

[Chief skin]

When the Titans took the opening posession and just marched down the field and scored. I was convinced we were in big trouble

[9_to_42_td]

When we lost at home to the titans. This was one of the few times in my life that I was 100% sure we were going to win. I have never left Fed Ex as mad as I was on this day. Deep down I knew our season had little hope. I did not calm down until exit 8 on the NJ turnpike.


Yeah, you were a little P.O.'D when you left the parking lot.

[blindside]

When Daniel Snyder signed Dion Sanders!

[gca61087]

I drove up for the Titans game, and I have never been more dissapointed in the skins in my entire life. At that point I knew we weren't close to a playoff team.

We blew a lead against a team that at the time was a bottom feeder.

We went away from the run with an 11 point lead against the worst run defense in the league at the time. I was dumbfounded by the playcalling.

It became clear that our offense was horribly predictable. Our defense, despite popular belief, actually played pretty well in the second half of that game, especially in the fourth quarter when we were losing. The offense did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in response.

Despite the good play in the fourth quarter, the defense looked pretty bad. It was clear that they weren't the top 10 defense of 04 and 05.

I left that game disgusted. In talking with my dad while looking over the schedule, I predicted we would be 5-11 or 6-10 with a slight chance of going 8-8. I hate being right sometimes.

[pgitta]

I'm still not convinced. If Atlanta, Philly, Dallas, and St Loius take direct asteroid hits, they are going to need someone to fill the spot.


Ok, so it's a long shot, but anything's possible.

http://www.firstscience.com/SITE/IMAGES/ARTICLES/asteroid/asteroid2.jpg